I 
the mid range game.
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Shirt in coming.
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You know the odd thing Demon - outside of the anomalies of Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, your star players are bucket getters that are masters of the mid-range. Sure, they can SHOOT the 3, but they aren’t dependent on it as their primary thing.
I think that’s something Kelly Oubre noticed, and look at how much better he is this year. We’ve always said once Melo gets stronger and is able to drive and draw fouls consistently he’s going to be amazing. It’s crazy that the thing that teams and players wanted to get rid of makes the deadliest of scorers at their best.
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Oddly enough, we have the right coach to implement the non-analytical system that you’re talking about. Cliff evolved to this 3-point mentality late in his first go around here, but I think there’s something to playing the right way, sharing the ball, and having structure in place - especially for a group that came back down to earth shooting the 3 after having career years under Borrego.
The key I think though is having enough shooting for spacing to open up the offense, and we still need to get some shooting. Crazy enough, Svi is intriguing me now that he’s had an opportunity, he could be a 10th/11th man off the bench because of his shooting.
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Svi is legit. Dude seems like he’s going to be ready when his number is called.
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That’s what a professional does. Always ready, even if you’re the last guy on the bench. From what I have read, that could be why Bouknight only got a minute last game. Wasn’t mentally ready and made 2 mistakes in his minute of time. Got to be ready to take advantage of the opportunity because you never know when it may be you’re last. Svi always seems ready when called upon. Professional.
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For sure! Give me a guy like Jimmy Butler all day every day over a trigger happy, streaky 3-point shooter.
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Agree 100% on Svi. I like what I’ve seen so far. The only thing I’ll say re Bouk, and I’m not making excuses for him, but I do think it would be hard for any player to be successful if they know they are getting yanked immediately the first time they mess up. It would be hard for anyone to excel under those circumstances. Yes, it’s important to be professional, ready for the moment, all that. And Bouk has made his bed by not being any of those things to this point in his career. But I do think it’s important to set guys up for success. Getting yanked after 1 minute with no opportunity to play through a mistake or redeem yourself doesn’t really do that. Now I don’t know if he said or did something else that wasn’t known to the viewing audience that would have warranted him being benched. That certainly could’ve been the case, but short of that, I would’ve liked to see him have a real opportunity.
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It’s always a tough balance but I’m sure they are taking a zero tolerance stance on Bouknight, which I really don’t blame them for in all honesty.
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Just watched the section of game that Bouknight was in. I’m no coach, but I didn’t see anything egregious that would cause him to be pulled. There were a couple of pnr that resulted in a Powell dunk, that maybe he didn’t rotate to help on. Certainly not his man. One pass in transition that he should have caught, even though it was a bit behind him. Not sure what Clifford was wanting there, especially being short handed on the wing.
The super quick trigger reminded me of the game that Bouk got in JB’s face. I have to wonder if there was a specific thing he was expected to do that he didn’t that led to a 1 minute stint.
On the other hand, perhaps it was just about letting him see the court for a blip and he’ll actually get game time tomorrow. For his sake, I hope that’s the case.
It was weird for sure. If he’s going to go in, he definitely has to have a little room. Could have been just to let everybody else rest for a few minutes though. Who knows?
This team ain’t going nowhere, period.
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This is nice to see. I’ve gone to 3 games this year, against Indy, Minnesota, and Utah. They weren’t marquee teams, or established stars that are guaranteed ticket sales. Think they were middle of the week games on a random Tuesday or something.
Yet each game was pretty well attended, and the crowds seemed pretty engaged and rooting hard. I remember the early Bobcat years with the sparse crowds and gaping sections of nothingness, the Woolridge years where people protested and didn’t even show up. I could buy a ticket in the upper deck and just find any seat in the first few rows.
It’s cool they figured out a way to keep getting people to come despite the lost year. Have any of y’all noticed anything different from prior years? Better entertainment, nice arena layout with the store and food options? Easier to get to with the train stop right outside? I know opposing team’s fans of the most annoying teams always flood the gates, but the games I went to didn’t have that and was still a fun experience.
And if we ever (please, sometime in this lifetime) have a team that regularly wins playoff series, I swear we’ll have some of the loudest, most energetic crowds in the league. That first game with the Hornets name back, when Kemba hit the game winner against the Bucks in overtime, there was a literal buzz in the air all night, an energetic wave throughout.
The potential is all there, it’s just it never has a chance to set in fully. They’d be talking about how electric the arena is like the old days.
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Hornets average 17k a game (90% capacity) with the lower bowl virtually sold out again for next season. And I can honestly say the arena is a mix of mostly us die hard fans, some fans of the visiting team, but I’ve noticed it’s sort of become a social event and a place to be and be seen.
Just to put it in perspective the Hornets average better then the Twolves, Suns, and Pelicans. Those are teams that made the playoffs last year and just a shade under the Hawks, Bucks, Kings, Clippers, and Grizzlies.
We have shown without a doubt that we can support an NBA franchise. We’re good.
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The eye test tells me we are significantly better since trading away Mason and Jalen. I have a hard time believing that Jalen makes up a large quotient in that equation. I’m not sold that Mark couldn’t have contributed earlier than he was given a chance. Can we discuss the strange blindspot for both playing Mason so much by the coaching staff, and clutching onto him for long past his value-here date by the front office?
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Me too.
Mid way between the half court logo and the three point line! Logo Lillard dropping bombs! Like that mid range, right?
The Mason love was bizarre. It was one of the first things this season that led to my decreased interest in the team. One month in, many of us were screaming for marky mark. Myself included.
It got to the point where I couldn’t stand watching him touch the ball.
Going on my soapbox here for just a second.
I really hope no one here is falling for the PJ during one of his little streaks. This is PJ, always has been, and always will be. He’s a below to slightly below average NBA starter, who is better suited for coming off the bench and can adequately fill in as a starter on a good team. Not bashing PJ, because he does a lot of things pretty well at times. But he also vanishes and can play like hot garbage.
And no, I don’t think he’s a great defender. He’s definitely a better defender compared to those around him. Easy to look like a competent defender when you’re surrounded by nic Richards, Terry rozier, and melo.
I’m going to pull my hair out if he’s given a contract anywhere near 20m per season to stay in charlotte. I wouldn’t commit more than 3yrs/30-36m. Or for a one year deal around 15m.
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I’m with you on PJ. He is too inconsistent to pay anything more than lower teens. If he’s looking for more, fine, but I hope we’re not going to cave and overpay for a borderline starting level player. Again, I’d be ok with a one or two year deal with ‘in the middle’ money. He has to prove it to earn more or get a longer deal.
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