The Charlotte Hornets wrapped up their preseason with a 1-3 record after losing to the Boston Celtics in their finale Thursday night 127-99. It's been a rough stretch of games, but it is important to remember to not get too high or too low with these games since they don't count towards your record. Still, it is alarming to witness a team struggle to put up a fight against a team that is the favorite to come out of the conference to be in the NBA Finals. Thankfully it's over and we can proceed to the regular season.
“It was good. Tonight was disappointing, we need to learn from it, but it’s one night and things change quickly in this
league,” Steve Clifford said after the loss to the Celtics. “The key thing is what the response is. We have a week here to get ready. Things change quickly. We have to get a level of physicality with our guys.”
They get to do it for real against a solid Atlanta Hawks team on October 25th. If they want to kick off the season undefeated, there is a few things that they need to clean up and figure out before tip off. Here are three big things for them to focus leading up to that point.
Take care of the basketball
It's a very simple, yet challenging thing to do in the heat of the game. In the Hornets preseason finale against the Celtics they committed 24 turnovers. It's hard to win games when your giving the opposition more offensive possessions to score. That responsibility falls more so on the guards, LaMelo Ball & Terry Rozier. Both of these guys are good, capable playmakers that shouldn't have any problem setting the pace for the offense and getting guys in the right place. The good teams in this league know how to take care of the ball, plain and simple.
Got to stay physical around the rim
This applies to both rebounding and finishing around the basket. Steve Clifford talked about how they got somewhat pushed around on the glass in their preseason finale. He highlighted that both Mark Williams and Nick Richards are capable of. “It starts with having the right intent with what you’re concentrating on and what you’re prioritizing. We need them to do it, and we need the other guys to help out in that area.”
When it comes down to finishing around the rim, there was a lot of easy missed opportunities. Good And-1 finishes from both LaMelo Ball & Brandon Miller, but Charlotte needs to be able to convert easy buckets within five feet of the basket. Not all contested layups can go in, but some over small defenders that have already been beaten should be an easy deuce.
Rotations need to be a bit more timely
Despite the low expectations on the team, Charlotte has a lot of talented young guys on their squad that can play some vital minutes. Clifford's job is challenging to find minutes for all the guys that need to play on the roster for sure, but it's important to get them in at a good point in the game. We're not coaches, but subbing in a guy like Brandon Miller in the game could provide good energy early on in games. Or knowing which of their two centers to play. This isn't a knock on Clifford in the slightest. He's done a solid job getting fresh bodies in the past. Just maybe not so much in the preseason. Hopefully he figures out solid lineups down the stretch of the season for the Hornets.
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