Might not have been season you guys wanted but....

[Neon Keon]

Your team owns the best re-image of any sports team imo. The originality of Purple and Teal with crisp jerseys and 5 nasty cool logo's and an awesome court makes me jealous. Take it from a fan who's team might win a possible 1st+max 2nd round win this year but about to go into what would seem a boring bland re-image that's incredibly uninspiring.

[Hornet Mania]

Thanks man, we can definitely use some positive vibes these days.

It meant a lot to the fans and the region to bring the Hornets back home. I've definitely thought "Eff it, we'll have better years ahead, at least we're the Charlotte Hornets again" more than a few times over the last two weeks.

Good luck to y'all in the playoffs, I know there are a lot of great fans north of the border. The Raps should take it to Milwaulkee, and a second round appearance is progress over last year at least. If you face the Cavs the refs are gonna make things impossible, but get in a cheap shot on Lebron or something just to make it worth your while

[catch20two]

Lol. Thanks but no thanks.

[Liver_Pooty]

I don't care if our colors are pink and yellow and we're called the Dandelions. I want a winning team.

[Snidely FC]

To me its about more than win totals or whether we make the playoffs.

It comes down to hope for the future. As a fan of this team this season made me lose confidence that MGMt will bring together a roster and a coach that will lead to a team I will love to watch.

This season was discouraging from that standpoint. Last season by all reports the roster featured some of the best chemistry in pro sports. Many of us fell for lunch bucket guys like Josh McRoberts, Anthony Tolliver and Chris Douglas Roberts. But MGMT declared it had to make a roster splash to match the rebrand and turned over half the roster. What we got was a mess, and a lot of fans scratching our heads wondering whether this MGMT team knows how to put the right role players with the right coach around our likable young core.

I love the rebrand. I agree that we now have some of the coolest uniforms and court in the world. I love some of our young guys, specifically Zeller, MKG and Biz. They're the kind of guys I want to root for. If MGMT keeps populating the team with guys like that I will be excited about the team's future. If this offseason features the exodus of Bismack Biyombo, and a continued attempt to build around Al Jefferson, then I don't care how pretty our uniforms are, the team will become unsupportable.

[spudwebb]

I don't care if our colors are pink and yellow and we're called the Dandelions. I want a winning team.

I don't mind the losing. I don't even mind multiple winning seasons in the teens. What I hate about this franchise is a total lack of an overall strategy about how we're going to build a contending team. You need a grand strategy, you need luck and then hopefully you can start collecting a few core players you can build around.

Right now there is no grand strategy. And we have ZERO core players to build around. Kemba and MKG are NOT core players to build around but are complementary pieces to build around core players. It seems like the front office is too dense to realize that and has actually convinced much of the fan base otherwise.

If you look at players like Kemba, you'll always notice that they are hyped leading type scorers on their teams earlier in their careers. Then teams realize that they are not that great and can't run a team and are traded around the league. Finally they find value as 6th men types. Jason Terry, Jamaal Crawford, Lou Williams, etc. MKG is a defensive savant but his game is so flawed in the modern NBA where spacing is so critical that even a 4 has to be able to stretch the defense. Even an elite defender like Tony Allen has seen his playing time reduced to ~25 mpg losing minutes to guys like Green and Lee who stretch the defenses out. But on the Hornets, we're trying to combine MKG with Kemba as the core; and Kemba himself is a very mediocre shooter and has tunnel vision passing the ball. This is exacerbated by the fact that there isn't another good shooter on the team.

[Liver_Pooty]

I don't care if our colors are pink and yellow and we're called the Dandelions. I want a winning team.

I don't mind the losing. I don't even mind multiple winning seasons in the teens. What I hate about this franchise is a total lack of an overall strategy about how we're going to build a contending team. You need a grand strategy, you need luck and then hopefully you can start collecting a few core players you can build around.

Right now there is no grand strategy. And we have ZERO core players to build around. Kemba and MKG are NOT core players to build around but are complementary pieces to build around core players. It seems like the front office is too dense to realize that and has actually convinced much of the fan base otherwise.

If you look at players like Kemba, you'll always notice that they are hyped leading type scorers on their teams earlier in their careers. Then teams realize that they are not that great and can't run a team and are traded around the league. Finally they find value as 6th men types. Jason Terry, Jamaal Crawford, Lou Williams, etc. MKG is a defensive savant but his game is so flawed in the modern NBA where spacing is so critical that even a 4 has to be able to stretch the defense. Even an elite defender like Tony Allen has seen his playing time reduced to ~25 mpg losing minutes to guys like Green and Lee who stretch the defenses out. But on the Hornets, we're trying to combine MKG with Kemba as the core; and Kemba himself is a very mediocre shooter and has tunnel vision passing the ball. This is exacerbated by the fact that there isn't another good shooter on the team.

And that my friend is a hell of a post.

[MasterIchiro]

It seems like the front office is too dense to realize that and has actually convinced much of the fan base otherwise.

MKG is a defensive savant but his game is so flawed in the modern NBA where spacing is so critical that even a 4 has to be able to stretch the defense. Even an elite defender like Tony Allen has seen his playing time reduced to ~25 mpg losing minutes to guys like Green and Lee who stretch the defenses out.

Not this fan.

How dare you describe MKG in reality within the love dome utopia?

[LofJ]

If MKG can go from being a complete non threat away from the rim to hitting mid range jumpers at over 40 percent in a year then why in the hell are we betting against him doing more. I see the point with Kemba and I agree with it, because theres a lot of precedent backing it. But MKG is more than a complementary piece. He's not a number 1, but he's a good number 2 - just like he was with AD at Kentucky. He was the leader of that team and he's the leader of our team, that's why we fall apart whenever he's not playing.

[MasterIchiro]

If MKG can go from being a complete non threat away from the rim to hitting mid range jumpers at over 40 percent in a year then why in the hell are we betting against him doing more. I see the point with Kemba and I agree with it, but MKG is more than a complementary piece. He's not a number 1, but he'll be a good number 2 - just like he was with AD at Kentucky. He was the leader of that team and he's the leader of our team, that's why we fall apart whenever he's not playing.

Did you not understand his point about spacing and Spurs-inspired, Euro-style throughout the NBA where stretch 4's are a more common commodity and wings who can't shoot from range (MKG has not attempted a 3 all year and won't) are having their minutes cut on contenders like the Grizz?

[dmutombo321]

I don't mind the losing. I don't even mind multiple winning seasons in the teens. What I hate about this franchise is a total lack of an overall strategy about how we're going to build a contending team. You need a grand strategy, you need luck and then hopefully you can start collecting a few core players you can build around.

Right now there is no grand strategy. And we have ZERO core players to build around. Kemba and MKG are NOT core players to build around but are complementary pieces to build around core players. It seems like the front office is too dense to realize that and has actually convinced much of the fan base otherwise.

If you look at players like Kemba, you'll always notice that they are hyped leading type scorers on their teams earlier in their careers. Then teams realize that they are not that great and can't run a team and are traded around the league. Finally they find value as 6th men types. Jason Terry, Jamaal Crawford, Lou Williams, etc. MKG is a defensive savant but his game is so flawed in the modern NBA where spacing is so critical that even a 4 has to be able to stretch the defense. Even an elite defender like Tony Allen has seen his playing time reduced to ~25 mpg losing minutes to guys like Green and Lee who stretch the defenses out. But on the Hornets, we're trying to combine MKG with Kemba as the core; and Kemba himself is a very mediocre shooter and has tunnel vision passing the ball. This is exacerbated by the fact that there isn't another good shooter on the team.

Superbly stated. So much so that I felt compelled to log in just to And 1 it.

Most important part of this post that a lot of people could stand to re-read and contemplate some more:

And we have ZERO core players to build around. Kemba and MKG are NOT core players to build around but are complementary pieces to build around core players. It seems like the front office is too dense to realize that and has actually convinced much of the fan base otherwise.

Sadly I expect them to overpay to retain Biz and eventually MKG just as they did with Kemba.

[MasterIchiro]

Cho the cap guru would sooner draft WCS than overpay to retain Biz for his pu-pu platter roster.

[Liver_Pooty]

We don't have a player to build around. That's a problem.

[Al Kidd-Walker]

Drag MKG into your agenda as if he's a random role player when we arent **** without him brehs

[MasterIchiro]

Drag MKG into your agenda as if he's a random role player when we arent **** without him brehs

That's not what Spud did brehs.

[MasterIchiro]

We don't have a player to build around. That's a problem.

[dmutombo321]

With Al declining, MKG and Kemba are indisputably the two best players on this roster. I dont think anyone argues that. Unfortunately, that speaks more towards the sad state of our talent level more-so than how special either of them are relative to star players elsewhere in the league. Each have significant holes in their games and are, as spud and several others have stated, good complementary pieces that would normally be used to fill out a starting line up after an all-star level core piece or two is already in place.

[dmutombo321]

I loved Wallace but personally didnt consider him more than a very good complementary piece either when he was here. I yearn for the days of the Hornets of old when they had a string of guys over the years in Rice, LJ, Zo, Mashburn, all of whom were capable of consistently single handedly carry teams.

If these hornets had a player of one of their ilks when they were in their prime, and could then place guys like Kemba and MKG around them to fill out the roster, the franchise would finally have something to build on.

[MasterIchiro]

With Al declining, MKG and Kemba are indisputably the two best players on this roster. I dont think anyone argues that. Unfortunately, that speaks more towards the sad state of our talent level more-so than how special either of them are relative to star players elsewhere in the league. Each have significant holes in their games and are, as spud and several others have stated, good complementary pieces that would normally be used to fill out a starting line up after an all-star level core piece or two is already in place.

Good post and so was Spud's. The thing is, I don't think anyone on here has said build on Kemba as a keystone piece but several say that about MKG. Spud introduced some balance.

[MasterIchiro]

I personally didnt consider wallace more than a very good complementary piece either when he was here. I yearn for the days of the Hornets of old when they had a string of guys like Rice, LJ, Zo, Mashburn all of whom were capable of consistently single handedly carry teams

What about Gary Neal?