Three Observations: LaMelo creates early buzz, Gordon looks good facilitating, but oh the turnovers
In the Charlotte Hornets' preseason opener Saturday night, LaMelo Ball had a nice debut, Gordon Hayward showed how important he'll be and too many turnovers were costly
The result wasn’t going to count and there weren’t going to be any fans in the Spectrum Center stands, two things that seemingly would eliminate butterflies and the like in their stomachs.
Not so, though.
“It’s been a while since we have all played,” Gordon Hayward, the Hornets’ prized offseason acquisition, said after Charlotte’s 110-100 loss to the Toronto Raptors on Saturday night. “It’s the first preseason game. Guys are jittery, including myself. You’re pretty juiced up, ready to go.”
After a week of training camp, yes, the Hornets’ matchup with Toronto represented their first opportunity to see how some of their new pieces fit together. They began with a flurry, building up a 19-point lead, and coach James Borrego was able to take a peek at some different lineup combinations.
But things began unraveling in the second quarter and too many costly mistakes ensued. If nothing else at least, it now gives the coaching staff something to break down video-wise and correct.
“It’s good to get one underneath our belts here, and learn and teach from it,” Borrego said. “We have not played against another team obviously. We have just been competing against each other in practice and it’s great to now have some film to show and teach from.
“I think this will be a good time to teach and grow and learn over the next two days.”
Here are three observations of the Hornets’ preseason opener:
ALL ABOARD THE LAMELO TRAIN
Until Saturday night, the only thing many had to go on with the Hornets’ first-round pick was either video footage on the Internet or word of mouth. So it was a given that all eyes were going to be on LaMelo Ball in his debut.
He finished 0-for-5 from the floor, going scoreless, but swiped 10 rebounds to go along with four assists in 16 minutes. The rookie had an immediate influence on the game without really scoring once he checked in early in the first quarter, grabbing five rebounds during a span in which he took just one shot.
“It was a good performance,” Borrego said. “First time out there, he looks like he belongs. Ten rebounds and four assists. I thought he was solid tonight and made some really good plays, good reads. He’s talking, and he’s communicating. He got dinged up there a little bit so we didn’t push anymore minutes on him, but I thought overall it was a solid performance to start.”
Ball, who had four turnovers, was harder on himself.
“How would I rate my performance?” he said. “Not well. Just because we lost. Whenever we lose I don’t rate my performance well.”
It didn’t take long for Ball to have Twitter buzzing with some nifty passes. He showed off a variety, digging into his repertoire for just about every kind imaginable. Dump off. Baseball. Behind-the-back.
Just all a part of the norm for him.
“Just growing up, always, was fast paced,” Ball said. “Pass it to the man in front. Just knowing how to play like that. So it just I carried on throughout my whole life.”
HAYWARD’S PLAYMAKING WILL BE KEY
Watching Hayward, it didn’t take very long to see just how important he’s going to be in the grand scheme of things for the Hornets. Hayward brought the ball up the court on numerous occasions, serving as a facilitator to get the offense going.
His navigations aided in them spreading the floor, which gave him options once he forced a defensive breakdown and penetrated into the paint. He even threw down a fastbreak dunk on the way to posting 11 points, four rebounds and two assists in 19 minutes.
He’s aware of the significance of him getting in the lane consistently with Charlotte.
“I think it’s really important,” Hayward said. “I think getting to the paint, kicking it out, spraying it and making plays is something that I love to do. It’s really what I like to do more than anything. So, I have to continue to do that. We as a team have to continue to do that.
“If we can get it in the paint and look to kick it out or dump down for layups or open shots, we will be tough. We have to continue to drive, and they were a little physical and pressuring us in the passing lane. We were indecisive at times but we will be better.”
WAY TOO MANY MISCUES
Taking care of the ball was too much of a problem for the Hornets. Charlotte turned the ball over 23 times, leading to 28 points for the Raptors.
Of those turnovers, 15 came in the first half. Even if it was their preseason opener, Borrego knows that number is going to have to come down significantly in order for the Hornets to be successful in their approach.
“Turnovers are always a concern,” Borrego said. “It’s something that we’re targeting this year. We’ve got to win the possession game. This was not the start we wanted as far as protecting the ball and valuing the basketball. I did understand and I knew there was going to be some of this sloppiness and messiness. Obviously, I will know more after I watch the film and where those turnovers came from.
“It’s a number thing. Sloppiness, poor spacing, not knowing each other, playing at a high pace and their physicality. I think all those things contributed to 23 turnovers. That’s just not going to get it done. That’s not going to be winning basketball for us and we understand that. These are the growing pains we are going to go through. We need to improve in that area and we’ll do that next game as well.”
Terry Rozier said the Hornets were a bit too uptempo at times.
“Obviously we don’t have any plays yet, but I feel like we just need to slow down,” said Rozier, who started alongside Devonte’ Graham, Hayward, PJ Washington and Cody Zeller. “And that’s normal. This is the shortest training camp that we’ve had and when you just slow down and play with pace, you are fine.”
In other words, find the balance.
“You want to play fast but not in a hurry,” Rozier said. “I’ll let people take that how they want. But you know I always have that in my mind and that’s my motto when I’m playing. You want to come off as if you’re playing fast and playing engaged but you don’t ever want to let anyone speed you up. And I think they sped us up tonight, instead of us relaxing and spacing out the floor. We were too bunched up and playing fast, we were passing the ball and they were deflecting.
“A lot of credit goes to them because that’s what they do. That’s the type of team we are trying to get to be, playing in the gaps and speeding teams up. Like I said play fast, but not in a hurry.”
Hi Rod, good to read from you again. I am looking forward to your coverage of the team. Pretty excited for the upcomming season.
I’m actually feeling very optimistic about the Hornets for the first time since that 48-34 season. It’s nice to be excited about the possibilities of our team again