GT: Game #18 - Charlotte @ Orlando (Jan 25th)

[BigSlam]

I think Graham has a role on this team as long as hes on the roster, but I don't understand the almost superstar like treatment he gets from the coaching staff. I get that players should get more leeway when it comes to shooting slumps than things like turnovers and unforced errors, but Graham shot 38% last year over a full season and is shooting 33% this year. At a certain point you have to accept that a guy might just be inefficient and take that into account. He turns 26 in a month, so its not even like hes a young guy that you can hope is going to make big improvements with more experience.

Hes a backup PG that gets penciled in for 35 minutes every single night regardless of his play, even though we actually have other options that could eat up some of his minutes.

Feels like the Walker thing all over again...

(before Walker finally broke out after year 4)

[DY_nasty]

I think Graham has a role on this team as long as hes on the roster, but I don't understand the almost superstar like treatment he gets from the coaching staff. I get that players should get more leeway when it comes to shooting slumps than things like turnovers and unforced errors, but Graham shot 38% last year over a full season and is shooting 33% this year. At a certain point you have to accept that a guy might just be inefficient and take that into account. He turns 26 in a month, so its not even like hes a young guy that you can hope is going to make big improvements with more experience.

Hes a backup PG that gets penciled in for 35 minutes every single night regardless of his play, even though we actually have other options that could eat up some of his minutes.

preaching to the choir man

our staff is clearly gassing him up when he should probing FIRST then looking for his shot. its 100% backwards this year

dude will stand at the top of the 3pt line and have a conversation, call for a screen, turn it down, and launch a 3 like it's how business gets done.

[Braggins]

i dont hate the idea of rozier next to ball

I don't like Rozier as much as everyone else (although I admit hes better this year than I expected), but he actually does fit well enough with LaMelo. You really need to pair him with a big playmaker because hes an undersized tunnel vision scorer who doesn't defend well, but we actually have the perfect guy to make him work. I'd still be totally cool with selling high on him, though.

[Rich4114]

Go back to what I said: From a skill/talent aspect their roster is uninspiring but at least it is balanced.

Our roster has zero balance.

They are waxing us tonight (and should have won last night) not on skill/talent - but because they are balanced.

I 100% agree with you but their ceiling is 8th seed for the next several seasons while we can do things.

That's what I'm saying though: I don't think our ceiling is higher than theirs with the way our roster is currently constructed Vs how theirs is currently constructed.

If we reconfigure our roster and balance it out then things could change - but as of right now our roster is a mess and it's the way it's built is the thing that is holding us back IMO.

The difference is we can reconfigure our roster and they can’t.

[BigSlam]

I think Graham has a role on this team as long as hes on the roster, but I don't understand the almost superstar like treatment he gets from the coaching staff. I get that players should get more leeway when it comes to shooting slumps than things like turnovers and unforced errors, but Graham shot 38% last year over a full season and is shooting 33% this year. At a certain point you have to accept that a guy might just be inefficient and take that into account. He turns 26 in a month, so its not even like hes a young guy that you can hope is going to make big improvements with more experience.

Hes a backup PG that gets penciled in for 35 minutes every single night regardless of his play, even though we actually have other options that could eat up some of his minutes.

preaching to the choir man

our staff is clearly gassing him up when he should probing FIRST then looking for his shot. its 100% backwards this year

I feel like JB has all these dudes playing ways they are not meant to play.

Tae has regressed as a passer (one of his real strengths in previous years IMO).
PJ playing like a SF.
Cody shooting more 3's than setting screens.
Melo playing 3rd fiddle in the 3 PG line up.

It all just seems upside down to me.

[BigSlam]

The difference is we can reconfigure our roster and they can’t.

Dude - you keep saying that which tells me you are either not reading what I am posting or you are missing the point.

[Braggins]

I think Graham has a role on this team as long as hes on the roster, but I don't understand the almost superstar like treatment he gets from the coaching staff. I get that players should get more leeway when it comes to shooting slumps than things like turnovers and unforced errors, but Graham shot 38% last year over a full season and is shooting 33% this year. At a certain point you have to accept that a guy might just be inefficient and take that into account. He turns 26 in a month, so its not even like hes a young guy that you can hope is going to make big improvements with more experience.

Hes a backup PG that gets penciled in for 35 minutes every single night regardless of his play, even though we actually have other options that could eat up some of his minutes.

Feels like the Walker thing all over again...

(before Walker finally broke out after year 4)

I think Walker was clearly more talented and was in an awkward position playing with no playmakers or spacing in an archaic Al Jefferson focused offense (and at a younger age). He had his issues he needed to work out for sure, but I think Devonte is in a much better position to succeed right now than Walker was in first stage of his career and hes even more inefficient than Walker ever was. Kemba broke out at the same age Graham is now and Graham seems to be getting worse if anything. I do see some parallels, but I think there was more justification for giving Walker the benefit of the doubt than there is for Graham.

[DY_nasty]

I think Graham has a role on this team as long as hes on the roster, but I don't understand the almost superstar like treatment he gets from the coaching staff. I get that players should get more leeway when it comes to shooting slumps than things like turnovers and unforced errors, but Graham shot 38% last year over a full season and is shooting 33% this year. At a certain point you have to accept that a guy might just be inefficient and take that into account. He turns 26 in a month, so its not even like hes a young guy that you can hope is going to make big improvements with more experience.

Hes a backup PG that gets penciled in for 35 minutes every single night regardless of his play, even though we actually have other options that could eat up some of his minutes.

preaching to the choir man

our staff is clearly gassing him up when he should probing FIRST then looking for his shot. its 100% backwards this year

I feel like JB has all these dudes playing ways they are not meant to play.

Tae has regressed as a passer (one of his real strengths in previous years IMO).
PJ playing like a SF.
Cody shooting more 3's than setting screens.
Melo playing 3rd fiddle in the 3 PG line up.

It all just seems upside down to me.

to the cody thing..... and i probably would've said more on it last night

lamelo doesn't need constant screens to get free like tae does, early career kemba did, lin, rozier most nights, etc. he can actually beat his man off the dribble and if he can't for whatever reason he'll find an open guy before the ball stalls out. cody's all-world screen setting would only matter to this team if he set those screens off-ball

BUT we don't have that level of an offense. part of that is our offensive motion isn't there (we almost never do anything baseline in 2021 ffs) and the other part is we don't have the talent on the floor at any given moment were we can function while a team completely ignores biz/cody.

at least biz will get vertical(ish) and move to/away from the ball fast enough to keep up. not that he's great or anything.

its pure liability szn

[DY_nasty]

its incredible how hard this team works to get cody and biz 11/7 and 7/7 a night

it'd be one thing if those guys just did garbage pail work but we're out here dumping it off to them after entire sets

[Liver_Pooty]

Zeller use to be a great athlete. Thats going downhill quickly, and he never developed the 3 ball to offset declining athleticism

[DY_nasty]

guys i don't say this lightly. it hurts to say

but i'd take byron mullens over both biz and cody right now

[Braggins]

its incredible how hard this team works to get cody and biz 11/7 and 7/7 a night

it'd be one thing if those guys just did garbage pail work but we're out here dumping it off to them after entire sets

The defense is playing to encourage this. They sell out so hard to stop our perimeter attack because we are so one dimensional. Most of the time we're technically making the right play when we feed it to them. Its just a huge weakness of our roster. I can honestly forgive JB for the problems caused by the center position because he doesn't really have any other option besides going small with PJ at center, which can be really effective at times, but its also more of a situational tool that you can't just go to whenever.

[DY_nasty]

its incredible how hard this team works to get cody and biz 11/7 and 7/7 a night

it'd be one thing if those guys just did garbage pail work but we're out here dumping it off to them after entire sets

The defense is playing to encourage this. They sell out so hard to stop our perimeter attack because we are so one dimensional. Most of the time we're technically making the right play when we feed it to them. Its just a huge weakness of our roster. I can honestly forgive JB for the problems caused by the center position because he doesn't really have any other option besides going small with PJ at center, which can be really effective at times, but its also more of a situational tool that you can't just go to whenever.

if he actually exhausted every option instead of further digging that hole with absurd lineups, then i'd be okay with.

[euphorbus]

I can honestly forgive JB for the problems caused by the center position because he doesn't really have any other option besides going small with PJ at center, which can be really effective at times, but its also more of a situational tool that you can't just go to whenever.

On the other side of that coin, this is Coach Borrego's fourth season. If he needed a center--as he clearly has since the very first game of the season, when Zeller broke his hand--he can demand a center. You can't just go with the flow and watch the whole team swoop into the sea.

Frankly, it makes me angry to see how poorly coached the team is. But it also is frustrating that the Hornets did not make a quick move to either sign an experienced center or start playing one of the two rookies.

[Diop]

i dont hate the idea of rozier next to ball

me neither but rozier was out of control basically all night long until the 4th quarter

at no point did JB chill him out either

it felt like they were desperate to score, which brings out the worst in Rozier.

[Bassman]

We fall into the same pattern in too many games. Some is coaching, most belongs on the players. Rozier should be dealt for a real big man asset...somewhere there has to be a deal to make that work. Graham is a reserve until he can ever produce consistently on both sides of the Ball (pun intended). PJ struggles to impact the game...he plays small. Then there’s our lack of a shot blocking 5. Imagine how bad we’d be without Hayward?

There is talent here, but feel it’s not being utilized or developed as well as it could be.

[oldshoolballer]

Looking at most of the Hornets games this year the team only has 2 quality starters Rozier and Hayward. Biz Graham and PJ are backup players. The team needs a rim protector and decent center. Imo just roll with Lamelo as the starting pg when the Hornets were winning earlier it was Lamelo pushing pace in transition. The team plays better with a fast pace. The half court offense needs a lot of work imo.

[BigSlam]

guys i don't say this lightly. it hurts to say

but i'd take byron mullens over both biz and cody right now

That’s funny because last night I was thinking PJ plays like Primoz Brezec this season.

Remember last year when, after seeing him play for a month or so, we thought we had lucked into a new age David West? A physical, no nonsense enforcer type who was also explosive and could hit the 3?

What happened to that guy?

[Rich4114]

The difference is we can reconfigure our roster and they can’t.

Dude - you keep saying that which tells me you are either not reading what I am posting or you are missing the point.

I thought the point you’re trying to make is that their roster is more balanced and as it is currently constructed has a higher ceiling than ours? I agree with that. I’m factoring in the contracts we are locked into vs the ones we are. Our roster will look much different then theirs will next season and the one after. I’d take our situation over theirs EVEN THOUGH they currently have a more talented roster with more upside guys. If I’m still missing the point you’re making, perhaps give it another shot with different words. Are you getting my point? Not trying to argue or anything just want to understand each other. We are teammates here

[Rich4114]

guys i don't say this lightly. it hurts to say

but i'd take byron mullens over both biz and cody right now

That’s funny because last night I was thinking PJ plays like Primoz Brezec this season.

Remember last year when, after seeing him play for a month or so, we thought we had lucked into a new age David West? A physical, no nonsense enforcer type who was also explosive and could hit the 3?

What happened to that guy?

Pandemic and he got a girlfriend. Look at his Instagram. I honestly think he lost focus. I’m
Hopeful he regains it by end of season or next year.