December 4, 2024 • 21 mins
The Hornets looked to wrap up their five-game homestand on a winning note, but ultimately fell to Philadelphia by a 110-104 final tally. Sam Farber and Rob Longo break down the game and talk about notable performances, and the two also discuss the return of Mark Williams as Buzz City continues to get better news on the injury report.
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to the Hornets Havevecast, presented by Charlotte I ear
nosen Throat Associates, the official I ear nosen throatcare provider
of the Charlotte Hornets. Here's your host, Sam Farber.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Welcome to another edition of the Hornets Podcast, Your Hornets
Podcast with all the notes, quote, san daily buzz around
your favorite nbaighteen. I'm Sam Farber and it is a
pleasure and a privileged to have you with us here
once again on the Hornet's iove Cast, brought to you
by Santa Charlotte I hear nosen Throat Associates, the official
I hear nosen throatcare provider of the Charlotte Hornets. It's
a silver linings edition of the HHC six straight in
(00:37):
terms of recap episodes of the Hornets Cast that have
sadly been for silver linings as the Hornets continue to
struggle with injuries and whatnot and just coming up a
little bit short. Even though they're constantly knocking on the
door of a victory, the victories nonetheless seemed to be
eluding them. They fell yesterday one ten to one oh
four to the Philadelphia seventy six ers. Philly now has
(00:58):
won five games all year at the expense of the Hornets.
One the two minute report said should have gone the
other way. We'll see if there was anything significant in
this two minute report later on today. I kind of
doubt it it'll be that much, but maybe a couple
things in there that could have flipped in the Hornets direction. Nonetheless,
Charlotte comes up short. It's their sixth straight loss in
the team now six and fifteen on the season. But
(01:20):
there are silver linings abound. For instance, the return of
Mark Williams to game action. That was great to see
Nick Richards looking like his old self again and his
second game back after a fourteen game absence due to
a rib fracture. A couple of career first for the
rookies t Jon Salon and kJ Simpson. Much much to
(01:40):
talk about, as well as another newcomer here to Charlotte
that will welcome on this episode of the hhe Se.
But before we do all that, got to welcome my
co host today. He is the producer of the Hornets
Radio Network as well as the producer of this fine podcast.
Rob Longo. Here with me once again. Rob, Always good
to talk to you. A one ten to one four
finish this homestand comes and goes with out a Hornet's victory.
(02:01):
But each in every game was a nail better. They
all go down to the wire. For the most part,
seven of the last eight games for Charlotte have been
decided by six points or less, so that means there
were a two possession game, which means in the final
minute there is a play that could have gone the
other way that maybe changes the outcome and gives the
Hornets a w just like if the team had won
(02:22):
all of these games, but it'd constantly been in nail betters.
You know, you say, sometimes the law of averages will
even things out. Unfortunately, the ball not bouncing the Hornets
way right now on some of these concluding plays. But overall,
the Hornets, despite a plethora of injuries, continue to be
right there. Just come up a little bit short last
night to Philadelphia.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
Yeah, and I think part of it too is they
dug themselves a little bit of a hole in a
game last night, a lot of turnovers early on Philadelphia.
You got to give credit where credits due. The Sixers
played a really good first half where they got up
by as many as eighteen in the first two quarters
of play, they led it by eleven at halftime Hornets
shroild just won by nineteen there at one point the
third quarter and you're thinking, oh man, this one's gonna
(03:02):
get run away. And then the Hornets are able to
battle back. They outscore the Sixers by five, and the
fourth quarter they tied. In the third frame they each
score twenty five points, so it was still an eleven
point deficit for the Hornets going into the final quarter
of play, and the Hornet's able to rally back. They
even took the lead with about a minute thirty two
to go thanks to Brandon Miller. They led it by
one and then kind of a back and forth affair
(03:23):
there towards the final ninety seconds or so, and again
just unfortunate, one bounce of the ball didn't go the
way of the Hornets. There was a drive to the
hoop where Tyrese Maxey looked like he may have been
the last guy to touch it, and they said that
it was off of the Hornets. Hornets couldn't challenge. They
had to burn two challenges early on calls that if
I'm being honest, I'll take the fine here. If there's
(03:44):
a fine to be handed out.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
I know there isn't you're obsessed with getting these fines.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
Well, I'm just here so I don't get fined, I guess.
But I mean, there were two calls in the game
before being honest, that are ones that maybe the Hornets
shouldn't have had to burn a challenge on. There was
that one early on there was a block charge. Kelly
Uber got called for what ended up being a blocking foul.
They initially called it a charge on Brandon Miller, but
I mean the Hornets had to burn that at the
seven to forty seven mark of the first quarter. So
it's great because you get your second challenge, but then
(04:10):
once that one's done, you're done for. And then the
Hornets of course had to challenge a out of bounds
call at the eight thirty seven markt a the third quarter.
It was a ten point game at the time, so
you don't want the ball. You don't want the ball
game to go swing one way or the other. I mean,
that could be a potentially five point swinging give or
take there during that possession if you don't challenge it.
And then the Hornets had to burn that one, and
now they're out of challenges for the rest of the game.
(04:31):
They could have used that one in the fourth quarter
on the maxi play. But again, even if they don't
burn that one in the third quarter, you don't know,
if it gets to that point, maybe the Sixers go
on a massive run there, because they did have a
seventeen to seven run over a five minute span in
a third quarter. So again, all things consider, I know
that was a lot of information. The long and short
of it is the Hornets are competitive in all of
these games, but they are having some self inflicted mistakes,
(04:54):
like nineteen turnovers into game yesterday that resulted in nineteen
seventy six ers points nineteen seventy t extra points. That
sounded really bizarre. At any rate, that wasn't the year
they were referring, No, that was the bi centennial. But
at any rate, I mean, that's the thing here is
just the fact that over and over again the horns
are having these close games and it's just one bounce
of the ball here, one bounce of the ball there.
Sometimes you got to create your own luck a little bit,
(05:16):
and the Hornets have the ability to do that by
playing a tighter game, not turning a ball over as
many times in that kind of thing, but all in all,
they are still competitive.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
Nonetheless, yeah, I would agree with that. I definitely think
the calls that Charles Lee successfully challenged and won were
very obvious, and it would always be convenient to have
that challenge in your back pocket for those end of
game plays. You know, maybe it's worth looking at that. Hey,
if it's okay to challenge twice so long as you
win the first, maybe it's okay to challenge three times,
(05:44):
or four times or ten times. The point is to
get these right if the refs are making mistakes that
are so obvious in those moments, and for the record,
the rest are very good at their job. More often
than not they're getting these things right. But if on
any given night they're missing that are so clear cut
that the coaching staff is able to get them, why
(06:05):
not provide them more challenges but conversation for another day.
There's a downside of that too, in stopping the game
that many times. But in any case, Charlotte, I agree
with you lost this game because of turnovers, plethora of
them early, which took what should have been probably an
eight or ten point game and allowed it to get
out of hand at certain occasions. Out to fifteen seventeen
(06:25):
nineteen because of live ball turnovers and miscues. And then
there was at the end of game, you know, Charlotte
had an opportunity down too to tie or take the lead,
and there was a really bad turnover that led to
a foul that led to Tyreus Maxy going straight to
the foul line and knocking them down. So overall, I
think Charlotte needs to look more inwards at this one
(06:46):
than outward. But nonetheless, I'm with you in that the
Hornets are constantly there. An overall point for a team
that's the month of November basically without any centers and
starts the month of December missing two of their top
three scores to continually be in these games. Seven of
their last date decided by two possessions or less. That
means you're right there. That is the ultimate silver lining.
(07:08):
After the game, Nick Richards had this to say about
the difference between winning and losing.
Speaker 4 (07:13):
As it shows you you can't take any possession for
granted me, I missed three free throws and two lips,
so and I miss a couple of key blocks that
I set. I was like, damn stot that. So it's like,
just you can't take every possession for granted, you got
to bock in on every single thing that we have
to do because we're not losing by ten or twelve
(07:35):
or losing by less than six.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
I love the introspection there from Nick Richards and you know,
like a good gambler remembering only the losses rather than
the big wins. He's someone who, despite having arguably the
best game of his career, finishing off with twenty two
points fourteen rebounds, maybe not best game of his career,
but it's up there. It's on the short list. He
(07:58):
had a first half double double, but he's counting the
shots that he missed it and looking back at those.
So I love that attention to detail. He was a
huge performer last night for the Hornets double double, the
first in over a calendar year for a Hornets player
to have a first half double double or a single
half double double. I should say thirty four points the
game high from Brandon Miller catching fire in the second half.
(08:20):
All seven of his made threes came after intermission. Also,
the youngsters kJ Simpson and t Jhon Salon both really
good performances. Tjhon his first career double double, ten points
in a career high ten rebounds, and kJ Simpson was
the point guard that had the hot hand. They turned
him down the stretch. He had a career high in
just about everything except for points. He had eight points,
which was a solid number for him off the bench,
(08:42):
but six rebounds, nine assists. Both of those are career highs.
Playing to choose from for silver linings, Charlotte now with
an overall record of six and fifteen, but they continue
to battle. That's the ultimate silver lining. But will pick
some individual players as are silver lining selections after this
Here on the hornets'odcast, Sam Farber and Rob Longo here
(09:04):
with you on the AJHC The Hornets Podcast, brought to
you by Sent to Hornets Tomorrow on the road again,
first time in the about two weeks that Charlotte will
have a road game. Not that we're complaining. It's great
to be home, particularly around Thanksgiving, but the Hornets will
set out on the road. We'll have our game preview
for tomorrow's matchup against New York Knicks for you then
wherever you'd get your podcast. Quick tip of the cat.
(09:25):
You know, Philadelphia did some things to win this game.
The seventy six Ers team has really been hit hard
by injuries and absences, maybe as much as Charlotte has.
I think you can make the argument missing Joel Embiid
for last night's game, which has been the trend throughout
the season. They got the best performance of his seventy
six ers career from Paul George twenty nine points, six
(09:47):
of nine shooting from three, also added in eight assists.
Tyrese Maxi struggled with his shot but found his way
to a twenty point effort, and Jared McCain, the rookie
out of duke second time in as many tries against
Charlotte that he's come up with seventeen off the bench. Philadelphia,
who has not been a good shooting team at all
this year, ended up with a nice shooting night all
(10:08):
around forty percent from three, ninety percent from the foul line.
Credit where credits do. Philadelphia played a pretty good game
win it all was said and done. It's did as
well we mentioned before, Brandon Miller, thirty four points, double
doubles for Nick Richards, t John Salon career highs all
over the player, kJ Simpson, and plenty of others that
are solid candidates as well, Rob Longo, who's your silver
lining selection.
Speaker 3 (10:28):
I'm gonna go off the beaten path a little bit.
I'm gonna take Kj's no. His stat line was, I mean,
it was impressive, don't get me wrong. Eight points, six
rebounds plus four. He had a really good fourth quarter.
He barely came off the floor in a fourth frame,
only scored six points in a quarter when Brandon Miller
had twelve in that frame, but five assists in that quarter,
three rebounds, all three of them hung on the offensive
glass as well. He had a big offensive rebound there
(10:51):
late for a second chance opportunity. I thought he played
a really sneakily good game. He did it so efficiently,
and he did it so quietly that he just kind
of went out there. He did his job and he
got everything done. So enough about me gluting about it.
Here's what Charles Lee had to say about Kj's play
after the game.
Speaker 5 (11:06):
Did a great job tonight, I thought on both ends
of the court. Defensively, he had him on a number
of different people to guard, and he just had like
a scrappiness to him, a grid a competitiveness that we
boughty some active hands. And then I thought offensively like
he did a good job of just being a threat,
being a baller out there. If the guy goes under
the screen, shoot it off. He came up with a
big offensive rebound towards the end of the game. He
(11:28):
was able to just get us into our offense and
keep us flowing in the right way. So he's going
over these last few games that he's an opportunity to play,
and to him and to the coaching staff and to
the swarm staff, I think that it's a collective group
that kind of keeps just helping kJ grow and kJ
takes ownership of his career and he's doing a phenomenal job.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Great great game for kJ Simpson last night. Career highs
and just about everything. Nine assists, that's seven more than
the previous best he had, which was also against the Knicks.
And he went four for four from the foul line,
new career high for most free throws in a game.
But moreover, is establishing some credibility. I think with this
coaching staff, no one had it penciled in that Mussa
(12:05):
Diabate would be playing as many minutes as the loan
center for the Hornets as he has over the last month,
but he took advantage, and I don't think it's a
sure thing. There are some guys that are going to
be in the rotation, come hell or high water, no
matter how well or poorly they're playing, They're going to
continue to get their minutes, and so kJ Simpson and
other guys are not going to take minutes from them.
(12:27):
But there are always going to be hotter hands and
guys that are playing better in the moment, and they'll
get their opportunity in kJ Simpsons someone who's doing it
the other night. Lots of guys for me to pick
from for mine, So I got to give a couple
of cap tips here. One goes to Brandon another thirty
point perform outstanding, second straight thirty point game, eighth straight
game with twenty or more that is a career high.
(12:49):
He made seven threes in the second half twenty three
out of his thirty four points come after intermission, even
outdueled his goats, Brandon Miller ends up with more points,
points and more made threes overall. It does speak a
little bit to where the seventy six ers roster is
set up. As a quick aside here, rob because Paul
George even with Joel Embiid, they still had more guys contributing.
(13:13):
He was able to be a little more selective, spread
the ball out a little bit more, finishing with eight assists.
But my pick for Silver Linings performer is the starting
center Nick Richards, only for Brandon Miller. It gives it
some of the high posts raised out beyond the Nard
goes up for three note rebound Nick Richards, and Traffick
goes up through traffic table to lay it in pooping
the arm. It's a three point play opportunity. Nick had
(13:33):
one of the best games of his career, finishing with
twenty two points fourteen rebounds, had a double double at
the end of the first half. Mayny career high ten
free throws. Good night at the line. I mean, unless you're,
you know, like LaMelo Ball or Brandon Miller, one of
these guys that almost makes it all the time, or
Seth Curry. I don't think you can get too upset
for a guy going ten of thirteen. I thought that
was a really nice night overall for Nick Richards, and
(13:54):
I thought he showed the difference in what it can
happen having a seven footer out there on the floor
on both ends. And this is again I keep harping
on it's not to the tract from the job done
by the guy's filling in its center. But I think
they have different Frank Richards and Mark Williams have different strengths.
The energy Mussa Diabate brings in Spurts been incredible on
(14:18):
the offensive glass and I thought he had another strong
contribution in Spurts last night as well. The player who
finished with the second best individual plus misus of anyone
who played in the game is Nick Richards, who finishes
at plus nine. Been good to see him back on
the floor. He's not the only one. Mark Williams return postgame.
The story is the silver linings and taking the whole
(14:40):
of the effort. Sam Farber and Rob Longo here with
you on the AHHC. The Hornets podcast, brought to you
by Center Reminder are in person. Interviews are available for
you on the Hornets YouTube page. Can go back through
the with co chairman Rick Schnall and Gabe Plotkin, and
are more recent to you with that Ball operations Jeff Peters,
(15:01):
Barons Lea. Those are all available on the Hornets YouTube page.
Charlotte had a new arrival out of game action in
almost a year, first time back on the floor in
a long time for Mark Williams, and you know what,
it wasn't the best ten minute stretch of NBA basketball
that he's had, but it is a step towards a
(15:21):
full return. And you never expect rob anyone to go
on the floor in their first game and just knock
it out. Guys, you know, do I remember Lamolo Ball
coming back a couple of times last year. Hopefully that's
about to happen for him as well in the next
week or two. Here got on the floor and it
seemed like he, you know, hadn't missed a beat. Miles
Bridges the first time he came back looked like that.
Hopefully he'll make a similar return in the not too
(15:43):
distant future. That's not the norm. Mark Williams minutes were
not the strongest, but he did have some rebounds, he
did have a putback, he made his free throws, He
did a lot of positive things and was just a
presence out there at seven feet tall that this team
has been lacking. So him and Nick Richards in tandem,
whether the you're stays the same as it was last
night or gets reversed and Mark Williams goes back to
(16:03):
the starting lineup, gives the Hornets more options, more depth
at the center spot, which they had been so badly lacking.
Speaker 3 (16:09):
Ciher soraes certainly. I mean, you go back to three
hundred and sixty one days. I know that we were
talking about three hundred and sixty days since Mark Williams
made his return to NBA action, but you all forgot
that last year was a leap hear, so shout out to.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
You this year twenty twenty four.
Speaker 3 (16:22):
I don't even know what date is anymore, So again,
shout out to you for recognizing ads. So three hundred
and sixty one days I suppose since Mark Williams last
took the NBA floor. And I mean, again, this is
something that's going to be a little bit of a work.
We knew that who's going to be on a significant
minutes restriction, That's what Charles Lee said before the game
even started. Ended up playing about eight thirty seven in
a contest last night. So it's definitely going to be
(16:44):
a little bit of a process. You can't replicate game
action as much as you want to go in five
on five and shoot around and play in some easy ball.
It's really hard to get back to that acclamation.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
Here's what Mark had to say about returning to action
after such a long absence.
Speaker 6 (17:01):
You know what it takes rehab wise, you know what
it takes mentally, How draining it is, how tough it is,
you know, to see your teammates fighting out there. Everything
anything you can do about it, except you know, control
what you can control. So I think for me, just
just trusted the process, staying patient, rehabbing every day, working,
(17:24):
you know, as quickly and effectively as I could to
get back out there, which is what I was able
to do.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
It's great to see him on the floor. You know
the minutes he play, you only played eight and a
half when it was all sudden done finishes with four
points three rebounds. Overall, there were maybe more mistakes made
by the group while he was on the floor. Some
of that might have been coincidence. It was not a
pretty first half, and so had those minutes come in
the second half and so of the first half, maybe
we're seeing a different swing in terms of plus minus.
(17:52):
So I don't think it's fair to great on that.
I do think it's fair to strapolate his numbers, which
I would say are based just off his size and stature.
You know, he didn't look like his normal self for
the first game, but it's the first step of many,
and yet he still comes up with four points and
three rebounds, and if you extrapolate it out for normal
minutes for Mark Williams, somewhere closer to twenty five or
(18:14):
thirty double double type of effort, which by his standard
is about an average night from what we saw in
the limited action the season before. But that's what he
can provide. An average night for Mark Williams is a
double double. He's seven feet tall, He's gonna naturally grab rebounds,
going to naturally impact more shots. So it's the first
step of quite a few that need to happen, but
(18:37):
I'm thrilled to see it happen here. And for a
very long time, Rob Longo, the injuries had been the
biggest impediment to the Hornets. That if you want to
call it an excuse, I would call it a valid reason.
But if you want to say whichever you want to
call it, that hopefully is about to go out the
door very soon, because when LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges
(18:57):
come back, if start knocking. Start you there you go,
Come on, knock there we go. If those guys come
back and this course stays healthy for a ten to
fifteen to twenty game stretch, then we start to get
an idea on exactly what is here in the Queen City,
whether or not this is a team that, as the
core is currently constructed, you know, has the bones, the roots,
(19:20):
the foundation to see it go and believes it can
go with the group that's been put together. One other
addition to that group, Hornets made a change on the
two way contracts. Jared Roden was let go by the franchise.
We wish him well in his next stop. Isaiah Wong
signed to a two way contract by the Hornets. He
was a guy who was drafted in the second round
(19:41):
by Indiana the year prior, only got into one NBA game.
Had an okay stat line, I would say for a
two way contract guy. Last year he played in fifteen games.
By the stats amrin in here and EPs percent from three.
They're good numbers, but a games for Salt Lake, Say,
which is the Utah Jazz Gie League affiliate, twenty four
(20:02):
points per game, rebounds and assists numbers about even with
what he had done before. Turnover numbers about the same,
it's just the volume in scoring has skyrocketed. So this
is a guy who's raid his own shot. He's a
really high quality guard. And with the team suffering a
lack of playmakers with Trey Mann out as well, is
LaMelo ball Out a good guy to take a swing
(20:23):
on here. He's a young player, he's only twenty three
years old. He's shown some success on the NBA courts
dimensions with what he's done in the G League. The
line there is the same as the line here in Charlotte.
Forty one percent is a very good number to be
hitting your threes at. So he gets the opportunity. Here.
We've seen the team go to the very end of
the bench. They've had no other healthy players available. They
(20:43):
played everyone who was suited up in uniform, and in
the midst of that kind of injuration, Charlotte has been
in one or two possession games each and every night,
which speaks to the depth of the roster. It speaks
to the abilities of those guys coming in taking advantage
of their opportunity, making the most of it, and keeping
things very competitive and entertaining. Here in the Queen City
Hornets will Trenty Winners tomorrow when they take on the
(21:05):
New York Knicks and Rob Longo. You and I will
be back to preview that game tomorrow here on the AHC.
Speaker 3 (21:10):
I'll talk to you in about what five minutes from
now I feel.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
Like sounds great. Thanks to all of you for tuning
in for Rob Loongo. I'm Sam Farbers saying it's been
a pleasure of privilege having our game preview for Hornets
versus Nicks right here on the Hornets Podcast.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
Thank you for listening to The Hornets Podcast, brought to
you by Santa, the official i ear nosen throad care
provider of the Charlotte Hornets. For more coverage, visit Hornets
dot com.
Welcome to the Hornets Havevecast, presented by Charlotte I ear
nosen Throat Associates, the official I ear nosen throatcare provider
of the Charlotte Hornets. Here's your host, Sam Farber.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Welcome to another edition of the Hornets Podcast, Your Hornets
Podcast with all the notes, quote, san daily buzz around
your favorite nbaighteen. I'm Sam Farber and it is a
pleasure and a privileged to have you with us here
once again on the Hornet's iove Cast, brought to you
by Santa Charlotte I hear nosen Throat Associates, the official
I hear nosen throatcare provider of the Charlotte Hornets. It's
a silver linings edition of the HHC six straight in
(00:37):
terms of recap episodes of the Hornets Cast that have
sadly been for silver linings as the Hornets continue to
struggle with injuries and whatnot and just coming up a
little bit short. Even though they're constantly knocking on the
door of a victory, the victories nonetheless seemed to be
eluding them. They fell yesterday one ten to one oh
four to the Philadelphia seventy six ers. Philly now has
(00:58):
won five games all year at the expense of the Hornets.
One the two minute report said should have gone the
other way. We'll see if there was anything significant in
this two minute report later on today. I kind of
doubt it it'll be that much, but maybe a couple
things in there that could have flipped in the Hornets direction. Nonetheless,
Charlotte comes up short. It's their sixth straight loss in
the team now six and fifteen on the season. But
(01:20):
there are silver linings abound. For instance, the return of
Mark Williams to game action. That was great to see
Nick Richards looking like his old self again and his
second game back after a fourteen game absence due to
a rib fracture. A couple of career first for the
rookies t Jon Salon and kJ Simpson. Much much to
(01:40):
talk about, as well as another newcomer here to Charlotte
that will welcome on this episode of the hhe Se.
But before we do all that, got to welcome my
co host today. He is the producer of the Hornets
Radio Network as well as the producer of this fine podcast.
Rob Longo. Here with me once again. Rob, Always good
to talk to you. A one ten to one four
finish this homestand comes and goes with out a Hornet's victory.
(02:01):
But each in every game was a nail better. They
all go down to the wire. For the most part,
seven of the last eight games for Charlotte have been
decided by six points or less, so that means there
were a two possession game, which means in the final
minute there is a play that could have gone the
other way that maybe changes the outcome and gives the
Hornets a w just like if the team had won
(02:22):
all of these games, but it'd constantly been in nail betters.
You know, you say, sometimes the law of averages will
even things out. Unfortunately, the ball not bouncing the Hornets
way right now on some of these concluding plays. But overall,
the Hornets, despite a plethora of injuries, continue to be
right there. Just come up a little bit short last
night to Philadelphia.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
Yeah, and I think part of it too is they
dug themselves a little bit of a hole in a
game last night, a lot of turnovers early on Philadelphia.
You got to give credit where credits due. The Sixers
played a really good first half where they got up
by as many as eighteen in the first two quarters
of play, they led it by eleven at halftime Hornets
shroild just won by nineteen there at one point the
third quarter and you're thinking, oh man, this one's gonna
(03:02):
get run away. And then the Hornets are able to
battle back. They outscore the Sixers by five, and the
fourth quarter they tied. In the third frame they each
score twenty five points, so it was still an eleven
point deficit for the Hornets going into the final quarter
of play, and the Hornet's able to rally back. They
even took the lead with about a minute thirty two
to go thanks to Brandon Miller. They led it by
one and then kind of a back and forth affair
(03:23):
there towards the final ninety seconds or so, and again
just unfortunate, one bounce of the ball didn't go the
way of the Hornets. There was a drive to the
hoop where Tyrese Maxey looked like he may have been
the last guy to touch it, and they said that
it was off of the Hornets. Hornets couldn't challenge. They
had to burn two challenges early on calls that if
I'm being honest, I'll take the fine here. If there's
(03:44):
a fine to be handed out.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
I know there isn't you're obsessed with getting these fines.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
Well, I'm just here so I don't get fined, I guess.
But I mean, there were two calls in the game
before being honest, that are ones that maybe the Hornets
shouldn't have had to burn a challenge on. There was
that one early on there was a block charge. Kelly
Uber got called for what ended up being a blocking foul.
They initially called it a charge on Brandon Miller, but
I mean the Hornets had to burn that at the
seven to forty seven mark of the first quarter. So
it's great because you get your second challenge, but then
(04:10):
once that one's done, you're done for. And then the
Hornets of course had to challenge a out of bounds
call at the eight thirty seven markt a the third quarter.
It was a ten point game at the time, so
you don't want the ball. You don't want the ball
game to go swing one way or the other. I mean,
that could be a potentially five point swinging give or
take there during that possession if you don't challenge it.
And then the Hornets had to burn that one, and
now they're out of challenges for the rest of the game.
(04:31):
They could have used that one in the fourth quarter
on the maxi play. But again, even if they don't
burn that one in the third quarter, you don't know,
if it gets to that point, maybe the Sixers go
on a massive run there, because they did have a
seventeen to seven run over a five minute span in
a third quarter. So again, all things consider, I know
that was a lot of information. The long and short
of it is the Hornets are competitive in all of
these games, but they are having some self inflicted mistakes,
(04:54):
like nineteen turnovers into game yesterday that resulted in nineteen
seventy six ers points nineteen seventy t extra points. That
sounded really bizarre. At any rate, that wasn't the year
they were referring, No, that was the bi centennial. But
at any rate, I mean, that's the thing here is
just the fact that over and over again the horns
are having these close games and it's just one bounce
of the ball here, one bounce of the ball there.
Sometimes you got to create your own luck a little bit,
(05:16):
and the Hornets have the ability to do that by
playing a tighter game, not turning a ball over as
many times in that kind of thing, but all in all,
they are still competitive.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
Nonetheless, yeah, I would agree with that. I definitely think
the calls that Charles Lee successfully challenged and won were
very obvious, and it would always be convenient to have
that challenge in your back pocket for those end of
game plays. You know, maybe it's worth looking at that. Hey,
if it's okay to challenge twice so long as you
win the first, maybe it's okay to challenge three times,
(05:44):
or four times or ten times. The point is to
get these right if the refs are making mistakes that
are so obvious in those moments, and for the record,
the rest are very good at their job. More often
than not they're getting these things right. But if on
any given night they're missing that are so clear cut
that the coaching staff is able to get them, why
(06:05):
not provide them more challenges but conversation for another day.
There's a downside of that too, in stopping the game
that many times. But in any case, Charlotte, I agree
with you lost this game because of turnovers, plethora of
them early, which took what should have been probably an
eight or ten point game and allowed it to get
out of hand at certain occasions. Out to fifteen seventeen
(06:25):
nineteen because of live ball turnovers and miscues. And then
there was at the end of game, you know, Charlotte
had an opportunity down too to tie or take the lead,
and there was a really bad turnover that led to
a foul that led to Tyreus Maxy going straight to
the foul line and knocking them down. So overall, I
think Charlotte needs to look more inwards at this one
(06:46):
than outward. But nonetheless, I'm with you in that the
Hornets are constantly there. An overall point for a team
that's the month of November basically without any centers and
starts the month of December missing two of their top
three scores to continually be in these games. Seven of
their last date decided by two possessions or less. That
means you're right there. That is the ultimate silver lining.
(07:08):
After the game, Nick Richards had this to say about
the difference between winning and losing.
Speaker 4 (07:13):
As it shows you you can't take any possession for
granted me, I missed three free throws and two lips,
so and I miss a couple of key blocks that
I set. I was like, damn stot that. So it's like,
just you can't take every possession for granted, you got
to bock in on every single thing that we have
to do because we're not losing by ten or twelve
(07:35):
or losing by less than six.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
I love the introspection there from Nick Richards and you know,
like a good gambler remembering only the losses rather than
the big wins. He's someone who, despite having arguably the
best game of his career, finishing off with twenty two
points fourteen rebounds, maybe not best game of his career,
but it's up there. It's on the short list. He
(07:58):
had a first half double double, but he's counting the
shots that he missed it and looking back at those.
So I love that attention to detail. He was a
huge performer last night for the Hornets double double, the
first in over a calendar year for a Hornets player
to have a first half double double or a single
half double double. I should say thirty four points the
game high from Brandon Miller catching fire in the second half.
(08:20):
All seven of his made threes came after intermission. Also,
the youngsters kJ Simpson and t Jhon Salon both really
good performances. Tjhon his first career double double, ten points
in a career high ten rebounds, and kJ Simpson was
the point guard that had the hot hand. They turned
him down the stretch. He had a career high in
just about everything except for points. He had eight points,
which was a solid number for him off the bench,
(08:42):
but six rebounds, nine assists. Both of those are career highs.
Playing to choose from for silver linings, Charlotte now with
an overall record of six and fifteen, but they continue
to battle. That's the ultimate silver lining. But will pick
some individual players as are silver lining selections after this
Here on the hornets'odcast, Sam Farber and Rob Longo here
(09:04):
with you on the AJHC The Hornets Podcast, brought to
you by Sent to Hornets Tomorrow on the road again,
first time in the about two weeks that Charlotte will
have a road game. Not that we're complaining. It's great
to be home, particularly around Thanksgiving, but the Hornets will
set out on the road. We'll have our game preview
for tomorrow's matchup against New York Knicks for you then
wherever you'd get your podcast. Quick tip of the cat.
(09:25):
You know, Philadelphia did some things to win this game.
The seventy six Ers team has really been hit hard
by injuries and absences, maybe as much as Charlotte has.
I think you can make the argument missing Joel Embiid
for last night's game, which has been the trend throughout
the season. They got the best performance of his seventy
six ers career from Paul George twenty nine points, six
(09:47):
of nine shooting from three, also added in eight assists.
Tyrese Maxi struggled with his shot but found his way
to a twenty point effort, and Jared McCain, the rookie
out of duke second time in as many tries against
Charlotte that he's come up with seventeen off the bench. Philadelphia,
who has not been a good shooting team at all
this year, ended up with a nice shooting night all
(10:08):
around forty percent from three, ninety percent from the foul line.
Credit where credits do. Philadelphia played a pretty good game
win it all was said and done. It's did as
well we mentioned before, Brandon Miller, thirty four points, double
doubles for Nick Richards, t John Salon career highs all
over the player, kJ Simpson, and plenty of others that
are solid candidates as well, Rob Longo, who's your silver
lining selection.
Speaker 3 (10:28):
I'm gonna go off the beaten path a little bit.
I'm gonna take Kj's no. His stat line was, I mean,
it was impressive, don't get me wrong. Eight points, six
rebounds plus four. He had a really good fourth quarter.
He barely came off the floor in a fourth frame,
only scored six points in a quarter when Brandon Miller
had twelve in that frame, but five assists in that quarter,
three rebounds, all three of them hung on the offensive
glass as well. He had a big offensive rebound there
(10:51):
late for a second chance opportunity. I thought he played
a really sneakily good game. He did it so efficiently,
and he did it so quietly that he just kind
of went out there. He did his job and he
got everything done. So enough about me gluting about it.
Here's what Charles Lee had to say about Kj's play
after the game.
Speaker 5 (11:06):
Did a great job tonight, I thought on both ends
of the court. Defensively, he had him on a number
of different people to guard, and he just had like
a scrappiness to him, a grid a competitiveness that we
boughty some active hands. And then I thought offensively like
he did a good job of just being a threat,
being a baller out there. If the guy goes under
the screen, shoot it off. He came up with a
big offensive rebound towards the end of the game. He
(11:28):
was able to just get us into our offense and
keep us flowing in the right way. So he's going
over these last few games that he's an opportunity to play,
and to him and to the coaching staff and to
the swarm staff, I think that it's a collective group
that kind of keeps just helping kJ grow and kJ
takes ownership of his career and he's doing a phenomenal job.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Great great game for kJ Simpson last night. Career highs
and just about everything. Nine assists, that's seven more than
the previous best he had, which was also against the Knicks.
And he went four for four from the foul line,
new career high for most free throws in a game.
But moreover, is establishing some credibility. I think with this
coaching staff, no one had it penciled in that Mussa
(12:05):
Diabate would be playing as many minutes as the loan
center for the Hornets as he has over the last month,
but he took advantage, and I don't think it's a
sure thing. There are some guys that are going to
be in the rotation, come hell or high water, no
matter how well or poorly they're playing, They're going to
continue to get their minutes, and so kJ Simpson and
other guys are not going to take minutes from them.
(12:27):
But there are always going to be hotter hands and
guys that are playing better in the moment, and they'll
get their opportunity in kJ Simpsons someone who's doing it
the other night. Lots of guys for me to pick
from for mine, So I got to give a couple
of cap tips here. One goes to Brandon another thirty
point perform outstanding, second straight thirty point game, eighth straight
game with twenty or more that is a career high.
(12:49):
He made seven threes in the second half twenty three
out of his thirty four points come after intermission, even
outdueled his goats, Brandon Miller ends up with more points,
points and more made threes overall. It does speak a
little bit to where the seventy six ers roster is
set up. As a quick aside here, rob because Paul
George even with Joel Embiid, they still had more guys contributing.
(13:13):
He was able to be a little more selective, spread
the ball out a little bit more, finishing with eight assists.
But my pick for Silver Linings performer is the starting
center Nick Richards, only for Brandon Miller. It gives it
some of the high posts raised out beyond the Nard
goes up for three note rebound Nick Richards, and Traffick
goes up through traffic table to lay it in pooping
the arm. It's a three point play opportunity. Nick had
(13:33):
one of the best games of his career, finishing with
twenty two points fourteen rebounds, had a double double at
the end of the first half. Mayny career high ten
free throws. Good night at the line. I mean, unless you're,
you know, like LaMelo Ball or Brandon Miller, one of
these guys that almost makes it all the time, or
Seth Curry. I don't think you can get too upset
for a guy going ten of thirteen. I thought that
was a really nice night overall for Nick Richards, and
(13:54):
I thought he showed the difference in what it can
happen having a seven footer out there on the floor
on both ends. And this is again I keep harping
on it's not to the tract from the job done
by the guy's filling in its center. But I think
they have different Frank Richards and Mark Williams have different strengths.
The energy Mussa Diabate brings in Spurts been incredible on
(14:18):
the offensive glass and I thought he had another strong
contribution in Spurts last night as well. The player who
finished with the second best individual plus misus of anyone
who played in the game is Nick Richards, who finishes
at plus nine. Been good to see him back on
the floor. He's not the only one. Mark Williams return postgame.
The story is the silver linings and taking the whole
(14:40):
of the effort. Sam Farber and Rob Longo here with
you on the AHHC. The Hornets podcast, brought to you
by Center Reminder are in person. Interviews are available for
you on the Hornets YouTube page. Can go back through
the with co chairman Rick Schnall and Gabe Plotkin, and
are more recent to you with that Ball operations Jeff Peters,
(15:01):
Barons Lea. Those are all available on the Hornets YouTube page.
Charlotte had a new arrival out of game action in
almost a year, first time back on the floor in
a long time for Mark Williams, and you know what,
it wasn't the best ten minute stretch of NBA basketball
that he's had, but it is a step towards a
(15:21):
full return. And you never expect rob anyone to go
on the floor in their first game and just knock
it out. Guys, you know, do I remember Lamolo Ball
coming back a couple of times last year. Hopefully that's
about to happen for him as well in the next
week or two. Here got on the floor and it
seemed like he, you know, hadn't missed a beat. Miles
Bridges the first time he came back looked like that.
Hopefully he'll make a similar return in the not too
(15:43):
distant future. That's not the norm. Mark Williams minutes were
not the strongest, but he did have some rebounds, he
did have a putback, he made his free throws, He
did a lot of positive things and was just a
presence out there at seven feet tall that this team
has been lacking. So him and Nick Richards in tandem,
whether the you're stays the same as it was last
night or gets reversed and Mark Williams goes back to
(16:03):
the starting lineup, gives the Hornets more options, more depth
at the center spot, which they had been so badly lacking.
Speaker 3 (16:09):
Ciher soraes certainly. I mean, you go back to three
hundred and sixty one days. I know that we were
talking about three hundred and sixty days since Mark Williams
made his return to NBA action, but you all forgot
that last year was a leap hear, so shout out to.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
You this year twenty twenty four.
Speaker 3 (16:22):
I don't even know what date is anymore, So again,
shout out to you for recognizing ads. So three hundred
and sixty one days I suppose since Mark Williams last
took the NBA floor. And I mean, again, this is
something that's going to be a little bit of a work.
We knew that who's going to be on a significant
minutes restriction, That's what Charles Lee said before the game
even started. Ended up playing about eight thirty seven in
a contest last night. So it's definitely going to be
(16:44):
a little bit of a process. You can't replicate game
action as much as you want to go in five
on five and shoot around and play in some easy ball.
It's really hard to get back to that acclamation.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
Here's what Mark had to say about returning to action
after such a long absence.
Speaker 6 (17:01):
You know what it takes rehab wise, you know what
it takes mentally, How draining it is, how tough it is,
you know, to see your teammates fighting out there. Everything
anything you can do about it, except you know, control
what you can control. So I think for me, just
just trusted the process, staying patient, rehabbing every day, working,
(17:24):
you know, as quickly and effectively as I could to
get back out there, which is what I was able
to do.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
It's great to see him on the floor. You know
the minutes he play, you only played eight and a
half when it was all sudden done finishes with four
points three rebounds. Overall, there were maybe more mistakes made
by the group while he was on the floor. Some
of that might have been coincidence. It was not a
pretty first half, and so had those minutes come in
the second half and so of the first half, maybe
we're seeing a different swing in terms of plus minus.
(17:52):
So I don't think it's fair to great on that.
I do think it's fair to strapolate his numbers, which
I would say are based just off his size and stature.
You know, he didn't look like his normal self for
the first game, but it's the first step of many,
and yet he still comes up with four points and
three rebounds, and if you extrapolate it out for normal
minutes for Mark Williams, somewhere closer to twenty five or
(18:14):
thirty double double type of effort, which by his standard
is about an average night from what we saw in
the limited action the season before. But that's what he
can provide. An average night for Mark Williams is a
double double. He's seven feet tall, He's gonna naturally grab rebounds,
going to naturally impact more shots. So it's the first
step of quite a few that need to happen, but
(18:37):
I'm thrilled to see it happen here. And for a
very long time, Rob Longo, the injuries had been the
biggest impediment to the Hornets. That if you want to
call it an excuse, I would call it a valid reason.
But if you want to say whichever you want to
call it, that hopefully is about to go out the
door very soon, because when LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges
(18:57):
come back, if start knocking. Start you there you go,
Come on, knock there we go. If those guys come
back and this course stays healthy for a ten to
fifteen to twenty game stretch, then we start to get
an idea on exactly what is here in the Queen City,
whether or not this is a team that, as the
core is currently constructed, you know, has the bones, the roots,
(19:20):
the foundation to see it go and believes it can
go with the group that's been put together. One other
addition to that group, Hornets made a change on the
two way contracts. Jared Roden was let go by the franchise.
We wish him well in his next stop. Isaiah Wong
signed to a two way contract by the Hornets. He
was a guy who was drafted in the second round
(19:41):
by Indiana the year prior, only got into one NBA game.
Had an okay stat line, I would say for a
two way contract guy. Last year he played in fifteen games.
By the stats amrin in here and EPs percent from three.
They're good numbers, but a games for Salt Lake, Say,
which is the Utah Jazz Gie League affiliate, twenty four
(20:02):
points per game, rebounds and assists numbers about even with
what he had done before. Turnover numbers about the same,
it's just the volume in scoring has skyrocketed. So this
is a guy who's raid his own shot. He's a
really high quality guard. And with the team suffering a
lack of playmakers with Trey Mann out as well, is
LaMelo ball Out a good guy to take a swing
(20:23):
on here. He's a young player, he's only twenty three
years old. He's shown some success on the NBA courts
dimensions with what he's done in the G League. The
line there is the same as the line here in Charlotte.
Forty one percent is a very good number to be
hitting your threes at. So he gets the opportunity. Here.
We've seen the team go to the very end of
the bench. They've had no other healthy players available. They
(20:43):
played everyone who was suited up in uniform, and in
the midst of that kind of injuration, Charlotte has been
in one or two possession games each and every night,
which speaks to the depth of the roster. It speaks
to the abilities of those guys coming in taking advantage
of their opportunity, making the most of it, and keeping
things very competitive and entertaining. Here in the Queen City
Hornets will Trenty Winners tomorrow when they take on the
(21:05):
New York Knicks and Rob Longo. You and I will
be back to preview that game tomorrow here on the AHC.
Speaker 3 (21:10):
I'll talk to you in about what five minutes from
now I feel.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
Like sounds great. Thanks to all of you for tuning
in for Rob Loongo. I'm Sam Farbers saying it's been
a pleasure of privilege having our game preview for Hornets
versus Nicks right here on the Hornets Podcast.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
Thank you for listening to The Hornets Podcast, brought to
you by Santa, the official i ear nosen 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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