January 8, 2025 • 28 mins
The Hornets saw their 10-game losing streak come to an end against the Suns 115-104, the first time Charlotte has defeated Phoenix in the Queen City since the 2018-19 season. Sam Farber and Rob Longo break down how the Hornets were able to secure the win, and also take a look at Charlotte's upcoming five-game road trip, the longest of the season to this date.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the Hornets Hoivecast, presented by Charlotte I ear
nosen Throat Associates, the official I ear nozen Throatcare provider
of the Charlotte Hornets. Here's your host, Sam Farber.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Welcome to another edition of the Hornet timee Cast, your
Hornets podcast with all the notes, quotes, and daily buzz
around your favorite NBA team. I'm Sam Farber and it
is a pleasure and a privileged heavy with us here
once again on the Hornet Tide Cast, brought to you
by Santa Charlotte I Ear Nose and Throat Associates, the
official I ear, Nose and throat Care provider of the
Charlotte Hornets. For the first time in almost a full month,
(00:35):
it's a winning edition of the AHHC. Hornets snap a
ten game slide with a home win over the Phoenix
Suns one fifteen to one zero four. The final score
A lot stood out from this one. We'll break down
the game, select our stars of the night, and with
the Hornets now getting this home win, of course, they're
going to embark on a very long, mostly Western Conference
road trip. Team heading to LA today to begin a
(00:58):
five game road trip we'll preview the t for you
here on this episode of the HC and helping me
out on all these topics, my producer on the Hornets
Radio Network, a spell as the producer of this fine podcast,
who is prepping himself with ample energy drinks for the
upcoming roughly two weeks. Rob Longo here with us once again. Rob,
how many energy drinks do you have prep for this
upcoming westcoat A lot? Ten thirty Eastern tips.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
Buddy, Yeah, don't remind me. You know, this is the
worst part of the year for me personally, just because
it's these late nights. But I feel like there's a
lot of opportunity ahead here for the Hornets, especially after
a big win last night Ample.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
But first let's go over yesterday's when the Phoenix Suns
coming to town. There was opportunity in that one Sons
were on night two of a back to back. Yes,
they had just beaten Philadelphia, but playing in a road
road back to back is not an easy set of circumstances,
so there was a rest advantage for the Hornets. There was,
of course home court advantage, and there was the advantage
of having the core four play back to back games
(01:55):
for the first time this season things in the other direction.
Going into the Charlotte had not experienced winning in a
very long time. We'd heard players talk about how there
was not so much a loser mentality, but just that
they had forgotten a little bit how to win. And
so when you're on a ten game losing streak, even
when things seemed to be slit in your favor for
(02:16):
an individual matchup, there have to be some doubts. Furthermore,
the Suns had the Hornet's number for a long time.
Phoenix had won seven in a row over Charlotte that's
now in the rearview mirror now. Charles Lee had not
been a part of any of those, so he is
individually as a head coach won to zero now against Phoenix,
but as a franchise, Hornets hadn't beaten the Suns since
February of twenty twenty one, almost four years, and had
(02:39):
not won in Charlotte since January nineteenth, twenty nineteen, almost
six full years. How did they do it well? It
wasn't necessarily about having a great shooting game. Charlotte once
again was sub forty percent from the floor. I think
Charlotte just flat out played harder, they worked the offensive glass,
had twenty offensive rebounds, generating nine extra looks at the
(02:59):
basket when it was all said and done, and when
you're shooting less than forty percent from the floor, that matters.
And overall, played with a really good tempo and pace
without turning the ball over an overwhelming number of times.
Fourteen turnovers is quite a bit, but a lot of
those were dead ball turnovers. Charlotte actually won the points
off turnover battle head tohead against Phoenix. Here's what star
point guard LaMelo Ball, who finished with a team best
(03:21):
thirty two points and ten rebounds for a double double,
had to say after the game about the team's ability
to play with pace.
Speaker 4 (03:28):
Yeah, and pace that was big tonight, So tonight who
definitely was trying to run more and just get out
there and just have good pace.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
LaMelo said it. He did not speak it into existence.
There was existence and then he spoke it. But regardless,
Lamello a driving force for this victory with the thirty
two points, ten rebounds and kept things at a good
tempo and it turns out a winning tempo here for Charlotte.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
That was probably the biggest thing. I mean, if you
look at the fast break points twenty six to four
in favor of Charlotte. So that tells me that the
Hornets won. Got defensive stops, two got out in transition
and ran a little bit, and three they had really
good fast break defense. And if they turn the ball over,
like you mentioned, they were dead ball turnovers and not
the live ball turnovers, because again those are the ones
that are always a little bit of an issue because
(04:09):
when you look at the box score, Phoenix only had
three steals in that game yesterday, so usually the live
ball turnovers come off of those steals or blocks or
something like that. Phoenix did have four blocks. But at
the same time too, Charlotte did a really good job defensively.
I had LaMelo ball and he had three steals alone
in the first quarter. He finishes with four, couple on
Kevin Durant. They were some big time stops, and they
(04:29):
got out in transition. They were able to get easy buckets.
So to me, that was the biggest difference in this one,
because again the shooting percentages don't look pretty for either side,
but if you're able to get out and run and
get those easy buckets, that's how you win ball games.
And that's what the Hornts were able to do yesterday.
And the other big thing too is Charlotte got to
the free throw line a lot. That's I think the
second or third time we've seen that in as many
games here now for the Hornets. They went twenty six
(04:51):
to twenty nine at the free throw line, and two
of the misses came from LaMelo Ball, who's what like
an eighty four or eighty eight percent free throw shooter
this season. But at the same time too, Charl's been
doing a good job getting to the stripe here the
last couple of games. So I think that's kind of
the key just in basketball in general. If you're not
shooting a ball well, attack, drive, get to the free
throw line, especially if you're going up against an opponent
(05:13):
and you're down for the majority of the game. I
know that wasn't the case yesterday in this instance for
the Hornets, but over the course of a ten game
losing streak, get points while the clock is stopped. Get
yourself back into the ball game a little bit too,
And the Hornets did a pretty good job in that yesterday,
get picking up an eleven point win.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Definitely, all all good points to me. I think, you know,
when you look at the box score and you look,
you know, when did one side have the advantage, it
was when they were winning the glass. You know, Phoenix
actually had a player, former Hornet Mason Plumbley, who when
the plus minus was a plus fifteen. It's not to
say that, you know, he was necessarily the best player
on the floor all night long, but a true kind
(05:50):
of vintage Mason Plumbley with the Hornets type of performance.
He had no points, took one shot, but had thirteen rebounds.
But he's a plus fifteen. The reason I bring it
up in nineteen minutes on the floor in a game
his lost by double figures, his team, the Sons, was
winning those minutes by double figures. And the big stat
that stands out from his time on the floor was
his individual rebounding numbers. He's the only member of the
(06:11):
Phoenix Suns to finish in double figures in rebounds. He
is the only or. He was the game high in
rebounds with thirteen. Go to the other side. I think
Mark Williams had a solid game once again, nine points,
ten rebounds. He was head to head with plumme Lee
a lot, And you know, I think Mason's ability to
crash the glass and end Hornet's possessions without offering a
(06:32):
second or third opportunity allowed Phoenix to win a lot
of those minutes. But Mark Williams did a good job
out there as well, generating some on his own and
finishing with ten overall boards and nine points. But the
other two that were in double figures in rebounding Lamello
Nick Richards, those minutes were either an even a wash.
Lamello's he was an even in the plus minus, and
(06:53):
in Nick Richards it was an overwhelming win with twelve boards,
five of them offensive. He ends up a plus twenty three.
Sometimes that plus minus can be tricky. Sometimes it talks
about what an individual player contributed, and to me, I
think what the plus minus is saying is that when
a player was dominant on the glass, particularly over the
primary matchup on the other side, that's when things slid
(07:17):
in that team's favor, And so for Charlotte, winning the
glass ended up resulting in winning the game. One other
thought here before we turned the page, and we'll bring
this up later on in the podcast as well. I
went into this one rob thinking this was the most
important game of the season, and the reason being is
that for the entirety of the year, we have had
an explanation for losing centering around injuries and absences. That
(07:40):
the lack of consistency for the starting lineup, the lack
of availability for the core four was the driving reason
why Charlotte's record just flat out was not better. That
excuse was gone going into last night's game. It was
the first time all year that the core four of
LaMelo Ball, Miles Bridges, Mark Williams, and Brandon Miller were
going to start back to back games. They were home,
(08:02):
they had arrest advantage, everything was lining up under normal
circumstances for things to look good for Charlotte. We couldn't
point to injuries and absences anymore, even though some still exist.
We're hoping Trey Man comes back soon and Grant Williams.
It's a big blow, but that's the NBA, that's pro sports.
So for Charlotte to get this win, it gives the
opportunity for this group to have a turning point and
(08:25):
to start to turn this season around. Well, it ended
up being enough to make the playoffs. I don't know,
Charlotte's gonna need a lot of help they're roughly ten
games out of a postseason spot right now. So it's
not just gonna happen that Charlotte plays five hundred ball
and they get back in the pitcher. Someone's gonna have
to fall off or the horns are gonna have to
get really hot. But regardless, this is about getting a
stretch where we can evaluate this group together and for
(08:47):
the first time where there's like a fair evaluation period.
Charlotte comes up with a good result against a good
NBA team with Hall of Fame players on the other side.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
Yeah, I mean, I don't know how else I can
kind of frame that, but yeah, you're right. I mean,
this is what we've been hoping for for now the
last what two to two and a half seasons is
just full health, about as healthy as we can get. Obviously,
the Hornets are still missing tray Man and Grant Williams,
and Grant's loss for the season Trey hopefully we're getting
him back soon. But yeah, I mean, this is what
you've hoped for over the last two and a half seasons.
(09:16):
Now is a fair evaluation period, because you can't move
the franchise forward in general if you don't know who
your best players are. And that's been the issue now
for the last two to two and a half seasons,
is these guys haven't been able to play together. So
it's hard to say who stays, who goes, who you
build around, and who you give a second or third
contract out to because you don't have anything to go
off of. So now we're finally starting to get some
samples here. I know it's still a smaller sample size,
(09:39):
but I mean this is also a growing lesson here
for Charles Lee as well, first time head coach finally
gets his starting five back together. There's gonna be some
creativity on his side as well that we're gonna have
to see get moved through also because this is gonna
be a learning experience for him as well. So all
of these little factors certainly add up. Because again I
think this I sound like a broken record saying, but
(10:00):
it all goes back to the injuries, because if you
have your starters that are out, your bench guy's got
to come in, and then you don't have that bench
that you would normally have to be a factor game
in and game out. And finally, now that the Hornets
are healthy, you go back, you look at it the
bench outscored Phoenix last night thirty five to twenty nine,
and that includes ten points from Bradley Beal. I know
Bradley Beal had a bigger game the other night against
(10:22):
the Sixers, coming off the bench for the first time
in a very very long time out I might have
been the first time in his career. It was like
five hundred and thirty some games, something like that. But
at any rate, sweating hairs the bench still outscores a
team that has a former All Star and one of
the best to do it in a uniform on the
other side. So that's what you're able to see here.
That's what you're able to evaluate because it's not just
(10:42):
as starters. It's not just that core that we talk
about with Miles Bridges and Brandon Miller and LaMelo Ball
and Mark Williams. This includes other guys on the bench too.
Nick Smith Junior is starting to make a name for
himself here the last couple of games. Nick Richards has
had some good games here as late. T John Salon
played some meaningful minutes in that game yesterday as well.
All of these players are being a value one way
or the other. It's not just the core players. It's
not just the starters, it's from top to bottom, one
(11:04):
through how many end up ever playing in the game
end up being ten last night, but sometimes it's eleven
or twelve, So from top to bottom, everybody always gets evaluated,
no matter what.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
Strong performance from the Hornets, lots of candidates for Star
of the Night is. Charlotte grabs the win, improving to
eight and twenty seven, ending some long losing streaks. Overall.
It had been ten straight in the lost column until
the Hornets get rid of that last night and seven
straight losses to the Phoenix Suns. First win in Charlotte
over the Phoenix franchise since January nineteenth, twenty nineteen. Hopefully
(11:34):
the Hornts will start a win streak of their own
now in this rivalry series. Moving forward again, Stars the
Night our next after a one to fifteen to one
oh four Hornets victory. After this quick break, here on
the Hornets five cast, Sam Farbar rob Longo here with
you on the HHC The Hornets five Cast, brought to
you by CENTA Hornet's getting a w over the Suns
(11:55):
one fifteen to one oh four. They'll begin The Hornets
will a five game trip primarily against the Western Conference
that begins tomorrow against the LA Lakers. Will have our
game preview coming up for you tomorrow on that podcast.
Next home game for Charlotte it'll be an MLK Day
home game a Daylight d Light a Mattine twelve noon
Hornets hosting the Dallas Mavericks only time on the regular
(12:18):
season Dallas will be in town. Tickets are available at
Hornets dot com. Roblongo time to pick Stars of the Night.
Lots of candidates, players finishing in double figures. LaMelo Ball
thirty two points, also had ten rebounds for a double double,
twenty one points for Miles Bridges, thirteen for Brandon Miller,
and off the bench fifteen points and twelve boards a
double double for it Nick Richards, plus some other notable
(12:39):
candidates as well. Who do you like as your Star
of the night?
Speaker 3 (12:41):
This might be one of the toughest ones we've had
all seasons in terms of Stars of the night, But
I'm gonna go with Miles Bridges.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
Rebound, Nick Smith Junior hold for two trip for the
Sun Smith the Great is the Slab. What a lot
from Nick Smith Junior, Miles Bridges high fly along the
baseline and Nick Smith Junior with a pinpoint pass for
an enormous slam time out Phoenix.
Speaker 3 (13:10):
That highlight right there might be a little bit more
of a Nick Smith Junior highlight, but hey, Miles Bridge
still has to finish the play on the other end.
Finishes with the Blackjack twenty one, second highest leading scorer
on the team yesterday. Finishes a plus five and a
plus minus. That was great to see. Seven rebounds, three assists,
a couple of steals in there, only turn the ball
over once, eight to seventeen from the field, two for
five from beyond the ark, hid all three of his
(13:30):
free throws as well, and let's be honest, Miles has
really struggled from beyond the yark here the last couple
of games, starting a round into form a little bit.
That's forty percent. That's pretty darn good compared to where
it was. And the eight to seventeen from the field
is really good too, And I think a lot of
that too, is just based off of the return of
LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller. It takes so much pressure
off of Miles Bridges because with LaMelo Ball and Brandon
(13:50):
Miller out, it's basically Miles Bridges offensively and that's about it,
and that takes a toll. I mean, that's very tough
to do. I know Miles has been hard on himself.
I think he had six turnovers the other day before
Brandon and LaMelo came back into the fold and he
said that he needed to be better. This is certainly
him being better. And I know that it's easier said
than done when you have guys like Brandon and LaMelo
and marking all those guys come back and you get
your starters back because it balances out the scoring a
(14:13):
little bit more. But the fruits of the labor are
definitely there for Miles Bridges because again it's still easier
said than done. Is go north of twenty in the NBA,
and he was able to accomplish that there on very
very very efficient shooting. Miles Bridge is definitely my star
of the night.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
You're not the only one with high praise for mister Bridges.
Here's his head coach Charles Lee after the game on
bridges performance.
Speaker 5 (14:32):
Oh for sure, he was dialed in from the tip
and you could see it, you know, top locking Durant,
trying to break his rhythm, trying to limit his touches,
which I thought was really good. So there's times when
you have somebody that's just that physical and that competitive.
He sets a tone, and I thought that he did
a great job of trying to just get Durance off
(14:53):
of his spots early on, and then all of a sudden,
when he does get a couple catches or they get
an offensive rebound, because he hasn't had the rhythm that
he's used to having, he misses a couple of them.
So I was really proud of Miles for setting that
tone and not allowing anything offensively to take away from
his ability to just continue to guard at a really
high level.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
The defensive effort, you know, it was impressive. Yes, Durant
ends up with twenty six points, but had to work
hard to get to the number. And you know what,
he's one of the top five scores in the NBA.
He's kind of routinely getting that number. So anything you
can do to make it a little tougher or not
allow him to go for a big game by his standard,
that's a win. So good pick there with Miles Bridges
(15:36):
and offensively, I thought he was very efficient, made good decisions,
was attack minded, wasn't reluctant to take the three year
right to point out he hadn't been shooting it great
twenty eight percent from beyond the arc this season going
into that game, but a solid effort two for five
from deep in another twenty point performance for Miles Bridges.
A couple of cap tips for me one to the opposition.
Devin Booker was great thirty nine points, fourteen for twenty
(15:58):
five from the floor, nine for nine from the foul line,
only made two threes on two of eight shooting there,
but overall he was such a strong score got to
his spots with ease, finished with ten assists as well.
Really great performance from Devin Booker, so a cap tip
to the visitor. Also for the Hornets, LaMelo Ball, hornet's
leading scorer with thirty two points and also added in
(16:19):
ten rebounds. Set it during the postgame show on the
network broadcast rob But sometimes I feel like we are
prisoners of first impressions, and the first quarter for LaMelo
Ball was lousy shooting the basketball. He did not have
any points, but as the game went on, he got
in rhythm, got more confidence. Second quarter he had ten points,
third quarter he had thirteen, to fourth quarter he added
(16:42):
in nine finishes the game with thirty two points, ten rebounds,
and five made threes, which, oh, by the way, gives
him six hundred and thirty three career and ties in
with your pick for Star of the Night Miles Bridges
for the fifth most in Hornets franchise history. The double
double also seventh of his season, but not my pick
for Star of the Night. I'm going to the bench.
(17:03):
I'm going to Nick Richards. He had had a somewhat
disappointing game the run before against Cleveland. He came out
with a fire and energy level that was second to
none amongst reserves. In this game. He had a tough
matchup too. Yusuf Nurkic is a really good player, one
of the more underrated big men in the NBA. On
the other side, who has been a Hornets killer oftentimes
(17:26):
in his career, Nick Richards just dominated the matchup fifteen points,
twelve rebounds, his fifth double double of the season. He
talked about it with us after the game as well
about the energy that he came in with the attack mindset.
I thought it was one of his best games of
the season, and while going in I had a hunch
that whichever core, whichever you know, leading star group played
(17:50):
better would win the game. I was wrong. It was
the reserves and Nick Richards was far and away the
best off the bench or off the core player of
anyone on the floor. And his nomination of his minutes,
his energy, his rim running, his defense, all of it
came together to give Charlotte a victory when they badly
needed snapping a ten game slide. So Hornets are now
(18:12):
eight and twenty seven and about to embark on a
long road trip. Five games coming up away from Spectrum
Center Charlotte back home on Martin Luther King Day Monday,
January twentieth, so a little less than two weeks from now.
Tickets for that one, a noon tip against the Mavericks
available at Hornets dot com. But we're gonna preview this
upcoming road trip and preview rob Longo's sleep patterns next
(18:34):
here on the Hornet Time Cast. Sam Farbar, Rob Longo
here with you on the Hornet Time Cast, brought to
you by CENTA, Charlotte Iron Nosen Throat Associates, the official
I ear Nosen Throat care provider of the Charlotte Hornets.
I should say soon to be nocturnal Rob Longo Rob
some ten thirty Eastern tip times to tip off this
(18:55):
road trip everything outside of the Eastern time zone. It's
gonna be some le nights for you, buddy.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
Yeah, I'm not looking forward to it, but hey, at
least the late night quick service joints will be open.
I'll have my pick of the litter with those Southern
delicacies that I'm looking forward to that I might have
to indulge in, and hopefully after they're over a couple
of Hornets winds as well on this west coast swing.
Speaker 2 (19:15):
We will check in on your sleep patterns and your
eating habits and all of that throughout the trip.
Speaker 3 (19:20):
Try not to contact me before twelve Eastern time please,
thank you.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
I'll do my best. That's night or morning, both both
of us.
Speaker 3 (19:28):
I'll either be working or sleeping Turno's hours.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
Hornets take the road at eight and twenty seven. As
I mentioned earlier, you know, in terms of getting back
into the postseason picture, that is somewhat out of the
Hornet's control. They could get, of course, incandescent as you
like to say, and go on some ridiculous wind streak here.
But seeing as they have just snapped a ten game
losing streak. I don't think it's right to assume anything
like that. I think you focus on what's in front
(19:53):
of you. And the first thing is it's an opportunity
to evaluate what this core can do on its own,
and it's a good one. But regardless of opponents, regardless
of road home, any of it. This season to me
was about figuring out how good can LaMelo Ball, Mark Williams,
Brandon Miller, Milesbridge be as a quartet and what could
(20:14):
they provide with some consistent run. Till yesterday, we had
no consistent run whatsoever for that group. Last night was
the first time they started consecutive games together and it
ended up being a nice convincing win over a Phoenix
Sun's team that, while underperforming, does have a lot of
stars on their side. After the game, LaMelo Ball talked
(20:35):
about what it meant having that core back on the floor.
That's great for real, just to have everybody back, everybody
out there, you can see what we have and just
everybody playing for us is great because we really ain't.
We ain't have everybody in the many. I mean we
still don't, but with what we got now is smooth
fair from LaMelo still no Grant Williams still no train man.
But their contributions, while certainly meaningful, the most important thing
(20:59):
was the value that core group, because that's who's going
to lead you to stuff. You know, when when the
Suns lose the game, they don't look at the bench
and say, oh my gosh, you know Monte Morris, you
know cost us that. No, it's did Kevin Durant and
Devin Booker and Bradley Beal and did those guys do
enough to win games more often than not? And the
same is true for Charlotte. You're going to see games
(21:19):
like last night where Nick Richards had a larger than
normal role in getting the win. But it comes down
to can that core keep you competitive, keep you in games,
win you games more often than not? And we started
to get a glimpse of that the other night. So
for me, rob opponents don't matter, but it does help
that as you look at this road trip coming up,
(21:41):
there's no active Goliaths on it. The Lakers, as of
the recording of this podcast, have the best record in
the group. They're currently sixth in the Western Conference, but
even they have lost a couple of games in a
row here, so not exactly playing you know, their greatest
basketball As the Hornets set forth for Los Angeles, the
(22:05):
team tied with them in the record column is the
LA Clippers, but you know they're also, you know, barely
in contention. I guess they're right there, close to a
top six seed, but you know, not exactly a top
four team in their conference one expected to host. Same
as true for the Suns, Jazz, and Bulls who wind
down the road trip. In fact, none of them are
currently even in the top ten in their kind. Well,
(22:27):
I guess the Bulls are. The Bulls are tenth, but
you know it's close to all three of them being
out of it. So, yes, it's a long Western Conference
road trip that's never easy. But in terms of opponents,
there's nothing here that Charlotte should go into the game
as an overwhelming underdog just based off the head to
head matchup. These are all winnable games and important to
see and continue to evaluate. Can this core for the
(22:50):
Hornets pick up some wins on a road trip that,
if it's just not good enough of a corps would
prove to be very difficult. I think the belief is
it is good enough of a corps and they're or
this is an opportunity to get some w's on the road.
Speaker 3 (23:02):
We're gonna learn a lot about this team over the
next five games. And I know it's a tough stretch
because I think it's what five in the next eight
or something like that in terms of just games on
the road. So it's gonna be a quick trip too.
I mean Thursday against the Lakers, you have an off day,
you play the Clippers, and then you gotta go play
the Suns on the second night of a back to back.
So I guess the back to back that the Hornets
had with the rest advantage yesterday at home against the
(23:24):
Suns even things out a little bit. Then you gotta
go to Utah.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
The Sons do have a back to back as well.
Oh well, that's a little of home home back to back.
Speaker 3 (23:31):
But still you get to sleep in your own bed,
I guess. But at the same time too, See this
is why Sam gets paid the big bucks, because I
didn't look that far ahead in the schedule Utah. And
then you got Chicago coming on the way back too,
So you know there are some opportunities here. Like you said,
I mean, there's all these teams are in weird spots too.
I mean, if you think about the Lakers, I mean
just all of the I don't want to call it drama,
but the attention that they get throughout not only just
(23:54):
in Los Angeles, but around the country too, with Lebron
and the JJ Reddick dynamic and those guys and making
some deals as of late trading D'Angelo Russell away and
all that kind of stuff. So there's situations in that part.
The Clippers. You take a look at La the Clippers.
Of course, Kawhi Leonard just coming back from I think
it was like a thirty four game absence too, and
he's trying to get reintroduced back into the fold. That's
(24:16):
a little bit of a nuance there. I mean, Utah
is just not a very good team right now. We
saw what Phoenix is dealing with yesterday also, and then Chicago, well,
we've saw Chicago a couple of times this season so
far already, so there's scouting out there already. There's there's
already some knowns. Sometimes when you go out to these
West Coast teams. For us, there's a little bit of
an unknown just because we're up late doing podcasts. We're
(24:37):
not really going home and watching the West Coast games.
Maybe we're catching the highlights at the end of the night,
but we're not sitting there and watching every single game.
So there's already a lot known already about this. Obviously,
the scouting team and the advanced scouts get the job
done from a personnel standpoints on top like the team's
going and blind obviously, but at the same time too,
we have kind of these expectations that we're setting here
for this team a little bit in a sense, and
(24:59):
this is a big opportunity here for the Hornets. We're
gonna learn a lot about this team over the next
five games, just to see what they're made of mentally
and physically, because this is a little bit of a
daunting trip. Going from east to west is a little
bit easier than maybe going west to east. But then
you got to come back, and you got to play
Chicago on the back end of this road trip, and
then you have a very very very early tip time
against Dallas on MLKDA two for a twelve o'clock So again,
(25:23):
all these things kind of add up a little bit.
I don't think you can discount them. I know it's
great travel in the NBA, You guys have very nice
hotels you stay in and the chartered flights and everything
like that. You guys are catered very well, but it's
still a daunting taskago night in and night out and
perform at at any elite level and try to perform
at your highest So it's gonna be an interesting five
games here, and you know what, I'm looking forward to it.
(25:44):
I'm feeling very optimistic now after this win against the
Suns yesterday. Maybe I'm a prisoner of the moment because
we haven't felt with winning has been like in a minute.
But I'm looking forward to this now, not to ten
thirty tip times, but you know, just the opportunity that
is in front of the Hornets Lefty drinks in the fridge.
Speaker 2 (25:59):
Yeah, I'm looking forward to it as well. No bad
days in the NBA. And as you said that the
Traveler is the best of accommodations for the best athletes
in the world. But yeah, it's an opportunity in front
here for the Hornets. Here's what Miles Bridges says is
at stake moving forward here for Charlotte.
Speaker 4 (26:15):
Yeah, it feels good. You know, we're about to go
on a tough west road trip. So hopefully this could
this could lead to some type of winning streak. You know,
I never think the season is over, you know, I
still think we got a chance to make the playoffs.
For the plan, we just gotta build off it is.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
They certainly do if they want to get to the
goal that he's talking about. Yes, you gotta do your part,
you gotta you gotta win more games than the Hornets
have in this recent run and for the season overall.
But moreover, there's no Goliaths on on this trip. I
think under the right circumstances, could the Lakers be a
title condecder. Yeah, sure they could be. Obviously that that
core group there has won one before, so by definition
(26:50):
their title caliber in terms of their their leading players
on that team. But but overall, this is an opportunity
for Charlotte with core intact to show what it can
do on the road. If you're going to get where
you want to be as a core group and the
leading group for a team, winning on the road as
part of it. So opportunity is knocking here for the Hornets.
(27:12):
We'll see what they do to answer it. Starting tomorrow.
We of course have you covered throughout the wee weekend
the whole road trip on the HHC with game previews
every game day, reviews the day after, and we'll even
have a special interview on one of the longer stretches
without games. Mark Williams is going to join us in
studio and we'll have that conversation for you coming up
(27:32):
later on next week here on the HHC. Rob Loongo,
rest up. The road trip starts tomorrow.
Speaker 3 (27:38):
I'm gonna get my eight hours of sleep in while
I can, because I don't think it's going to be
coming back until maybe the All Star break.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
I think it's going to be coming to you during
daylight hours, if you're going to get it at all.
Rob Longo, great stuff. As always, Thanks most of all
to all of you for tuning in for all of
us here, I'm Sam Farber saying it's been a pleasure
and a privilege having you along and we'll talk to
you next time right here on the Hornets Hoodcast.
Speaker 1 (27:57):
Thank you for listening to The Hornets Hoodcast, brought to
you by Santa, the official I ear nozen throad care
provider of the Charlotte Hornets. For more coverage, visit Hornets
dot com.
Welcome to the Hornets Hoivecast, presented by Charlotte I ear
nosen Throat Associates, the official I ear nozen Throatcare provider
of the Charlotte Hornets. Here's your host, Sam Farber.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Welcome to another edition of the Hornet timee Cast, your
Hornets podcast with all the notes, quotes, and daily buzz
around your favorite NBA team. I'm Sam Farber and it
is a pleasure and a privileged heavy with us here
once again on the Hornet Tide Cast, brought to you
by Santa Charlotte I Ear Nose and Throat Associates, the
official I ear, Nose and throat Care provider of the
Charlotte Hornets. For the first time in almost a full month,
(00:35):
it's a winning edition of the AHHC. Hornets snap a
ten game slide with a home win over the Phoenix
Suns one fifteen to one zero four. The final score
A lot stood out from this one. We'll break down
the game, select our stars of the night, and with
the Hornets now getting this home win, of course, they're
going to embark on a very long, mostly Western Conference
road trip. Team heading to LA today to begin a
(00:58):
five game road trip we'll preview the t for you
here on this episode of the HC and helping me
out on all these topics, my producer on the Hornets
Radio Network, a spell as the producer of this fine podcast,
who is prepping himself with ample energy drinks for the
upcoming roughly two weeks. Rob Longo here with us once again. Rob,
how many energy drinks do you have prep for this
upcoming westcoat A lot? Ten thirty Eastern tips.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
Buddy, Yeah, don't remind me. You know, this is the
worst part of the year for me personally, just because
it's these late nights. But I feel like there's a
lot of opportunity ahead here for the Hornets, especially after
a big win last night Ample.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
But first let's go over yesterday's when the Phoenix Suns
coming to town. There was opportunity in that one Sons
were on night two of a back to back. Yes,
they had just beaten Philadelphia, but playing in a road
road back to back is not an easy set of circumstances,
so there was a rest advantage for the Hornets. There was,
of course home court advantage, and there was the advantage
of having the core four play back to back games
(01:55):
for the first time this season things in the other direction.
Going into the Charlotte had not experienced winning in a
very long time. We'd heard players talk about how there
was not so much a loser mentality, but just that
they had forgotten a little bit how to win. And
so when you're on a ten game losing streak, even
when things seemed to be slit in your favor for
(02:16):
an individual matchup, there have to be some doubts. Furthermore,
the Suns had the Hornet's number for a long time.
Phoenix had won seven in a row over Charlotte that's
now in the rearview mirror now. Charles Lee had not
been a part of any of those, so he is
individually as a head coach won to zero now against Phoenix,
but as a franchise, Hornets hadn't beaten the Suns since
February of twenty twenty one, almost four years, and had
(02:39):
not won in Charlotte since January nineteenth, twenty nineteen, almost
six full years. How did they do it well? It
wasn't necessarily about having a great shooting game. Charlotte once
again was sub forty percent from the floor. I think
Charlotte just flat out played harder, they worked the offensive glass,
had twenty offensive rebounds, generating nine extra looks at the
(02:59):
basket when it was all said and done, and when
you're shooting less than forty percent from the floor, that matters.
And overall, played with a really good tempo and pace
without turning the ball over an overwhelming number of times.
Fourteen turnovers is quite a bit, but a lot of
those were dead ball turnovers. Charlotte actually won the points
off turnover battle head tohead against Phoenix. Here's what star
point guard LaMelo Ball, who finished with a team best
(03:21):
thirty two points and ten rebounds for a double double,
had to say after the game about the team's ability
to play with pace.
Speaker 4 (03:28):
Yeah, and pace that was big tonight, So tonight who
definitely was trying to run more and just get out
there and just have good pace.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
LaMelo said it. He did not speak it into existence.
There was existence and then he spoke it. But regardless,
Lamello a driving force for this victory with the thirty
two points, ten rebounds and kept things at a good
tempo and it turns out a winning tempo here for Charlotte.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
That was probably the biggest thing. I mean, if you
look at the fast break points twenty six to four
in favor of Charlotte. So that tells me that the
Hornets won. Got defensive stops, two got out in transition
and ran a little bit, and three they had really
good fast break defense. And if they turn the ball over,
like you mentioned, they were dead ball turnovers and not
the live ball turnovers, because again those are the ones
that are always a little bit of an issue because
(04:09):
when you look at the box score, Phoenix only had
three steals in that game yesterday, so usually the live
ball turnovers come off of those steals or blocks or
something like that. Phoenix did have four blocks. But at
the same time too, Charlotte did a really good job defensively.
I had LaMelo ball and he had three steals alone
in the first quarter. He finishes with four, couple on
Kevin Durant. They were some big time stops, and they
(04:29):
got out in transition. They were able to get easy buckets.
So to me, that was the biggest difference in this one,
because again the shooting percentages don't look pretty for either side,
but if you're able to get out and run and
get those easy buckets, that's how you win ball games.
And that's what the Hornts were able to do yesterday.
And the other big thing too is Charlotte got to
the free throw line a lot. That's I think the
second or third time we've seen that in as many
games here now for the Hornets. They went twenty six
(04:51):
to twenty nine at the free throw line, and two
of the misses came from LaMelo Ball, who's what like
an eighty four or eighty eight percent free throw shooter
this season. But at the same time too, Charl's been
doing a good job getting to the stripe here the
last couple of games. So I think that's kind of
the key just in basketball in general. If you're not
shooting a ball well, attack, drive, get to the free
throw line, especially if you're going up against an opponent
(05:13):
and you're down for the majority of the game. I
know that wasn't the case yesterday in this instance for
the Hornets, but over the course of a ten game
losing streak, get points while the clock is stopped. Get
yourself back into the ball game a little bit too,
And the Hornets did a pretty good job in that yesterday,
get picking up an eleven point win.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Definitely, all all good points to me. I think, you know,
when you look at the box score and you look,
you know, when did one side have the advantage, it
was when they were winning the glass. You know, Phoenix
actually had a player, former Hornet Mason Plumbley, who when
the plus minus was a plus fifteen. It's not to
say that, you know, he was necessarily the best player
on the floor all night long, but a true kind
(05:50):
of vintage Mason Plumbley with the Hornets type of performance.
He had no points, took one shot, but had thirteen rebounds.
But he's a plus fifteen. The reason I bring it
up in nineteen minutes on the floor in a game
his lost by double figures, his team, the Sons, was
winning those minutes by double figures. And the big stat
that stands out from his time on the floor was
his individual rebounding numbers. He's the only member of the
(06:11):
Phoenix Suns to finish in double figures in rebounds. He
is the only or. He was the game high in
rebounds with thirteen. Go to the other side. I think
Mark Williams had a solid game once again, nine points,
ten rebounds. He was head to head with plumme Lee
a lot, And you know, I think Mason's ability to
crash the glass and end Hornet's possessions without offering a
(06:32):
second or third opportunity allowed Phoenix to win a lot
of those minutes. But Mark Williams did a good job
out there as well, generating some on his own and
finishing with ten overall boards and nine points. But the
other two that were in double figures in rebounding Lamello
Nick Richards, those minutes were either an even a wash.
Lamello's he was an even in the plus minus, and
(06:53):
in Nick Richards it was an overwhelming win with twelve boards,
five of them offensive. He ends up a plus twenty three.
Sometimes that plus minus can be tricky. Sometimes it talks
about what an individual player contributed, and to me, I
think what the plus minus is saying is that when
a player was dominant on the glass, particularly over the
primary matchup on the other side, that's when things slid
(07:17):
in that team's favor, And so for Charlotte, winning the
glass ended up resulting in winning the game. One other
thought here before we turned the page, and we'll bring
this up later on in the podcast as well. I
went into this one rob thinking this was the most
important game of the season, and the reason being is
that for the entirety of the year, we have had
an explanation for losing centering around injuries and absences. That
(07:40):
the lack of consistency for the starting lineup, the lack
of availability for the core four was the driving reason
why Charlotte's record just flat out was not better. That
excuse was gone going into last night's game. It was
the first time all year that the core four of
LaMelo Ball, Miles Bridges, Mark Williams, and Brandon Miller were
going to start back to back games. They were home,
(08:02):
they had arrest advantage, everything was lining up under normal
circumstances for things to look good for Charlotte. We couldn't
point to injuries and absences anymore, even though some still exist.
We're hoping Trey Man comes back soon and Grant Williams.
It's a big blow, but that's the NBA, that's pro sports.
So for Charlotte to get this win, it gives the
opportunity for this group to have a turning point and
(08:25):
to start to turn this season around. Well, it ended
up being enough to make the playoffs. I don't know,
Charlotte's gonna need a lot of help they're roughly ten
games out of a postseason spot right now. So it's
not just gonna happen that Charlotte plays five hundred ball
and they get back in the pitcher. Someone's gonna have
to fall off or the horns are gonna have to
get really hot. But regardless, this is about getting a
stretch where we can evaluate this group together and for
(08:47):
the first time where there's like a fair evaluation period.
Charlotte comes up with a good result against a good
NBA team with Hall of Fame players on the other side.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
Yeah, I mean, I don't know how else I can
kind of frame that, but yeah, you're right. I mean,
this is what we've been hoping for for now the
last what two to two and a half seasons is
just full health, about as healthy as we can get. Obviously,
the Hornets are still missing tray Man and Grant Williams,
and Grant's loss for the season Trey hopefully we're getting
him back soon. But yeah, I mean, this is what
you've hoped for over the last two and a half seasons.
(09:16):
Now is a fair evaluation period, because you can't move
the franchise forward in general if you don't know who
your best players are. And that's been the issue now
for the last two to two and a half seasons,
is these guys haven't been able to play together. So
it's hard to say who stays, who goes, who you
build around, and who you give a second or third
contract out to because you don't have anything to go
off of. So now we're finally starting to get some
samples here. I know it's still a smaller sample size,
(09:39):
but I mean this is also a growing lesson here
for Charles Lee as well, first time head coach finally
gets his starting five back together. There's gonna be some
creativity on his side as well that we're gonna have
to see get moved through also because this is gonna
be a learning experience for him as well. So all
of these little factors certainly add up. Because again I
think this I sound like a broken record saying, but
(10:00):
it all goes back to the injuries, because if you
have your starters that are out, your bench guy's got
to come in, and then you don't have that bench
that you would normally have to be a factor game
in and game out. And finally, now that the Hornets
are healthy, you go back, you look at it the
bench outscored Phoenix last night thirty five to twenty nine,
and that includes ten points from Bradley Beal. I know
Bradley Beal had a bigger game the other night against
(10:22):
the Sixers, coming off the bench for the first time
in a very very long time out I might have
been the first time in his career. It was like
five hundred and thirty some games, something like that. But
at any rate, sweating hairs the bench still outscores a
team that has a former All Star and one of
the best to do it in a uniform on the
other side. So that's what you're able to see here.
That's what you're able to evaluate because it's not just
(10:42):
as starters. It's not just that core that we talk
about with Miles Bridges and Brandon Miller and LaMelo Ball
and Mark Williams. This includes other guys on the bench too.
Nick Smith Junior is starting to make a name for
himself here the last couple of games. Nick Richards has
had some good games here as late. T John Salon
played some meaningful minutes in that game yesterday as well.
All of these players are being a value one way
or the other. It's not just the core players. It's
not just the starters, it's from top to bottom, one
(11:04):
through how many end up ever playing in the game
end up being ten last night, but sometimes it's eleven
or twelve, So from top to bottom, everybody always gets evaluated,
no matter what.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
Strong performance from the Hornets, lots of candidates for Star
of the Night is. Charlotte grabs the win, improving to
eight and twenty seven, ending some long losing streaks. Overall.
It had been ten straight in the lost column until
the Hornets get rid of that last night and seven
straight losses to the Phoenix Suns. First win in Charlotte
over the Phoenix franchise since January nineteenth, twenty nineteen. Hopefully
(11:34):
the Hornts will start a win streak of their own
now in this rivalry series. Moving forward again, Stars the
Night our next after a one to fifteen to one
oh four Hornets victory. After this quick break, here on
the Hornets five cast, Sam Farbar rob Longo here with
you on the HHC The Hornets five Cast, brought to
you by CENTA Hornet's getting a w over the Suns
(11:55):
one fifteen to one oh four. They'll begin The Hornets
will a five game trip primarily against the Western Conference
that begins tomorrow against the LA Lakers. Will have our
game preview coming up for you tomorrow on that podcast.
Next home game for Charlotte it'll be an MLK Day
home game a Daylight d Light a Mattine twelve noon
Hornets hosting the Dallas Mavericks only time on the regular
(12:18):
season Dallas will be in town. Tickets are available at
Hornets dot com. Roblongo time to pick Stars of the Night.
Lots of candidates, players finishing in double figures. LaMelo Ball
thirty two points, also had ten rebounds for a double double,
twenty one points for Miles Bridges, thirteen for Brandon Miller,
and off the bench fifteen points and twelve boards a
double double for it Nick Richards, plus some other notable
(12:39):
candidates as well. Who do you like as your Star
of the night?
Speaker 3 (12:41):
This might be one of the toughest ones we've had
all seasons in terms of Stars of the night, But
I'm gonna go with Miles Bridges.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
Rebound, Nick Smith Junior hold for two trip for the
Sun Smith the Great is the Slab. What a lot
from Nick Smith Junior, Miles Bridges high fly along the
baseline and Nick Smith Junior with a pinpoint pass for
an enormous slam time out Phoenix.
Speaker 3 (13:10):
That highlight right there might be a little bit more
of a Nick Smith Junior highlight, but hey, Miles Bridge
still has to finish the play on the other end.
Finishes with the Blackjack twenty one, second highest leading scorer
on the team yesterday. Finishes a plus five and a
plus minus. That was great to see. Seven rebounds, three assists,
a couple of steals in there, only turn the ball
over once, eight to seventeen from the field, two for
five from beyond the ark, hid all three of his
(13:30):
free throws as well, and let's be honest, Miles has
really struggled from beyond the yark here the last couple
of games, starting a round into form a little bit.
That's forty percent. That's pretty darn good compared to where
it was. And the eight to seventeen from the field
is really good too, And I think a lot of
that too, is just based off of the return of
LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller. It takes so much pressure
off of Miles Bridges because with LaMelo Ball and Brandon
(13:50):
Miller out, it's basically Miles Bridges offensively and that's about it,
and that takes a toll. I mean, that's very tough
to do. I know Miles has been hard on himself.
I think he had six turnovers the other day before
Brandon and LaMelo came back into the fold and he
said that he needed to be better. This is certainly
him being better. And I know that it's easier said
than done when you have guys like Brandon and LaMelo
and marking all those guys come back and you get
your starters back because it balances out the scoring a
(14:13):
little bit more. But the fruits of the labor are
definitely there for Miles Bridges because again it's still easier
said than done. Is go north of twenty in the NBA,
and he was able to accomplish that there on very
very very efficient shooting. Miles Bridge is definitely my star
of the night.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
You're not the only one with high praise for mister Bridges.
Here's his head coach Charles Lee after the game on
bridges performance.
Speaker 5 (14:32):
Oh for sure, he was dialed in from the tip
and you could see it, you know, top locking Durant,
trying to break his rhythm, trying to limit his touches,
which I thought was really good. So there's times when
you have somebody that's just that physical and that competitive.
He sets a tone, and I thought that he did
a great job of trying to just get Durance off
(14:53):
of his spots early on, and then all of a sudden,
when he does get a couple catches or they get
an offensive rebound, because he hasn't had the rhythm that
he's used to having, he misses a couple of them.
So I was really proud of Miles for setting that
tone and not allowing anything offensively to take away from
his ability to just continue to guard at a really
high level.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
The defensive effort, you know, it was impressive. Yes, Durant
ends up with twenty six points, but had to work
hard to get to the number. And you know what,
he's one of the top five scores in the NBA.
He's kind of routinely getting that number. So anything you
can do to make it a little tougher or not
allow him to go for a big game by his standard,
that's a win. So good pick there with Miles Bridges
(15:36):
and offensively, I thought he was very efficient, made good decisions,
was attack minded, wasn't reluctant to take the three year
right to point out he hadn't been shooting it great
twenty eight percent from beyond the arc this season going
into that game, but a solid effort two for five
from deep in another twenty point performance for Miles Bridges.
A couple of cap tips for me one to the opposition.
Devin Booker was great thirty nine points, fourteen for twenty
(15:58):
five from the floor, nine for nine from the foul line,
only made two threes on two of eight shooting there,
but overall he was such a strong score got to
his spots with ease, finished with ten assists as well.
Really great performance from Devin Booker, so a cap tip
to the visitor. Also for the Hornets, LaMelo Ball, hornet's
leading scorer with thirty two points and also added in
(16:19):
ten rebounds. Set it during the postgame show on the
network broadcast rob But sometimes I feel like we are
prisoners of first impressions, and the first quarter for LaMelo
Ball was lousy shooting the basketball. He did not have
any points, but as the game went on, he got
in rhythm, got more confidence. Second quarter he had ten points,
third quarter he had thirteen, to fourth quarter he added
(16:42):
in nine finishes the game with thirty two points, ten rebounds,
and five made threes, which, oh, by the way, gives
him six hundred and thirty three career and ties in
with your pick for Star of the Night Miles Bridges
for the fifth most in Hornets franchise history. The double
double also seventh of his season, but not my pick
for Star of the Night. I'm going to the bench.
(17:03):
I'm going to Nick Richards. He had had a somewhat
disappointing game the run before against Cleveland. He came out
with a fire and energy level that was second to
none amongst reserves. In this game. He had a tough
matchup too. Yusuf Nurkic is a really good player, one
of the more underrated big men in the NBA. On
the other side, who has been a Hornets killer oftentimes
(17:26):
in his career, Nick Richards just dominated the matchup fifteen points,
twelve rebounds, his fifth double double of the season. He
talked about it with us after the game as well
about the energy that he came in with the attack mindset.
I thought it was one of his best games of
the season, and while going in I had a hunch
that whichever core, whichever you know, leading star group played
(17:50):
better would win the game. I was wrong. It was
the reserves and Nick Richards was far and away the
best off the bench or off the core player of
anyone on the floor. And his nomination of his minutes,
his energy, his rim running, his defense, all of it
came together to give Charlotte a victory when they badly
needed snapping a ten game slide. So Hornets are now
(18:12):
eight and twenty seven and about to embark on a
long road trip. Five games coming up away from Spectrum
Center Charlotte back home on Martin Luther King Day Monday,
January twentieth, so a little less than two weeks from now.
Tickets for that one, a noon tip against the Mavericks
available at Hornets dot com. But we're gonna preview this
upcoming road trip and preview rob Longo's sleep patterns next
(18:34):
here on the Hornet Time Cast. Sam Farbar, Rob Longo
here with you on the Hornet Time Cast, brought to
you by CENTA, Charlotte Iron Nosen Throat Associates, the official
I ear Nosen Throat care provider of the Charlotte Hornets.
I should say soon to be nocturnal Rob Longo Rob
some ten thirty Eastern tip times to tip off this
(18:55):
road trip everything outside of the Eastern time zone. It's
gonna be some le nights for you, buddy.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
Yeah, I'm not looking forward to it, but hey, at
least the late night quick service joints will be open.
I'll have my pick of the litter with those Southern
delicacies that I'm looking forward to that I might have
to indulge in, and hopefully after they're over a couple
of Hornets winds as well on this west coast swing.
Speaker 2 (19:15):
We will check in on your sleep patterns and your
eating habits and all of that throughout the trip.
Speaker 3 (19:20):
Try not to contact me before twelve Eastern time please,
thank you.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
I'll do my best. That's night or morning, both both
of us.
Speaker 3 (19:28):
I'll either be working or sleeping Turno's hours.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
Hornets take the road at eight and twenty seven. As
I mentioned earlier, you know, in terms of getting back
into the postseason picture, that is somewhat out of the
Hornet's control. They could get, of course, incandescent as you
like to say, and go on some ridiculous wind streak here.
But seeing as they have just snapped a ten game
losing streak. I don't think it's right to assume anything
like that. I think you focus on what's in front
(19:53):
of you. And the first thing is it's an opportunity
to evaluate what this core can do on its own,
and it's a good one. But regardless of opponents, regardless
of road home, any of it. This season to me
was about figuring out how good can LaMelo Ball, Mark Williams,
Brandon Miller, Milesbridge be as a quartet and what could
(20:14):
they provide with some consistent run. Till yesterday, we had
no consistent run whatsoever for that group. Last night was
the first time they started consecutive games together and it
ended up being a nice convincing win over a Phoenix
Sun's team that, while underperforming, does have a lot of
stars on their side. After the game, LaMelo Ball talked
(20:35):
about what it meant having that core back on the floor.
That's great for real, just to have everybody back, everybody
out there, you can see what we have and just
everybody playing for us is great because we really ain't.
We ain't have everybody in the many. I mean we
still don't, but with what we got now is smooth
fair from LaMelo still no Grant Williams still no train man.
But their contributions, while certainly meaningful, the most important thing
(20:59):
was the value that core group, because that's who's going
to lead you to stuff. You know, when when the
Suns lose the game, they don't look at the bench
and say, oh my gosh, you know Monte Morris, you
know cost us that. No, it's did Kevin Durant and
Devin Booker and Bradley Beal and did those guys do
enough to win games more often than not? And the
same is true for Charlotte. You're going to see games
(21:19):
like last night where Nick Richards had a larger than
normal role in getting the win. But it comes down
to can that core keep you competitive, keep you in games,
win you games more often than not? And we started
to get a glimpse of that the other night. So
for me, rob opponents don't matter, but it does help
that as you look at this road trip coming up,
(21:41):
there's no active Goliaths on it. The Lakers, as of
the recording of this podcast, have the best record in
the group. They're currently sixth in the Western Conference, but
even they have lost a couple of games in a
row here, so not exactly playing you know, their greatest
basketball As the Hornets set forth for Los Angeles, the
(22:05):
team tied with them in the record column is the
LA Clippers, but you know they're also, you know, barely
in contention. I guess they're right there, close to a
top six seed, but you know, not exactly a top
four team in their conference one expected to host. Same
as true for the Suns, Jazz, and Bulls who wind
down the road trip. In fact, none of them are
currently even in the top ten in their kind. Well,
(22:27):
I guess the Bulls are. The Bulls are tenth, but
you know it's close to all three of them being
out of it. So, yes, it's a long Western Conference
road trip that's never easy. But in terms of opponents,
there's nothing here that Charlotte should go into the game
as an overwhelming underdog just based off the head to
head matchup. These are all winnable games and important to
see and continue to evaluate. Can this core for the
(22:50):
Hornets pick up some wins on a road trip that,
if it's just not good enough of a corps would
prove to be very difficult. I think the belief is
it is good enough of a corps and they're or
this is an opportunity to get some w's on the road.
Speaker 3 (23:02):
We're gonna learn a lot about this team over the
next five games. And I know it's a tough stretch
because I think it's what five in the next eight
or something like that in terms of just games on
the road. So it's gonna be a quick trip too.
I mean Thursday against the Lakers, you have an off day,
you play the Clippers, and then you gotta go play
the Suns on the second night of a back to back.
So I guess the back to back that the Hornets
had with the rest advantage yesterday at home against the
(23:24):
Suns even things out a little bit. Then you gotta
go to Utah.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
The Sons do have a back to back as well.
Oh well, that's a little of home home back to back.
Speaker 3 (23:31):
But still you get to sleep in your own bed,
I guess. But at the same time too, See this
is why Sam gets paid the big bucks, because I
didn't look that far ahead in the schedule Utah. And
then you got Chicago coming on the way back too,
So you know there are some opportunities here. Like you said,
I mean, there's all these teams are in weird spots too.
I mean, if you think about the Lakers, I mean
just all of the I don't want to call it drama,
but the attention that they get throughout not only just
(23:54):
in Los Angeles, but around the country too, with Lebron
and the JJ Reddick dynamic and those guys and making
some deals as of late trading D'Angelo Russell away and
all that kind of stuff. So there's situations in that part.
The Clippers. You take a look at La the Clippers.
Of course, Kawhi Leonard just coming back from I think
it was like a thirty four game absence too, and
he's trying to get reintroduced back into the fold. That's
(24:16):
a little bit of a nuance there. I mean, Utah
is just not a very good team right now. We
saw what Phoenix is dealing with yesterday also, and then Chicago, well,
we've saw Chicago a couple of times this season so
far already, so there's scouting out there already. There's there's
already some knowns. Sometimes when you go out to these
West Coast teams. For us, there's a little bit of
an unknown just because we're up late doing podcasts. We're
(24:37):
not really going home and watching the West Coast games.
Maybe we're catching the highlights at the end of the night,
but we're not sitting there and watching every single game.
So there's already a lot known already about this. Obviously,
the scouting team and the advanced scouts get the job
done from a personnel standpoints on top like the team's
going and blind obviously, but at the same time too,
we have kind of these expectations that we're setting here
for this team a little bit in a sense, and
(24:59):
this is a big opportunity here for the Hornets. We're
gonna learn a lot about this team over the next
five games, just to see what they're made of mentally
and physically, because this is a little bit of a
daunting trip. Going from east to west is a little
bit easier than maybe going west to east. But then
you got to come back, and you got to play
Chicago on the back end of this road trip, and
then you have a very very very early tip time
against Dallas on MLKDA two for a twelve o'clock So again,
(25:23):
all these things kind of add up a little bit.
I don't think you can discount them. I know it's
great travel in the NBA, You guys have very nice
hotels you stay in and the chartered flights and everything
like that. You guys are catered very well, but it's
still a daunting taskago night in and night out and
perform at at any elite level and try to perform
at your highest So it's gonna be an interesting five
games here, and you know what, I'm looking forward to it.
(25:44):
I'm feeling very optimistic now after this win against the
Suns yesterday. Maybe I'm a prisoner of the moment because
we haven't felt with winning has been like in a minute.
But I'm looking forward to this now, not to ten
thirty tip times, but you know, just the opportunity that
is in front of the Hornets Lefty drinks in the fridge.
Speaker 2 (25:59):
Yeah, I'm looking forward to it as well. No bad
days in the NBA. And as you said that the
Traveler is the best of accommodations for the best athletes
in the world. But yeah, it's an opportunity in front
here for the Hornets. Here's what Miles Bridges says is
at stake moving forward here for Charlotte.
Speaker 4 (26:15):
Yeah, it feels good. You know, we're about to go
on a tough west road trip. So hopefully this could
this could lead to some type of winning streak. You know,
I never think the season is over, you know, I
still think we got a chance to make the playoffs.
For the plan, we just gotta build off it is.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
They certainly do if they want to get to the
goal that he's talking about. Yes, you gotta do your part,
you gotta you gotta win more games than the Hornets
have in this recent run and for the season overall.
But moreover, there's no Goliaths on on this trip. I
think under the right circumstances, could the Lakers be a
title condecder. Yeah, sure they could be. Obviously that that
core group there has won one before, so by definition
(26:50):
their title caliber in terms of their their leading players
on that team. But but overall, this is an opportunity
for Charlotte with core intact to show what it can
do on the road. If you're going to get where
you want to be as a core group and the
leading group for a team, winning on the road as
part of it. So opportunity is knocking here for the Hornets.
(27:12):
We'll see what they do to answer it. Starting tomorrow.
We of course have you covered throughout the wee weekend
the whole road trip on the HHC with game previews
every game day, reviews the day after, and we'll even
have a special interview on one of the longer stretches
without games. Mark Williams is going to join us in
studio and we'll have that conversation for you coming up
(27:32):
later on next week here on the HHC. Rob Loongo,
rest up. The road trip starts tomorrow.
Speaker 3 (27:38):
I'm gonna get my eight hours of sleep in while
I can, because I don't think it's going to be
coming back until maybe the All Star break.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
I think it's going to be coming to you during
daylight hours, if you're going to get it at all.
Rob Longo, great stuff. As always, Thanks most of all
to all of you for tuning in for all of
us here, I'm Sam Farber saying it's been a pleasure
and a privilege having you along and we'll talk to
you next time right here on the Hornets Hoodcast.
Speaker 1 (27:57):
Thank you for listening to The Hornets Hoodcast, brought to
you by Santa, the official I ear nozen throad care
provider of the Charlotte Hornets. For more coverage, visit Hornets
dot com.
Hosts And Creators
Sam Farber
Rob Longo
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