Game 20: Raptors at Hornets

Hornets Talk
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Game thread and chat link

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Originally sent in Game 20: Raptors at Hornets
FoundingHornet

I’m here tonight. Cmon guys, give me and my son a win…

here meeting with some of the heads

GeraldWallaceMVP

Why is there like nobody here tonight?

Eastley

Xmas shopping? Tree purchasing? The team sucks? :slight_smile:

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spectre

Shame they don’t look terrible so far
Eastley

In the immortal words of Yoda, "they will be, they will be."

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spectre

24 is just sick behind the line

Eastley

I am kidding. I do hope they pull off a nice clean win and no more injuries

spectre

there’s only been maybe 3games this year when we haven’t imploded so its a fair statement

Eastley

I really worry that nick has regressed since last year

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spectre

I dunno. One the guy we had to compare him to was Plumlee so he didn’t have to be that much better. I think he started putting work in and thats what we saw. Maybe he’s close to his ceiling already
Eastley

He just makes the most absent minded plays defensively. Thought he was making progress there last year.

spectre

We’ll know more when we get a good coach

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Eastley

Seems to me our centers generally go for too many blocks when the prudent play is to stay down and block out
Eastley

How many times do we try get a block as a help defender and leave an opposing front court player a wide open offensive board and put back?

tnhornetsfan

Williams gets his shot blocked way too much. He's got to work on that

spectre

If we’d invest in a big man coach no telling how good he could b

he plays off balance a lot. Guys like Barnes shouldn’t b rejecting his shots

ha what a pass by ish that fooled everyone

how in hell is that not a shot

tnhornetsfan

That no shooting foul is happening a lot. Must be the way the rule is written. Needs to be looked at. That is a shooting foul IMO.

spectre

One thing about Nick he always going for the dunk

y’all remember larry brown screaming at emeka to dunk the damn ball lol

tnhornetsfan

SMH

GoBobcats24

Classic mental lapse to start the 4th.

This team is pure trash without Mark Williams

They don't box out and they don't move their feet on defense

spectre

Amazing how our vets seem to forget how to play

gotta give it to brandon there. Fought for tie up and went up like 3 times to win the jump ball

GeraldWallaceMVP

I don’t think Terry touched him

spectre

He landed on terry’s foot but looked to me it was more Barnes going forward

Mich_Mercer

I agree. This is stupid

spectre

Either way terry should have known better

Dodged another one. Yay!

TheDorkLord

sneaked that out

Buckets22

Love to see the guys step up

Mich_Mercer

Good win! I’m back in!

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Thank God we picked Miller.

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Saw Lamelo walking around after the game. Still significant limp. It’s going to be a while yet.

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Got to go to this sparsely attended game. Felt confident in getting to see a win in person.

And I was right… and then almost not right. But then right again! Still can’t blow anybody out.

Was cool seeing them get up 20, seemed to be playing defense better. Scottie Barnes is just a really good basketball player. But it doesn’t work with him, OG, Siakim, and Schroeder. They need a good veteran leader who’s been through it all, someone like a Gordon Hayward to straighten them out. Gordon for Siakim or OG will solve their problems.

The older vets did well, them playing up to their capabilities is enough to beat a bad team. Mark though seems like he’s thinking too much out there. Don’t know if Cliff put a lot more on his plate this season, but he doesn’t seem to have the same instinctual play and movement out there, seems unsure of where to be, almost like 2nd and 3rd year Nick.

Brandon did pretty well shooting and actually handled the ball a lot against pressure. I noticed their coach egging on the defenders to really get in his grill and try to get him to cough it up, but he did pretty good. My nitpick is that it seems he keeps his handle a touch too high at times. I have no doubts he’ll tighten up throughout the season and next offseason, but once he improves his handle and gets added strength… man, his upper ceiling comparisons could come closer to reality.

Lets see if they can actually put 2 good games together and have us believing they’re a serious team again.

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I wonder what it would cost to get Scottie Barnes in a Hornets uniform he’s quality

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Good win

Are we really that much better with Melo?

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Great team win. We continue to win the close ones. Pretty sold D most of the night, but not without some lapses. Have to fix the number of offensive rebs we’re giving up though. That nearly cost us.

Terry was clutch as always. That last 3 was cold blooded. Great floor game from him as well spreading the ball around with another 13 ast game. Great seeing so many guys involved. 4 starters with 20+ and solid contributions off the bench from PJ and Nick.

Good stuff from Miles, Gordon and Miller as well. Miller winning that tip was a turning point late. He’ll be a star. Just a matter of when.

I really do wonder what could’ve been had Gordon been able to play in more than half the games since he’s been here. Love his all around game. If he continues to play at this level I think we could squeeze a 1st out of a desperate contender at the deadline.

Miles gives us such a great dimension as well with his ability to stretch the floor and also attack the rim and finish with either hand.

Nick didn’t stay in Cliff’s doghouse for long. Great minutes from him, but I do worry a little about what these 4th quarter benching are doing to Mark’s confidence.

Eric and Dell were in my head talking about the fact that we have some nice pieces. We really do.

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When we’re getting contributions up and down the line up like we did last night we can win without Lamelo. But we won’t shoot like that every night and his scoring is certainly needed on the nights when we see bad PJ and bad Gordon. I think the opportunity for more guys to get going probably does exist when you don’t have such a dominant leading scorer on the floor, but having Lamelo is certainly a net positive.

Also, even though Terry has demonstrated that he’s capable of running the point, I do like him more off the ball because it allows him to play freer when he can just focus on scoring and not having to run the offense.

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With how Toronto has been posturing I believe they’ve been wanting three 1st rounders for Siakam. Which isn’t completely unreasonable, but it’s still a ton and more than teams want to give. Given he’s set to be a UFA.

Over the last two weeks I’ve boarded the pascal siakam train. But we’d need to move rozier to accommodate a contract like that next year. And siakam would mean the hornets could not afford miles bridges (fine by me).

But a core of Melo/Miller/Siakam/Mark works in my mind. Siakam’s length, versatility, and defensive two way play is a great fit.

A rotation featuring: Melo, Miler, Siakam, PJ, Williams is crazy length and size.

Just having Miller, Siakam, PJ being able to switch onto almost anyone would help our defense so much. That seemless switching.

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I like Siakam but he’s not worth 3 1st. A team like us can’t afford to give up that much draft capital for a guy who isn’t a bona fide 1st or 2nd team all-nba guy. Especially if it’s costing us Terry and the chance to re-sign Miles. If that’s the price tag, I’d pass.

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No need to either. He’ll be a UFA after this current season.