Was Last Year An Anomoly?

[Braggins]

I think we'll be fine when healthy. The issue for me is that we seem poorly equipped to deal with injuries to Kemba, MKG, or Cody.

Our offensive seems too heavily reliant on Kemba to lose him for any significant amount of time. Our offense probably isnt good enough (even with Kemba) to seriously compete without having a top tier defense, so losing MKG could be disastrous.

Finally, not having Cody causes serious imbalance in our rotation because hes the only center we have who isnt terrible on one side of the ball. Roy is a horrible fit with the starters and starting him leaves us with a second unit thats putrid defensively. With Cody out i think we should look into either starting Hawes or Frank at the 5. We could just straight up swap Roy/Hawes in the rotation or start Frank and have some combination of MKG/Frank/Marv/Batum share backup PF minutes.

[Eoghan]

Charlotte was actually in the vanguard of a trend last year with the 3pt shooting spree. There will probably be more trend jumpers so Charlotte will look less exceptional in that regard. Charlotte's not returning a team as well geared towards that style either with Lin>Ramon plus adding one of the tree people from LotR. Speaking of Hibbert, I can't see how he stays out of Clifford's doghouse. He's too slow and big to defend without fouling which is what Clifford beats off about. He's also slow enough to get beat on transition D just like Al and unfortunately the one thing Hibbert does really by virtue of being huge is snare offensive rebounds (Clifford hates offensive boards).

[spaceballer]

As others have said, it's preseason and much too soon to make any real judgments.

Yes, there are changes in personnel from last season to this one. But that is true of any team. Roster turnover is a fact of life in the NBA. And the team will have to adjust to the changes in new strengths and weaknesses that come with roster change. I think we'd have to wait a bit longer before making any solid judgments.

However, I do believe there was at least one anomalous element from last season that hasn't been mentioned yet. And that's the global games trip that the Hornets took overseas during preseason last year. The closer contact and extended time together may have helped build team camaraderie and chemistry and integrating new guys last preseason. So, in that respect, last preseason did benefit from some anomalous elements.

With 82 games to go, a lot can happen. Whether injuries to players on this team or to players on competing teams fighting for a playoff spot. And there's always the trade deadline, like when PJ was switched out for C.Lee. So the current team roster may not be the one that ends the season. Because of the threat of injuries (on either side) and the potential for trades, I'm never comfortable making predictions on records this early in the season (preseason!).

But, yes, there were definitely anomalous elements from last year that aren't repeated this year, such as the benefit of the extra bonding time overseas. It remains to be seen how much significance those anomalous elements or their lack actually have, and what compensations can be made if needed.

[Liver_Pooty]

No Zeller, Walker not in game shape. We will be okay.

[Hornet Mania]

It might be, but I don't think the preseason performance will give us a clue either way.

[Mystical Apples]

I do believe there was at least one anomalous element from last season that hasn't been mentioned yet. And that's the global games trip that the Hornets took overseas during preseason last year. The closer contact and extended time together may have helped build team camaraderie and chemistry and integrating new guys last preseason.

It remains to be seen how much significance those anomalous elements or their lack actually have, and what compensations can be made if needed.

Sounds like a great theory except it conflicts with reality. The Hornets started the regular season 0-3 and didn't "bond" until February when PJ's removal coincided with health for Nic + Cody. In fact through January they were 23-25.

After February 1st their record was 25-9, good for 3rd best behind only GSW and SAS.

http://stats.nba.com/league/team/?ls=iref:nba:gnav#!/?Season=2015-16&SeasonType=Regular%20Season&sort=W_PCT&dir=1&DateFrom=02%2F01%2F2016

[HornetJail]

ridiculous overreaction. presason means JACK SHIZNIT in terms of what we can expect to see this season. The only thing that will get me to watch a preseason game is if MKG is nailing multiple threes and flat out dominating. Otherwise I couldn't be bothered. I'm a bit concerned right now, but that has absolutely nothing to do with our preseason play- it has to do with Cody Zeller's knee.

[Vanderbilt_Grad]

I don't think that last season was an anomaly. However here is my argument for why it might have been.

Currently Kemba is the only guy on the team who can reliably create his own shot. Last year the team had Lin who could do this as well. I don't view Lin as a superhero, but this aspect of what he brought to the team was very important as it allowed the Hornets to rest Kemba more than they had been able to in previous seasons ... and took pressure off the offence when both players were in the game. While much of Kemba's improved FG% is probably attributable to Batum, I think that having Lin was almost as important. If the team goes back to playing Kemba extended minutes and opposing defenses are able to focus on just him then last season will indeed have been an anomaly.

[fatlever]

I don't think that last season was an anomaly. However here is my argument for why it might have been.

Currently Kemba is the only guy on the team who can reliably create his own shot. Last year the team had Lin who could do this as well. I don't view Lin as a superhero, but this aspect of what he brought to the team was very important as it allowed the Hornets to rest Kemba more than they had been able to in previous seasons ... and took pressure off the offence when both players were in the game. While much of Kemba's improved FG% is probably attributable to Batum, I think that having Lin was almost as important. If the team goes back to playing Kemba extended minutes and opposing defenses are able to focus on just him then last season will indeed have been an anomaly.

While I agree with the general idea of your post, its fair to point out that Kemba really didn't play less minutes last year with Lin. He still played 35.6 (2nd highest of his career) and right in line with his last 4 season which have all been within 1.6 minute average.

Having Lin allowed the Hornets to keep the offense flowing w/out Kemba and on many nights gave Kemba another ball handler to help him in crunch time w/out the usual sacrifice that happens on the defensive end when Kemba is paired with another PG.

[Eoghan]

I'm not saying we're going to be bad but...I'm probably going to be watching more college ball this year. For research.