What are the Hornets doing wrong to be this bad for this long, look at OKC they did a complete rebuild and won a championship, even other āsmall market teamsā like Cleveland and Detroit used to be horrible a few years ago and now are winning, just donāt get it, are we drafting horrible, do our coaches suckā¦ sports in Charlotte sure are depressing.
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Biggest issue has been ownership, IMO. Neither Robert Johnson nor Michael Jordan were ever really interested in building a winner, so no surprise that itās been a decade since the Hornets made the playoffs.
Now that MJ and his lacky Mitch Kupchak are out of the way, there are signs of positive movement. Otherwise, wouldnāt be posting about the team. Now if Ball and Miller can be healthy more often than not, that would be great. Plus smarter in game management by Charles Lee, who Iām not yet sold on.
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We definitely have drafted horrible.
The best players are always hurt. At this point thatās all there is to it
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Not this year.
Agreed. And Ball and Miller looked like great picks as well. But now with the continued Ball injuries iām not so sure.
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Ball, Miller, Kon, Kalkbrenner, and even James are all good draft picks. Ball is just hurt all the time but he is an all-star caliber player. Iād say they are all great draft picks.
Holding on to Bridges is a huge mistake and itās only done to make Ball happy
If the Hornets lose tonightās game vs the one win Pacers, Lee should be fired. Heās the Ron Sanchez of the NBA.
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I will gladly admit I was wrong about Knueppel. He was a great pick. Iām not sure what is wrong with the rest of the team. I know they are always dealing with injuries but they still get good production from Bridges, Knueppel, Kalkbrenner and others and still manage to lose to some really bad teams.
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I too probably will have to eat crow. I donāt want to get carried away just yet though, itās only been 15 games. But the early results look great.
https://sports.yahoo.com/article/kon-knueppel-reaches-multiple-milestones-140002607.html
Every game there seems to be a new record/stat for him. Although the one in the linked article of 20+ points in 5 straight road games is honestly hard to believe that only 3 former players have also accomplished that stat.
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I hear you on Ball. But theyāre currently 4-11 this season, 147-268 for Ballās career, only one season out 6 above .500 and have never made the playoffs. All of that has to be considered when viewing whether Ball is a guy to build a team around.
Canāt decide how to feel. Not sure why the injury bug is so brutal to this team every single season. The only thing I can think of is that they arenāt taking care of their bodies. On paper, itās impossible to say the talent isnāt there at this point. Kalkbrenner and Knueppel are rookies, but both have far exceeded expectations. Knueppel is rookie of the year through 15 games. Brandon Miller and Lamelo are legit stars. Miles Bridges is an excellent player.
Even the second unit is really good for an NBA second unit.
I donāt know if you can win with Lamelo. Heās the biggest superstar the city has had since Cam, but Iām not sure heās a player that can win. Heās a ball dominant volume scorer. When heās on, thereās few better, but heās off far to often, and heās injured far too often. His ball dominance takes other guys out of rhythm when heās off, and he doesnāt have the basketball IQ to let somebody else score.
This same group of older players has now been coached by 4 different head coaches, and none of them have been able to have success. At some point, I think you have to put some accountability on the players and how seriously they take it, and Iām just not sure this group does.
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I wish there was a trade market for Lamelo. He probably needs to be moved but Iām not sure anyone would be interested in his injuries or his contract.
If Lemelo would just get one more Tatoo that would solve his problems.
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Nobody plays defense and we donāt have a good enough PF to help with the problem
No defense + PF = Rodney White, NBA poster boy for not playing D in the big show.
Start by saying, big Lamelo fan. Ball is 24 yrs young, averaging 21 pts and almost 8 assists over his career, heās been an all-star and holds the record for the most triple doubles in franchise history. Steph Curry had ankle issues early in his career as well. He missed so many games at the start of his career he couldnāt get the big contract after his rookie deal which allowed GS to afford all those super teams. He will be fine, will get the ankle and hand thing figured out, he is now just getting other playmakers around him. Remember, he is a pass first PG. Hornets need some bigās. I donāt believe he is getting traded and I have to think there would be a big market for him if they did.
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