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Official 2018-2019 Charlotte Hornets Thread - Lose Kemba and All Fans

2&2 Slider To Leyritz

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Starting a new thread for this season to kill the playoff-less mojo from last year's thread.

A few months ago, I was unimpressed with the offseason moves and figured this team was going to be a repeat of last year. However, after 3 preseason games (yes, I know they are preseason), I think there is legitimate optimism about this team. Where the team sucked last year was the bench, and they seemed to have drastically improved it via either new additions or Borrego playing the young talent already there instead of sticking it on the bench like Clifford did.

I think the starting lineup is generally set. Kemba-Lamb-Batum-Marvin-Zeller. MKG might be in tehre from time to time for either Lamb or Marvin depending on the matchup, injuries, etc. We'll see how Lamb does as a starter, and hopefully Batum is fully recovered from his injury last year and gets back to being effective. That unit is a known commodity and has proven it can compete with most opponents.

The bench is what I am most excited about. It looks like it will be Parker-Monk-MKG/Bacon-Bridges-Hernangomez, which is a completely different group than last season. Kaminsky is the odd man out, we'll see where he fits in but I could see him getting <10 minutes a game barring injury. Devonte Graham and Biyombo will also see spot minutes.

Monk looks much more under control than last season, but his shot is still streaky. That said, he can fill it up when he gets on a roll.

Bridges looks unbelievable so far. I was down on this pick when it happened, but holy shit this guy is impressive. Shooting over 50% from 3, next-level explosiveness around the basket for dunks and rebounds, strong on-ball defense and shotblocking, solid ballhandling, and built like a tank. He has clearly been the most impressive player on the team in the preseason. He can also seemingly play and defend every position from SG through small-ball 5. I'm hesitant to believe what I'm seeing, as he is easily the most impressive rookie we've had since Kemba, and maybe more than Kemba actually was at the time as I may be looking through hindsight. He is like a slightly shorter but stronger Jason Tatum. I'm just waiting for the wheels to come off in some way, because this type of rookie doesn't happen to the Hornets.

Hernangomez has also looked impressive. He has gotten much stronger around the basket, can run the floor well, has some range on his jumper, and his defense has improved. I think Zeller is quicker laterally and a better overall defender, but Hernangomez should be an effective backup without much dropoff.

Borrego's offense is much more Spurs-esque, so we'll see how it works over the course of the season with this group. The perimeter ball movement plays to the strengths of Batum and Marvin, and Lamb has shown he can operate in midrange space. Kemba should be Kemba regardless of the system.

From a personnel standpoint I think Frank is the big question mark. He has shown he can be a great stretch 5, which should be valuable in the offense. But it requires a strong PF who can make up for his lack of rebounding and post defense. It looks like Bridges could be that guy, but it might take away from his other skills. MKG could also play that role effectively I think. If he is simple on the outside looking in, then there is an opportunity to trade him for value given his contract and skill set.

In all, I think the playoffs are a strong possibility with this retooled bench. The key is to make a push for the 4-5-6 seed as opposed to 7-8.
 
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Do you drug tests for your employees? If so, they should DEMAND you take one.

Bridges most impessive rookie since Kemba who YOU think is a Hall of Famer like ZO? REALLY????

While on the Hornets, Grandmama scored as much Kemba. Obviously, there's no comparison in rebounding. I was surprised to see that LJ averaged 4 apg as a Hornet vs. only 5.4 apg for Kemba as the PRIMARY ballhandler.

Jordan should back up his threat and open negotiations to move the Honrets to Seattle OR maybe if the Hornets bring in MJ's old buddy Zeke the two negatives will multiply together and become a positive.
 
God I'm still so salty over that 2012 draft lottery. Worst team in NBA history and we can't get the first pick, who's likely going to be a Hall of Fame center. #2 pick ends up being a rotation guy to bring off the bench.
 
The Hornets won 36 each of the last two years (48 the year before that).

The current over/under win total for the Hornets is 35.5 So, the consensus is that Charlotte will be as just below mediocre as they have been each of the last two years.

In the East, only the following teams have lower win totals:

- Nets 32
- Magic 31
- Bulls 30
- Knicks 28.5
- Hawks 24 (lowest among all NBA teams)
 
Cody stays healthy: 36-42 wins, compete for playoff spot

Cody unhealthy: 30-36 wins, we suck,


Hopefully bridges and monk develop either way
 
Yeah I would take the over on 35.5 given what I've seen so far and barring any major injuries. Zeller will be hurt at some point this season, that is a given. Hopefully between Hernangomez, Biyombo, and Frank they have hedged enough for that possibility to hover around .500 while he is out.
 
"Optimism exists"

Its-Not-A-Lie-If-You-Believe-It-Seinfeld.gif
 
Yeah, I would think that needs to be coming to an end. Clifford loved him because of his defensive versatility and organization, but if he isn't hitting a bunch of 3s then he is mediocre at best on offense. Bridges is clearly more talented at this point to play the modern 3/4/(occasional)5 combo role, I think the only reason Marvin would still be starting after the first month or so would be to keep the starting and reserve units balanced.
 
Oh hey, the Hornets lost another one-possession game (now 1-15 in their last 16 games decided by 3 or fewer points)....looks like 2018-19 is more of the same :(
 
Wide open three to win the game by Batum doesn’t even hit the rim. Great comeback from like 20 down though.
 
Watched the whole game. Marvin killed us on the offensive side late - missed a wide open three and two critical free throws. Not sure his defensive presence against Giannis was enough to make up for his deficiency on offense. Also woof to Batum on his final attempt.

Bucks were on fire early; not sure it was due more to their hot hands or poor rotations by Charlotte (probably a little of both)

Liked that Monk and Bridges got minutes right off the bat, hopefully indicates a phase out Marvin and Lamb as the season goes on. Zeller and/or Kaminsky seem like guys who could be traded for a little more shooting if Hernangomez is going to get the majority of big man minutes

Parker is pretty big time for running the second unit. Feels like an adult was in the room when he was out there (more than can be said for previous years)

Not sure how many games I'll get to watch, but like the makeup of the team, seems pretty deep, just need to figure out rotations.
 
So despite stepping on their own dick at the end of the first game, we are 2-1 with 2 road wins, which seems like 2 more than we got all of last season. Great job hanging on to win at the Heat.

Kemba is fucking ridiculous. Granted it is only 3 games, but he is leading the NBA in scoring with 35.3 ppg, leading the NBA in 3pt shots made, and shooting 50% from 3. He is the first player in NBA history to make at least 5 3s in each of the first 3 games of the season. He is pretty much unstoppable in Borrego's offense. Who the hell knows if he can keep this up, but Parker and Monk are taking a good deal of ball handling responsibilities from him so he can just focus on scoring.

I think most fans saw this coming once Clifford was gone, but Monk is also looking really good. 14.7 ppg on 40% from 3. His defense also is not the trainwreck that Clifford made it out to be.

Zeller and Hernangomez are also both playing really well. Frank, meanwhile, has gotten a total of 8 minutes in 3 games. I assume he has to be on the trading block.

Big game tonight at the Raptors so probably a loss, but I definitely like how this team looks early.
 
He played well against Orlando in the blowout win, but I think they are still working on rotations at the 3/4 and Borrego is going with defensive experience at this point as they clearly have enough offensive firepower (NBA record for 3s by a team in the first 3 games of a season; suck our dicks Warriors). MKG has been an absolute beast coming off the bench as a defensive 3 and smallball 4, so he is the one taking minutes at this point. More of a product of him playing really well than Bridges not playing well. Marvin is the weak link on this team at this point, so I think Bridges will start to eat into his minutes at some point over the next month or so.
 
Excited to see how they play up in Toronto tonight, 3rd game in 4 nights will be tough, plus Toronto has looked pretty good so far. Nice to see this wide open offensive style under the new coach. Will need to make it a point to get down there for a game soon.
 
I think most Hornets fans expected Marv to give us nothing, but Cody has been really, really bad. Looks like he’s lost 2-3 steps post knee injuries. Hopefully just rust
 
Great article. I agree that their best closing lineup is Kemba-Monk-Lamb-Bridges-MKG. That was reinforced by fucking Batum blowing a potential road win in Chicago on Wednesday when, in a tie game with 5 seconds on the clock and the ball, the bastard threw a horrific lazy in-bounds pass that Zach Levine easily stole and scored the winning basket on the other end. He and Marvin are both pretty useless at this point and their minutes will hopefully start to reflect that.
 
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