Guys, I fully planned to write a 2-for-1 recap to cover our games against the OKC Thunder and the Magic. Now granted, I didn’t think things would go well against the Thunder, and they didn’t (that 98-75 score was evident of that). I mean, honestly, the Thunder is one of the best teams in the West, but I do have my expectations/standards. We shot 28.7% from the floor. 28.7%!?!?!? Seriously? I went out in the driveway this afternoon and hit 9 of 10 shots and I haven’t played any basketball in at least 6 months. I know that isn’t the same thing, but that percentage is representative that 25 of the 87 shots put up went in. 13 different guys on the court, and only Noah Vonleh missed 1 shot (he took 2). I’m not going to get wrapped up in the Thunder game. We hit 5 of 24 from 3-point land (20.8%(. Seriously, I’m moving on to Saturday’s game against Orlando in Charlotte. Surely the game would be better at home, right? Right?!?
Well, the score looked better (102-94), but a loss is a loss. We shot a better field goal percentage (41.9%) and we were 8-24 from 3-point land (33.3%). Now the 12-21 Magic have 2 more wins than we do. I don’t know why that bothers me so bad, but it does. Our team has so much potential, and it NEVER seems to show on the court. I will not put Kemba’s career high 42 points in a corner, but I will stress, as always, the man can’t do it by himself. Al Jefferson only had 14 points, and no one else was in double figures. I had an extensive discussion about this on Twitter late Saturday night into Sunday morning. 42 of the 83 shots taken Saturday night were taken by Kemba and Al, which I can’t complain about entirely. The 7 of 11 and 15 of 31 shooting by Al and Kemba were good enough for 52.4% shooting, and that was a good thing. Do I blame the bench? Can I? Do I blame the rest of the team? I’m so confused anymore with this squad. Cody’s been a bit cool since his busted nose, MKG is still trying to get back into the groove, and Hendo…well…Hendo gonna Hendo (those guys chipped in 19 points).
Guys, what do we do? As a team, we just are not all that good. Teams can’t win championships when you have a center that is good offensively, but a weakness on defense. Half of our scoring depends on a C that is exactly that (sorry Al). Kemba is the other guy that has to be 100% on his game for us to win. The problem we have is that as far as scoring goes, we do not have 3 players that can average in mid- double-digits. In the NBA, at least 3 players need to be scoring in volume. Last night, the Pacers had 7 guys in double figures. This is not the norm.
Let me explain why having consistent scorers is a “MUST HAVE” in the NBA. When you have a team that is full of guys that could score the ball at any moment, you never know whom to guard because the scoring could come from anywhere. To guard the Hornets, here is how you stop them:
- Take Al Jefferson out of the game. Do not let him get to his spots, and/or, keep him on the side of the floor he likes less.
- A side note is that he has the strained groin, and we keep riding him. He needs a break and it doesn’t look like he’s going to get one soon. I’m praying that the injury is why he’s not even close to the 13-14 Al Jefferson
- Take Kemba out of the game via good defense. Force him to shoot jumpers. Don’t let him drive to the basket. Also, don’t let him shoot 3s.
- His big nights are allowable as long as no one else is scoring.
Wow…I guess that’s it. There’s not a single offensive threat I can think of that I need to stick other than those 2. With MKG, I’m still going to gamble on letting him shoot. The worst that could happen is that they start to fall, and his confidence grows. The best that can happen is that he’ll miss, the confidence will shrivel, and he’s out of the game, or he’s drawing offensive fouls driving to the basket out of control. Zeller would be one to worry about. His jumper is pretty, once he gets it squared away. The problem is options 1 and 2 aren’t going to give him the ball enough to get that shot going. Henderson is the same way. Everyone knows that his shot is the fade-away jumper. He only helps his game by driving to the basket and using his athleticism, but he often chooses to shoot that fade away. I’ll also say that Hendo gets beat up so badly because he winds up with the ball with like 3 seconds left on the shot clock, and he has 3 defenders on him. He has to chuck something at the rim, and then HE gets blamed for the shot-clock violation, or the bad shot. It really isn’t fair to him. This covers the starting 5.
Shall I move to the second unit?
Roberts could be something special. I give him a lot of grief because I wanted the backup point guard to be a bigger guard. He’s actually a lighter version of Kemba. He’s a Hornet, so I will support him. I’ll actually defend him here. I think he’s restricted terribly and forced to play a type of game that isn’t what he can play. He often looks tight and uncomfortable running the team. When he takes it upon himself to drive, or comes off the screen for a shot, he looks comfortable doing so. Ramon Sessions used to drive constantly. He never saw a problem trying to get a lay up, and often shot foul shots. Roberts needs the “free pass” to do what he can do. Oh what I wouldn’t give to be able to have a candid conversation with Brian.
Gary Neal hasn’t ever seen a shot he didn’t like. Sometimes he doesn’t set his feet. Sometimes, he doesn’t even get all the way clear of a screen, and a shot is going up. When he’s hot, he’s hot, but when he’s not…whew. Again, he’s an undersized SG with weak defense. He’s also an expiring contract. Perhaps a team making a playoffs run may want to trade for him…maybe.
PJ Hairston is about the same as Neal. He is bigger, and a bit better defender, but he can look lazy on defense at times. He is another that hasn’t seen a shot he didn’t like. Sometimes, his 3-pointers are launched from between Steve and Dell at the scorers’ table. PJ could help his game so much by doing less to launch that shot, and more to get open and drive. If PJ would start driving to the hoop more, the opportunities to take jumpers will be there, and he wouldn’t have to force them…ALL of them. MKG’s game is similar in the sense that no one respected his jumper last season, and all he had offensively was the drive. Everyone backs off of the jump shot and waits on the drive. PJ only shows jumper. If he would flash a jumper then drive to the hoop and try to finish strong, players would back off of the jumper, and his quick release would benefit him greatly. I don’t think his D-League stint last year let him fully grasp the NBA speed. Perhaps he’ll catch on, but it may be after Jeffery Taylor is back at 100%.
I’m not going to be completely negative about the whole team. It just isn’t in my nature. I was pretty angry after last night’s loss, but I always regroup and rationalize. Let me share some team positives.
Marvin Williams is starting to click a bit better. He’s learning what he needs to be on this team. He has been faking jumpers and driving to the hoop. We need that out of him. I like that he’s a SF/PF type compared to Cody’s PF/C type because it gives up options at the PF spot.
Bismack Biyombo is another that takes so much heat from fans, critics, etc. He was drafted at 18. He had started playing basketball at 16. His athleticism alone drew interest of international teams as well as the NBA scouts. He’s on his 4th NBA season, and I can personally see improvement in him every season. He gives 100% in every play, he’s a student of the game, and always eager to learn. He is not a major offensive threat. He is, however, a defensive threat that will continue to improve over time. He’s 22. He’s still a kid and still learning. I never thought he’d become a Tim Duncan or a David Robinson. I always had Ben Wallace on my mind. Biz has the potential to become what Ben Wallace was for the Pistons. He can be a defensive minded player that protects the rim and grabs rebounds. Seems like those Pistons won a championship. How many teams with centers with good offense and poor defense have won rings? I like Biz and what he brings. I think with the right mix of scoring options on the floor, he’s a really good option at C. We don’t have those scoring options right now.
That’s about it folks. I should mention that Noah Vonleh is playing in the D-League right now. This is the best thing that could happen to him right now. He’s getting some run time, and he will get to start wrapping his 19 year old mind around the NBA speed of the game (it was a problem for Taylor and Zeller). So many fans have complained about his lack of playing time, and I agree that on-court experience is the best experience. His sports hernia surgery put him out of the voluntary workouts, training camp, pre-season, and the season. To prevent him from looking lost and foolish, we haven’t played him. D-League will do exactly what it is there for. It will let him get used to everything and get him up to speed with the NBA-style game play, without hurting the Hornets (not that there’s much to hurt). Jeffery Taylor is also in the D-League. I would expect his stint to be a shorter stint than Vonleh’s, depending on how quickly he responds to on-court time. Again, Taylor plays in a position that did not warrant him getting any time on the floor. I fully believe that once Taylor is back up to speed, he’ll be a better player than PJ currently is, and should possibly get more minutes at the SG and SF spots. MKG and Taylor can be quite the tandem at SF, or a strong defensive duo, should they be on the court together. Here’s to hoping that JT returns soon.
Final thoughts for me include Lance Stephenson. His repeated Instagram posts about being from Brooklyn, I understand to a certain extent. I get that he’s proud of where he’s from. I also hope that he’s watching our Hornets and understands what we need him to be. He doesn’t need to be flashy. He doesn’t need to be outlandish. We need solid basketball. We don’t need anything fancy. He’s here, and I think he can be a strong piece for us. I believe he can be one of those pieces that give us that double-figure scoring that we so desperately need. I don’t expect 20 a night from him, but a solid 15 would be great, while giving assists, and rebounds, not to mention hustle plays that don’t always show up in the stat-book. My quandary is where exactly does he fit. Does he lead the second unit? Does he get squeezed in with the first unit as the starting SG? Who will get buried on the bench?
We have so many wings, I could easily see a trade moving a couple guys away, but then I wonder who that may be. Perhaps it’s Gary Neal, an expiring contract. Perhaps Gerald Henderson gets moved to a team that needs a solid leader at the SG spot coming off in a 6th man role. There are so many possibilities that “could” happen, but I’m not one to speculate. Our team is our team, and we’re currently with 13 on the sidelines.
I don’t know what the future holds, but it has to include a game plan that gets everyone involved on offense. Crisp passing, very little dribbling would be my first 2 suggestions, should anyone that can make a difference would be reading this. Look at the Spurs and their ball movement. It’s a work of art.
Let everyone be comfortable in the offense. I almost get the feeling that if anyone other than Al or Kemba shoots the ball on the 1st team, they may have to run laps at practice. I envision an offense with our players weaving back and forth through defenders and screens with passes moving around until someone has a path to the basket or there’s an open man in the corner for 3. We just don’t do that. The offensive scheme doesn’t work right now, and we need other options. There’s no way we have a team full of guys that cannot be trusted to score. They all need to relax, have fun with the game, and if they’re open, they need to try and score. I speak more to the players not named Gary or PJ, but you all know what I mean. Running ISO with Al or Kemba isn’t working, and forcing shots doesn’t either. We’ll get it together…I just hope it’s sooner than later.
Let’s Go Hornets!
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
