GT Hornets vs Hawks Sun Nov 1st 2PM EST

[JDR720]

[euphorbus]

Kyle Korver should play. The Hawks are resting him on back-to-backs after ankle surgery this summer.

[mrknowitall215]

I'm disappointed in the 0-2 start after a strong showing in preseason (and I understand it was just preseason), but I haven't had the chance to thoroughly watch either game. My business practice has had me hamstrung and then some over the past couple months whereas I haven't been able to keep up with the NFL or NBA seasons this year yet. I watched the 1st quarter of the Hornets-Heat game and that's about it so I don't have a valid opinion on anything really. I hope to get the chance to watch this game in full

[fatlever]

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/scott-fowler/article42060084.html

10 thoughts from Fowler

[ChokeFasncists]

Home opener, gotta get pumped!

[LamarMatic7]

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/scott-fowler/article42060084.html

10 thoughts from Fowler

some thoughts from Lacis

http://lamarmatic.com/2015/10/31/batums-defensive-errors-lead-first-hornets-notes-of-the-season/

[fatlever]

Sure, I'll join the fun. I can't resist making a list

1. More Lamb, Less PJ
2. More Frank, Less Hawes
3. More time together for Kemba/Lin/Batum, less Alfense
4. More Cody at the 5, less Cody at the 4.
5. More Reese's Cups, less candy corn
6. More Steph, less Eric
7. More Oscar, Less Fabregas (oops wrong board)
8. More Fall, Less Winter
9. More 3s, Less long 2s
10. More BigSlam, less Realgm server crashes.

[amcoolio]

Obscene amount of long 2's and contested mid range jumpers through the first two games, and no too nobodies surprise our FG% sucked and we lost two winnable games.

I'm trying to be positive because we played like utter crap and still were in it with a few minutes left in both games....but it doesn't look good. This script is all too familiar, and before you know it the 0-2 record turns into 2-6 and then 10-20.

Cody Zeller, you gotta step up. Its year 3 now. Kemba is a lost cause, Biz is gone and MKG is hurt.... Gotta play like you did in preseason and college.

[Braggins]

Top tier list above

[yosemiteben]

Theory: Hawes's value is in his set up passing and ability to spread the floor and suck out paint defenders with his shooting. The more he dribbles or hangs on to the ball, the more he nullifies that advantage. Part of the reason the second unit has played so poorly is that neither Hawes nor Lin have been decisive on the PNR or generally with the ball.

Very curious to see how they adjust this game.

[therebirth]

Our two "best players" are the least efficient scorers on the team. Those two jacking shots will win you very few games. So disappointed in kemba. He has not changed from his rookie year.

[Kswiss]

Our two "best players" are the least efficient scorers on the team. Those two jacking shots will win you very few games. So disappointed in kemba. He has not changed from his rookie year.

I think our main concerns can be separated into fixable and non-fixable...

Fixable:
1) Batum's decision making
He has been abysmal in terms of playmaking and decision making thus far. He's turning the ball over carelessly without ball pressure and has made very poor decisions in general. Like many of us know, he is not naturally a first or second option on offense, so I think we are asking too much of him and he would be better served as a versatile role playing small forward.

2) Lins over-the-top team-play, I feel like he is passing up open shots to pass the ball when we need him to shoot those to open up the floor. There is nothing selfish about shooting an open shot and he should/hopefully will embrace that. He also needs to develop better chemistry with his new teammates as a primary playermaker to get others easy shots. Part of this has been poor spacing due to lineups.

3) our lineups/rotations, PJ starting gives us a mediocre first unit and a mediocre second. We have to at least stack one. Also Kaminsky needs more minutes. I would realistically start Kemba/Lin Batum Marvin Kaminsky Al. Would go Kemba/Lin Lamb PJ Cody Zeller Hawes. Personally I'd probably start Lin over Kemba for better playmaking, shooting, and defense, but contract-wise, I think that's a little unrealistic. I don't mind the two of them starting but then it's probably best to have Batum come off the bench to allow two bigs to start along with Marvin at SF. I don't know if the FO is confident enough to bench Batum given we just traded for him.

Non-fixable:
1) Batum's defense
He's way too slow to guard SG's and has been getting torched on the perimeter and on he boards. If he spends some time in the weightroom he could potentially guard small forwards but it takes a while to add strength.

2) Kemba's scoring inefficiency
He plays hard but isn't big enough/quick enough to create efficient shots or set up teammates for easy looks consistently, which leads to a lot of contested long 2's which he's not particularly good at hitting

3) Zeller's shot
He just doesn't have the pure stroke to earn respect from defenses and as athletic as he is, it's gonna be tough for him to be effective offensively if he can't score as a stretch 4 given his lack of post play until he puts on more size.


Conclusion:
While I was mainly pointing out flaws in our team in this post, I genuinely do like the team and players and believe we have potential to be a good team this year. We have a roster of winners which is a great for team moral. We have a lot of talent on the roster that if put to maximum effectiveness could definitely win some games this year. Here's to hoping Clifford figures out the right formula and we'll get the W's flowing. Cheers gentlemen

[kastuul]

Losing 3 games in a row is really bad.
Hope they win in their home court.

[MasterIchiro]

2) Kemba's scoring inefficiency
He plays hard but isn't big enough/quick enough to create efficient shots or set up teammates for easy looks consistently, which leads to a lot of contested long 2's which he's not particularly good at hitting

He's definitely quick enough. He's just not a 3 point shooter and never will be unfortunately. I have seen enough of his shot and I'm giving up. Every summer he supposedly works on it. Every year he bricks it. I think he can become more efficient if he makes use of new space by driving, using his quickness rather than settling for long 2's. He should have more shot clock to work with this year. He also needs to work on a drive-and-kick game instead of phishing for fouls on drives in heavy traffic. He doesn't get calls and never will.

Given his quickness and new space, i consider Kemba's scoring inefficiency fixable. We get to see his quickness on full display when he's on the open floor without Al. He carried this team on his back last year without Al. Al is the most fixable piece of this team as an expiring contract.

[yosemiteben]

So far we are #7 in 3PTA (would be higher without all those throw away possessions due to TOs) and right around league average in 3PT%. Massive improvement.

Give it time folks. I would much rather have this team struggle with TOs and transition D early, areas that Cliff is arguably the best in the league at controlling, than have us struggle to get and make shots from the perimeter.

[fatlever]

I will have to watch the game on DVR today. Nephews have a soccer game at 2:30.

[fatlever]

James Plowright ‏@JPlowright_NBA 2h2 hours ago
The Charlotte Hornets are shooting a depressing 36% on uncontested shots in their two games this season, that has to improve right?

[JDR720]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/nicolas88batum/status/660853337814917120[/tweet]

[ChokeFasncists]

I hope Kemba either shoots with a higher accuracy or shoots less. It's all the more frustrating cuz his moves look real good.

Plz, no PJ, plz. Start Lamb, Roberts off the bench.

[fatlever]

I will have to watch the game on DVR today. Nephews have a soccer game at 2:30.

Looks like its supposed to rain all afternoon, so nevermind on the soccer game. I'm gonna keep my pajamas on an stay in a watch the Bugs real-time.