March 31, 2025 • 29 mins
The Hornets kicked off their final back-to-back this season in New Orleans, and with both teams shorthanded, the Pelicans came away with a 98-94 in the Bayou. Rob Longo and the host of Hornets Postgame on the flagship station Sports Radio WFNZ Will Palaszczuk break down the contest and also preview Charlotte's next game against Utah at home.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the Hornets Hoodcast, presented by Charlotte I ear
Nosen Throat Associates, the official I ear Nosen Throatcare provider
of the Charlotte Hornets. Here's your host, Rob Longo.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Hi friends, Welcome to today's episode of the Hornets Podcast,
the official podcast of the Charlotte Hornets, brought to you
by Santa Charlotte, iron O's and Throat Associates, the official
I eir No's and Throat Care provider of your Charlotte Hornets.
It is a jammed pack episode of the AHC. Here
today Hornets fault last night ninety eight to ninety four
out in New Orleans.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
Down in New Orleans.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
I suppose either way it ends up being a loss
for Charlotte. So this is a silver linings episode of
the AGHC. It's also a game day edition of the
Hornets Podcast, as Charlotte is on the second night of
a back to back tonight at home against the Utah Jazz.
If you're listening to this podcast in time, tickets available
at Hornets dot Com or through the Hornets app. One
of four home games still remaining here on the schedule
for Charlotte. Get out to the Hive while you can
(00:54):
if you are within shouting distance, but we will break
down yesterday's loss provide you with our silver lining selections
as Charlotte is now eighteen and fifty six on a
season fifth consecutive loss for the Hornets too, looking to
snap that streak against the Utah Jazz Team tonight as
Utah has also lost five in a row, and breaking
it down all these topics with me here on this
episode of the Hornet Time Cash. You hear them all
(01:15):
the time on our flagship station sports radio WFNZ. On
Hornets post Game, the one and only Will Pulachikin will
thank you for joining me here on this episode of
the AJHC. Hard to believe we're getting down the home
stretch of this season. Also hard to believe that this
is the final second night of a back to back
on the Hornet schedule this season, because I feel like
there's one almost every other week, if not every week.
Speaker 4 (01:34):
I'm very happy that we are done with the back
to backs. I think what happens with back to backs
is that Sam Farber and I just go into movie
quotes on Hornets post Game, which is which is what
happened last night and I didn't think that basketball would
come up, but you know, we think about the juxtaposition
of playing New Orleans the night before you play the Jazz.
It got us both in that freep of mind, and
(01:55):
let's just say it created a nice moment, but at
least put a little bit of a face on the
end of maybe a sad face evening for the Hornets
in the Crescent City.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
Well, before we turn to happier days here in Charlotte
and hopefully a win here later on tonight against the
Utah Jazz, we do have to go back and take
a look at that game yesterday in New Orleans, ninety
eight to ninety four, Hornets fall out in the Bayou.
This one was littered with players that were not available
for this one, in addition to the players that are
out for the remainder of the season here for Charlotte.
Seth Curry did not play, Josh Green was not available.
(02:26):
Mark Williams was not available either on the first night
of a back to back or a second night of
a back to back. Either way, he did not play
in that game yesterday. Pelicans had a lot of season
ending injuries as well.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
CJ.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
McCollum Trey Murphy, Herb Jones that Johntay Murray has a
ruptured achilles is on. Williamson did not play in the
game yesterday due to a back contusion as well, So
a lot of missing pieces for both sides in this one. Again,
these teams had to combine thirty eight wins going into
the contest, So it's that point of the season and
it really showed as the Hornets were up twenty five
to twenty one after the first quarter. Let it going
(02:56):
into the locker room fifty two to forty three, seven ties,
two league changes in that first half, led by twelve
points by Miles Bridges. Kelly Olenick had twelve points in
that second quarter as well. Both teams going into the
locker room were shooting below forty percent. The Pelicans were
around thirty nine, Hornets were around thirty five, and you're thinking, well,
how the heck did the Hornets have a lead. It
was basically the free throw disparity. At that point, Pels
(03:17):
were five for five the free throw line, Charlotte was
fourteen to fifteen at the strike. But the script really
got flipped there and that third quarter Repelicans came out
shot well shot fifty percent from the field, went five
to nine from three in the third quarter, despite going
two to thirteen for the entire first half, and New
Orleans outscores the Hornets thirty one to twenty one there
and that third frame, taking one point lead going into
the fourth frame, and then both teams played it tight
(03:39):
there down the stretch, tied several times. In the fourth quarter.
The Hornets took a lead with thirty nine and a
half seconds left to go in the game. Nick Smith
Junior hit a three to make it ninety four to
ninety three, but that was the last lead that the
Hornets had as last bucket or points that Charlotte would
score as well as New Orleans ripped off five consecutive
points to finish off the contest, and Charlotte falls ninety
(03:59):
eight to nine tinety four in New Orleans yesterday, So again,
will we looked at this one going into it, We
saw the injury reports for both sides and thinking this
could be interesting. By the way, the starting five yesterday,
just to prove that point a little bit further for Charlotte,
kJ Simpson, Josha Kogi to Kwan, Jefferies, Miles, Bridges and
use of Nurkide. So you know, three of the guys
on that starting five were either two way guys to
(04:21):
start off the year, still are or weren't even on
the roster at the beginning of the season. In fact,
two of them were on the Phoenix Suns roster, so
those were both acquired on two separate traits. Oddly enough too.
So again, there were a lot of moving parts in
this one for both sides. And again I think I
said this to Sam at some point in the first half,
or maybe at halftime, this film is not going to
get sent to Springfield, Massachusetts to be part of the
(04:42):
Basketball Hall of Fame because it was not a pretty
game and in a rock fight, somehow the Pelicans come
out on top.
Speaker 4 (04:47):
Well well, regardless of how you felt at the end
of it, I thought going in that Hornets at least
had more.
Speaker 5 (04:54):
On their side to try and make this happen.
Speaker 4 (04:56):
And I think, you know, you know, I like having
you know, Nurkic up there at the five position. I
like having you know, an opportunity with Josha Kogie because
he brings a lot of help with the defensive side.
I think getting another extended look at kJ Simpson, you know,
I think we kind of felt like that was going
to be the case after the injury to LaMelo Ball.
I think it was kind of obviously telegraphed when we
saw kJ go back down to Greensboro that Tryan can
(05:19):
serve more of that game load to make sure that
he could play down the stretch of the season because
of the limanon games that you have to play, or
at least limited games you're allowed to play on the
first team as a result of a two way contract.
So getting an extending to look at kJ Simpson does
the Hornets better. And quite frankly, this is a tale
of two games rob because when the Hornets had their
(05:40):
veteran players in for the most part, they held control
the run of play, particularly in the first half and
then the second quarter mostly also the third quarter, but
the seven thirty six mark on down the Hornets made
their last subs and really put in the hands of
the young guns to try and make this happen, and
look it behooves the Hornets more to see what you
(06:01):
got out of guys like kJ Simpson, t John Salon,
Nick Smith Junior and moves to diabate in these type situations.
Then trying to ride your veterans into the ground and look.
I understand that from the standpoint of where it sits
for the Hornets, development is probably secondary to winning at
this point. But I like seeing that the trust that's
put into the Hornets here down the stretch. I like
(06:22):
seeing Nick Smith Junior get back to double figures after
you know, his five consecutive games and double figures was
broken the other night in Toronto. I like seeing Zadabate,
who I think you know, with the Mark Williams return
and use of Nurkic acquisition, has seen his minutes somewhat
dissipated and a lot of times the Charles Lee has
had to almost shoe horn him into the lineup in
(06:44):
a four position where you play almost kind of the
two big scenario like we saw at San Antonio in
the two thousands with Robinson and Duncan. So it is
something where he's trying to find different looks as Charles
Lee's trying to figure out who he can trust going forward,
because so much about what this you know last little
bit and what this off season's like kind of feels
(07:05):
like Jeff Peterson's first end of season like it was
last year, and going into the offseason, he's got to
figure out who he can trust going forward, and ultimately
from a compete level, which I don't think you could
ever look at any game this season and question the
Hornets compete level other than a couple of very pointed
outliers that even the club has acknowledged that do exist
from time to time. But outside of those couple, for
(07:27):
the most part, that compete level has been at the
highest level, even in these situations where the numbers aren't
necessarily in their favor from a depth standpoint, Rob.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
Yeah, I mean, use Off Nurgig for an example, had
a really good game yesterday. He only played twenty two minutes.
He had thirteen points, twelve rebounds, five assists, three blocks,
he had steal at one point. I think he was
a plus eleven and the plus minus I think that's
what he finished with as well, because he didn't play
the entirety of the fourth quarter. He was on the
bench getting some rest on the second night of a
back to back, and then Miles Bridges only played four
minutes in that fourth quarter, so again, finishing fine for
(07:57):
the game yesterday was kJ Simpsons, Nick Smid, Junior, Dakwan, Jeffries,
t Jon Salon and Mussa Diabat.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
So let's be honest. The record is what it is.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Hornets are now eighteen and fifty six, eliminated from postseason contention.
You got to figure out things for the future, and
this is a great way to do it, putting them
in high pressure, high leverage situations and figure out who
is here and who maybe you can count on down
the road in the future as well. So, like you mentioned,
I think that's a really good idea. Charles Lee has
to figure out who he can trust. Jeff Peterson's gonna
(08:26):
have to make some decisions on the roster of this
offseason as well. This is where you do it at
this point of the season. Unfortunately, the Hornets aren't gonna
be playing for a playins tournament spot or a playoff spot,
or competing in the playoffs in general for another season.
But again, this is gonna take some time. And I
think that this is the understanding that we've had with
a new regime in here, from basically top to bottom,
new ownership roughly what eighteen months ago. Now you have
(08:49):
a new first year head coach in Charles Lee, who's
starting to learn some things as well, and trying to
put his fingerprints on his franchise. Jeff Peterson finally having
a trade deadline to himself to make some moves and
draft that he was able to have in the offseason.
Now he's gonna have a second draft that he's gonna
be to really able to start building some blocks to
this foundation as well. I mean, there are certainly some
(09:10):
key pieces here with guys like LaMelo Ball and Miles
Bridges and Mark Williams and all of those guys. Those
guys are here, they're great, and the problem right now
is availability, of course, and a lot of those guys
are not available. So you got to figure out who's
gonna be on the second rotation next season. You got
to figure out who's gonna be available, who's a key
piece that you need to keep, and.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
So on and so forth.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
So again, even though it ends up being a ninety
eight ninety four loss for Charlotte yesterday, definitely some good
learning moments here for the Hornets in that loss in
New Orleans in yesterday's contest. So again, Charlotte now with
a fifth consecutive loss, eighteen and fifty six on the season.
But again we touched on a couple of the guys
right there, some several silver lining selection candidates. We will
provide you with our silver linings right after this. You're
(09:52):
on a Hornets ive cast Hornets Fall in New Orleans yesterday,
eight ninety four, Rob Logo and a host of Hornets
post game on the flagship station sports radio WFNZ. Well
p Logic with you here on a silver linings episode
of the A JH.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
Seed.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
Time now for our silver lining selections. Some of the
candidates in this game yesterday. Miles Bridges game high twenty
points use off, Nurkice thirteen points, twelve boards, five assists,
three blocks and only twenty two minutes of action. Nick
Smith Junior nineteen points off the bench as well. Just
a couple of the candidates here for our silver lining selections.
Will you are the guest, I will let you go first.
Who's your silver lining selection from the game yesterday?
Speaker 5 (10:29):
Give me NSJ now, Nick Smith Junior for the lead.
Speaker 6 (10:32):
It's good, Nick Smith Junior barking back at Bruce Brown.
This time it's the twenty year old out of Arkansas
with the deep ball, and that gives the Hornets the
lead with thirty nine seconds remaining ice.
Speaker 5 (10:46):
Water in his veins.
Speaker 4 (10:48):
We've seen a lot of great things from Nick Smith junior.
You think about the twenty six point game against San Antonio.
You think about also the nineteen points in the victory
of over Brooklyn, the career high seven assists he sat
in February, and a lot of this happening after Brandon
Miller's injury because he's been forced into a new role,
(11:11):
a bigger role than he's ever had at the NBA level,
whether it's you know, starting initially or being relegated to
the bench and kind of turning into that tray man
sixth man and really kind of buying in and taking
that and taking that bull by the horns, because you know,
anybody who had gotten a long stretch of starting at
this younger level would maybe be a little bit discouraged.
(11:33):
But when it comes down to it, he's actually playing
more minutes as a reserve than most of the starters are,
and he played thirty five minutes last night. The Kwan
Jefferies is played thirty minutes as well. So from that perspective,
you're seeing him in closing time, you're seeing him in
high lever situations, and you're seeing him execute. He had
(11:53):
the big game, at least game leading shot there down
the stretch, as he mentioned before Robin, as you heard
as well. But I think too, the thing that I
keep thinking about with Nick is that he's got that
goldfish mentality. You know, he had an unfortunate game against Toronto,
only seven points. It broke a string of five consecutive
double figure games for him. But he comes back last
(12:15):
night nineteen points and thirty five minutes of play, three
of five shooting. Didn't have the best day from the
two point land four of twelve, but or four of eleven,
I should say. But from the standpoint of where he sits,
he's not only facilitating the offense, he's getting himself opportunities
in open play and also getting himself also doing well
in the defensive ends. So it is a scenario where
(12:36):
in a game like you saw last night, you know,
silver linings might be hard to come by because of
the disappointment of what you saw of the loss. But
he's another guy who continues to be I mean, between
him and Miles Bridges, two of the more steady guys
on the floor right now for Charlotte.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
Yeah, he's been a very solid selection for Silvil Langs
and basically for the last couple of weeks to really
like the play of Nicks mid junior. And I think
a lot of that can be credited back to earlier
in the season where he went down to Greensboro and
worked on a couple of things and then came back
and was able to be a really big cog in
the machine coming off the bench too. And again, I
know a lot of injuries and absences have been the
reality of the situation for this team, and it's also
(13:11):
been the part that Nick Virginior has been able to
be a benefactor for is because of his play coming
off the bench. And again, this is an opportunity for
him to really put them some things on tape and
really take this into the offseason. I know he talked
to Sam Farbar prior to the game yesterday as part
of the pregame show on Sports Radio WFNZ in the
pregame interview, and he mentioned just trying to finish the
(13:33):
season strong, trying to make sure that he has everything
lined up so he can have a really good offseason.
Because something that Steve Clifford talked about a lot when
he was the coach heir for the Hornets was players
don't get better during the season. They get better in
the offseason. That's when they're able to really get after
it and work on some things. It's more of like
maintaining their skill set for lack of a better term,
during the season, because again, you just don't have that
(13:54):
many practice days and you got to have a lot
of rest and recovery in there when you're playing an
eighty two game slate. So again, this is opportunity for
nicksonth junior to put some things out there and see
what he needs to work on and some things that
he can really really shine through hopefully next season here
for this Hornet squad, so very solid selection for silver linings.
For my silver lining selection, I'm gonna go a little
bit off the beaten path. I'm gonna take unk ToJ Gibson.
Speaker 6 (14:16):
Sake Smith Junior, nice time underneath and it's a towering
doctor Pepper dunk for Taj Gibson, thirty nine year old
out of usc with a Doctor Pepper dunk and the
Hornets have the lead back twenty three to twenty one.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
Listen Toash didn't play a ton in the game yesterday,
finishes with fifteen minutes, four points, two to four from
the floor rebound, had three blocks out there. I mean,
you know, Taj is a guy that's gonna come off
the bench and give you a solid ten to fifteen minutes,
despite his age and despite his longevity in the NBA.
And I know that you talked to Sam Farber about
this a little bit after the game yesterday. But something
that I'm really gonna monitor here the last several games
(14:51):
is that was Toaj Gibson's nine hundred and ninety fifth
career game yesterday in New Orleans. It was his first
contest since the game underroded Okase back on March twenty first,
So he's been kind of on and off here over
the last couple of games, just because of availability and
that sort of thing. And again, the Hornets only had
ten healthy bodies in the contest yesterday.
Speaker 3 (15:10):
In fact, every.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
Single one of them scored, and every single one of
them scored within the first quarter of action. It's not
really a surprise that Taj is able to come out
there and provide you with minutes. But something I'm in
a monitor here over the last couple of games now
is hoping that Taj gets to that one thousand game
threshold I would have to go back and I would
have to look to see how many guys have done
it in the past, and I'm sure it's been a
relatively healthy number, But when you get to a thousand games,
(15:32):
it's a round number. TOAJ has been doing this for
a very long time. It would just be a great
accomplishment here for Taj to get to one thousand career games.
Think it would be a nice round number. But like
Sam Farber mentioned talking to you after the game, Will
there's a little bit of sense that maybe he gets
stuck on nine hundred and ninety seven or nine hundred
and ninety nine, and that maybe incentivizes him a little
(15:52):
bit to come back next season, which we would all
of course love. But again, I just want to kind
of give a cap tip here to Taj. He's had
such a long and storied career, and I think he's
one of the more underrated guys in the association in
general that doesn't get talked a lot about because he's
been around for so long. And I know that he
hasn't been on a ton of championship winning teams, but
he's been in the playoffs, he's had this experience, he's
(16:14):
played hard his entire career. He's a great mentor to
these younger guys. It's just an opportunity here for me
to give TODJ some flowers that he very much deserves.
Speaker 4 (16:23):
I did some quick googling rob one hundred and forty
one NBA players have played at least one thousand games
in their careers. The last one to do what I
think was Patty Mills. Steph Curry also has just surpassed
a thousand games this year as well. Other notable names
Derk Novitski, John Stockton, Karl Malone, Tim Duncan, Reggie Miller,
(16:44):
Kobe Bryant, John Havlicek, among others, Patrick Ewing, Kareem Abdul Jabbar,
Manho Genobli just a couple of those who have done that.
But it's really cool and it would be a really
a fun thing for the Hornets. And look, if he
plays in each of the next five games, then he
could basically set that one thousand game mark on closing
(17:06):
Day a week from Tuesday against the Memphis Grizzlies. So
that'd be a nice coronation night and another great reason
to come out to the final four home games at
Spectrum Center. Because four of the next five contests are
all at home, and it could be an opportunity to
see some mystery made in nact Taj Gibson is able
(17:26):
to play in each of these next five contests.
Speaker 5 (17:29):
I know that.
Speaker 4 (17:29):
Yeah, you mentioned not having back to backs might make
it a little bit more palatable for TAZ to make
that happen. But Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday, Tuesday, I'm rooting
for them to get Unk back there on the floor
back again tomorrow night, just to try and get them
this milestone. And like you said, there could be some
manipulating of the numbers to get Taj back for that.
(17:51):
But at the same point in time, if we can
make it happen to close out this year, I think
it'd be a pretty cool thing. And even still one
of the things too that could have happened.
Speaker 3 (18:00):
I know it.
Speaker 4 (18:00):
One of those games comes against the Chicago Bulls, which
is obviously one of his former teams.
Speaker 5 (18:05):
So nine to nine would be the one that takes
place on Sunday.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
That would be interesting, That would Tarn be interesting, And
let's face it too, it's not out of the question.
Todsh Gibson played a back to back earlier here in March.
In fact, played the first game against Cleveland at home
and then played the second night against Brooklyn. He only
played four and a half minutes in the Cleveland game,
but hey, it still counts as a game played on
his career mark. So we'll see what happens here moving
forward with Unk. But todsh Gibbson definitely worthy of some
(18:30):
silver lining selections here in last night's loss. So the
Hornets fall in New Orleans ninety eight to ninety four yesterday,
quick turnaround. They will take on to Utah Jazz here
later on today. We will have her game preview for
you right after this quick break here on a Hornets
iove Cast. It's a game day edition of the Hornets
iive Cast. Rob Longo and the host of Hornet's post
(18:51):
game on the flagship station sports radio WFNZ, well p
logic with you here as we put a button on
this episode of the hornetsive Cast. It's also a game
day as we talked to, so Hornets taken on to
Utah Jazz tonight. Give you a quick little primer on
this one. Hornets won to zero against Utah. So far
this season, starters did a great job back in the
middle of January, winning out in Salt Lake City ended
(19:12):
up being a victory for the Hornets, and starters did
a really good job in that one, as it was
Mark Williams with thirty one points thirteen rebounds. That was
both game highs second best shooting game of the seasons.
Well for the Hornets as a team shot close to
fifty three percent from the field and all that was
all well and Danny. But the thing, unfortunately, it probably
was remembered the most for that game out in Utahs
(19:33):
the fact that Brandon Miller was injured in that contest,
hurt his wrist and was out for the remainder of
the season. On the other side, though for Utah, Jazz
have the worst record in the association sixteen and fifty nine.
Played in Denver on Friday, lost one twenty nine to
ninety three Collin sexon a team high twenty points in
that loss. Jazz have now lost five in a row.
Have also lost fifteen of their last sixteen games. They've
(19:54):
been off since that game on Friday, so they will
certainly have a rest advantage going into this one. But
you know how these games his work here will we
need a Hornets player to watch, a Utah player to watch,
and a statistic to watch. What would you like to
begin our journey with first?
Speaker 4 (20:08):
I'll do my Hornets player to watch, because while I
know we didn't see him a lot down in the
stretch tonight, I feel like one of the guys you
always to look out for for the Hornets is Miles Bridges,
and I know that you know, when it comes down
to it, twenty points last night was a pretty nice
stat line for him. I fully expect maybe a little
bit more time in front of the home fans as well,
just because I feel like it's a situation where there
(20:30):
could be some more time for him after they kind
of conserved his minutes last night, and even Charles Lee
had said they've been looking for some opportunities to try
and give Miles Bridges some rest, but hopefully Miles ends
up playing tonight and the Hornets ended up getting the
opportunity for Bridges to get himself another nice stat line because,
as I said earlier, he's been one of the more
consistent players for the Hornets over the course of the
(20:51):
last month, two months, three months.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
Yeah, definitely a solid pick. I think you can take
Miles Bridges. It's almost like when LaMelo Ball was fully
healthy here for this team, if you didn't take Lamo
Ball than you were kind of dumb in a sense
for lack of a better term, just because he was
such an important piece of this team, and unfortunately he's
missing the last couple of games of the season. But
with Miles Bridges, he's kind of filling that void right now.
Twenty points. Like you talked about in the game yesterday,
(21:13):
for me in terms of my Hornets player, to watch
him kind of all over the board. Because you're hoping
that Mark Williams comes back after missing the game yesterday,
you would imagine that he would play in this one tonight.
To air on the side of caution, I'm gonna take
mussa diabate. He played seventeen minutes yesterday. He went one
to five from the field, did go four for five
at the free throw line, no, which was rather impressive
considering his track record at the charity stripe. Now, he
(21:36):
did miss one there laid in the game. That was
a big one too, because he had an and one
opportunity with about three forty seven left to go in
the contest and made it eighty seven to eighty six
in favor of the Pelicans to cut it within one.
Speaker 3 (21:48):
Musa did miss the free.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
Throw which would have tied the game at eighty seven.
Now again, granted, the Hornets did take the lead there
later in the game because of that Nick Smith Junior three.
But Musadiabatte is kind of in a weird position right now,
I think, just because again there's a little bit of
a logjam at that five position here for this team
when fully healthy Mark Williams, use of Nurkisha, now Musa Diabate,
and again we did see a little bit of Taj
(22:10):
Gibson out there yesterday as well. So I think that
there's opportunities for Moosa to kind of carve his way
into this role depending on who's available and who's not.
And right now, unfortunately with all of the injuries, there's
not a whole lot of players that are available for Charlotte.
Musa has the chance to move over to the four
and play a little power forward, I think, with either
Nurk or Taj or Mark Williams into the fold there too.
(22:32):
So I think that this gives the Hornets and Charles
Lee a lot of flexibility in terms of a lot
of size in the front court and being able to
shift some pieces around a little bit and that kind
of stuff. So I'm interested to see what Moosa's role
is for this game tonight. So there's still a lot
of size on a Utah team, even though the Jazz
are missing a lot of guys out there on the
floor later on today. But again, I think Musa has
(22:52):
the option or the opportunity, I should say, to really
make an impact in this contest tonight.
Speaker 3 (22:57):
So that leads us with.
Speaker 2 (22:57):
A Utah player to watch and statistic player a statistic
to watch, will if you go with a Utah player
a quick little update on their injury report. They're missing
a lot of pieces in this one. Jordan Clarkson, John Collins,
Elijah harklest Taylor Hendrix, Walker Kessler's not gonna play, Lori marketIn,
Micah Potter, Colin Sexton is questionable as of the recording
of this podcast. So there are a lot of pieces
(23:19):
that are missing on that Utah side. So try to
navigate the landmines, I suppose, and try to find somebody
healthy that's going to play in this one if you
go that route.
Speaker 4 (23:26):
And that was very very quick and wanting to go
with Jordan Clarkson, the Missouri guy. But I'll go with
the one guy in the top six scorers who is
not on the injury report for the Jazz, and that's
Keyante George. He had twenty six in the matchup earlier
in January for the Jazz, one of the real bright
spots of that contest that ended up going to the
(23:46):
Hornets with a victory. So from that perspective, I'll go
with Keyante George. He's played sixty games this season, averaging
sixteen points per contest. Again, he had twenty six against
the Hornets earlier this season. But like you said, Market
and Colin Sexton, Clarkson and Kessler all on the injury report.
Sexton the only one who is not listed is out.
Among those we could see obviously some Kalfi Lapowski in
(24:09):
this game obviously, as well some other guys as well
who could be potentially featured as well that aren't necessarily
in there, John Collins who didn't play in the earlier
contest as well for Utah. So this is a situation
for the Hornets where bybe for the second consecutive night,
they're going up against an opponent that has got a
lot of guys on the shelf, but maybe the Hornets
can get some guys back here today.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
That would certainly help the cause. In terms of my
jazz player to watch, I guess I'm gonna go a
little bit off the board here. I'm gonna take Oscar Shebay.
He's been a guy that had a very good collegiate career,
bounced around a little bit int the Division one level,
was usually a stalwart there with the West Virginia Mountaineers,
and then went over to Kentucky and had a pretty
good run with the Wildcats as well. But Oscar has
(24:50):
had a hard time trying to maybe find his footing
in the NBA. I know that he had, you know,
some workouts here in Charlotte and he wasn't able to
really find a here. And I think that the fact
that he's kind of bounced around from G League team
the G League team, and now he's able to have
a little bit of a run here with Utah, I
think is a good opportunity for him. Only at seven
points in that loss against Denver on Friday, he played
(25:12):
twenty six minutes. He started the game, he was two
of five from the floor, made all three of his
free throws. He did have ten rebounds. I think the
knock with Chibey was he was always a little bit
undersized for that five position, kind of similar to maybe
a Musa d'abate in a sense, where Musa isn't your
traditional seven foot center that you see in the NBA
night in and night out. And again, the thing with
Chiboy was he doesn't have a three point shot or
(25:33):
anything like that.
Speaker 3 (25:34):
Musa's starting to maybe get there.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
He did take a long two in that game yesterday
against the Pelicans and he didn't miss it. But I
do see a lot of similarities in Musa Deabont's game
in Oscar Schibey's game in a sense that they both
play really hard. They try to get every single rebound
that they possibly can, and in the process, if they
get a couple buckets, then it's good news for them.
So that could be an interesting matchup Musa the Abatte
and Oscar Sibe in this contest tonight between the Hornets
(25:56):
and the Jazz. So that just leads us with a
statistic to watch. What are some numbers you're keeping an
eye on here tonight, will Well.
Speaker 4 (26:02):
I was also very surprised you didn't go with the
UCLA guy Johnny Juzang, just.
Speaker 3 (26:07):
To just to do it out a fight with Sam Farber.
Speaker 5 (26:10):
Friend Sam Farber, I.
Speaker 3 (26:12):
Thought about it.
Speaker 2 (26:12):
I also thought about maybe our old friends pehe M
Kai Luke, but I ended up going with Chibai. That's
who I landed on.
Speaker 5 (26:18):
I was thinking about speed as well.
Speaker 4 (26:21):
The one stat that both these teams actually have a
very good stat line in is second chance points. The
Ones are actually second in the league and second chance
point average at sixteen point seven per contest compared to Utah,
who's at fourteen point eight per contest that is ninth
best in the NBA. So I'm looking at second chance points.
(26:41):
I'm also looking at the pace as well, because Utah
is a team that is sixth in the league in pace,
or it's a twenty fourth in the league in pace.
So whoever ends up playing this game at their speed
I think will be the one who ends up controlling
things for a victory.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
It's definitely some good numbers to look at here. And again,
I think the pace is the bigger one out of
all these, just because it feels like Utah likes to
get up and down the floor a little bit but
when it comes to the pace, I think you need
to be a little bit more effective with your field
goal percentage, and that's gonna lead me right into my
number here to look at. In terms of effective field
goal percentage, the Hornets are dead last in the association,
(27:16):
a little bit over a fifty percent. For contest. Now,
Utah is still bottom third in the NBA. They're right
at twentieth at about fifty three and a half percent.
But that three and a half percent difference that can
be all the difference in the world whenever you tally
them up at the end of the game. Because again
I think a really good obvious answer to that yesterday
was if you looked at the three point percentage totals
between the Pelicans and Hornets, neither team shot the three ball. Well,
(27:40):
New Orleans shot twenty nine percent, Charlotte shot twenty four percent.
From Yon York, it only resulted in one more three
point or made for the Pelicans, but five percent five
percent ended up being a six percent spread when you
looked at the total field goal percentage, as Pelicans were
able to shoot over forty one percent from the floor
and Hornets were around thirty five. So that's gonna make
the difference in a four point game. You can't really
make that up at the free throw line. So I
(28:00):
think that the effective field goal percentage, just getting good
shots is gonna be an opportunity here for the Hornets
to get a little bit better, especially with a lot
of those younger guys and some of that younger talent
that the Hornets are put out there on the floor
late in the contest, because if you go back and
you look in the second half, Charlotte just did not
shoot the ball very well yesterday against the Pelicans. Shot
thirty seven and a half percent from the field in
the third quarter, shot thirty two percent from the floor
(28:23):
in that fourth frame. They went a combined four for
fifteen from beyond the ark there in that second half
as well. So again, just making sure that you get
good shots selections up. I guess the way you quantify
that is effective field goal percentage. So that's gonna be
my statistic to watch here later on today, no matter.
Speaker 3 (28:38):
How shakes out.
Speaker 2 (28:39):
We will of course recap this contest for you on
tomorrow's episode of the Hornetsive Cast, But before then and now,
you can listen to the postgame recap by the one
and only what Po Logic, the host of Hornets postgame
on the flagship station sports radio WFNZ. After the contest tonight,
thank you will for joining me here as.
Speaker 5 (28:55):
Always always a pleasure, Rob, Thank you.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
And thanks to all of you for tuning in as well.
We'll plogium Rob Longo saying so long, Thank you so
much for joining us on this episode of the Hornets Podcast.
We will recap Hornets and It Jazz on tomorrow's episode
of the HC.
Speaker 1 (29:10):
Thank you for listening to The Hornets Podcast, brought to
you by Santa, the official i ear nosen Throadcare provider
of the Charlotte Hornets. For more coverage, visit Hornets dot com.
Welcome to the Hornets Hoodcast, presented by Charlotte I ear
Nosen Throat Associates, the official I ear Nosen Throatcare provider
of the Charlotte Hornets. Here's your host, Rob Longo.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Hi friends, Welcome to today's episode of the Hornets Podcast,
the official podcast of the Charlotte Hornets, brought to you
by Santa Charlotte, iron O's and Throat Associates, the official
I eir No's and Throat Care provider of your Charlotte Hornets.
It is a jammed pack episode of the AHC. Here
today Hornets fault last night ninety eight to ninety four
out in New Orleans.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
Down in New Orleans.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
I suppose either way it ends up being a loss
for Charlotte. So this is a silver linings episode of
the AGHC. It's also a game day edition of the
Hornets Podcast, as Charlotte is on the second night of
a back to back tonight at home against the Utah Jazz.
If you're listening to this podcast in time, tickets available
at Hornets dot Com or through the Hornets app. One
of four home games still remaining here on the schedule
for Charlotte. Get out to the Hive while you can
(00:54):
if you are within shouting distance, but we will break
down yesterday's loss provide you with our silver lining selections
as Charlotte is now eighteen and fifty six on a
season fifth consecutive loss for the Hornets too, looking to
snap that streak against the Utah Jazz Team tonight as
Utah has also lost five in a row, and breaking
it down all these topics with me here on this
episode of the Hornet Time Cash. You hear them all
(01:15):
the time on our flagship station sports radio WFNZ. On
Hornets post Game, the one and only Will Pulachikin will
thank you for joining me here on this episode of
the AJHC. Hard to believe we're getting down the home
stretch of this season. Also hard to believe that this
is the final second night of a back to back
on the Hornet schedule this season, because I feel like
there's one almost every other week, if not every week.
Speaker 4 (01:34):
I'm very happy that we are done with the back
to backs. I think what happens with back to backs
is that Sam Farber and I just go into movie
quotes on Hornets post Game, which is which is what
happened last night and I didn't think that basketball would
come up, but you know, we think about the juxtaposition
of playing New Orleans the night before you play the Jazz.
It got us both in that freep of mind, and
(01:55):
let's just say it created a nice moment, but at
least put a little bit of a face on the
end of maybe a sad face evening for the Hornets
in the Crescent City.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
Well, before we turn to happier days here in Charlotte
and hopefully a win here later on tonight against the
Utah Jazz, we do have to go back and take
a look at that game yesterday in New Orleans, ninety
eight to ninety four, Hornets fall out in the Bayou.
This one was littered with players that were not available
for this one, in addition to the players that are
out for the remainder of the season here for Charlotte.
Seth Curry did not play, Josh Green was not available.
(02:26):
Mark Williams was not available either on the first night
of a back to back or a second night of
a back to back. Either way, he did not play
in that game yesterday. Pelicans had a lot of season
ending injuries as well.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
CJ.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
McCollum Trey Murphy, Herb Jones that Johntay Murray has a
ruptured achilles is on. Williamson did not play in the
game yesterday due to a back contusion as well, So
a lot of missing pieces for both sides in this one. Again,
these teams had to combine thirty eight wins going into
the contest, So it's that point of the season and
it really showed as the Hornets were up twenty five
to twenty one after the first quarter. Let it going
(02:56):
into the locker room fifty two to forty three, seven ties,
two league changes in that first half, led by twelve
points by Miles Bridges. Kelly Olenick had twelve points in
that second quarter as well. Both teams going into the
locker room were shooting below forty percent. The Pelicans were
around thirty nine, Hornets were around thirty five, and you're thinking, well,
how the heck did the Hornets have a lead. It
was basically the free throw disparity. At that point, Pels
(03:17):
were five for five the free throw line, Charlotte was
fourteen to fifteen at the strike. But the script really
got flipped there and that third quarter Repelicans came out
shot well shot fifty percent from the field, went five
to nine from three in the third quarter, despite going
two to thirteen for the entire first half, and New
Orleans outscores the Hornets thirty one to twenty one there
and that third frame, taking one point lead going into
the fourth frame, and then both teams played it tight
(03:39):
there down the stretch, tied several times. In the fourth quarter.
The Hornets took a lead with thirty nine and a
half seconds left to go in the game. Nick Smith
Junior hit a three to make it ninety four to
ninety three, but that was the last lead that the
Hornets had as last bucket or points that Charlotte would
score as well as New Orleans ripped off five consecutive
points to finish off the contest, and Charlotte falls ninety
(03:59):
eight to nine tinety four in New Orleans yesterday, So again,
will we looked at this one going into it, We
saw the injury reports for both sides and thinking this
could be interesting. By the way, the starting five yesterday,
just to prove that point a little bit further for Charlotte,
kJ Simpson, Josha Kogi to Kwan, Jefferies, Miles, Bridges and
use of Nurkide. So you know, three of the guys
on that starting five were either two way guys to
(04:21):
start off the year, still are or weren't even on
the roster at the beginning of the season. In fact,
two of them were on the Phoenix Suns roster, so
those were both acquired on two separate traits. Oddly enough too.
So again, there were a lot of moving parts in
this one for both sides. And again I think I
said this to Sam at some point in the first half,
or maybe at halftime, this film is not going to
get sent to Springfield, Massachusetts to be part of the
(04:42):
Basketball Hall of Fame because it was not a pretty
game and in a rock fight, somehow the Pelicans come
out on top.
Speaker 4 (04:47):
Well well, regardless of how you felt at the end
of it, I thought going in that Hornets at least
had more.
Speaker 5 (04:54):
On their side to try and make this happen.
Speaker 4 (04:56):
And I think, you know, you know, I like having
you know, Nurkic up there at the five position. I
like having you know, an opportunity with Josha Kogie because
he brings a lot of help with the defensive side.
I think getting another extended look at kJ Simpson, you know,
I think we kind of felt like that was going
to be the case after the injury to LaMelo Ball.
I think it was kind of obviously telegraphed when we
saw kJ go back down to Greensboro that Tryan can
(05:19):
serve more of that game load to make sure that
he could play down the stretch of the season because
of the limanon games that you have to play, or
at least limited games you're allowed to play on the
first team as a result of a two way contract.
So getting an extending to look at kJ Simpson does
the Hornets better. And quite frankly, this is a tale
of two games rob because when the Hornets had their
(05:40):
veteran players in for the most part, they held control
the run of play, particularly in the first half and
then the second quarter mostly also the third quarter, but
the seven thirty six mark on down the Hornets made
their last subs and really put in the hands of
the young guns to try and make this happen, and
look it behooves the Hornets more to see what you
(06:01):
got out of guys like kJ Simpson, t John Salon,
Nick Smith Junior and moves to diabate in these type situations.
Then trying to ride your veterans into the ground and look.
I understand that from the standpoint of where it sits
for the Hornets, development is probably secondary to winning at
this point. But I like seeing that the trust that's
put into the Hornets here down the stretch. I like
(06:22):
seeing Nick Smith Junior get back to double figures after
you know, his five consecutive games and double figures was
broken the other night in Toronto. I like seeing Zadabate,
who I think you know, with the Mark Williams return
and use of Nurkic acquisition, has seen his minutes somewhat
dissipated and a lot of times the Charles Lee has
had to almost shoe horn him into the lineup in
(06:44):
a four position where you play almost kind of the
two big scenario like we saw at San Antonio in
the two thousands with Robinson and Duncan. So it is
something where he's trying to find different looks as Charles
Lee's trying to figure out who he can trust going forward,
because so much about what this you know last little
bit and what this off season's like kind of feels
(07:05):
like Jeff Peterson's first end of season like it was
last year, and going into the offseason, he's got to
figure out who he can trust going forward, and ultimately
from a compete level, which I don't think you could
ever look at any game this season and question the
Hornets compete level other than a couple of very pointed
outliers that even the club has acknowledged that do exist
from time to time. But outside of those couple, for
(07:27):
the most part, that compete level has been at the
highest level, even in these situations where the numbers aren't
necessarily in their favor from a depth standpoint, Rob.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
Yeah, I mean, use Off Nurgig for an example, had
a really good game yesterday. He only played twenty two minutes.
He had thirteen points, twelve rebounds, five assists, three blocks,
he had steal at one point. I think he was
a plus eleven and the plus minus I think that's
what he finished with as well, because he didn't play
the entirety of the fourth quarter. He was on the
bench getting some rest on the second night of a
back to back, and then Miles Bridges only played four
minutes in that fourth quarter, so again, finishing fine for
(07:57):
the game yesterday was kJ Simpsons, Nick Smid, Junior, Dakwan, Jeffries,
t Jon Salon and Mussa Diabat.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
So let's be honest. The record is what it is.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Hornets are now eighteen and fifty six, eliminated from postseason contention.
You got to figure out things for the future, and
this is a great way to do it, putting them
in high pressure, high leverage situations and figure out who
is here and who maybe you can count on down
the road in the future as well. So, like you mentioned,
I think that's a really good idea. Charles Lee has
to figure out who he can trust. Jeff Peterson's gonna
(08:26):
have to make some decisions on the roster of this
offseason as well. This is where you do it at
this point of the season. Unfortunately, the Hornets aren't gonna
be playing for a playins tournament spot or a playoff spot,
or competing in the playoffs in general for another season.
But again, this is gonna take some time. And I
think that this is the understanding that we've had with
a new regime in here, from basically top to bottom,
new ownership roughly what eighteen months ago. Now you have
(08:49):
a new first year head coach in Charles Lee, who's
starting to learn some things as well, and trying to
put his fingerprints on his franchise. Jeff Peterson finally having
a trade deadline to himself to make some moves and
draft that he was able to have in the offseason.
Now he's gonna have a second draft that he's gonna
be to really able to start building some blocks to
this foundation as well. I mean, there are certainly some
(09:10):
key pieces here with guys like LaMelo Ball and Miles
Bridges and Mark Williams and all of those guys. Those
guys are here, they're great, and the problem right now
is availability, of course, and a lot of those guys
are not available. So you got to figure out who's
gonna be on the second rotation next season. You got
to figure out who's gonna be available, who's a key
piece that you need to keep, and.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
So on and so forth.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
So again, even though it ends up being a ninety
eight ninety four loss for Charlotte yesterday, definitely some good
learning moments here for the Hornets in that loss in
New Orleans in yesterday's contest. So again, Charlotte now with
a fifth consecutive loss, eighteen and fifty six on the season.
But again we touched on a couple of the guys
right there, some several silver lining selection candidates. We will
provide you with our silver linings right after this. You're
(09:52):
on a Hornets ive cast Hornets Fall in New Orleans yesterday,
eight ninety four, Rob Logo and a host of Hornets
post game on the flagship station sports radio WFNZ. Well
p Logic with you here on a silver linings episode
of the A JH.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
Seed.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
Time now for our silver lining selections. Some of the
candidates in this game yesterday. Miles Bridges game high twenty
points use off, Nurkice thirteen points, twelve boards, five assists,
three blocks and only twenty two minutes of action. Nick
Smith Junior nineteen points off the bench as well. Just
a couple of the candidates here for our silver lining selections.
Will you are the guest, I will let you go first.
Who's your silver lining selection from the game yesterday?
Speaker 5 (10:29):
Give me NSJ now, Nick Smith Junior for the lead.
Speaker 6 (10:32):
It's good, Nick Smith Junior barking back at Bruce Brown.
This time it's the twenty year old out of Arkansas
with the deep ball, and that gives the Hornets the
lead with thirty nine seconds remaining ice.
Speaker 5 (10:46):
Water in his veins.
Speaker 4 (10:48):
We've seen a lot of great things from Nick Smith junior.
You think about the twenty six point game against San Antonio.
You think about also the nineteen points in the victory
of over Brooklyn, the career high seven assists he sat
in February, and a lot of this happening after Brandon
Miller's injury because he's been forced into a new role,
(11:11):
a bigger role than he's ever had at the NBA level,
whether it's you know, starting initially or being relegated to
the bench and kind of turning into that tray man
sixth man and really kind of buying in and taking
that and taking that bull by the horns, because you know,
anybody who had gotten a long stretch of starting at
this younger level would maybe be a little bit discouraged.
(11:33):
But when it comes down to it, he's actually playing
more minutes as a reserve than most of the starters are,
and he played thirty five minutes last night. The Kwan
Jefferies is played thirty minutes as well. So from that perspective,
you're seeing him in closing time, you're seeing him in
high lever situations, and you're seeing him execute. He had
(11:53):
the big game, at least game leading shot there down
the stretch, as he mentioned before Robin, as you heard
as well. But I think too, the thing that I
keep thinking about with Nick is that he's got that
goldfish mentality. You know, he had an unfortunate game against Toronto,
only seven points. It broke a string of five consecutive
double figure games for him. But he comes back last
(12:15):
night nineteen points and thirty five minutes of play, three
of five shooting. Didn't have the best day from the
two point land four of twelve, but or four of eleven,
I should say. But from the standpoint of where he sits,
he's not only facilitating the offense, he's getting himself opportunities
in open play and also getting himself also doing well
in the defensive ends. So it is a scenario where
(12:36):
in a game like you saw last night, you know,
silver linings might be hard to come by because of
the disappointment of what you saw of the loss. But
he's another guy who continues to be I mean, between
him and Miles Bridges, two of the more steady guys
on the floor right now for Charlotte.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
Yeah, he's been a very solid selection for Silvil Langs
and basically for the last couple of weeks to really
like the play of Nicks mid junior. And I think
a lot of that can be credited back to earlier
in the season where he went down to Greensboro and
worked on a couple of things and then came back
and was able to be a really big cog in
the machine coming off the bench too. And again, I
know a lot of injuries and absences have been the
reality of the situation for this team, and it's also
(13:11):
been the part that Nick Virginior has been able to
be a benefactor for is because of his play coming
off the bench. And again, this is an opportunity for
him to really put them some things on tape and
really take this into the offseason. I know he talked
to Sam Farbar prior to the game yesterday as part
of the pregame show on Sports Radio WFNZ in the
pregame interview, and he mentioned just trying to finish the
(13:33):
season strong, trying to make sure that he has everything
lined up so he can have a really good offseason.
Because something that Steve Clifford talked about a lot when
he was the coach heir for the Hornets was players
don't get better during the season. They get better in
the offseason. That's when they're able to really get after
it and work on some things. It's more of like
maintaining their skill set for lack of a better term,
during the season, because again, you just don't have that
(13:54):
many practice days and you got to have a lot
of rest and recovery in there when you're playing an
eighty two game slate. So again, this is opportunity for
nicksonth junior to put some things out there and see
what he needs to work on and some things that
he can really really shine through hopefully next season here
for this Hornet squad, so very solid selection for silver linings.
For my silver lining selection, I'm gonna go a little
bit off the beaten path. I'm gonna take unk ToJ Gibson.
Speaker 6 (14:16):
Sake Smith Junior, nice time underneath and it's a towering
doctor Pepper dunk for Taj Gibson, thirty nine year old
out of usc with a Doctor Pepper dunk and the
Hornets have the lead back twenty three to twenty one.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
Listen Toash didn't play a ton in the game yesterday,
finishes with fifteen minutes, four points, two to four from
the floor rebound, had three blocks out there. I mean,
you know, Taj is a guy that's gonna come off
the bench and give you a solid ten to fifteen minutes,
despite his age and despite his longevity in the NBA.
And I know that you talked to Sam Farber about
this a little bit after the game yesterday. But something
that I'm really gonna monitor here the last several games
(14:51):
is that was Toaj Gibson's nine hundred and ninety fifth
career game yesterday in New Orleans. It was his first
contest since the game underroded Okase back on March twenty first,
So he's been kind of on and off here over
the last couple of games, just because of availability and
that sort of thing. And again, the Hornets only had
ten healthy bodies in the contest yesterday.
Speaker 3 (15:10):
In fact, every.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
Single one of them scored, and every single one of
them scored within the first quarter of action. It's not
really a surprise that Taj is able to come out
there and provide you with minutes. But something I'm in
a monitor here over the last couple of games now
is hoping that Taj gets to that one thousand game
threshold I would have to go back and I would
have to look to see how many guys have done
it in the past, and I'm sure it's been a
relatively healthy number, But when you get to a thousand games,
(15:32):
it's a round number. TOAJ has been doing this for
a very long time. It would just be a great
accomplishment here for Taj to get to one thousand career games.
Think it would be a nice round number. But like
Sam Farber mentioned talking to you after the game, Will
there's a little bit of sense that maybe he gets
stuck on nine hundred and ninety seven or nine hundred
and ninety nine, and that maybe incentivizes him a little
(15:52):
bit to come back next season, which we would all
of course love. But again, I just want to kind
of give a cap tip here to Taj. He's had
such a long and storied career, and I think he's
one of the more underrated guys in the association in
general that doesn't get talked a lot about because he's
been around for so long. And I know that he
hasn't been on a ton of championship winning teams, but
he's been in the playoffs, he's had this experience, he's
(16:14):
played hard his entire career. He's a great mentor to
these younger guys. It's just an opportunity here for me
to give TODJ some flowers that he very much deserves.
Speaker 4 (16:23):
I did some quick googling rob one hundred and forty
one NBA players have played at least one thousand games
in their careers. The last one to do what I
think was Patty Mills. Steph Curry also has just surpassed
a thousand games this year as well. Other notable names
Derk Novitski, John Stockton, Karl Malone, Tim Duncan, Reggie Miller,
(16:44):
Kobe Bryant, John Havlicek, among others, Patrick Ewing, Kareem Abdul Jabbar,
Manho Genobli just a couple of those who have done that.
But it's really cool and it would be a really
a fun thing for the Hornets. And look, if he
plays in each of the next five games, then he
could basically set that one thousand game mark on closing
(17:06):
Day a week from Tuesday against the Memphis Grizzlies. So
that'd be a nice coronation night and another great reason
to come out to the final four home games at
Spectrum Center. Because four of the next five contests are
all at home, and it could be an opportunity to
see some mystery made in nact Taj Gibson is able
(17:26):
to play in each of these next five contests.
Speaker 5 (17:29):
I know that.
Speaker 4 (17:29):
Yeah, you mentioned not having back to backs might make
it a little bit more palatable for TAZ to make
that happen. But Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday, Tuesday, I'm rooting
for them to get Unk back there on the floor
back again tomorrow night, just to try and get them
this milestone. And like you said, there could be some
manipulating of the numbers to get Taj back for that.
(17:51):
But at the same point in time, if we can
make it happen to close out this year, I think
it'd be a pretty cool thing. And even still one
of the things too that could have happened.
Speaker 3 (18:00):
I know it.
Speaker 4 (18:00):
One of those games comes against the Chicago Bulls, which
is obviously one of his former teams.
Speaker 5 (18:05):
So nine to nine would be the one that takes
place on Sunday.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
That would be interesting, That would Tarn be interesting, And
let's face it too, it's not out of the question.
Todsh Gibson played a back to back earlier here in March.
In fact, played the first game against Cleveland at home
and then played the second night against Brooklyn. He only
played four and a half minutes in the Cleveland game,
but hey, it still counts as a game played on
his career mark. So we'll see what happens here moving
forward with Unk. But todsh Gibbson definitely worthy of some
(18:30):
silver lining selections here in last night's loss. So the
Hornets fall in New Orleans ninety eight to ninety four yesterday,
quick turnaround. They will take on to Utah Jazz here
later on today. We will have her game preview for
you right after this quick break here on a Hornets
iove Cast. It's a game day edition of the Hornets
iive Cast. Rob Longo and the host of Hornet's post
(18:51):
game on the flagship station sports radio WFNZ, well p
logic with you here as we put a button on
this episode of the hornetsive Cast. It's also a game
day as we talked to, so Hornets taken on to
Utah Jazz tonight. Give you a quick little primer on
this one. Hornets won to zero against Utah. So far
this season, starters did a great job back in the
middle of January, winning out in Salt Lake City ended
(19:12):
up being a victory for the Hornets, and starters did
a really good job in that one, as it was
Mark Williams with thirty one points thirteen rebounds. That was
both game highs second best shooting game of the seasons.
Well for the Hornets as a team shot close to
fifty three percent from the field and all that was
all well and Danny. But the thing, unfortunately, it probably
was remembered the most for that game out in Utahs
(19:33):
the fact that Brandon Miller was injured in that contest,
hurt his wrist and was out for the remainder of
the season. On the other side, though for Utah, Jazz
have the worst record in the association sixteen and fifty nine.
Played in Denver on Friday, lost one twenty nine to
ninety three Collin sexon a team high twenty points in
that loss. Jazz have now lost five in a row.
Have also lost fifteen of their last sixteen games. They've
(19:54):
been off since that game on Friday, so they will
certainly have a rest advantage going into this one. But
you know how these games his work here will we
need a Hornets player to watch, a Utah player to watch,
and a statistic to watch. What would you like to
begin our journey with first?
Speaker 4 (20:08):
I'll do my Hornets player to watch, because while I
know we didn't see him a lot down in the
stretch tonight, I feel like one of the guys you
always to look out for for the Hornets is Miles Bridges,
and I know that you know, when it comes down
to it, twenty points last night was a pretty nice
stat line for him. I fully expect maybe a little
bit more time in front of the home fans as well,
just because I feel like it's a situation where there
(20:30):
could be some more time for him after they kind
of conserved his minutes last night, and even Charles Lee
had said they've been looking for some opportunities to try
and give Miles Bridges some rest, but hopefully Miles ends
up playing tonight and the Hornets ended up getting the
opportunity for Bridges to get himself another nice stat line because,
as I said earlier, he's been one of the more
consistent players for the Hornets over the course of the
(20:51):
last month, two months, three months.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
Yeah, definitely a solid pick. I think you can take
Miles Bridges. It's almost like when LaMelo Ball was fully
healthy here for this team, if you didn't take Lamo
Ball than you were kind of dumb in a sense
for lack of a better term, just because he was
such an important piece of this team, and unfortunately he's
missing the last couple of games of the season. But
with Miles Bridges, he's kind of filling that void right now.
Twenty points. Like you talked about in the game yesterday,
(21:13):
for me in terms of my Hornets player, to watch
him kind of all over the board. Because you're hoping
that Mark Williams comes back after missing the game yesterday,
you would imagine that he would play in this one tonight.
To air on the side of caution, I'm gonna take
mussa diabate. He played seventeen minutes yesterday. He went one
to five from the field, did go four for five
at the free throw line, no, which was rather impressive
considering his track record at the charity stripe. Now, he
(21:36):
did miss one there laid in the game. That was
a big one too, because he had an and one
opportunity with about three forty seven left to go in
the contest and made it eighty seven to eighty six
in favor of the Pelicans to cut it within one.
Speaker 3 (21:48):
Musa did miss the free.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
Throw which would have tied the game at eighty seven.
Now again, granted, the Hornets did take the lead there
later in the game because of that Nick Smith Junior three.
But Musadiabatte is kind of in a weird position right now,
I think, just because again there's a little bit of
a logjam at that five position here for this team
when fully healthy Mark Williams, use of Nurkisha, now Musa Diabate,
and again we did see a little bit of Taj
(22:10):
Gibson out there yesterday as well. So I think that
there's opportunities for Moosa to kind of carve his way
into this role depending on who's available and who's not.
And right now, unfortunately with all of the injuries, there's
not a whole lot of players that are available for Charlotte.
Musa has the chance to move over to the four
and play a little power forward, I think, with either
Nurk or Taj or Mark Williams into the fold there too.
(22:32):
So I think that this gives the Hornets and Charles
Lee a lot of flexibility in terms of a lot
of size in the front court and being able to
shift some pieces around a little bit and that kind
of stuff. So I'm interested to see what Moosa's role
is for this game tonight. So there's still a lot
of size on a Utah team, even though the Jazz
are missing a lot of guys out there on the
floor later on today. But again, I think Musa has
(22:52):
the option or the opportunity, I should say, to really
make an impact in this contest tonight.
Speaker 3 (22:57):
So that leads us with.
Speaker 2 (22:57):
A Utah player to watch and statistic player a statistic
to watch, will if you go with a Utah player
a quick little update on their injury report. They're missing
a lot of pieces in this one. Jordan Clarkson, John Collins,
Elijah harklest Taylor Hendrix, Walker Kessler's not gonna play, Lori marketIn,
Micah Potter, Colin Sexton is questionable as of the recording
of this podcast. So there are a lot of pieces
(23:19):
that are missing on that Utah side. So try to
navigate the landmines, I suppose, and try to find somebody
healthy that's going to play in this one if you
go that route.
Speaker 4 (23:26):
And that was very very quick and wanting to go
with Jordan Clarkson, the Missouri guy. But I'll go with
the one guy in the top six scorers who is
not on the injury report for the Jazz, and that's
Keyante George. He had twenty six in the matchup earlier
in January for the Jazz, one of the real bright
spots of that contest that ended up going to the
(23:46):
Hornets with a victory. So from that perspective, I'll go
with Keyante George. He's played sixty games this season, averaging
sixteen points per contest. Again, he had twenty six against
the Hornets earlier this season. But like you said, Market
and Colin Sexton, Clarkson and Kessler all on the injury report.
Sexton the only one who is not listed is out.
Among those we could see obviously some Kalfi Lapowski in
(24:09):
this game obviously, as well some other guys as well
who could be potentially featured as well that aren't necessarily
in there, John Collins who didn't play in the earlier
contest as well for Utah. So this is a situation
for the Hornets where bybe for the second consecutive night,
they're going up against an opponent that has got a
lot of guys on the shelf, but maybe the Hornets
can get some guys back here today.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
That would certainly help the cause. In terms of my
jazz player to watch, I guess I'm gonna go a
little bit off the board here. I'm gonna take Oscar Shebay.
He's been a guy that had a very good collegiate career,
bounced around a little bit int the Division one level,
was usually a stalwart there with the West Virginia Mountaineers,
and then went over to Kentucky and had a pretty
good run with the Wildcats as well. But Oscar has
(24:50):
had a hard time trying to maybe find his footing
in the NBA. I know that he had, you know,
some workouts here in Charlotte and he wasn't able to
really find a here. And I think that the fact
that he's kind of bounced around from G League team
the G League team, and now he's able to have
a little bit of a run here with Utah, I
think is a good opportunity for him. Only at seven
points in that loss against Denver on Friday, he played
(25:12):
twenty six minutes. He started the game, he was two
of five from the floor, made all three of his
free throws. He did have ten rebounds. I think the
knock with Chibey was he was always a little bit
undersized for that five position, kind of similar to maybe
a Musa d'abate in a sense, where Musa isn't your
traditional seven foot center that you see in the NBA
night in and night out. And again, the thing with
Chiboy was he doesn't have a three point shot or
(25:33):
anything like that.
Speaker 3 (25:34):
Musa's starting to maybe get there.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
He did take a long two in that game yesterday
against the Pelicans and he didn't miss it. But I
do see a lot of similarities in Musa Deabont's game
in Oscar Schibey's game in a sense that they both
play really hard. They try to get every single rebound
that they possibly can, and in the process, if they
get a couple buckets, then it's good news for them.
So that could be an interesting matchup Musa the Abatte
and Oscar Sibe in this contest tonight between the Hornets
(25:56):
and the Jazz. So that just leads us with a
statistic to watch. What are some numbers you're keeping an
eye on here tonight, will Well.
Speaker 4 (26:02):
I was also very surprised you didn't go with the
UCLA guy Johnny Juzang, just.
Speaker 3 (26:07):
To just to do it out a fight with Sam Farber.
Speaker 5 (26:10):
Friend Sam Farber, I.
Speaker 3 (26:12):
Thought about it.
Speaker 2 (26:12):
I also thought about maybe our old friends pehe M
Kai Luke, but I ended up going with Chibai. That's
who I landed on.
Speaker 5 (26:18):
I was thinking about speed as well.
Speaker 4 (26:21):
The one stat that both these teams actually have a
very good stat line in is second chance points. The
Ones are actually second in the league and second chance
point average at sixteen point seven per contest compared to Utah,
who's at fourteen point eight per contest that is ninth
best in the NBA. So I'm looking at second chance points.
(26:41):
I'm also looking at the pace as well, because Utah
is a team that is sixth in the league in pace,
or it's a twenty fourth in the league in pace.
So whoever ends up playing this game at their speed
I think will be the one who ends up controlling
things for a victory.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
It's definitely some good numbers to look at here. And again,
I think the pace is the bigger one out of
all these, just because it feels like Utah likes to
get up and down the floor a little bit but
when it comes to the pace, I think you need
to be a little bit more effective with your field
goal percentage, and that's gonna lead me right into my
number here to look at. In terms of effective field
goal percentage, the Hornets are dead last in the association,
(27:16):
a little bit over a fifty percent. For contest. Now,
Utah is still bottom third in the NBA. They're right
at twentieth at about fifty three and a half percent.
But that three and a half percent difference that can
be all the difference in the world whenever you tally
them up at the end of the game. Because again
I think a really good obvious answer to that yesterday
was if you looked at the three point percentage totals
between the Pelicans and Hornets, neither team shot the three ball. Well,
(27:40):
New Orleans shot twenty nine percent, Charlotte shot twenty four percent.
From Yon York, it only resulted in one more three
point or made for the Pelicans, but five percent five
percent ended up being a six percent spread when you
looked at the total field goal percentage, as Pelicans were
able to shoot over forty one percent from the floor
and Hornets were around thirty five. So that's gonna make
the difference in a four point game. You can't really
make that up at the free throw line. So I
(28:00):
think that the effective field goal percentage, just getting good
shots is gonna be an opportunity here for the Hornets
to get a little bit better, especially with a lot
of those younger guys and some of that younger talent
that the Hornets are put out there on the floor
late in the contest, because if you go back and
you look in the second half, Charlotte just did not
shoot the ball very well yesterday against the Pelicans. Shot
thirty seven and a half percent from the field in
the third quarter, shot thirty two percent from the floor
(28:23):
in that fourth frame. They went a combined four for
fifteen from beyond the ark there in that second half
as well. So again, just making sure that you get
good shots selections up. I guess the way you quantify
that is effective field goal percentage. So that's gonna be
my statistic to watch here later on today, no matter.
Speaker 3 (28:38):
How shakes out.
Speaker 2 (28:39):
We will of course recap this contest for you on
tomorrow's episode of the Hornetsive Cast, But before then and now,
you can listen to the postgame recap by the one
and only what Po Logic, the host of Hornets postgame
on the flagship station sports radio WFNZ. After the contest tonight,
thank you will for joining me here as.
Speaker 5 (28:55):
Always always a pleasure, Rob, Thank you.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
And thanks to all of you for tuning in as well.
We'll plogium Rob Longo saying so long, Thank you so
much for joining us on this episode of the Hornets Podcast.
We will recap Hornets and It Jazz on tomorrow's episode
of the HC.
Speaker 1 (29:10):
Thank you for listening to The Hornets Podcast, brought to
you by Santa, the official i ear nosen Throadcare provider
of the Charlotte Hornets. For more coverage, visit Hornets dot com.
Hosts And Creators
Sam Farber
Rob Longo
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com