January 6, 2025 • 29 mins
The Hornets got good news on the injury front with LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller returning from injuries after missing three games, but the Hornets fell against the best team in the Eastern Conference in Cleveland, 115-105. Rob Longo and Will Palaszczuk of Hornets Postgame on the flagship station Sports Radio WFNZ break down the game and pick their silver-lining performances, and the two also discuss the recent run some of the younger players have had in Greensboro with the Swarm and how it's helped out Charlotte at the NBA level.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the Hornets Hoodcast, presented by Charlotte I ear
Nosen Throat Associates, the official I ear Nosen throat Care
provider of the Charlotte Hornets. Here's your host, Rob Longo.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Hi, friends, and welcome to today's episode of the Hornet Iodcast,
the official podcast of the Charlotte Hornets, brought to you
by SENTA Charlotte, ie ear Nos and Throat Associates, the
official I ear nos and throat Care provider of your
Charlotte Hornets. Rob Longo with you on today's edition of
the HHC. Unfortunately, yet again a silver Linings episode of
the Hornets Iivecast. Charlotte has now fallen for the tenth
consecutive time, this time against a team that's now won
(00:35):
ten in a row in the Cleveland Cavaliers. They fall
one fifteen to one oh five in the Land last night.
Hornets now seven to twenty seven on a campaign and
there is a lot to talk about in this one.
We'll break things down for you to provide you with
our silver linings, and we'll also touch on the most
recent play of the Greensboro Swarm and how it ties
into the big league club. Here with the Charlotte Hornets
(00:55):
and now helping me out on all these topics here
on this episode of the HHC. The one only host
of Hornets post game on the flagship station sports radio WFNZ,
Will Polochik and Will thank you for joining me on
this episode of the AGHC. I'm glad you're able to
carve out a little bit of time here. I know
you were a busy guy yesterday with some Hornets post
Hornets pregame that wasn't supposed to be there, some Hornets
post game, and some Panthers post game as well. So
(01:16):
glad that the pipes are still working for you to
join me here on this episode of the AHC.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
You know, Rob, I mean to tell you we have
to stop beating like this. I'm just kidding with you.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Well, yeah, the ten Lobwys I totally understand.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
Always good to uh spend some time with you and
uh and look, you know last night's game, the score
obviously maybe makes it look a lot closer than the
game did. But I mean, you give the Hornets some
credit for kind of sticking with this team. Unfortunately, it
seemed like Cleveland kind of kept them at arm's length.
But you know, after that initial surge buying Cleveland, the
(01:48):
Hornets were able to at least keep themselves somewhat close
to this Cavs team, which again I think will gain
some chemistry as they get more time together with their
core four.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Yeah. So there's a lot of nuances in this one,
and I mean that in the best way possible, because
when you go back and you look at it, yesterday
the Hornets got LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller back into
the fold, first time that those guys have played in
over a week, three games time, and it's the third
time this year that the anticipated starting five started the
game together. That would be LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller, Josh Green,
(02:20):
Miles Bridges, and Mark Williams. Those five started the contest yesterday.
Didn't really matter a whole lot. And I'm not trying
to knock on the starting five of the Hornets or
the Hornets in general. Cleveland is just a very very
good team. I mean, they are the best team in
the Eastern Conference. They are one of those teams that
is going to give Boston a lot of trouble here
in the playoffs, I would imagine. I mean, Cleveland is
(02:40):
now thirty and four, They are a very, very good team.
It's tough to go up against a team like that,
especially at home. Cavs raced out to a nine to
two lead. Hornets did take a lead there in the
first quarter at the five forty five mark to lead
at eighteen to sixteen. That was the first and only
lead that the Hornets would have in this one. Cleveland
counted with the six to zero run. Cavs never looked back.
(03:02):
They had a twenty three to seven extended run from
the end stages of the first quarter midway through the
second quarter as well. Hornets did a good job closing
the second and third quarters. They had ten to two
runs an eleven to two run in the second and
third quarter respectively in the final about two and a
half minutes, so they did a good job. The problem is, well,
Cleveland was already up as many as twenty four in
the first half and never looked back again. Charlotte didout
(03:24):
scored Cleveland thirty to twenty eight and the third quarter,
but you're still facing a pretty healthy deficit there, trailing
at ninety one to seventy eight going into the fourth quarter,
and you know, I know that Cleveland maybe took their
foot off the gas a little bit there, especially pulling
a lot of the reserves with about three minutes left
to go, where it seemed like there was maybe a
little bit of a glimmer of hope there for the Hornets,
(03:45):
albeit as about as slim as it could possibly be.
But again, Hornets made this look respectable at the end
and ran the back door cover play for lack of
a better term, to lose at one to fifteen to
one oh five there at the end of the game.
But there's a lot to like in this one. I know.
The starting five got back into the fold and Miller
had a team high twenty four points, tied that with
LaMelo Ball. LaMelo had a team high twenty four after
(04:05):
he got back into it as well. Saw some flashes
off the bench as well from Nick Smith Junior, which
again we're gonna touch on our silver linings here in
our next segment, so I don't want to steal too
much of the thunder, But in the first half of
fell like it was just Brandon Miller and la mellow Ball.
They were carrying the majority of the work. A couple
of the other starters didn't really have a whole lot
going on their scoring wise, But at the end of
(04:26):
the day, it's not so much that the Hornets lost
this game. Cleveland won it. I mean, the Calves are
a very good team. Darius Garland had twenty five points,
that's a game high. Donovan Mitchell had nineteen, seventeen of
them coming in the second half. Jared Allen double double,
nineteen points, eleven rebounds. Evan Mobley looks really good out
there seventeen points, five rebounds for him as well. This
is a very good Calves team that when you look
(04:46):
at it at the end of season, we look back
and we say, wow, the Hornets lost a game in
the first week of January one fifteen to one oh
five against Cleveland, It's not gonna look so bad because
I think Cleveland has a chance to really run the
table here as we get into the later months of
the season and get into the playoff picture.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
Absolutely, rob I mean this is a thirty one and fourteen.
I mean, they're on a historic pace to start the season,
and I think part of that is they've had a
lot of health and they've had some great performances from
their big stars. I mean Evan Mobley last time out
against the Hornets had a forty one point day, and
Darius Garland had twenty five today or last night, I
should say, and and Jared Allen and Donovan Mitchell had
(05:22):
nineteen points a piece. Bubbly had seventeen last night. It
just comes down to the fact that the Hornets, I think,
need more out of their extended parts of the roster.
And look, this is the team that basically is here
now for the near and present future when it comes
to the Hornets because of trey Mann's still longer prognosis
to come back to health. But I think the one
(05:43):
comforting thing is that this is what the Hornets are
at this point in terms of where they're at and
as far as the roster goes, and unfortunately they've not
had it be intact. I mean, this is only the
third time that Bridges, Williams, Miller and Ball had started
and really finished again all intact together. So from that perspective,
you still have to kind of think about the fact
(06:04):
that this team is still in its infancy in building chemistry,
and I think that might have done with a little
bit of the reasoning why you maybe didn't see some
of the higher point numbers from some of the other
ancillary players it's very rare you're going to see Josh
Green go over in a contest. He's been very key
for the Hornets this season. Miles Bridges has struggled shooting
the basketball. Unfortunately, it kind of carried over to his
(06:28):
two point game as well. He only had eleven points
last night and Mark Williams only seven shot attempts. Usually
we've seen that up in the nine, ten, eleven, twelve
range and seen his point totals be a little bit
higher as he tries to get himself back. But AGENT
also think too defensively is where this will come into
play as well, because we saw Brandon Miller kind of
motioning and gesturing to Mark Williams trying to get him
(06:50):
in the right positions defensively. Same thing for Nick Richards
as well, who only played eight minutes. I thought it
was very telling that Charles Lee went to Toash Gibson
there midway through the con test because he wasn't seeing
what he wanted to out of Richards, and so from
that perspective, I think Charles Lee has sent the pretty
clear message and the same thing can be said after
the day that we saw Nick Smith Junior have with
nineteen minutes. He's sending a clear message if you are
(07:12):
not contributing, your minutes are not guaranteed for you. So
I think this is a very intriguing moment forward here,
provided that the Hornets can have some health because again
we know that that's been a very volatile target over
the course of this season for them. But you know,
when you think about, you know, Tuesday in at home
against Phoenix, you think about this five game road trip upcoming,
(07:33):
I think we're going to learn a lot about the
Hornets organizational medal when it comes to the way that
they go about negotiating these next five to six contests,
because I do feel like there's been some tough love
in moments from Charles Lee, whether it's been vocal, whether
it's been why his actions, in the way that he's
used the rotations, he knows he has to use more
than just you know, the seven or eight that Areq
(07:56):
was an NBA team has to use. He's had to
go nine, ten or deep, almost kind of more like
a college rotation where we see now a lot of
coaches kind of go to that model because of just
the need to try and see what exactly you have.
And I think very much over the course of this
next month. It is a fact finding measure to figure out, Okay,
who is here for the organizational future, who is going
(08:18):
to play what Charles Lee has branded as Hornets basketball.
Because I think at this point right now, Rob, you
are in evaluation mode when it comes to the guys
who are basically not named Miller and Ball, because we
feel like those guys are organizational stalwarts. It's now time
to figure out who wants to play the kind of
basketball that's going to usher in the reimagined future of
this basketball team.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
A lot of good points there will I totally agree
with you on a lot of them. And the other
thing too, is not to get too far ahead. On
our podcast for tomorrow's episode of the AHHC, where Sam
Farbar and Kyle Bailey of sports radio WFNZ are going
to preview the Hornets and Suns matchup on Tuesday. But
you take a look at that game, and you take
a little bit of a look ahead at the schedule.
(09:00):
Is gonna be on the second night of a back
to back, They're gonna be in Philadelphia later on today.
You don't want to look too far ahead. But look,
Phoenix is not playing very good basketball as of late too.
That's a very winnable game. You look at the schedule
before the season starts, you say, oh, well, you got
Phoenix on a one off before you have to go
back out on the West Coast, and then you're gonna
play them again in about a week and a half
after that, and it just doesn't look very good. But
(09:20):
I mean, at this point everything has to be on
the table. You got your health back, You've got your
core four plus one, whatever you want to call it.
You got your original starting five that you wanted or
had penciled in at least at the beginning of the season.
They are healthy. I know that the sample size is small.
What did I say the third time this year that
that starting five has been in a game altogether and
(09:42):
has started in has finished it. So tough spot here
because of the record and the losing streak, and there's
a lot of eyeballs on what this team and what
this organization is going to do moving forward with some
of these guys. But again, this is maybe a little
bit of a wake up call like you talked about too,
where the bench got a lot of run guys like
Nick spit Junior, A J. Simpson t John Salon played
twenty three minutes in that game yesterday as well Cody
(10:03):
Martin twenty two minutes off the bench. Guys that are
gonna be willing and able are going to play the
ball of the minutes. And that's just the way that
it's gonna have to work out. Because, again, like Charles
Lee said, if you're not playing Hornets basketball, you're not
gonna play. I mean, you hear it. Basically, from the
time you step on the court in junior varsity, and
you play varsity in high school and you go through college,
(10:24):
you're not guaranteed playing time. Nobody is guaranteed playing time.
Just because you make X amount of dollars or just
because you know you're deemed as the next up and
coming player doesn't grant you playing time. You have to
earn it. You have to go out there and earn
your playing time. So I like that the message that
Charles Lee has been sending here as of late too.
Hornets fall one fifteen to one oh five in Cleveland
last night. Lots of selections that are available for our
(10:46):
silver linings. Picks will come your way with those right
after this here on a Hornets Podcast It's a silver
Lining ex edition of the a JHC. Rob Longo and
Will Po Logic, the host of Hornets Post Game, here
with you on this episode of the HHC. I'm now
for our silver lining selections. Plenty to talk about in
this segment. Here a lot of options available on the table.
(11:09):
Brandon Miller, LaMelo ball each with twenty four points that
ties the team high. Nick Smith Junior eighteen points off
the bench, Mark Williams and Miles Bridges also in double
figures in the game yesterday. Willie P you are the
guest of honor. I will always defer to you who's
your silver Lining selection.
Speaker 3 (11:23):
You know, as tempting as it is to go with
Brandon and LaMelo, I'm gonna go with Nick Smith Junior
because I think he had a very good day and
it just kind of leads into part of the reasons
what we talked about last segment, where we're talking a
lot about guys who need to contribute, and he definitely
stepped up in a big moment. He can roll.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
Opportunity with Mark Williams. Smith gets the baseline pull up jumper.
Speaker 3 (11:44):
Perfect big game for Dick Smith Junior fifteen points off
the bench five rebounds, and he's somebody who has had
some real good games at Greensboro to really trying to
reinvent his game. And we've seen other guys kind of
take that opportunity over the course in the last couple
of weeks. Is they've kind of tried to shuffle the
(12:05):
Greensboro roster to further reflect some more development for a
lot of these guys. And you think about the fact
that that Nick is somebody who I think we kind
of portended, you know, with the way that he looked
in the preseason and even in the Summer League, that
he was going to get some major minutes, and the
fact that he did get sent back to Greensboro. I
think maybe he took it a little bit personally, and
he put up some high and gaudy numbers when he
(12:26):
was with the Swarm, and I think grew a little
bit of offensive confidence, and you're seeing him take that
to the big club now, and obviously it stands as
a bit of a warning sign to some of these
other guys and even you know, others who have been
in Greensboro in the particular part of that, when you
think about a guy like kJ Simpson, who had his
own Greensboro stint. You mentioned T John Salon playing twenty
(12:49):
three minutes. We all kind of wondered whether or not
a T John Greensboro stint would be eminent, just to
try to get some offensive confidence. He played twenty three
minutes tonight, So I think again it stands the reason
that his plans are still very much firmly into what
Charles Lee wants to have, and Charles Lee remains firmly
in his plans. But I think at the end of
the day, Charles Lee's looking for offense anywhere he could
(13:10):
find it, and the fact that he found it from
Nick Smith Junior it was definitely a good thing. He's
also done some good stuff as well in the defense end.
He had a block in the contest as well. And
I like Nick Smith Junior's game. And then it allows
the Horns to do a heck of a lot of
different things, trying to rotate some different guys in there.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
Hey, sometimes it's just your night, And that was Nick
Smith Junior yesterday in that game. Eighteen points off the bench.
Somebody's gonna have to replace them points that Trey Man
left when he was out with that back injury. Of course,
Trey's starting to make his way back into the fold,
hopefully sooner rather than later, and starting to ramp up
the on court activities, but at the same time, that
doesn't help the team right now. Somebody's gonna have to
(13:46):
be that guy that scores double digits off the bench,
and if you can do it consistently, that's even better
because that's what Trey Man was able to provide with you.
So again, that's the problem with all these injuries is
you have guys that go into the starting lineup that
normally would come off the bench, and then you have
to find those guys to replace the bench guys, and
it just doesn't work. And that's why the Hornets have
had such a rough go of it here, not even
(14:07):
this season, the last two seasons now, two and a half,
if you want to include it, the last couple of
years now with the bad injury luck. It's just fact
that there's no depth on this team when everybody's hurt.
And that's gonna be the refrain no matter what the
team that you pick. You can pick any team in
the association and it's gonna be the same thing. It's
gonna be the same song and dance but Nick Smith Junior,
great job yesterday. Thought he played a very very good game.
(14:30):
And here's what he had to say after the contest
about that time in Greensboro and how it helped him.
Speaker 4 (14:34):
It definitely helped me out a lot. You know, Coach DJ,
you know, the head coach up there, you know, believes
in me. You know, on thousand percent of the teammates.
You know, I jailed with the team as soon as
I got there, you know, like the performance staff, you know,
everybody just you know, it was just like, uh, it
was good for me. You know, I got to get
my work in, you know, and uh, I mean it's
probably one of the reason why I was, you know,
(14:55):
able to catch you rhythm. I went down there and uh,
you know deal I had to do.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
And yeah, we'll touch on Nick and his performance in
Greensboro over the last couple of games here in our
next segment. But for me, I'm gonna take maybe the
low hanging fruit. But it's just so good to see
Brandon Miller back out on the floor. Pamello to Mark Williams,
hands at to Brandon Miller, stepped to his left.
Speaker 3 (15:14):
Three on the way.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
Good again. Brandon Miller, cash money right now, sophomores has cent,
so the league's best three point shooters is fully underway.
Eleven of Brandon's twenty four coming in the third quarter alone.
He is a streaky shooter, to say the least, but
that wasn't really the case yesterday. Eight to fourteen from
the field, six to ten from three, two for three
(15:35):
at the free throw line, couple of rebounds, couple assists.
He was kind of in attack mode. Didn't really have
a lot of those stats that you would look to
see to fill the box score. He was just more
kind of that bona fide shooter. But at a halftime
he had thirteen points and he was four of eight
from the field and three for six from three, so
he was consistent throughout the game. Normally, when you see
guys that come back from injury, even though they only
missed one or two games. I know Brandon is three
(15:56):
and he didn't play for a little bit over a week.
But when that happened, it's like, usually there's a little
bit of a I don't want to say a learning curve,
but kind of a reacclimation period. It might be one
or two games before we finally see them really reintroduce
themselves into the fold. That was not Brandon Miller yesterday
by any stretch of the imagination, is twenty four points,
tying a team high with LaMelo ball and the credit
(16:17):
on the other side too. LaMelo did a pretty good
job getting back into the fold after he missed three games,
But the shooting wasn't really there. It was seven to
twenty from the field, three, four, eleven beyond the arc.
That saving grace was the seven and nine that he
had at the free throw line. So even though the
shot was evoling, he did a good job getting to
the free throw line. But all in all, Brandon Miller,
like Sam said on at Highlight, there kind of a
(16:38):
sending to one of the best three point shooters in
the association. I know that there's a little bit of
a long runway to get to that point just because
of the way that the game is played right now,
but Brandon Miller just continues to shine. It's a home
run pick. I mean, I don't think we can go
back and we look at it and say there was
any doubt that Brandon Miller should have been a number
two overall selection now. At the time, there was a
(16:58):
little bit of a discussion there and some disc about
some of the other guys that should have been picked
there at second overall a couple of seasons ago, but
I think Brandon is by far. And I know he
did this last year too, being an all rookie selection,
but he has really really silenced any doubt that he
should have been a number two overall pick behind a
guy like Victor Webbinyama.
Speaker 3 (17:15):
Well, the other thing, too, Rob, is that I think
the one thing we're seeing from Randon Miller is that
he has not only done it with his numbers, but
I think he's also backing it up with his attitude
and the way that the team you know, kind of
gels is around him, like he holds his teammates accountable.
I mentioned earlier in our podcast about how you know
(17:36):
he's trying to get on the big guys when it
comes to defensive rotations, and he takes that side of
the floor very seriously, and he's somebody who I think
takes seriously the desire to win. I know, unfortunately the
win loss record probably isn't what he wanted to be
at this early stage of his NBA career, but I
think that's the one thing that you want to see
(17:57):
from a guy who is a player of his youth
status is the fact that not only does he show
it and basically talk the talk, but he also walks
the walk as well. And I think that's the part
of his game that's so intriguing and and why I
think too he's become maybe one of the most intriguing guys,
if not the most intriguing guy on the Hornet's roster
right now, because he's only in his second NBA season
(18:19):
and he's only going to grow as a player and
also grow in confidence. And I think that's the part
that I think is really a big part of the
Hornet's future. And you know, we were having some discussions
during the offseason. You know whose team is this is
Lamo's team? Is it Brandon's team. I thought a lot
of that was very much sports talk radio fodder, but
I think, you know, at the end of the day,
(18:39):
it can be both of their teams. They both can
lead in different ways. LaMelo leads a lot with his play.
Brandon can lead both with his play and also with
a little bit as well of some tough love to
his teammates as well vocally. So I think that's the
part of it that I think is very very intriguing
is that you need guys to kind of almost pull
(19:00):
at least themselves on an NBA roster. We heard Steve
Clifford talk a lot about this when he was the
head coach of the Hornets. Where you know, in this league,
if you're having to do a lot of administrative stuff
as a head coach, you're not gonna have a very
good basketball team. And I think we're seeing Charles Lead
really turn a lot of that over to the players.
And I think that's why you see Brandon Miller doing
(19:20):
what he's doing in games to try to make sure
that these guys are assigning correct and obviously, with a
game like he had last night, he has every bit
the reason to have a little bit of organizational authority
in that regard.
Speaker 2 (19:33):
One more moment before we go here on this segment
of the AHAC before we move on, here's Brandon Miller
after the game yesterday talking about his return to the lineup.
Speaker 5 (19:42):
Just feel good just to be back after competing with
my teammates. Of Course we didn't get you know, the
how'll come we wanted, but I think was going back
to this, you know, going back to the crib and
just trying to protect the home court.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
A kid likes to play, kid wants to win. Can't
blame him at all. Hornets Fall one fifteen to five
in Cleveland last night. Got some notable performances from guys
like kJ Simpson and Nick Smith Junior over the last
couple of games, and the reason because of that may
reside in Greensboro. We're going to tell you about that
next here on our latest Swarm Report. Right after this
on the Hornet Tive cast, Rob Longo and the host
(20:20):
of Hornets Post Game on the flagship station sports Radio WFNZ,
Will Pologic putting a button on this episode of the
Hornets Time Cash falls in Cleveland last night, one fifteen
to one oh five. One more segment to go here
on this episode of the Age Age, wanted to touch
on some of the performances in the Greensboro Swarm camp,
the g League having a really good couple of games,
(20:42):
and the Swarm in general having a very good season
here so far. Through the first about sixteen seventeen games
of the season, they did have an eleven to five
record in the tip Off Tournament, but then once the
calendar flips of twenty twenty five, that's when the quote
unquote regular season starts. So Swarm currently three and one
in regular season play, tied for second in the Eastern Conference,
but wanted to touch on some of the personal accolades
(21:05):
that this team has had over the last couple of games.
You go back to December twenty seventh, Swarm just absolutely
destroyed the Wisconsin Herd at home one twenty two to
eighty six. Nicks Smith Junior thirty three points in now
when he was twelve to nineteen from the field, six
for eleven from three, hit both of his free throws.
He was a plus thirty six in the plus minus
kJ Simpson was also a plus thirty six. He finished
with thirteen points, four to nine from the field, did
(21:27):
go just one of three from beyond the yard, hit
all three of his free throws, nine rebounds, seven assists,
and then a couple of days later it was a
loss on one of three, one hundred loss to the
Cleveland Charge at home, that, of course, is the Cavs
affiliate and Knicks MTh Junior had eighteen points a nine
and four to ten from the three point line and
six assists. And then Friday, the most recent game that
the Swarm played that was a one to nineteen to
one oh nine win against the Cleveland Charge at home.
(21:49):
Musa Diabat a massive game, twenty six points, fourteen rebounds.
He was a plus ten in the plus minus in
thirty six minutes of action. He was nine to nine
from the field, probably the most impressive part four for
five from the free throw line, considering he's shooting forty
four percent at the charity stripe here at the NBA
level this season, Isaiah Wong went down to Greensborough as well,
twenty points, five rebounds, seven assists, three steals, eight to
(22:10):
fourteen from the field, including a four to seven clip
from three point land in that one nineteen to one
oh nine win against Cleveland on Friday. But with all
those things said, a lot of these guys jockeying up
and down here trying to find some rhythm in Greensboro
and then bring that back up to the big league
club here will over the last couple of games, and
one of those guys was kJ Simpson had a pretty
(22:30):
decent game against Detroit the other night. I know it
resulted in a loss, but had some meaningful minutes. He
was out there as part of the closing five in
that game. Here's what kJ Simpson had to say to
Sam Farber ahead of the Hornets taken on the Calves
the other day on Hornets pregame show on a flagship
station sports Radio ninety two to seven WFNZ.
Speaker 5 (22:49):
Yeah, I'm never worried about numbers. You know, basketball you
for me, especially like I feel I could come in
and beat that spark plug and beat all around type
of players. So the stats seat, that's some That's why
you see so many numbers field or hitting a lot
of categories, especially down in Greensboro, because that's the type
of player I am. So when I go down there,
I just understand, you know, the role that the Hornets
(23:10):
want me to be, Understand the role that I have
on Greensboro. And it's just credit to both like coaching staffs.
Like it's very similar, very same together group, same together
DNA that we talk about here that's down there in Greensboro.
Credit to you know, coach Baker and the rest of
the coaching staff. Shout out to the Greensboro swarm, like
the team real connected. But I mean it's just similar,
(23:31):
similar kind of play styles down there that is here
so it makes it easy to go down there and
kind of adjust. And like I said, it's also more reps.
You know, people look at the G League and a
bunch of different ways, but I just look at it
as another opportunity to get better and keep playing and
stay sharp. So when I do come up here, I
could kind of have that same effect like I did
last game.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
Well, sometimes you hear quotes from players and you just
think they get it, and kJ Simpson certainly gets it.
He understands that going to the G League is an
a punishment or any it's an opportunity. And the way
that he looks at that at such a young age,
that shows maturity in my book, And I just love
that quote from kJ Simpson because he just simply understands
(24:10):
what he needs to do when he goes down to Greensboro,
and those fruits of his labor are going to eventually
develop here at the Big league club as well. And
I think Nick Smith Junior on the other side of things,
what he was able to do in Greensboro, having that
thirty three point performance and then following up that with
another eighteen points, that just goes to show you that
if you put into work at Greensboro, You're gonna get
(24:31):
rewarded at the NBA level, because that was the case
yesterday for Nick Smith junior.
Speaker 3 (24:35):
Well, I've been a big kJ Simpson fan ever since
the Hornets strapped at him and ever since his opening
press conference. You took away the fact that he's incredibly
self motivated, having been, you know, a high major guy
at Colorado and having hit a lot of big shots
there NCAA tournament as well, a big, big moment for him.
(24:56):
You know, there's a lot to be really attracted with
when it comes to the way that he plays his game.
The other thing, too, is that you know, you know,
this is part of the other part of the life
that I live as an MLS broadcaster. There's a lot
of jockeying up and down at the pro level and
(25:17):
what they call the MLS Next Pro level, their equivalent
of the G League. And you see a lot of
guys who might play in a first team matchup and
then go down the next day and play for the
reserve team. And I think you're seeing a lot of
that too with this Hornets group. And you know, seeing
a Mousa Diabate stat line of twenty six points, he
(25:38):
has the the ability to be able to do that.
We know that Diabate has played a very key role
on the Hornets this season, but he has struggled to
find offensive confidence. But then he goes and has a
twenty six point performance against the Cleveland Charge the other night,
and that gives you the first fruits of building blocks
of offensive confidence. I draw a parallel to a guy
like Patrick a Jama with Charlotte FC, who scored a
(26:00):
goal for Charlotte to see it at the end of
one game and then went down to the reserve team
literally the next day and scored in back to back days.
And so that's something that's very very hard to do
in the soccer world, and I think the Hornets and
the Greensboro Swilm are finding out the same thing with
a lot of these guys like kJ Simpson, Nick Smith
Junior and Mussa Diabate. Those are three guys, and we
(26:21):
see it a lot in this sport. The teams that
draft and develop well are the ones that can develop
rosters for the future. In a market like this one,
you have to do very very well at drafting and
developing your own and the previous regime did a very
good job of doing that. When you think about, you know,
Caleb Martin going and getting a second contract in Miami
(26:43):
and then Philadelphia, you think about Devonte gram who has
turned into some draft capital that came back the Hornets way,
and other examples that have been pointed over the course
of their time here, even guys like Miles Bridges who
earned a second contract with this franchise as well as
a first round pick. So you have to draft, develop
and culture and really motivate and nurture your own and
(27:06):
that's something that I feel like this synergy between the
Hornets and the Swarm is being able to do, is
that you're seeing guys who need that professional development go
down and get that you mentioned, you know, Nick Smith
Junior's three games, he scored thirty three, twenty two and eighteen,
and he played better than I think thirty minutes in
each of the contest twenty nine in the first one,
(27:28):
thirty three, thirty two. So he's not going to average
thirty minutes a night with the Hornets. He needs that time,
He needs those reps to be able to make things happen.
Seeing that happen is incredible for him. Seeing it happens
incredible for kJ Simpson and the same thing he said
for Musti Abatte, who I think, again we talk about
guys who arises on this roster, he's somebody who is
(27:49):
I think taking a spot that we really haven't necessarily
thought was going to take place. And even a guy
who scored twenty one of the game against Cleveland Charge,
Isaiah Wong, he's somebody who I think the organization really like.
You talk about dudes who are making appearances during closing time.
Isaiah Long has done that on more than a couple
of occasions because they like what his ability is on
the defensive side. And he's another guy who played for
(28:11):
a high major team at Miami who has been in
moments that they've needed him to be in in the
most And I think that's a great testament the Jeff Peterson,
the scouting staff and those around him who have identified
players with coachable traits with you know, leadership qualities, and
guys who hopefully can be a part of the Hornet's future.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
I know that the record in the season hasn't gotten
away that Hornets fans have hoped here at the big
league club, but just the success that we've seen in Greensboro,
especially specifically these two way guys and the guys that
have gone down on assignment. That gives you some hope
moving forward here that the Hornets are getting this fixed
in the right direction. So we'll see what Nick Smith
Junior and a couple of the other guys that have
been in Greensboro have on tap forward. Tomorrow, Hornets taken
(28:54):
on the Phoenix sunt seven o'clock here at Spectrum Center.
Be sure to get your tickets at Hornets dot com.
And after the game, you can, of course here the
postgame show on flagship station Sports Radio WFNZ with the
one and only Will Plochik on Sports Radio ninety two
to seven WFZ. Willie P thank you for joining me.
As always, one of these days, I'm telling you we're
gonna get you on a postgame edition of the AHHC
and it's going to be a winning edition of the
(29:14):
Hornets Hoope Cast.
Speaker 3 (29:16):
We're looking forward to it, Robbie. Hopefully we get ourselves
back in the win column.
Speaker 2 (29:19):
Hopefully sooner rather than later. Hornets have an opportunity to
do that tomorrow against the Phoenix Suns. Sam Farmer and
Kyle Bailey will have your game preview for that one
on tomorrow's edition of the AGHC. For Will Plochicck, I'm
Rob Longo staying so long. Thank you for joining us
on this episode of the Hornets Podcast. We'll talk to
you tomorrow once again here on EHHC.
Speaker 1 (29:37):
Thank you for listening to The Hornets Podcast, brought to
you by Santa, the official i ear nosen Throadcare provider
of the Charlotte Hornets. For more coverage, visit Hornets dot
com
Welcome to the Hornets Hoodcast, presented by Charlotte I ear
Nosen Throat Associates, the official I ear Nosen throat Care
provider of the Charlotte Hornets. Here's your host, Rob Longo.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Hi, friends, and welcome to today's episode of the Hornet Iodcast,
the official podcast of the Charlotte Hornets, brought to you
by SENTA Charlotte, ie ear Nos and Throat Associates, the
official I ear nos and throat Care provider of your
Charlotte Hornets. Rob Longo with you on today's edition of
the HHC. Unfortunately, yet again a silver Linings episode of
the Hornets Iivecast. Charlotte has now fallen for the tenth
consecutive time, this time against a team that's now won
(00:35):
ten in a row in the Cleveland Cavaliers. They fall
one fifteen to one oh five in the Land last night.
Hornets now seven to twenty seven on a campaign and
there is a lot to talk about in this one.
We'll break things down for you to provide you with
our silver linings, and we'll also touch on the most
recent play of the Greensboro Swarm and how it ties
into the big league club. Here with the Charlotte Hornets
(00:55):
and now helping me out on all these topics here
on this episode of the HHC. The one only host
of Hornets post game on the flagship station sports radio WFNZ,
Will Polochik and Will thank you for joining me on
this episode of the AGHC. I'm glad you're able to
carve out a little bit of time here. I know
you were a busy guy yesterday with some Hornets post
Hornets pregame that wasn't supposed to be there, some Hornets
post game, and some Panthers post game as well. So
(01:16):
glad that the pipes are still working for you to
join me here on this episode of the AHC.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
You know, Rob, I mean to tell you we have
to stop beating like this. I'm just kidding with you.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Well, yeah, the ten Lobwys I totally understand.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
Always good to uh spend some time with you and
uh and look, you know last night's game, the score
obviously maybe makes it look a lot closer than the
game did. But I mean, you give the Hornets some
credit for kind of sticking with this team. Unfortunately, it
seemed like Cleveland kind of kept them at arm's length.
But you know, after that initial surge buying Cleveland, the
(01:48):
Hornets were able to at least keep themselves somewhat close
to this Cavs team, which again I think will gain
some chemistry as they get more time together with their
core four.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Yeah. So there's a lot of nuances in this one,
and I mean that in the best way possible, because
when you go back and you look at it, yesterday
the Hornets got LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller back into
the fold, first time that those guys have played in
over a week, three games time, and it's the third
time this year that the anticipated starting five started the
game together. That would be LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller, Josh Green,
(02:20):
Miles Bridges, and Mark Williams. Those five started the contest yesterday.
Didn't really matter a whole lot. And I'm not trying
to knock on the starting five of the Hornets or
the Hornets in general. Cleveland is just a very very
good team. I mean, they are the best team in
the Eastern Conference. They are one of those teams that
is going to give Boston a lot of trouble here
in the playoffs, I would imagine. I mean, Cleveland is
(02:40):
now thirty and four, They are a very, very good team.
It's tough to go up against a team like that,
especially at home. Cavs raced out to a nine to
two lead. Hornets did take a lead there in the
first quarter at the five forty five mark to lead
at eighteen to sixteen. That was the first and only
lead that the Hornets would have in this one. Cleveland
counted with the six to zero run. Cavs never looked back.
(03:02):
They had a twenty three to seven extended run from
the end stages of the first quarter midway through the
second quarter as well. Hornets did a good job closing
the second and third quarters. They had ten to two
runs an eleven to two run in the second and
third quarter respectively in the final about two and a
half minutes, so they did a good job. The problem is, well,
Cleveland was already up as many as twenty four in
the first half and never looked back again. Charlotte didout
(03:24):
scored Cleveland thirty to twenty eight and the third quarter,
but you're still facing a pretty healthy deficit there, trailing
at ninety one to seventy eight going into the fourth quarter,
and you know, I know that Cleveland maybe took their
foot off the gas a little bit there, especially pulling
a lot of the reserves with about three minutes left
to go, where it seemed like there was maybe a
little bit of a glimmer of hope there for the Hornets,
(03:45):
albeit as about as slim as it could possibly be.
But again, Hornets made this look respectable at the end
and ran the back door cover play for lack of
a better term, to lose at one to fifteen to
one oh five there at the end of the game.
But there's a lot to like in this one. I know.
The starting five got back into the fold and Miller
had a team high twenty four points, tied that with
LaMelo Ball. LaMelo had a team high twenty four after
(04:05):
he got back into it as well. Saw some flashes
off the bench as well from Nick Smith Junior, which
again we're gonna touch on our silver linings here in
our next segment, so I don't want to steal too
much of the thunder, But in the first half of
fell like it was just Brandon Miller and la mellow Ball.
They were carrying the majority of the work. A couple
of the other starters didn't really have a whole lot
going on their scoring wise, But at the end of
(04:26):
the day, it's not so much that the Hornets lost
this game. Cleveland won it. I mean, the Calves are
a very good team. Darius Garland had twenty five points,
that's a game high. Donovan Mitchell had nineteen, seventeen of
them coming in the second half. Jared Allen double double,
nineteen points, eleven rebounds. Evan Mobley looks really good out
there seventeen points, five rebounds for him as well. This
is a very good Calves team that when you look
(04:46):
at it at the end of season, we look back
and we say, wow, the Hornets lost a game in
the first week of January one fifteen to one oh
five against Cleveland, It's not gonna look so bad because
I think Cleveland has a chance to really run the
table here as we get into the later months of
the season and get into the playoff picture.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
Absolutely, rob I mean this is a thirty one and fourteen.
I mean, they're on a historic pace to start the season,
and I think part of that is they've had a
lot of health and they've had some great performances from
their big stars. I mean Evan Mobley last time out
against the Hornets had a forty one point day, and
Darius Garland had twenty five today or last night, I
should say, and and Jared Allen and Donovan Mitchell had
(05:22):
nineteen points a piece. Bubbly had seventeen last night. It
just comes down to the fact that the Hornets, I think,
need more out of their extended parts of the roster.
And look, this is the team that basically is here
now for the near and present future when it comes
to the Hornets because of trey Mann's still longer prognosis
to come back to health. But I think the one
(05:43):
comforting thing is that this is what the Hornets are
at this point in terms of where they're at and
as far as the roster goes, and unfortunately they've not
had it be intact. I mean, this is only the
third time that Bridges, Williams, Miller and Ball had started
and really finished again all intact together. So from that perspective,
you still have to kind of think about the fact
(06:04):
that this team is still in its infancy in building chemistry,
and I think that might have done with a little
bit of the reasoning why you maybe didn't see some
of the higher point numbers from some of the other
ancillary players it's very rare you're going to see Josh
Green go over in a contest. He's been very key
for the Hornets this season. Miles Bridges has struggled shooting
the basketball. Unfortunately, it kind of carried over to his
(06:28):
two point game as well. He only had eleven points
last night and Mark Williams only seven shot attempts. Usually
we've seen that up in the nine, ten, eleven, twelve
range and seen his point totals be a little bit
higher as he tries to get himself back. But AGENT
also think too defensively is where this will come into
play as well, because we saw Brandon Miller kind of
motioning and gesturing to Mark Williams trying to get him
(06:50):
in the right positions defensively. Same thing for Nick Richards
as well, who only played eight minutes. I thought it
was very telling that Charles Lee went to Toash Gibson
there midway through the con test because he wasn't seeing
what he wanted to out of Richards, and so from
that perspective, I think Charles Lee has sent the pretty
clear message and the same thing can be said after
the day that we saw Nick Smith Junior have with
nineteen minutes. He's sending a clear message if you are
(07:12):
not contributing, your minutes are not guaranteed for you. So
I think this is a very intriguing moment forward here,
provided that the Hornets can have some health because again
we know that that's been a very volatile target over
the course of this season for them. But you know,
when you think about, you know, Tuesday in at home
against Phoenix, you think about this five game road trip upcoming,
(07:33):
I think we're going to learn a lot about the
Hornets organizational medal when it comes to the way that
they go about negotiating these next five to six contests,
because I do feel like there's been some tough love
in moments from Charles Lee, whether it's been vocal, whether
it's been why his actions, in the way that he's
used the rotations, he knows he has to use more
than just you know, the seven or eight that Areq
(07:56):
was an NBA team has to use. He's had to
go nine, ten or deep, almost kind of more like
a college rotation where we see now a lot of
coaches kind of go to that model because of just
the need to try and see what exactly you have.
And I think very much over the course of this
next month. It is a fact finding measure to figure out, Okay,
who is here for the organizational future, who is going
(08:18):
to play what Charles Lee has branded as Hornets basketball.
Because I think at this point right now, Rob, you
are in evaluation mode when it comes to the guys
who are basically not named Miller and Ball, because we
feel like those guys are organizational stalwarts. It's now time
to figure out who wants to play the kind of
basketball that's going to usher in the reimagined future of
this basketball team.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
A lot of good points there will I totally agree
with you on a lot of them. And the other
thing too, is not to get too far ahead. On
our podcast for tomorrow's episode of the AHHC, where Sam
Farbar and Kyle Bailey of sports radio WFNZ are going
to preview the Hornets and Suns matchup on Tuesday. But
you take a look at that game, and you take
a little bit of a look ahead at the schedule.
(09:00):
Is gonna be on the second night of a back
to back, They're gonna be in Philadelphia later on today.
You don't want to look too far ahead. But look,
Phoenix is not playing very good basketball as of late too.
That's a very winnable game. You look at the schedule
before the season starts, you say, oh, well, you got
Phoenix on a one off before you have to go
back out on the West Coast, and then you're gonna
play them again in about a week and a half
after that, and it just doesn't look very good. But
(09:20):
I mean, at this point everything has to be on
the table. You got your health back, You've got your
core four plus one, whatever you want to call it.
You got your original starting five that you wanted or
had penciled in at least at the beginning of the season.
They are healthy. I know that the sample size is small.
What did I say the third time this year that
that starting five has been in a game altogether and
(09:42):
has started in has finished it. So tough spot here
because of the record and the losing streak, and there's
a lot of eyeballs on what this team and what
this organization is going to do moving forward with some
of these guys. But again, this is maybe a little
bit of a wake up call like you talked about too,
where the bench got a lot of run guys like
Nick spit Junior, A J. Simpson t John Salon played
twenty three minutes in that game yesterday as well Cody
(10:03):
Martin twenty two minutes off the bench. Guys that are
gonna be willing and able are going to play the
ball of the minutes. And that's just the way that
it's gonna have to work out. Because, again, like Charles
Lee said, if you're not playing Hornets basketball, you're not
gonna play. I mean, you hear it. Basically, from the
time you step on the court in junior varsity, and
you play varsity in high school and you go through college,
(10:24):
you're not guaranteed playing time. Nobody is guaranteed playing time.
Just because you make X amount of dollars or just
because you know you're deemed as the next up and
coming player doesn't grant you playing time. You have to
earn it. You have to go out there and earn
your playing time. So I like that the message that
Charles Lee has been sending here as of late too.
Hornets fall one fifteen to one oh five in Cleveland
last night. Lots of selections that are available for our
(10:46):
silver linings. Picks will come your way with those right
after this here on a Hornets Podcast It's a silver
Lining ex edition of the a JHC. Rob Longo and
Will Po Logic, the host of Hornets Post Game, here
with you on this episode of the HHC. I'm now
for our silver lining selections. Plenty to talk about in
this segment. Here a lot of options available on the table.
(11:09):
Brandon Miller, LaMelo ball each with twenty four points that
ties the team high. Nick Smith Junior eighteen points off
the bench, Mark Williams and Miles Bridges also in double
figures in the game yesterday. Willie P you are the
guest of honor. I will always defer to you who's
your silver Lining selection.
Speaker 3 (11:23):
You know, as tempting as it is to go with
Brandon and LaMelo, I'm gonna go with Nick Smith Junior
because I think he had a very good day and
it just kind of leads into part of the reasons
what we talked about last segment, where we're talking a
lot about guys who need to contribute, and he definitely
stepped up in a big moment. He can roll.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
Opportunity with Mark Williams. Smith gets the baseline pull up jumper.
Speaker 3 (11:44):
Perfect big game for Dick Smith Junior fifteen points off
the bench five rebounds, and he's somebody who has had
some real good games at Greensboro to really trying to
reinvent his game. And we've seen other guys kind of
take that opportunity over the course in the last couple
of weeks. Is they've kind of tried to shuffle the
(12:05):
Greensboro roster to further reflect some more development for a
lot of these guys. And you think about the fact
that that Nick is somebody who I think we kind
of portended, you know, with the way that he looked
in the preseason and even in the Summer League, that
he was going to get some major minutes, and the
fact that he did get sent back to Greensboro. I
think maybe he took it a little bit personally, and
he put up some high and gaudy numbers when he
(12:26):
was with the Swarm, and I think grew a little
bit of offensive confidence, and you're seeing him take that
to the big club now, and obviously it stands as
a bit of a warning sign to some of these
other guys and even you know, others who have been
in Greensboro in the particular part of that, when you
think about a guy like kJ Simpson, who had his
own Greensboro stint. You mentioned T John Salon playing twenty
(12:49):
three minutes. We all kind of wondered whether or not
a T John Greensboro stint would be eminent, just to
try to get some offensive confidence. He played twenty three
minutes tonight, So I think again it stands the reason
that his plans are still very much firmly into what
Charles Lee wants to have, and Charles Lee remains firmly
in his plans. But I think at the end of
the day, Charles Lee's looking for offense anywhere he could
(13:10):
find it, and the fact that he found it from
Nick Smith Junior it was definitely a good thing. He's
also done some good stuff as well in the defense end.
He had a block in the contest as well. And
I like Nick Smith Junior's game. And then it allows
the Horns to do a heck of a lot of
different things, trying to rotate some different guys in there.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
Hey, sometimes it's just your night, And that was Nick
Smith Junior yesterday in that game. Eighteen points off the bench.
Somebody's gonna have to replace them points that Trey Man
left when he was out with that back injury. Of course,
Trey's starting to make his way back into the fold,
hopefully sooner rather than later, and starting to ramp up
the on court activities, but at the same time, that
doesn't help the team right now. Somebody's gonna have to
(13:46):
be that guy that scores double digits off the bench,
and if you can do it consistently, that's even better
because that's what Trey Man was able to provide with you.
So again, that's the problem with all these injuries is
you have guys that go into the starting lineup that
normally would come off the bench, and then you have
to find those guys to replace the bench guys, and
it just doesn't work. And that's why the Hornets have
had such a rough go of it here, not even
(14:07):
this season, the last two seasons now, two and a half,
if you want to include it, the last couple of
years now with the bad injury luck. It's just fact
that there's no depth on this team when everybody's hurt.
And that's gonna be the refrain no matter what the
team that you pick. You can pick any team in
the association and it's gonna be the same thing. It's
gonna be the same song and dance but Nick Smith Junior,
great job yesterday. Thought he played a very very good game.
(14:30):
And here's what he had to say after the contest
about that time in Greensboro and how it helped him.
Speaker 4 (14:34):
It definitely helped me out a lot. You know, Coach DJ,
you know, the head coach up there, you know, believes
in me. You know, on thousand percent of the teammates.
You know, I jailed with the team as soon as
I got there, you know, like the performance staff, you know,
everybody just you know, it was just like, uh, it
was good for me. You know, I got to get
my work in, you know, and uh, I mean it's
probably one of the reason why I was, you know,
(14:55):
able to catch you rhythm. I went down there and uh,
you know deal I had to do.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
And yeah, we'll touch on Nick and his performance in
Greensboro over the last couple of games here in our
next segment. But for me, I'm gonna take maybe the
low hanging fruit. But it's just so good to see
Brandon Miller back out on the floor. Pamello to Mark Williams,
hands at to Brandon Miller, stepped to his left.
Speaker 3 (15:14):
Three on the way.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
Good again. Brandon Miller, cash money right now, sophomores has cent,
so the league's best three point shooters is fully underway.
Eleven of Brandon's twenty four coming in the third quarter alone.
He is a streaky shooter, to say the least, but
that wasn't really the case yesterday. Eight to fourteen from
the field, six to ten from three, two for three
(15:35):
at the free throw line, couple of rebounds, couple assists.
He was kind of in attack mode. Didn't really have
a lot of those stats that you would look to
see to fill the box score. He was just more
kind of that bona fide shooter. But at a halftime
he had thirteen points and he was four of eight
from the field and three for six from three, so
he was consistent throughout the game. Normally, when you see
guys that come back from injury, even though they only
missed one or two games. I know Brandon is three
(15:56):
and he didn't play for a little bit over a week.
But when that happened, it's like, usually there's a little
bit of a I don't want to say a learning curve,
but kind of a reacclimation period. It might be one
or two games before we finally see them really reintroduce
themselves into the fold. That was not Brandon Miller yesterday
by any stretch of the imagination, is twenty four points,
tying a team high with LaMelo ball and the credit
(16:17):
on the other side too. LaMelo did a pretty good
job getting back into the fold after he missed three games,
But the shooting wasn't really there. It was seven to
twenty from the field, three, four, eleven beyond the arc.
That saving grace was the seven and nine that he
had at the free throw line. So even though the
shot was evoling, he did a good job getting to
the free throw line. But all in all, Brandon Miller,
like Sam said on at Highlight, there kind of a
(16:38):
sending to one of the best three point shooters in
the association. I know that there's a little bit of
a long runway to get to that point just because
of the way that the game is played right now,
but Brandon Miller just continues to shine. It's a home
run pick. I mean, I don't think we can go
back and we look at it and say there was
any doubt that Brandon Miller should have been a number
two overall selection now. At the time, there was a
(16:58):
little bit of a discussion there and some disc about
some of the other guys that should have been picked
there at second overall a couple of seasons ago, but
I think Brandon is by far. And I know he
did this last year too, being an all rookie selection,
but he has really really silenced any doubt that he
should have been a number two overall pick behind a
guy like Victor Webbinyama.
Speaker 3 (17:15):
Well, the other thing, too, Rob, is that I think
the one thing we're seeing from Randon Miller is that
he has not only done it with his numbers, but
I think he's also backing it up with his attitude
and the way that the team you know, kind of
gels is around him, like he holds his teammates accountable.
I mentioned earlier in our podcast about how you know
(17:36):
he's trying to get on the big guys when it
comes to defensive rotations, and he takes that side of
the floor very seriously, and he's somebody who I think
takes seriously the desire to win. I know, unfortunately the
win loss record probably isn't what he wanted to be
at this early stage of his NBA career, but I
think that's the one thing that you want to see
(17:57):
from a guy who is a player of his youth
status is the fact that not only does he show
it and basically talk the talk, but he also walks
the walk as well. And I think that's the part
of his game that's so intriguing and and why I
think too he's become maybe one of the most intriguing guys,
if not the most intriguing guy on the Hornet's roster
right now, because he's only in his second NBA season
(18:19):
and he's only going to grow as a player and
also grow in confidence. And I think that's the part
that I think is really a big part of the
Hornet's future. And you know, we were having some discussions
during the offseason. You know whose team is this is
Lamo's team? Is it Brandon's team. I thought a lot
of that was very much sports talk radio fodder, but
I think, you know, at the end of the day,
(18:39):
it can be both of their teams. They both can
lead in different ways. LaMelo leads a lot with his play.
Brandon can lead both with his play and also with
a little bit as well of some tough love to
his teammates as well vocally. So I think that's the
part of it that I think is very very intriguing
is that you need guys to kind of almost pull
(19:00):
at least themselves on an NBA roster. We heard Steve
Clifford talk a lot about this when he was the
head coach of the Hornets. Where you know, in this league,
if you're having to do a lot of administrative stuff
as a head coach, you're not gonna have a very
good basketball team. And I think we're seeing Charles Lead
really turn a lot of that over to the players.
And I think that's why you see Brandon Miller doing
(19:20):
what he's doing in games to try to make sure
that these guys are assigning correct and obviously, with a
game like he had last night, he has every bit
the reason to have a little bit of organizational authority
in that regard.
Speaker 2 (19:33):
One more moment before we go here on this segment
of the AHAC before we move on, here's Brandon Miller
after the game yesterday talking about his return to the lineup.
Speaker 5 (19:42):
Just feel good just to be back after competing with
my teammates. Of Course we didn't get you know, the
how'll come we wanted, but I think was going back
to this, you know, going back to the crib and
just trying to protect the home court.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
A kid likes to play, kid wants to win. Can't
blame him at all. Hornets Fall one fifteen to five
in Cleveland last night. Got some notable performances from guys
like kJ Simpson and Nick Smith Junior over the last
couple of games, and the reason because of that may
reside in Greensboro. We're going to tell you about that
next here on our latest Swarm Report. Right after this
on the Hornet Tive cast, Rob Longo and the host
(20:20):
of Hornets Post Game on the flagship station sports Radio WFNZ,
Will Pologic putting a button on this episode of the
Hornets Time Cash falls in Cleveland last night, one fifteen
to one oh five. One more segment to go here
on this episode of the Age Age, wanted to touch
on some of the performances in the Greensboro Swarm camp,
the g League having a really good couple of games,
(20:42):
and the Swarm in general having a very good season
here so far. Through the first about sixteen seventeen games
of the season, they did have an eleven to five
record in the tip Off Tournament, but then once the
calendar flips of twenty twenty five, that's when the quote
unquote regular season starts. So Swarm currently three and one
in regular season play, tied for second in the Eastern Conference,
but wanted to touch on some of the personal accolades
(21:05):
that this team has had over the last couple of games.
You go back to December twenty seventh, Swarm just absolutely
destroyed the Wisconsin Herd at home one twenty two to
eighty six. Nicks Smith Junior thirty three points in now
when he was twelve to nineteen from the field, six
for eleven from three, hit both of his free throws.
He was a plus thirty six in the plus minus
kJ Simpson was also a plus thirty six. He finished
with thirteen points, four to nine from the field, did
(21:27):
go just one of three from beyond the yard, hit
all three of his free throws, nine rebounds, seven assists,
and then a couple of days later it was a
loss on one of three, one hundred loss to the
Cleveland Charge at home, that, of course, is the Cavs
affiliate and Knicks MTh Junior had eighteen points a nine
and four to ten from the three point line and
six assists. And then Friday, the most recent game that
the Swarm played that was a one to nineteen to
one oh nine win against the Cleveland Charge at home.
(21:49):
Musa Diabat a massive game, twenty six points, fourteen rebounds.
He was a plus ten in the plus minus in
thirty six minutes of action. He was nine to nine
from the field, probably the most impressive part four for
five from the free throw line, considering he's shooting forty
four percent at the charity stripe here at the NBA
level this season, Isaiah Wong went down to Greensborough as well,
twenty points, five rebounds, seven assists, three steals, eight to
(22:10):
fourteen from the field, including a four to seven clip
from three point land in that one nineteen to one
oh nine win against Cleveland on Friday. But with all
those things said, a lot of these guys jockeying up
and down here trying to find some rhythm in Greensboro
and then bring that back up to the big league
club here will over the last couple of games, and
one of those guys was kJ Simpson had a pretty
(22:30):
decent game against Detroit the other night. I know it
resulted in a loss, but had some meaningful minutes. He
was out there as part of the closing five in
that game. Here's what kJ Simpson had to say to
Sam Farber ahead of the Hornets taken on the Calves
the other day on Hornets pregame show on a flagship
station sports Radio ninety two to seven WFNZ.
Speaker 5 (22:49):
Yeah, I'm never worried about numbers. You know, basketball you
for me, especially like I feel I could come in
and beat that spark plug and beat all around type
of players. So the stats seat, that's some That's why
you see so many numbers field or hitting a lot
of categories, especially down in Greensboro, because that's the type
of player I am. So when I go down there,
I just understand, you know, the role that the Hornets
(23:10):
want me to be, Understand the role that I have
on Greensboro. And it's just credit to both like coaching staffs.
Like it's very similar, very same together group, same together
DNA that we talk about here that's down there in Greensboro.
Credit to you know, coach Baker and the rest of
the coaching staff. Shout out to the Greensboro swarm, like
the team real connected. But I mean it's just similar,
(23:31):
similar kind of play styles down there that is here
so it makes it easy to go down there and
kind of adjust. And like I said, it's also more reps.
You know, people look at the G League and a
bunch of different ways, but I just look at it
as another opportunity to get better and keep playing and
stay sharp. So when I do come up here, I
could kind of have that same effect like I did
last game.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
Well, sometimes you hear quotes from players and you just
think they get it, and kJ Simpson certainly gets it.
He understands that going to the G League is an
a punishment or any it's an opportunity. And the way
that he looks at that at such a young age,
that shows maturity in my book, And I just love
that quote from kJ Simpson because he just simply understands
(24:10):
what he needs to do when he goes down to Greensboro,
and those fruits of his labor are going to eventually
develop here at the Big league club as well. And
I think Nick Smith Junior on the other side of things,
what he was able to do in Greensboro, having that
thirty three point performance and then following up that with
another eighteen points, that just goes to show you that
if you put into work at Greensboro, You're gonna get
(24:31):
rewarded at the NBA level, because that was the case
yesterday for Nick Smith junior.
Speaker 3 (24:35):
Well, I've been a big kJ Simpson fan ever since
the Hornets strapped at him and ever since his opening
press conference. You took away the fact that he's incredibly
self motivated, having been, you know, a high major guy
at Colorado and having hit a lot of big shots
there NCAA tournament as well, a big, big moment for him.
(24:56):
You know, there's a lot to be really attracted with
when it comes to the way that he plays his game.
The other thing, too, is that you know, you know,
this is part of the other part of the life
that I live as an MLS broadcaster. There's a lot
of jockeying up and down at the pro level and
(25:17):
what they call the MLS Next Pro level, their equivalent
of the G League. And you see a lot of
guys who might play in a first team matchup and
then go down the next day and play for the
reserve team. And I think you're seeing a lot of
that too with this Hornets group. And you know, seeing
a Mousa Diabate stat line of twenty six points, he
(25:38):
has the the ability to be able to do that.
We know that Diabate has played a very key role
on the Hornets this season, but he has struggled to
find offensive confidence. But then he goes and has a
twenty six point performance against the Cleveland Charge the other night,
and that gives you the first fruits of building blocks
of offensive confidence. I draw a parallel to a guy
like Patrick a Jama with Charlotte FC, who scored a
(26:00):
goal for Charlotte to see it at the end of
one game and then went down to the reserve team
literally the next day and scored in back to back days.
And so that's something that's very very hard to do
in the soccer world, and I think the Hornets and
the Greensboro Swilm are finding out the same thing with
a lot of these guys like kJ Simpson, Nick Smith
Junior and Mussa Diabate. Those are three guys, and we
(26:21):
see it a lot in this sport. The teams that
draft and develop well are the ones that can develop
rosters for the future. In a market like this one,
you have to do very very well at drafting and
developing your own and the previous regime did a very
good job of doing that. When you think about, you know,
Caleb Martin going and getting a second contract in Miami
(26:43):
and then Philadelphia, you think about Devonte gram who has
turned into some draft capital that came back the Hornets way,
and other examples that have been pointed over the course
of their time here, even guys like Miles Bridges who
earned a second contract with this franchise as well as
a first round pick. So you have to draft, develop
and culture and really motivate and nurture your own and
(27:06):
that's something that I feel like this synergy between the
Hornets and the Swarm is being able to do, is
that you're seeing guys who need that professional development go
down and get that you mentioned, you know, Nick Smith
Junior's three games, he scored thirty three, twenty two and eighteen,
and he played better than I think thirty minutes in
each of the contest twenty nine in the first one,
(27:28):
thirty three, thirty two. So he's not going to average
thirty minutes a night with the Hornets. He needs that time,
He needs those reps to be able to make things happen.
Seeing that happen is incredible for him. Seeing it happens
incredible for kJ Simpson and the same thing he said
for Musti Abatte, who I think, again we talk about
guys who arises on this roster, he's somebody who is
(27:49):
I think taking a spot that we really haven't necessarily
thought was going to take place. And even a guy
who scored twenty one of the game against Cleveland Charge,
Isaiah Wong, he's somebody who I think the organization really like.
You talk about dudes who are making appearances during closing time.
Isaiah Long has done that on more than a couple
of occasions because they like what his ability is on
the defensive side. And he's another guy who played for
(28:11):
a high major team at Miami who has been in
moments that they've needed him to be in in the
most And I think that's a great testament the Jeff Peterson,
the scouting staff and those around him who have identified
players with coachable traits with you know, leadership qualities, and
guys who hopefully can be a part of the Hornet's future.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
I know that the record in the season hasn't gotten
away that Hornets fans have hoped here at the big
league club, but just the success that we've seen in Greensboro,
especially specifically these two way guys and the guys that
have gone down on assignment. That gives you some hope
moving forward here that the Hornets are getting this fixed
in the right direction. So we'll see what Nick Smith
Junior and a couple of the other guys that have
been in Greensboro have on tap forward. Tomorrow, Hornets taken
(28:54):
on the Phoenix sunt seven o'clock here at Spectrum Center.
Be sure to get your tickets at Hornets dot com.
And after the game, you can, of course here the
postgame show on flagship station Sports Radio WFNZ with the
one and only Will Plochik on Sports Radio ninety two
to seven WFZ. Willie P thank you for joining me.
As always, one of these days, I'm telling you we're
gonna get you on a postgame edition of the AHHC
and it's going to be a winning edition of the
(29:14):
Hornets Hoope Cast.
Speaker 3 (29:16):
We're looking forward to it, Robbie. Hopefully we get ourselves
back in the win column.
Speaker 2 (29:19):
Hopefully sooner rather than later. Hornets have an opportunity to
do that tomorrow against the Phoenix Suns. Sam Farmer and
Kyle Bailey will have your game preview for that one
on tomorrow's edition of the AGHC. For Will Plochicck, I'm
Rob Longo staying so long. Thank you for joining us
on this episode of the Hornets Podcast. We'll talk to
you tomorrow once again here on EHHC.
Speaker 1 (29:37):
Thank you for listening to The Hornets Podcast, brought to
you by Santa, the official i ear nosen Throadcare provider
of the Charlotte Hornets. For more coverage, visit Hornets dot
com
Hosts And Creators
Sam Farber
Rob Longo
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