Sum of the parts. I would literally just be happy with a 35 win floor. Same as Big Al. He was never a winning player in the sense of say jokic or even embiid. But he does make your team not suck. I really need this team to not suck.
From what I saw, I think the biggest issue with Konās game was this was the first game it seemed the scouting report focused on not allowing him to get open. Set an NBA record for shooting 3ās, the gameplan is eventually gonna target you.
I donāt necessarily think it was lineup issues (other than the roster construction/inexperience) or coaching. Itās just the Magic were making sure he got no clean looks all game, and this was the first game it was fully taken away. Now the coaching part comes in, how do you adapt and adjust to this? Do you get Kon involved more on the ball in pick and rolls?
Also, the defense all year seems to hedge way out on us on screens and handoffs. We need to start countering these hard with back doors or somehow getting the ball into the middle of the defense before they can start mucking up our offensive sets. Teams know weāre hunting a good 3 ball, as we donāt really have many great rim finishers who donāt need to be fed the ball to finish.
I hate free throw merchants, but maybe send Melo to the acting school that Shai and Brunson and apparently Franz Wagner attended to draw stupid cheap fouls. Maybe that will start opening up more space and get teams to be less handsy on us (which refs NEVER give us the benefit of the doubt on).
2 Likes
Not sure ive seen a team reaching in on defense (and getting away with it) more than the Magic last night. Every damn play. It made the game hard to watch - and the calls seemed to get them back on track. But no doubt we were stymied.
Not sure I get the Kon hate though.
We really need more threats on the floor than what we had going on last night - which made Leeās rotations frustrating. So far Melo & Sexton have been most effective lead dogs - even if on the floor together - defense be damned. Tre seems to still be finding his legs (looked a bit better last night). Miles has looked like heās still on summer break since opening night (take- second half in WAS).
Lee looks like he is still testing lineups to a large degree. I get that Millerās absence changes things - but it also feels like a continuation of preseason. And damn, dude will sit a hot hand.
Im beyond ready to move Miles. The energy would change so big.
Donāt forget about Trae Young. Heās the absolute worst. But yeah, as annoying as that is to watch, I think we have to do this. As a team, we donāt put nearly enough pressure on the rim. I love that about Sexton. But Lamelo and Brandon should both be getting about a third of their points from the FT line. The fact that Lamelo didnāt have a single FT attempt last night is absurd. A lot of that has to do with the lack of respect he gets from refs, but it also says a lot about the way heās choosing to approach things offensively.
Letās keep on mind that Orlando is a good team and a tough team to play. Defensively very good. Their bugaboo has been their offense and inability to hit threes. Defensively Orlando was as advertised, and they hit 16 threes (I think). Tough team for Kon to play against
Lamelo IMO does a great job drawing contact and honestly it is clear as day when he gets hit but he just simply doesnāt get the whistle that Shai and Trae and people like that do. Lamelo seemingly will forever get a shit whistle in the NBA, at least as long as heās on the Hornets.
As I acknowledged, he doesnāt get a fair whistle compared to other stars. But I think itās a both/and. He also settles for long 3s more often than he should IMO. I just think he/we would benefit from a bit more balance in his offensive approach. Especially when the 3s arenāt falling, as they havenāt been the past couple of games.
Seems like the Hornets get a playoff whistle, while their opponents get a regular season whistle. The playoff whistle is much more physical. I thought the Heat and Magic were physical and handsey. Physical defense seems to take the Hornets out of their game and they just donāt have an answer. I look for teams to copy and repeat that style of play against them.