Saw this on the Tusk site so sharing (2 free tix):
In other news, sounds like Slo Mo is questionable and they are w/out Jordan McLaughlin and Taurean Prince. I assume we are sans LaMelo, Cody and DSJ but not sure we got news on the latter since mid-game Wed.
Very nice of you Eastly . I really wish I could still go to games would have loved to go . Like I said very nice… Hornets lose this in a very close game
Ah, not my tickets Dav. This is Charlotte Sports Despair’s (I don’t think he is on here), I am just boosting them for visibility.
I might have some available later in the season however but again, these aren’t mine, just saw them when I posted here.
What are your estimates on Gobert rebounds over Plum?
Our starters have 12 rebounds and Gobert has 11 in the first half.
Well…. End of the 4th… better out Mason in so we can make sure we lose. Full tank.
I really loved what I was seeing from kai. Brought so much energy.
I still would love to see what the this team could do fully healthy. Great team win tonight.
Cliff said in the interview tonight Plumlee’s effort and rebounds won the game down the strech
The two tank comanders couldn’t lose another one tonight. Cliff and Plumlee…
Kai
Coming of age?
From my birds eye view:
Going in without Melo and Gordon against Minnesota and their full arsenal of stars, I was just hoping we weren’t gonna get blown out too bad. They started to pull ahead at the end of the first half, and were a run away from being put to bed early.
Kelly looked really good this one, he’s really trying to earn that $80M contract this offseason. I actually really appreciate his game despite the headaches. He’s always aggressive and plays hard, and has a silky smoothness to his offense, and he’s a little scrappy too. But, with him averaging 20 and his big payday coming soon, I don’t think our best interests intersect in the future. However, he very well may be worth a first rounder now. Probably low one because he’s expiring and playoff teams don’t have high picks anyway. But better to get a value pick rather than giving $16-18M per year and caught in a Marvin Williams/Batum free agent situation.
The most exciting news of the night is Kai’s ascendence. He was the FIRST guy off the bench, which I did not expect this year. He plays so hard, was grabbing all the rebounds, and there is a general buzz with him on the court in anticipation of a potential athletic explosion at any point.
The thing I really noticed his how much more patient he’s become, which is obvious good coaching. When he catches the ball, he’s not nervous anymore and doesn’t try to force anything. The more he gets comfortable playing in the big leagues, I could see him start to score better and maybe get several double doubles during the season.
Special shout out to Maledon, his sneaky drives kept the game close in the third, and they actually had nobody to keep up with him. I’d prioritize keeping Smith as backup guard, but if he signs somewhere else, than Theo would be a nice backup here.
Bouknight finally hit a shot in like 3 games. It’s hard for me to judge his progress until he gets any minimal consistency in his night to night performance.
Fun game, can’t lose them all.
Can someone explain to me why Kai spends so much time standing in the corner on offense? Is the coach trying to keep him out of the way on that end? I guess playing 4 on 5 is a strategy. It’s not like Kai is a scoring threat from there. Maybe he’s been asked to run in to the basket for lobs or put backs, but that’s not really happening either.
Bouknight - the guy has exciting athletic talent. This game gave a little hope that he could figure it out. He’s an interesting follow for sure. Makes a three, next touch, makes a three. A long one. Whoa, I’m HOT. Takes a third (yup Bouk is heat checking) and misses by a good bit. Cliff is like yeah come back here, have a seat.
I did absolutely swoon when I saw him first Hornet to sub in. If the rest of the year is sub moves like that, I’ll be happy no matter where we finish. I was disappointed he didn’t get more run toward the finish, only b/c he seemed to be pulling every rebound out there in the 4th but I appreciate the amount of burn he’s gotten himself up to over the last three games.
He’s clearly PJ’s designated sub for now, I wasn’t sure whether Kai played so much because of foul trouble or if PJ was being too lackadaisical this game. But Kai’s energy turned the game around.
And with Cliff’s track record for young guys, Kai must be really impressive in practice to earn coach’s trust and get meaningful minutes now.
I also remember preseason Cliff was saying Kai could only really handle the 5 at that point, but now he’s been exclusively at the 4 playing with Nick and Plumlee. I like this move better, its pretty obvious the effect of having 2 athletic bigs on the floor for defense and rebounding.
I’m guessing its just to simplify Kai’s role for now. Bring energy, keep the ball moving, attack the rim for cuts, rebounds and dunks, run the floor, play d and grab rebounds. Especially since he used to look like an overgrown puppy running on a freshly waxed floor when trying to make a move, I like this simplified approach, and then we can add on more things as he gets more comfortable with a playing role.
I do think he’ll be a regular part of the rotation going forward. And if he can ever start hitting that awkward looking 3 ball, then he may really start turning the corner at some point.
I’d like to point out that Plumlee’s ONLY field goal was a reverse jam.
I’d like to see what the hornets record is when plumlee scores a reverse jam. And if multiple reverse jams in a game correlates with a high win percentage for the hornets.
Wasn’t able to watch the game because of family stuff but I was able to check out the 10 minute condensed game highlights.
Eric Collins was on point last night.