Week 2 record 2-2 Overall record 3-4 The Hornets had quite an up and down week this week. It started with a road loss to Anthony Davis and the Pelicans. The team traveled home to face the Heat. This was the first game that we started to see what this team could be. After getting out to an early lead, they held on to win in a very solid effort.
The following game was an unbelievable two overtime battle with division foe Atlanta. The game appeared to be headed to a triple overtime until Lance Stephenson hit a buzzer beating bank shot that was his “welcome to charlotte” moment. He jumped up on the scorers table and soaked up the moment.
The final game off the week was began a four game west coast swing. The hornets rolled into LA to visit the winless Lakers. Using the momentum from the previous two games, the Hornets had a 9 point lead at halftime and it looked like they were cruising. However, the wheels fell off in the second half, sloppy play and missed shots led to an ugly loss.
The team showed positive growth this week in chemistry, defense and shot selection. We saw the NBA debut of P.J. Hairston, who played well on both ends of the floor. Lance Stephenson seems to be getting more comfortable with his new surroundings, and has been grabbing rebounds at an amazing rate for a shooting guard. By far, the most pleasant surprise of the young season has to be Cody Zeller and his new aggresive attitude on offense, including a nice jumper that has been on target from 18 feet. He has also had some great moments on defense, highlighted by some big blocks on Jeff Teague.
Now for the negatives. The rotation seems to be in flux still, but we are seeing far too much of Jason Maxiell and Brian Roberts in my opinion. Maxiell is a defensive liability and Roberts seems afraid to shoot. We also have yet to see Noah Vonleh. I’m also a little concerned about lack of minutes for Henderson, losing his starting job is one thing, but not playing him at all seems strange. My fear is that his confidence may disappear, and if you need him due to injury, he may not be in the right mindset.
Overall the positives of this week out distance the negatives, but with 3 more road games versus tough western conference opponents, the improvement can not come fast enough.
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