Subscribe
Follow Us
The Charlotte Hornets are heading to the play-in to get their shot at making the playoffs. However, while LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges believe they are a dangerous team, they admit they need to do one thing to ensure they make it to the next round.
What is that exactly? Well, it's plain and simple: improve defensively.
Ball and Miles Bridges are confident that when they click defensively, they will be hard to beat. After all, they already have the offense to torch opponents, so the only thing they need to do is avoid themselves getting torched on the other end.
“Usually we are an offensive-minded team, but once we buy in on defense there aren’t too many teams that can beat us. Because when we get out in transition, nobody can run with us,” Bridges explained, per Roderick Boone of the Charlotte Observer.
LaMelo agreed with Bridges' sentiments and called it “facts.” He then went on to highlight that the Hornets are really at their best when they are succeeding in making stops and thriving on the defensive end.
“I feel like if we are getting stops it’s going to lead to offense and that’s when we are best, you know? In transition. So, defense is going to get us that,” Ball furthered.
Numbers don't lie for the Hornets. As LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges mentioned, they are a good offensive team that has found success in transition. According to NBA.com stats, they are no. 9 in offensive rating this season. In games after the All-Star break, they have also improved dramatically and have been posing the third-best offensive rating with 119.3.
Defense is truly where their problem lies. They are no. 24 in defensive rating this 2021-22. Although they have improved since the All-Star break, they remain one of the ten worst defensive teams in the league.
Sure enough, that won't cut it in the playoffs. It could even become a major headache for them in the play-in, where there is a possibility that they could play one of the most dangerous offensive teams in the league in the Brooklyn Nets. Before anyone forgets, that team boasts the talents of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, and every NBA fan knows what they are capable of doing when it matters most.
The Hornets are currently the ninth seed in the East, and they would want to climb to the eighth spot so they could have at least two chances to make it to the playoffs. If not, they will really need to be at their absolute best come the play-in.
As head coach James Borrego said it, though, they are brimming with confidence despite the shortcomings they have on defense and other areas of the floor.
“This team believes and I believe that this team is capable of beating any team on any floor when we are committed to both sides of the ball, which we have been since the break,” Borrego said. “And these guys, this young group deserves a lot of credit. Even without Gordon Hayward this team has turned the corner and made some major strides in winning basketball games for our program.
“Last season we struggled this time of year. We didn’t trend in the right way. I’m really proud of this group that we are trending in the right way. This is a very mature team. Very young, but our approach is very mature. If we can stay with that approach we feel like we are capable of winning any game on any floor.”
It remains to be seen where the Hornets will end up on the standings, but the good thing is they know what they exactly need to do to get the job done and reach that goal of making the playoffs.
