PS1: Hornets @ Magic, 7PM, Oct 3

[tyusedney]

Agreed. Although I'd like to hear your take on Marvin starting. I don;t think he should be, at all. Sure he can shoot from deep, but Zeller is better than him at literally every other facet of the game.

Bottom line if Kemba starts then Marvin or Kaminsky should too. Cody could be really good with Lin and Lamb.

IF Kemba starts. Lets be honest, is Kemba Walker a starting caliber PG in the NBA. He has OK stats, but does he really get the offense going and get others involved? We will see. I say no. I've always said no.

Edit: And before everyone responds I know that Al is the problem, Lance was the problem, spacing was the problem, literally everything in the world is the problem.

AL ain't the problem. but having two ball dominant isolation players on the court together is a problem if you're trying to play fast. plus, it's better to have a BIG isolation down low than a tiny do it away from the basket. just basketball 101, imo

[Mystical Apples]

Long-term Kemba is not a starting PG but that's fine. He's a small shooting guard who has good handle. Basketball is a sport where things get figured out organically and playing with Batum had to be a light bulb moment for him. He did way better(and the team) with Batum driving the bus.

[Mystical Apples]

So the interesting question right now is who starts for us if MKG isn't ready for the season opener. Probably Lamb, right?

This is the problem with limited wing depth coming to fruition. Lamb may start but that means PJ is getting backup minutes or Lin slides to SG. Possibly opens the window for Cody or Frank to start and Marvin getting more 3.

[TinmanZBoy]

the offense looked good tonight... the interior defense was meh.....

[spaceballer]

Agreed. Although I'd like to hear your take on Marvin starting. I don;t think he should be, at all. Sure he can shoot from deep, but Zeller is better than him at literally every other facet of the game.

Bottom line if Kemba starts then Marvin or Kaminsky should too. Cody could be really good with Lin and Lamb.

IF Kemba starts. Lets be honest, is Kemba Walker a starting caliber PG in the NBA. He has OK stats, but does he really get the offense going and get others involved? We will see. I say no. I've always said no.

Edit: And before everyone responds I know that Al is the problem, Lance was the problem, spacing was the problem, literally everything in the world is the problem.

Kemba's shooting stats for this game were actually not just below league average, but also below team average.

Hornets in this game: 45.3% FG%, 38.7% 3PT%
Kemba: 33.3% FG%, 25% 3PT%
JLin: 50% FG%, 50% 3P%

But it's only 1 unrepresentative small sample size preseason game. Hopefully things will improve by the time the season opener rolls around.

[spaceballer]

Orlando Magic headcoach Scott Skiles during post-game interview (@ the 40sec mark):

"They took it to us. Jeremy Lin was everywhere tonight. He was in the paint. He was all over the place. We had a hard time keeping him under control. And, you know, they played better than we did."

http://www.nba.com/magic/video/teams/magic/2015/10/04/1443925022603-skiles3.mp4-40218

[Kswiss]

Bottom line if Kemba starts then Marvin or Kaminsky should too. Cody could be really good with Lin and Lamb.

IF Kemba starts. Lets be honest, is Kemba Walker a starting caliber PG in the NBA. He has OK stats, but does he really get the offense going and get others involved? We will see. I say no. I've always said no.

Edit: And before everyone responds I know that Al is the problem, Lance was the problem, spacing was the problem, literally everything in the world is the problem.

Kemba's shooting stats for this game were actually not just below league average, but also below team average.

Hornets in this game: 45.3% FG%, 38.7% 3PT%
Kemba: 33.3% FG%, 25% 3PT%
JLin: 50% FG%, 50% 3P%

But it's only 1 unrepresentative small sample size preseason game. Hopefully things will improve by the time the season opener rolls around.

I will agree Lin is the better player, but Kemba can still improve. We're locked into his contract for four years so even if he is best used as a sixth man, his fate is intertwined with this team. Therefore, regardless, the whole team needs Kemba to play well (and efficiently)

[spaceballer]

IF Kemba starts. Lets be honest, is Kemba Walker a starting caliber PG in the NBA. He has OK stats, but does he really get the offense going and get others involved? We will see. I say no. I've always said no.

Edit: And before everyone responds I know that Al is the problem, Lance was the problem, spacing was the problem, literally everything in the world is the problem.

Kemba's shooting stats for this game were actually not just below league average, but also below team average.

Hornets in this game: 45.3% FG%, 38.7% 3PT%
Kemba: 33.3% FG%, 25% 3PT%
JLin: 50% FG%, 50% 3P%

But it's only 1 unrepresentative small sample size preseason game. Hopefully things will improve by the time the season opener rolls around.

I will agree Lin is the better player, but Kemba can still improve. We're locked into his contract for four years so even if he is best used as a sixth man, his fate is intertwined with this team. Therefore, regardless, the whole team needs Kemba to play well (and efficiently)

Shooting is one of the easier skills to improve over time. You can't teach height, but you can certainly teach shooting. Many NBA players have a history of improving their shot over the years (case in point, Lin's 3pt shot has increased every season without fail). So there's certainly hope for Kemba to keep improving his shot over the course of the 4yr contract. It's eminently feasible and not without precedent.

[tyusedney]

i'm rooting for Kemba. but i kinda want to see how Big Al does with Lin in pnr

[Lorenzomax7]

i'm rooting for Kemba. but i kinda want to see how Big Al does with Lin in pnr

I prefer the combo of Kam and Lin thou...

[tyusedney]

i'm rooting for Kemba. but i kinda want to see how Big Al does with Lin in pnr

I prefer the combo of Kam and Lin thou...

Kemba and Tank is a much better option for the pnp game

[Little General]

Post-game interview of: Coach, Batum and Lin
http://www.nba.com/hornets/video/channel/postgame_interviews

[Lorenzomax7]

Im sorry but Lin is not better than Walker this is a pre season game. Team was +12 with Walker and -7 with Lin. The last quarter was hard to watch.

I don't necessarily think Lin is better than Walker, but Walker looked like same ol' Kemba out there. Just one game so hopefully things change.

Kemba had more assists and less TO's in less time than Lin. Lin played good but lets calm down a little bit.

Lin actually only had ONE turnover tonite but they counted twice. There is one happened in the 7:14, 2nd Q mark. Hawes got a bounce pass from Lin and immediately swang it to P. Hairston but his teammate failed to follow up the passing lane and the ball was stolen by Marble. It counted as a turnover from Lin by the stat-man thou it should be Hawes'.

[CatgutStitches]

My observations from being at the game... Don't know if they are different but here they are regardless.

Kemba was his usual self... Inconsistent but a few nice bounce back moments that got the team up

The offense just flowed so much better with Batum out there than without. His shot wasn't falling but still had a real solid game... Great feel for passing as we knew

MKG was honestly pretty meh but I did like he tried a corner 3 early.. Hope he comes back quick

Marvin was actually getting good shots and was active all night, he surprised me... He did get backed down in the post by a guard but overall solid

Al was far more active than usual even diving for a loose ball on a steal and playing fairly physical interior D. Hopefully a sign of things to come

Lin was all over the place in a bad way early but all very the place in a good way when he settled in

I was VERY impressed by Lamb... He looked smooth and confident all night and really carried the second team... Also looked great with the starters after mkg went down

Hairston did some PJ things but overall showed good activity and knocked down some corner 3s...not as worried about him as I was

Cody was not good... Not on offense, not on defense, not good. Just looked hesitant all night and couldn't even hit free throws... The worst player on the floor for us apart from Roberts

I was also impressed by hawes, especially his passing... That backdoor pass between the defenders legs for a Lamb dunk was sublime and he also had a nice look to PJ on a backdoor but he didn't cut

Brian Roberts sucks and hopefully won't see the floor this year

Frank did a few rookie things but overall I was very impressed by the skills he showed... He's done it in summer league and not against NBA 2nd and 3rd teamers... Keep hating on him everyone

Overall iI was pretty impressed at our offense especially... We were getting really good shots early they just weren't falling but we settled in. Wish they would have put Harrison in for Roberts especially in preseason but whatever

[spaceballer]

I don't necessarily think Lin is better than Walker, but Walker looked like same ol' Kemba out there. Just one game so hopefully things change.

Kemba had more assists and less TO's in less time than Lin. Lin played good but lets calm down a little bit.

Lin actually only had ONE turnover tonite but they counted twice. There is one happened in the 7:14, 2nd Q mark. Hawes got a bounce pass from Lin and immediately swang it to P. Hairston but his teammate failed to follow up the passing lane and the ball was stolen by Marble. It counted as a turnover from Lin by the stat-man thou it should be Hawes'.

Lin also had a steal to cancel out the turnover in terms of team possessions.