DangerSloane
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Ah fek.
I wondered why he played 1 minute.
Damn preseason.
That makes us less than 50-50 on playoffs IMO.
The Official Charlotte Hornets (nee Bobcats) Thread aka the Hive
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I wondered why he played 1 minute.
Damn preseason.
That makes us less than 50-50 on playoffs IMO.
vanders
Brownlow Medallist
Hopefully Lamb can make the most of his extra minutes. He’s been good in the 2 preseason games but whether or not he can bring that in the regular season is another thing. The coaches have been really happy with how he’s trained over summer. We might see Bacon get some minutes off the bench now too.
DangerSloane
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The Kemba-Dwight combo could be dangerous if used correctly.
Just hope they dont foul Dwight lol
DangerSloane
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Frank has been good this season too.
Why was he out tonight?
vanders
Brownlow Medallist
He was sick. He warmed up with the team but he wasn't well enough to play
DangerSloane
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I think he's finally realised his height and can get pretty much any shot he wants.
vanders
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He's started hitting some of those wide open 3's too. It will be good to see how we go when we get all our guys back from injury
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We're streaking!
DangerSloane
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MOnk and Bacon, while inconsistent, have both shown signs of fitting in at the level.
DangerSloane
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Will be interesting to see how they share the minutes around.
Xhoquelin
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11 games in...
Positives:
- Jeremy Lamb's improvement on offence, he's not afraid to create his own offence and try his own shits. His midrange game could be improved for sure but with out stagnant offence a guy like Lamb who will proactively play is very important. Three point shooting has improved in leaps and bounds.
- Malik Monk and Dwayne Bacon will be studs as they become older, smarter and more consistent. Monk can get really hot but is also flashing playmaking skills especially alongside Dwight. Bacon doesn't play outside of his strengths, will have a nice mid range game in a few years but his 3pt shooting is also pretty decent. Will be a good 3&d in the future in the Covington, Ariza mould IMO and will command many bids in free agency.
- Dwight is a beast. Cleans up the glass, deterrent to opposing slashers at the rim, catches lobs. He gets opposing Centers into foul trouble. His FT percentage could improve obviously but I'm willing to endure that part oh fis game. I think his low post game will improve tremendously once Batum comes back, Batum plays well with quality bigs, brought the best out of Zeller last year and was very good in tandem with LMA at the Blazers.
- Cody got a big future with us. Nice midrange jumpers this season which offer great spacing with the pick and pop, as always a great defender who can guard 3 positions.
Negatives:
- Bench play. We have arguably the best backup C in the league in Cody who'd be a top 15 starting Center as he was last season, who sets arguably the best screens in the NBA and is overall a fantastic Pick and roll player(don't know many other Centres apart from DeAndre Jordan who Id rather have run the PnR with Kemba and Nic). But we can't make use of him. Monk and Lamb won't be good enough facilitators IMO to make our bench unit neutral +/- wise. We have gotten lucky from Monk catching fire a few times but rookies are always inconsistent. We need a playmaker to play with our second unit, if MCW isn't that man it might have to be Batum.
- Perimeter Defence. It's terrifying seeing Marvin guard a Porzingis or Giannis. Our perimeter D is just not what it should be, missing MKG and Batum obviously but we just seem lacklustre at times on that end. We give up too many open shots.
- On offence again it boils down to a pick and roll or an ISO play far too often. I think this will be solved as the season goes on though, and we are incorporating Cody's mid range jumper and Dwight's ability to catch lobs into our game slowly. I want to see us have more faith with MKG if/when he comes back because his mid range jumper is actually quite reliable, because in the clutch our play is far too simple and becomes ISO based. The more diverse our offence becomes, the less chance of us blowing away 9 point leads with five minutes to go.
Overall, whilst the current situation isn't ideal I think we are headed in the right direction. Not many teams can do well without 2 perimeter players like MKG and Batum in the current NBA, and right now it's all about the rookies and young guys acclimatising to NBA play and making our offence more diverse. I've liked some of the stuff we've done this season, as said before the thing I'd like to see most is a more diverse offence because that will hold us in good steed in the later parts of the season. Today the Knicks were willing to give O Quinn Jack and Thomas the keys to their offence for parts of the game, if we could do that with Cody, MKG and Lamb more we'd be a stronger team.
Positives:
- Jeremy Lamb's improvement on offence, he's not afraid to create his own offence and try his own shits. His midrange game could be improved for sure but with out stagnant offence a guy like Lamb who will proactively play is very important. Three point shooting has improved in leaps and bounds.
- Malik Monk and Dwayne Bacon will be studs as they become older, smarter and more consistent. Monk can get really hot but is also flashing playmaking skills especially alongside Dwight. Bacon doesn't play outside of his strengths, will have a nice mid range game in a few years but his 3pt shooting is also pretty decent. Will be a good 3&d in the future in the Covington, Ariza mould IMO and will command many bids in free agency.
- Dwight is a beast. Cleans up the glass, deterrent to opposing slashers at the rim, catches lobs. He gets opposing Centers into foul trouble. His FT percentage could improve obviously but I'm willing to endure that part oh fis game. I think his low post game will improve tremendously once Batum comes back, Batum plays well with quality bigs, brought the best out of Zeller last year and was very good in tandem with LMA at the Blazers.
- Cody got a big future with us. Nice midrange jumpers this season which offer great spacing with the pick and pop, as always a great defender who can guard 3 positions.
Negatives:
- Bench play. We have arguably the best backup C in the league in Cody who'd be a top 15 starting Center as he was last season, who sets arguably the best screens in the NBA and is overall a fantastic Pick and roll player(don't know many other Centres apart from DeAndre Jordan who Id rather have run the PnR with Kemba and Nic). But we can't make use of him. Monk and Lamb won't be good enough facilitators IMO to make our bench unit neutral +/- wise. We have gotten lucky from Monk catching fire a few times but rookies are always inconsistent. We need a playmaker to play with our second unit, if MCW isn't that man it might have to be Batum.
- Perimeter Defence. It's terrifying seeing Marvin guard a Porzingis or Giannis. Our perimeter D is just not what it should be, missing MKG and Batum obviously but we just seem lacklustre at times on that end. We give up too many open shots.
- On offence again it boils down to a pick and roll or an ISO play far too often. I think this will be solved as the season goes on though, and we are incorporating Cody's mid range jumper and Dwight's ability to catch lobs into our game slowly. I want to see us have more faith with MKG if/when he comes back because his mid range jumper is actually quite reliable, because in the clutch our play is far too simple and becomes ISO based. The more diverse our offence becomes, the less chance of us blowing away 9 point leads with five minutes to go.
Overall, whilst the current situation isn't ideal I think we are headed in the right direction. Not many teams can do well without 2 perimeter players like MKG and Batum in the current NBA, and right now it's all about the rookies and young guys acclimatising to NBA play and making our offence more diverse. I've liked some of the stuff we've done this season, as said before the thing I'd like to see most is a more diverse offence because that will hold us in good steed in the later parts of the season. Today the Knicks were willing to give O Quinn Jack and Thomas the keys to their offence for parts of the game, if we could do that with Cody, MKG and Lamb more we'd be a stronger team.
vanders
Brownlow Medallist
I agree with all of that. Something else I noticed is that some of Cliff's rotation decisions have been questionable. Today for example, Monk played a great first half but didn't see any playing time in the third quarter. If the kid is playing well surely you can find him a couple of minutes.
DangerSloane
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Good post.
I think its all about battling to stay at .500 for this part of the season without Batum and MKG.
Then we'll see what happens with a full squad.
DangerSloane
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Two chokes in a row.
vanders
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Two awesome games in a row from Dwight. Also after both games he and MCW have been back out on the court running sprints and putting shots up. I like it.
Also Lamb had another great game. Good to see him playing well.
Also Lamb had another great game. Good to see him playing well.
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Dirtywhirl
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During a pre-season Bill Simmons pod they were doing over-unders, and I believe that everyone on the show locked in Charlotte for the over (Was 44.5 or something like that). At the time it didn’t really sit right with me as this team has always found ways to disappoint.
They have really outdone themselves in the last month though.
Playoffs are no chance with the way Detroit, Indiana and Philly are looking.
They have really outdone themselves in the last month though.
Playoffs are no chance with the way Detroit, Indiana and Philly are looking.
Xhoquelin
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East starting to hit the wall, Heat, Pistons, Wizards don’t look great, Lacers and Bucks doing alright but overall aren’t the strongest teams.
I’d have Raptors, Philly, Cavs, Boston as 4 teams locked in for playoffs, but if we can lock ourselves 4 games behind 8th seed until February, our schedule gets much easier, so a long run of form becomes more likely. Cliff’s team was very, very good after the ASB two seasons ago, we will need a similar repeat to make playoffs this season but it’s a possibility.
The positives of this season so far are really diminishing though. Lamb has lost his rhythm, our O is still too reliant on Kemba and in fact if it’s not a Kemba ISO our only other play seems to be a Dwight post up.
Batum might need to be shut down for a month or more to get his shooting back, MCW and Frank are just trash and need to go. If we could nab a good PF for MCW, Frank, 1st round pick package and move Marvin and Batum to the bench we could get ourselves back on track IMO. I’d be looking at Saric and Gordon, maybe Jabari, tbh I’d even be alright with Bobby Portis if we removed the first rounder just to get some intensity off the bench(Marvin would stay with the starters).
We definitely aren’t in a great spot now and Cliff’s health is an even greater concern. What most organisations would do is tank the rest of the season, given MJ is the owner we might make another win now move. While I’d love another Courtney Lee type player trading the first round pick for a 4 month rental will really hurt.
I’d have Raptors, Philly, Cavs, Boston as 4 teams locked in for playoffs, but if we can lock ourselves 4 games behind 8th seed until February, our schedule gets much easier, so a long run of form becomes more likely. Cliff’s team was very, very good after the ASB two seasons ago, we will need a similar repeat to make playoffs this season but it’s a possibility.
The positives of this season so far are really diminishing though. Lamb has lost his rhythm, our O is still too reliant on Kemba and in fact if it’s not a Kemba ISO our only other play seems to be a Dwight post up.
Batum might need to be shut down for a month or more to get his shooting back, MCW and Frank are just trash and need to go. If we could nab a good PF for MCW, Frank, 1st round pick package and move Marvin and Batum to the bench we could get ourselves back on track IMO. I’d be looking at Saric and Gordon, maybe Jabari, tbh I’d even be alright with Bobby Portis if we removed the first rounder just to get some intensity off the bench(Marvin would stay with the starters).
We definitely aren’t in a great spot now and Cliff’s health is an even greater concern. What most organisations would do is tank the rest of the season, given MJ is the owner we might make another win now move. While I’d love another Courtney Lee type player trading the first round pick for a 4 month rental will really hurt.
