Hornets Championship Chances

[GoBobs]

I'm not really scared of anyone in the East. Even if the Cavs get love, he is not a winner, and they still don't have anyone to protect the rim. We have a better chance to make the conference finals at least then ever and that goes for every halfway good team in the east.

We need to start thinking in terms of winning it all instead of just being happy to be a playoff team or win a series.

[Flip Murray]

I just want to win a playoff game

[chabber]

I just want to win a playoff game

Exactly, lets start with that first.

I think ESAL pointed out our weaknesses pretty well. I still think there will be a drop off from losing McRoberts and CDR, considering what we've replaced them with. If they were still here, I'd would put money on us winning our division. As currently constructed, Zeller and Vonleh both are going to have to contribute more than I wanted them to this season. I'm not referring to a drop off in record mind you, just how good I think the team could have been.

Way to early for this but just for fun.

Teams I don't want to play.

Chicago - I think they are clearly better than us. McBuckets looks like the real deal.

Cleveland - We have two guys for Lebron now. I think Kyrie is overrated, the rest play no d, but I'm always scared of Lebron and a bunch of 3pt marks.

Atlanta - Bad match up. They space us out, kill us with 3's and now have Horford and Milsap inside.

Wizards - I almost didn't put them here, but they currently have a lot of experienced depth in their front court and I think that's the difference. Wall, Beal, Pierce/Porter do not scare me at all. Our defense locked them down pretty solidly last season (Wall & Beal). They tend to make bone headed plays, and we force them into those more often than not. Especially in crunch time.

Teams I think we have a chance to beat.

Toronto - I think they're a really good team, we just match up well with them.

Pacers - I'm not sure what to make of this team yet. I think they'll decline, but if Hibbert recovers at all they are still solid.

Miami - They're PG's are bad. Wade couldn't score on MKG if memory serves, but was rarely guarded by him because of you know who. They don't rebound well, they have no rim protection, nor a lot of depth and aren't very athletic overall. I see a bigger drop off for this team than most are predicting. They won 54 games last season with a system suited to Lebron on offense and defense. They have a lot to change to find a way to be effective.

[Liver_Pooty]

Cavs, Bulls, and Heat are the only three teams that are better than us right now.

Toronto and Atlanta and us are a toss up in my opinion, even if we did kill them last season.

Washington and Indiana are more than capable of beating us, but the Wizards lost big time letting Ariza go, and Pierce is half washed up.

We could be a 3-4 seed or a 7 seed again. Championship hopes are insane at this point, and I think Atlanta with Horford back is the wild card in the east.

[LamarMatic7]

I know that we just signed Lance Stephenson and all, but let's not start sucking each other's dicks quite yet.

I love that quote, pulp and all. But is there a reason why? This team was 4th in points allowed. We must be on par or better with this offseason. Scoring is much improved. Stephenson adds an edge to this team. I don't think we will shock the world but this team has incredible upside. Cho is awesome so far. I love the risks and the picks to cover that risk. For the record I think Vonleh will definitely make an impact this season. He's too talented to D league.

We are still likely to be an average offensive team with all the required meshing ahead of us. Spacing will again present itself as an issue, the question is how big of a issue will it be.

[Vanderbilt_Grad]

What this team needs to have anything resembling a shot at the Championship

Kemba: needs to become more consistent. He can’t have as many bad nights and he needs to even out his Home / Away performances. FG% needs to go up. He needs to be steady when leading this team and running the offense.

Al: needs to avoid injuries and just keep plugging away like he did last year. If I could see one area of realistic improvement it would be passing. He didn’t have much to pass to last year, but I would like to see his assists go up. He also needs to work harder on D. Don’t expect him to be great there, but more effort is needed for a championship.

Lance: needs to avoid trouble and distractions. He needs to play within the team concept and not worry about his individual numbers so much. He need to harness that competitive drive and use it to get wins and not let it drive him to the kind of behavior we saw in the playoffs last year. Most of all he needs to avoid the dip in performance that some guys have on their first big contract.

MKG: needs to become reliable on both sides of the court, not just the one. He doesn’t need to be a 20 PPG scorer, but he does need to make other teams pay if they try to clog the middle or drop off him on D. He also needs to become a better passer.

Marvin: needs to get past the injuries and take over McBob’s duties with regards to passing and outside shooting. While I think he will be better at the latter than the former, he still needs to get better at both. He also needs to really step it up on D to make this work.

Hendo: needs to embrace the 6th man role (if he’s not traded) and be able to spark both the O & D from the bench. He really needs to get more comfortable with the 3 point shot, which seems doable going against other team’s second units.

Cody: needs to make that shot he’s been working on actually fall in games. Needs to use the strength he’s been working on to finish strong inside. Needs to keep work on passing and D as well.

Biz: needs to be aggressive on offense. I don’t think that he’ll ever be good on that end but he’s had games where he’s scored as a starter. Just need to see a bit more of that every game when he comes off the bench to keep the other team’s D honest while he’s in there.

Roberts: needs to fit in on both sides of the court and keep things going when Kemba is out.

Taylor: needs to come back healthy and play more within himself. 3 and D is all we need from him. Last year he tried too much after his success overseas.

Vonleh: Just needs to work on positioning and big man skills in general. He needs to take advantage of any minutes he gets. Needs to listen to Cliff, Ewing, Al, etc. This is a great situation for him to learn both skills and what it takes to win.

Neal: needs to pass better. Otherwise 3 & D are the main needs from him if he gets minutes.

PJ: needs to stay focused on his job both off and on the court. Needs to work on court vision and passing to complement his offensive game and make it more dangerous. Basic work on shooting and D will help as well.

As a team the group needs to pass more and be at least average offensive if not in the top half of the league. Their D can’t slip with the loss of McBob. Team will need to take advantage of depth in order to avoid playing the starters too many minutes through the season. This is especially true of Al. The Hornets need him fresh for a deep playoff run. Honestly I would wish that Cliff could manage his minutes the way Pop does for Duncan. If we see Kemba, Lance, and Al getting big minutes all year then don’t expect a deep playoff run.

Outside of all that, it really feels to me like this team is a trade or two away. I would love it if the team was able to bring back CDR and convert Hendo and Neal into other assets.

[Dancingpanda]

What this team needs to have anything resembling a shot at the Championship

Kemba: needs to become more consistent. He can’t have as many bad nights and he needs to even out his Home / Away performances. FG% needs to go up. He needs to be steady when leading this team and running the offense.

Al: needs to avoid injuries and just keep plugging away like he did last year. If I could see one area of realistic improvement it would be passing. He didn’t have much to pass to last year, but I would like to see his assists go up. He also needs to work harder on D. Don’t expect him to be great there, but more effort is needed for a championship.

Lance: needs to avoid trouble and distractions. He needs to play within the team concept and not worry about his individual numbers so much. He need to harness that competitive drive and use it to get wins and not let it drive him to the kind of behavior we saw in the playoffs last year. Most of all he needs to avoid the dip in performance that some guys have on their first big contract.

MKG: needs to become reliable on both sides of the court, not just the one. He doesn’t need to be a 20 PPG scorer, but he does need to make other teams pay if they try to clog the middle or drop off him on D. He also needs to become a better passer.

Marvin: needs to get past the injuries and take over McBob’s duties with regards to passing and outside shooting. While I think he will be better at the latter than the former, he still needs to get better at both. He also needs to really step it up on D to make this work.

Hendo: needs to embrace the 6th man role (if he’s not traded) and be able to spark both the O & D from the bench. He really needs to get more comfortable with the 3 point shot, which seems doable going against other team’s second units.

Cody: needs to make that shot he’s been working on actually fall in games. Needs to use the strength he’s been working on to finish strong inside. Needs to keep work on passing and D as well.

Biz: needs to be aggressive on offense. I don’t think that he’ll ever be good on that end but he’s had games where he’s scored as a starter. Just need to see a bit more of that every game when he comes off the bench to keep the other team’s D honest while he’s in there.

Roberts: needs to fit in on both sides of the court and keep things going when Kemba is out.

Taylor: needs to come back healthy and play more within himself. 3 and D is all we need from him. Last year he tried too much after his success overseas.

Vonleh: Just needs to work on positioning and big man skills in general. He needs to take advantage of any minutes he gets. Needs to listen to Cliff, Ewing, Al, etc. This is a great situation for him to learn both skills and what it takes to win.

Neal: needs to pass better. Otherwise 3 & D are the main needs from him if he gets minutes.

PJ: needs to stay focused on his job both off and on the court. Needs to work on court vision and passing to complement his offensive game and make it more dangerous. Basic work on shooting and D will help as well.

As a team the group needs to pass more and be at least average offensive if not in the top half of the league. Their D can’t slip with the loss of McBob. Team will need to take advantage of depth in order to avoid playing the starters too many minutes through the season. This is especially true of Al. The Hornets need him fresh for a deep playoff run. Honestly I would wish that Cliff could manage his minutes the way Pop does for Duncan. If we see Kemba, Lance, and Al getting big minutes all year then don’t expect a deep playoff run.

Outside of all that, it really feels to me like this team is a trade or two away. I would love it if the team was able to bring back CDR and convert Hendo and Neal into other assets.

If we could trade hendo and or Neal for a starting caliber PF and we resign CDR i think we would be good to go. maybe not a championship team but we would be 4th-5th seed in the playoffs

[Bassman]

Lots of great analysis by you folks. Everything is "on paper" analysis, as both the Hornets and Heat/Cavs/Wiz have to find chemistry with so many new additions and subtractions. Chicago should be stronger right out of the gate. My short take on our team:

> We have an improved team with more depth and a potential alpha-dog in Lance who can win close games for us. We could gain 5 to 7 more wins this year. While we're weaker at the 4 without McBob, Lance helps offset the passing piece.

> Noah is the future at the 4, but neither Williams or Zeller will give us stellar play there now. We need to make a trade that includes a SG for a better PF option, and let Williams man the reserve 3 spot. Without that it will remain a position in transition.

> Our only chance at a championship this year is if major players in multiple teams are injured. It will be a climb to reach the top (it is with every NBA team). Our goals should always be high, but winning our 1st round series would be a great result this season. In 3 to 4 years, if all goes well, we should be emerging as a finals contender.

[Snidely FC]

Funny, I saw the thread title and assumed it was about the Summer League team.

[LamarMatic7]

[Robot Rock]

I think we could get on a run and finish top 12 in the conference.

[JDR720]

Our odds at getting a championship are equal to Al's chances of having a chase down block.

[SWedd523]

Our odds at getting a championship are equal to Al's chances of having a chase down block.

I literally just laughed out loud picturing Al chasing down somebody on a fast break to block the shot

[yosemiteben]

Our odds at getting a championship are equal to Al's chances of having a chase down block.

I literally just laughed out loud picturing Al chasing down somebody on a fast break to block the shot

I sat for a solid minute thinking where Al would have to start on the court to get a chase down block.

[Braggins]

Our odds at getting a championship are equal to Al's chances of having a chase down block.

I literally just laughed out loud picturing Al chasing down somebody on a fast break to block the shot

I sat for a solid minute thinking where Al would have to start on the court to get a chase down block.

5 feet in front of a streaking Glen Davis. Seriously, imagine Al and Glen Davis going at it on a breakaway and try not to at least crack a smile.