The 2015-16 NBA season tipped off for the Charlotte Hornets last night in Miami, FL, versus the Heat. While the preseason team went 7-1, the regular season will always prove to be a much quicker and more intense game, with longer minutes for the starters. Unfortunately, with 7 new players, MKG out for 6 months, and 2 of our backup shooting guards out with injury, the Hornets fell to the Heat 104-94.
So what went wrong for the Hornets? 6-24 from the 3-point line is a good place to start offensively. We were firing up 3-pointers like there was no tomorrow. The difference in last night versus the preseason, they weren’t falling. The last preseason game we played, this problem peeked out at us. It popped up again last night. You’ve heard the saying “Live by the 3. Die by the 3”? We died by the 3 last night. We also died by the jump shot. Stats can sometimes fog our judgement on how we are doing. In the first quarter, we had an ultra-high shot percentage, due, in part, to Al scoring in the paint and fast break points. By the second quarter, we started shooting long jumpers and just looked out of sorts by the end of the quarter. The confusion continued in the 3rd, where we saw our deficit grow to the 20ish point level. The 4th quarter we rallied back with a smaller lineup consisting of Kemba, Jeremy Lin, Nic Batum, Marvin Williams, and Cody Zeller. The end result was a 10-point loss.
Defensively, Coach Clifford complained about everyone rotating on defense and even getting back to play defense. For example, Justise Winslow’s points in his first NBA game were gift wrapped by the Hornets. He was granted a wide open 3-point shot with no one running at him, and they paved a lane for him to dunk, with no one even attempting to deny the rookie’s attempt. Those were the only points scored by him, to go along with 7 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 turnovers. I believe Coach’s quote was something like, “It doesn’t take talent to get back on defense” or something to that effect. I’d almost guarantee that our next game against Atlanta will have much better defense.
Coach also mentioned that the ball “stuck” too much on the floor. There was too much dribbling and not enough ball movement. I laughed a little about this because last season, that was pretty much all we did. Kemba and Al would play a 2-man game, and one of them would usually take the shot. Last night, it was much different with more passing, but there were times that the ball did stall with a player or few.
So what adjustments need to be made? Better ball movement would be step one. The team played the best with crisp passing and scoring the ball early in the shot clock. That happened in the 1st and 4th quarters. We have to get back on defense. There has to be crisp switches on defense, and no one can be left uncovered. There’s no excuse for not hustling back. Getting everyone healthy would be helpful as well. PJ Hairston starting at shooting guard was ok at best. He did ok guarding Wade, but Wade still finished with 20 points. How did Hairston do? He had 3 points on 1-5 shooting. He took 4 – 3-point shots. Bottom line is that we need to pray Lamb could be available for the next game. If not, that shooting guard position is going to suffer. When your starting shooting guard only produces 3 points and 2 assists, there’s going to be trouble.
I should mention how everyone DID do last night:
Kemba – 19 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 1 block
Al – 17 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal
J-Lin – 17 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists
Marv – 10 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists
Batum – 9 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists
Zeller – 7 points, 12 rebounds, 1 steal
Hawes – 7 points, 3 rebounds
Roberts – 5 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist,
Hairston – 3 points, 2 assists
Frank – 1 rebound
It was a bit of a rough first night, but it gives us a chance to see what we have and figure out how to better fit the pieces together. Until we can have a healthy Lamb and Daniels available, I think we’re going to struggle at shooting guard. Kemba and Lin are a great offensive force together, but I’m not 100% certain that they should start a game together. As well as Cody and Marvin play together, I’m thinking I would try a starting 5 of Kemba, Batum, Marv, Zeller, and Al. It couldn’t hurt. I just know that if I look at my top scorers above, I see a starting 5 of Kemba, Lin, Batum, Marv, and Al. We get everyone healthy, then I believe we should roll with Kemba, Lamb, Batum, Cody, and Al. These first 10 games have to be where we QUICKLY figure out the starting lineup, get them to gel and we roll forward.
Coach Cliff and company will get it done. First game jitters are out of the way. Time to move on to the next game, and as always…
Let’s Go Hornets!
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