Off the Dome: Three thoughts on the Hornets three games into the season
On LaMelo getting more minutes, what's up with PJ and the importance of having fun
Gordon Hayward pretty much summed up what most were thinking given the circumstances surrounding the Hornets’ matchup with Brooklyn.
“We drop our first two, we’re playing Brooklyn on a back-to-back,” Hayward said Sunday night, “this is one where you can see us losing out and away. But we fought tonight. I thought it was to great by us to fight, compete. Just a great win, a win that we can certainly build on.
“Brooklyn’s an unbelievable team. You can see it. They’re an unbelievable team and certainly going to give teams fits. But I think it was just a good win by us.”
Who would’ve thought? Following two tough losses, watching spirited comebacks fall painfully short, and knowing they were facing a team that had created more buzz than any in the NBA after its pair of impressive national-television poundings of Golden State and Boston.
Definitely not these Hornets, right?
But Charlotte pulled off the stunner, taking down Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and Brooklyn 106-104 at Spectrum Center. The bitter taste left by defeats to Cleveland and Oklahoma City had been washed out with one solid performance.
“Well, this gives us a big jolt,” coach James Borrego said. “Obviously, it’s a big game for us. To get that first one against a championship-caliber organization and team, I’m just proud of our guys. They have been busting their tail all this time. I know it hasn’t gone our way and as we said this morning in shootaround this thing is going to turn, and it can turn in one game.
“My expectation, though, is now that this is the bar for us. This is how we have to play against every team. It doesn’t mean we are going to win every game, but playing for 48 I think that’s the key. We played for a full 48 minutes.”
Through these first three games, the Hornets have showed they are far from dull. As they slowly try to find themselves, here are three observations that have stuck out so far:
LAMELO’S MINUTES ARE ABOUT TO RISE
We’ve seen more than a fair share of exciting plays from LaMelo Ball. But there’s been some miscues, too. Hey, it’s all a part of the growing pains you have to live with when developing a rookie.
Particularly one with lofty expectations.
There’s the good: Following that rough debut in Cleveland, he’s shot the ball much better. He’s 4 for his last 7 from 3-point range. He’s distributing the ball nicely at times, tossing smooth alley-oops to Miles Bridges or igniting the fastbreak with the full court pass that led to Terry Rozier’s posterizing dunk on Kevin Durant.
There’s the bad: Unforced turnovers, like when he tried to do too much on a fastbreak after being on the receiving end of a full court pass. Or getting whistled for a carrying violating because of indecisiveness. Or getting caught in-between on an intended alley-oop for Bismack Biyombo that instead hit the rim because their timing was off. That play led to wide open 3-pointer from Brooklyn’s Joe Harris on the other end.
Still, if you look closely you can see the incremental development taking place.
“Very mature approach tonight,” Borrego said. “Played with poise. He impacted the game. Played with great pace, got us in our sets, looked much more mature tonight. I expect him to grow every single game. As his minutes increase his production is going to increase.”
Through the first two games, Ball averaged 15.5 minutes on the floor. But he saw an uptick in time against the Nets, logging 20:01 of action. There’s a fine line of sorts that Borrego is having to navigate early on with increasing Ball’s minutes with also ensuring he’s not loading Ball up with too much.
“We need LaMelo to develop,” Borrego said. “Obviously, this is a huge season for him. Without a Summer League, this is his Summer League. It’s just like throwing him into the fire. I’ll try to get him more minutes and move those numbers up as we go. I thought his numbers were solid (Saturday) night when I watched him. He made a lot of good decisions offensively, looked more aggressive, made some good defensive reads that we need from him. And he’ll continue to get better.
“So I am taking the slow approach, but I am going to add some more minutes as we go. We need him to play, we need him to develop. He’s a major part of our team moving forward. So that’s on me to figure out.”
THE NECESSARY AWAKENING OF PJ
Before exiting in the closing minute with what the Hornets diagnosed as a mild right sprained ankle, PJ Washington finally broke out of the malaise he’s been immersed in.
Washington posted his first double-double of the season — and fifth of his career — netting 14 points to go along with career-high tying 12 rebounds. Half of those rebounds were collected on the offensive end, establishing a new career high.
Although he did miss a pair of crucial free throws and also had two offensive fouls in the waning moments, his presence was a significant one for the Hornets. It’s no coincidence his individual success had a direct effect on things.
“He’s a major part of us becoming the best team that we can be,” Borrego said, “and when he plays with this aggression — I thought he played last game, (Saturday night) much more aggressively. Tonight, same thing, same approach. He attacked the paint. And those shots that he’s missing around the rim, those are going to fall for him. I believe in that. His three’s going to fall. That’s only going to get better over time, but I can live with his aggression. More than anything it’s just his approach, the mindset, the defense. I’ve seen him talk, coming across, blocking shots.”
It begins, Washington said, with a certain mentality on defense and around the glass.
“I think for us it’s just being able to want to go rebound,” Washington said. “That’s the biggest thing — want to play defense, want to rebound and want it more than your opponent. I feel like sometimes we let guys miss a layup and go get it and just watch them lay it back in. That’s happened a bunch of times in the (first) two games and we need to fix that out if we want to be a good team.”
IT’S BEST TO SHARE AND SHARE ALIKE
Early in the preseason, Miles Bridges spoke about the importance of changing the organizational culture to one that reflects a winner. He essentially said it’s time for the mediocrity to cease, and how Borrego was used to the winning ways of San Antonio all of those years he was an assistant coach for the Spurs under Gregg Popovich.
In the aftermath of Saturday’s defeat, I asked Bridges how can they make sure they don’t let their struggling start to the season snowball quickly in the wrong direction.
“We just have got to go back to having fun,” Bridges said. “We are all out there thinking too much. So we just need to go back to having fun, swinging the ball around, playing great defense and getting out in transition. We are a great transition team and we aren’t getting out in transition enough.”
Apparently, they found out that’s exactly what they need to do in order to have their best chance at nightly success. They assisted on all but eight of their made 43 field goals against the Nets and made a concerted effort to get into the paint, recording 64 points on the interior. It reinforced how much inside-out balance is key for the Hornets (see above: Washington, PJ).
Add it all up and it suggests Bridges had a good pulse on their ills.
“I think he was right,” Devonte’ Graham said. “We wasn’t having fun. The ball wasn’t moving. We had a lot of assists tonight. I think 35 or something like that. So when we are sharing the ball and playing together, we play a real fun style of basketball. Coach gives us the freedom to run and shoot a lot of threes, and make plays, and throw lobs and stuff like that. So we’ve just got to keep that energy, keep that flow and have fun.”
Nice work Rod!