GT charlotte vs nets 12-28 7PM EST

[catch20two]

I'm calling it now. Somehow, this team will lose to the Wiz tomorrow.

Only if Cody let Thomas Bryant own him.

I'll go on the ledge and say we'll beat the Wiz tomorrow only to follow that up with a loss to Clifford & the Magic on Monday.

[Splitta]

Its great we won the game but JB surely has to realize that a lineup with CZ and Batum playing major minutes is going to continue to be a problem winning games and will cost us games. Batum as a small forward in the NBA has to be able to score and a center has to either score or be a strong defender/rebounder and CZ does neither. You can not just count on Kemba, Lamb, and Marv/Tony (some nights) to always carry the scoring load.

[catch20two]

Its great we won the game but JB surely has to realize that a lineup with CZ and Batum playing major minutes is going to continue to be a problem winning games and will cost us games. Batum as a small forward in the NBA has to be able to score and a center has to either score or be a strong defender/rebounder and CZ does neither. You can not just count on Kemba, Lamb, and Marv/Tony (some nights) to always carry the scoring load.

JB doesn't really have a lot of options. Cho & Clifford as a management duo set us up for failure. We have to give Kupchak some time to fix this mess.

What backup wings do we have that are that much of a better option than Batum. Of course I'd roll the dice on MKG playing more minutes than Batum personally but even MKG has his major shortcomings that my crazy self is still holding out optimism for.

Same with Cody. Willy is horrible and a much worse option to close games with. I haven't seen enough Frank to trust him but I remember how bad he could be from previous seasons. JB has been using Marv at C to close games when Cody has been inept like tonight and that's give & take when you consider how unclutch Marv is on meaningful shots and tendency to get pushed around by real bigs.

[Splitta]

Its great we won the game but JB surely has to realize that a lineup with CZ and Batum playing major minutes is going to continue to be a problem winning games and will cost us games. Batum as a small forward in the NBA has to be able to score and a center has to either score or be a strong defender/rebounder and CZ does neither. You can not just count on Kemba, Lamb, and Marv/Tony (some nights) to always carry the scoring load.

JB doesn't really have a lot of options. Cho & Clifford as a management duo set us up for failure. We have to give Kupchak some time to fix this mess.

What backup wings do we have that are that much of a better option than Batum. Of course I'd roll the dice on MKG playing more minutes than Batum personally but even MKG has his major shortcomings that my crazy self is still holding out optimism for.

Same with Cody. Willy is horrible and a much worse option to close games with. I haven't seen enough Frank to trust him but I remember how bad he could be from previous seasons. JB has been using Marv at C to close games when Cody has been inept like tonight and that's give & take when you consider how unclutch Marv is on meaningful shots and tendency to get pushed around by real bigs.

I agree with your comments and unfortunately we are in a somewhat hopeless situation unless we can unload one or two of the bad contracts which is not likely. That is why I have advocated trading Kemba while he has value and hopefully move one of the bad contracts with him. It we can get a young talent like Dennis Smith or Jamal Murray and maybe a draft pick or decent veteran, I think we would not need to completely rebuild. If we sign Kemba to a 40 mil contract and keep the same veteran misfits we will be stuck in this land of mediocrity for another 2 years while Kemba is in his prime.

[JDR720]

The season long troll job continues.

[catch20two]

Its great we won the game but JB surely has to realize that a lineup with CZ and Batum playing major minutes is going to continue to be a problem winning games and will cost us games. Batum as a small forward in the NBA has to be able to score and a center has to either score or be a strong defender/rebounder and CZ does neither. You can not just count on Kemba, Lamb, and Marv/Tony (some nights) to always carry the scoring load.

JB doesn't really have a lot of options. Cho & Clifford as a management duo set us up for failure. We have to give Kupchak some time to fix this mess.

What backup wings do we have that are that much of a better option than Batum. Of course I'd roll the dice on MKG playing more minutes than Batum personally but even MKG has his major shortcomings that my crazy self is still holding out optimism for.

Same with Cody. Willy is horrible and a much worse option to close games with. I haven't seen enough Frank to trust him but I remember how bad he could be from previous seasons. JB has been using Marv at C to close games when Cody has been inept like tonight and that's give & take when you consider how unclutch Marv is on meaningful shots and tendency to get pushed around by real bigs.

I agree with your comments and unfortunately we are in a somewhat hopeless situation unless we can unload one or two of the bad contracts which is not likely. That is why I have advocated trading Kemba while he has value and hopefully move one of the bad contracts with him. It we can get a young talent like Dennis Smith or Jamal Murray and maybe a draft pick or decent veteran, I think we would not need to completely rebuild. If we sign Kemba to a 40 mil contract and keep the same veteran misfits we will be stuck in this land of mediocrity for another 2 years while Kemba is in his prime.

I agree with your sentiment on trading Kemba too because I think he's gone this offseason no matter how much he says he wants to stay in Charlotte.

I mentioned trading for DSJ as I think he'd be a easier get than Murray but either or would be a good start towards Charlotte rebuilding.

[316Hornets]

Tony Parker will get the night off on Saturday vs. the Wizards.

It's just a veteran's day off. Parker said it was an easy decision with the way third-string PG Devonte' Graham has played. He should be back in his usual role vs. the Magic on Monday, but there are no real fantasy implications here.
Source: Rod Boone on Twitter

[bravor]

Atlanta is up by 20 points early 2nd qtr over the Timberwolves. I didn't think it was possible, but Andrew Wiggins has regressed this year. That's the next Batum.

He is way worst player as Batum at least delivered in the past, even here (though his best years were obviously in Portland). Wiggins basically never did anything to get that stupid contract which will become the worst soon.
Its obvious that Batum could play with more intensity (he does not want to be traded, so..). That's why its beyond frustrating.

Atlanta has some nice young bench players, i dont know if Kupchak could land some (like Collins and some of their wings).

Otoh if somehow Chicago could trade for Batum for Parker, it could really change this team as long as Borrego plays MKG more than 10mn (which is something that is geting me tired too) a game. Parker would hopefullly bring a post presence and help restore some balance offensively.
If they could get Holiday in such a trade, that would help too. He could be a good fit here.

Geting sick of the guards oriented offense though (i must be old school), i am glad to read i am not the only one.

[Benjamin Linus]

Funny watching Minnesota trade Butler for win-now pieces and then seeing them fall to third worst in the west (half a game from second worst). I think we could have offered a better package of picks and long-term prospects while also taking back Dieng's contract.

Butler would have been the perfect get for this team. He checks almost all the boxes this team has needed from lack of high-end talent, to finding a closer, to the need of a two-way player and improving our defense and to just having someone to replace Batum

[catch20two]

I don’t know if we could’ve offered a better package than Philly considering that Covington was one of the top 3&D players in the league and Saric had already shown more than any of our young players.

[Splitta]

Atlanta is up by 20 points early 2nd qtr over the Timberwolves. I didn't think it was possible, but Andrew Wiggins has regressed this year. That's the next Batum.

He is way worst player as Batum at least delivered in the past, even here (though his best years were obviously in Portland). Wiggins basically never did anything to get that stupid contract which will become the worst soon.
Its obvious that Batum could play with more intensity (he does not want to be traded, so..). That's why its beyond frustrating.

Atlanta has some nice young bench players, i dont know if Kupchak could land some (like Collins and some of their wings).

Otoh if somehow Chicago could trade for Batum for Parker, it could really change this team as long as Borrego plays MKG more than 10mn (which is something that is geting me tired too) a game. Parker would hopefullly bring a post presence and help restore some balance offensively.
If they could get Holiday in such a trade, that would help too. He could be a good fit here.

Geting sick of the guards oriented offense though (i must be old school), i am glad to read i am not the only one.

I agree with most of your comments and admit I have not watched Wiggins this year except when he played well in the game against the Hornets but I just can not believe Wiggins is as bad as the overpaid Batum. I am not sure what Batum did in Portland but they were willing to trade him for a draft bust Noah Vonleh which should have told the Hornets something. He had one somewhat decent year in Charlotte and was way overpaid and we are suffering the consequences now. He shot only 2 for 3 last night despite playing major minutes. I just wish MKG or Bridges would develop some semblance of an offensive game so JB could justify benching him and the team would be better for it.

[Benjamin Linus]

I don’t know if we could’ve offered a better package than Philly considering that Covington was one of the top 3&D players in the league and Saric had already shown more than any of our young players.

Covington’s good but he’s 28 and Saric is alright and may be better now but it’s not like they’re making the playoffs with that roster. Maybe I’ve got some homer bias, but I think we could have offered more long term upside with Miles, Monk, MKG, and a first

[Snidely FC]

I hate Hendo and Chapman. Why are they suddenly on the announcing team? They're both annoying as heck. Does it really take 3 people to replace Steph Ready?

[Hornet Mania]

I hate Hendo and Chapman. Why are they suddenly on the announcing team? They're both annoying as heck. Does it really take 3 people to replace Steph Ready?

They seem to be scrambling to find a balance mid-season, I think her departure must have caught them somewhat off guard. I think Ashley Shahahmadi does a passable job. I notice a hitch here or there but give her time and she'll be fine.

I suspect the producers felt like Steph was a two-fer (beautiful woman, tons of basketball IQ) and now they have to delegate those tasks between Ashley and Rex/Hendo. I agree with you though, I think Rex/Hendo are not necessary as a supplement It's not like there is much airtime to fill anyway outside of the actual game, we don't have much of a studio show compared to teams like the Lakers.

[fatlever]

Henderson's pretty bad, but I really enjoyed Rex's commentary on the games, especially the last time they had him on. Maybe it's just fresh to here someone other than Dell. I feel like I know everything that was going to say before he says it. He's never critical he never says anything controversial and I've heard all his stories and anecdotes at least 10 times.

Sent from my SM-G920V using RealGM mobile app

[Hornet Mania]

The worst part of the Rex/Hendo segment was where an anecdote about Steve Martin making the expansion Hornets exciting turned into an anti-bragging rights contest.

Rex: He really made it seem like the Final Four, and I was on some real bad teams.
Hendo: Hey, I was on a team that won 7 games! And he did the same for us.

A team like Detroit would have old-timers on to argue over whether the Bad Boys or 2004 team were better, our 'legends' jostle for position as worst of the worst.