Now I know the title is a little confusing. I mean the Hornets are on quite the tear this season, regardless of what the experts said before the season started. Listening to those “experts” the Hornets were destined to regress this season and fall back into the land of mediocrity this year. With the loss of players like Lin, Lee, and Jefferson, I suppose everyone just believed that the team could not improve by the players continuing to work hard and improving themselves. It just always seem like more often than not, everyone believes that the team and the players are just like a video game. From the belief that players can never train and work hard to be better than last season’s version of themselves to suggesting trades that the team needs to do ASAP that honestly don’t make sense, fans are way too critical of the team at times.
For example, flash back about to about 3 weeks ago. All I was earing was how we needed to trade away Jeremy Lamb and Spencer Hawes for anything we could get for them. Lamb, for example, in the 12 games he has played this season, is averaging 9.4 points per game and 5.5 rebounds per game. If you want to look deeper into it, since his return from the hamstring injury, and skip over him trying to get his wind and rhythm back, perhaps I should direct you to his 18-point, 17 rebound game against the Knicks. Should we study his 21-point 9 rebound game against the Grizzlies? Um… the 12-point, 6 rebound game against the Mavs? The 14-point 5 rebound game against the Mavs again? The Orlando game last night? That was a 12-point, 8 rebound performance. Nah, I think Lamb’s getting his rhythm with this team and is fitting in nicely.
I threw out Spencer Hawes out there as well as another player that everyone was suggesting that we trade away. Spencer’s numbers are lower than Lamb’s, but you have to understand Hawes and his role with the team. Spencer is the 3rd center in the rotation. He provides something different from Cody and Roy. Spencer is a center that can shoot the 3, he has a bit of an “old school” post game, and he can pass the ball quite well for a big man. He’s averaging 6.7 points per game, 4 rebounds per game, and 1.7 assists per game. Again, he’s on a pretty decent contract, considering what some of the centers in the league make now that don’t even get the playing time he does. For a 3rd option, he’s had double-doubles this season while Roy was out with knee soreness and Cody had shoulder soreness. He’s a good fit on this team, and I am glad to have him.
So, were you looking for a game recap? I’m getting there. I haven’t been writing much this season. I’ve been much more of an observer this season than a writer. I’ve actually took time to watch the fans to see their reactions to what is happening on the court. It’s truly been entertaining. Primarily, the fan reactions have been pretty much as expected. See, since I’ve always been a Hornets/Bobcats/Hornets fan, I’ve seen it all. I’ve seen playoff runs, I’ve seen struggling seasons, and I’ve seen a 7-win season. The biggest standout of it all isn’t the Hornets 1.0 seasons. It’s the Bobcats to current Hornets seasons. Now it is true that in the beginning of the Bobcats, the team needed a foundation. It’s true that we didn’t really get to see that foundation truly be created until after the 7-win season. If you’ve read this far, you know what makes me so frustrated. The fan base wants to win, win now, and to hell with patience and trust in the organization. Building a strong team is a marathon, not a sprint. So many people wanting the organization to make trades within a month of the season beginning. Fans wanting the team to draft instead of trading the pick they have (I believe Marco is working out nicely this season). Is it just society as a whole that drives fans to be this way? I guess I’ll never know. My point is a simple one that I’m going to make now. The organization knows what it is doing. The early Bobcats days with Bob Johnson was a guy trying to run an NBA team like a thrift store. Keep it cheap. Jordan stepped in, bought the majority from Bob, hired Rich Cho, and the rest is history in the making. Has anyone thought about where we are right now? We have a young core of players, no, a young core of very talented starters on great contracts that have them here for the next several years. Those young players are improving every season. We now have a player that we have watched flourish into an All-Star level point guard, for example.
Why have I not written anything until now? Well, I waited for a strong start, which we have right now. Guess what. The screams for trades have silenced. The only thing I pick up on my radar now I the occasional suggestion that we should trade Ramon Sessions. Those screams come when he has a bad night. I guess his 12 points last night put him back in good favor. One thing every fan needs to remember: every player will have an off night. Also, we can’t win every game. There are going to be bad nights. So my advice for Hornets fans are simple:
- Trust the organization. They know what they are doing. They are professionals and they know that a trade that works on NBA2K will not always work in real life.
- Expect players to have off nights. Again, they are not NBA2K players, they’re humans. They aren’t going to always play out of the world.
- Remember the Bobcats and their 7-win season. That was the turning point of the organization. You know the saying that it’s always darkest before dawn? Well, that season was our darkest hour. From there, we made a turn that is easily pinpointed, and over time, we have built the amazing team that is before us today. A team rich with talent, personalities, high in chemistry, and most importantly, a team that’s going to be here for a good while.
- I’m going to stop right here at 4. The last piece of advice is the easiest of all. Love, support, and embrace this team. They will give the fans everything the fans give them. It’s just how these guys are. They love the game, they play for the love of the game, they’re happy to be in the Queen City, and they want to make the fans happy. We give hem our hearts and they will give us theirs.
So do you guys really want a game recap? I mean we won by 21 points. We played a smart game and we beat a team that is below us in the standings. Pete Guelli said it best on Twitter. The Hornets face 8 teams with offenses that are in the bottom 10 in the league. I stated that those are games we must win. We’re 4-1 so far in December. So far so good. I want tonight to be a win against Cleveland. It’s time for Buzz City to make some major BUZZ in the league. A win tonight against Cleveland would be so huge. We’re in December, we’re healthy, we’re sitting at 3rd in the East, and we’re only 3 games out of the lead. This is one of those pivotal games where if we win it, it could be another MAJOR turning point for this franchise. If we lose but it’s close, again, this can show us what we need to do in order to take the next step. I’m pretty pumped for this game.
Expect to start seeing much more from me in terms of writing. I really, REALLY hope that this article sparks so me feedback and discussion. I know its been a while and people might have forgotten about Trade Street Post, but know that I haven’t forgotten about the fans.
Let’s Go Hornets!
#KeepSwarming
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
