April 11, 2024 • 28 mins
On the second night of a back-to-back, the Hornets found themselves down as many as 18 and trailed by 15 heading into the fourth quarter in Atlanta, but used a massive comeback in the fourth frame to pull out a 115-114 win. Rob Longo and Will Palaszczuk of Sports Radio WFNZ break down the game and pick their stars of the night, as well as discussing the final few games left for head coach Steve Clifford this season.
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to the Hornets Podcast, 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 (00:14):
Hi friends, Welcome to today's edition of the Hornets Podcast,
the official podcast of the Charlotte Hornets, brought to you
by Santa Charlotte, I ear Nos and Throat Associates, the
official I earos and throat Care provider of the Charlotte Hornets.
Rob Longo with you here on a winning edition of
the HHC Charlotte Overcoming a massive deficit in the game
in Atlanta last night, trailed by as many as eighteen,
(00:35):
trailed by fifteen going into the fourth quarter, and somehow, someway,
they found a way in that final frame to win
it one fifteen to one. Fourteen outscored the Hawks thirty
eight to twenty two in that final quarter. It was
a phenomenal game. Several players stepped up late, especially in
the waning moments of the contest. We'll recap this one
for you, provide you with our stars of the night,
and we're going to talk about the last couple of
(00:56):
games here with the Hornets underhead coach Steve Clifford and
helping me out with all of these topics on this
episode of the Hornetsive Cast, his final one of the season,
and we love him here on the Hornetsive Cast. The
host of Hornets post game on the flagship station sports
radio WFNZ Will Pelagic. So, Willie P, thank you for
joining me on this episode of the Hornet Tive Cast.
I'm glad we were able to send you out a
winner on this season.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
I was best to say, I hope it's not the
final one ever, final one of the season, definitely, because
this is definitely a high note. I don't want to forget.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
This was a lot of fun in this one last
night as both teams on the second night of a
back to back last night, Atlanta maybe a little less
juice left in the tank after they fell in double
overtime the night prior against the Miami Heat at home.
But again, the Hawks are playing for a little bit
more than the Hornets, considering that they are solidified in
the play in tournament flipping between them in Chicago for
(01:45):
that nine and ten spot. They need every win they
can get because Chicago has the tiebreaker over the Hawks
this season. But again a lot of players out in
this one last night for Atlanta, know de Jontey Murray,
no DeAndre Hunter. They've had some longer term injuries as well.
But they did get Trey Young back last night. It
was his first game in twenty three games since the
twenty third of February that was the last game he played.
But again, Atlanta led this one sixty one to fifty
(02:08):
five at halftime. There were ten league changes in seven
ties in the first half alone, and as the third
quarter dragged on, it looked like that was going to
hold up, as Atlanta led it ninety two to seventy seven.
After three quarters of play. The Hawks were shooting very well.
Charlotte had a bad third quarter where they shot just
thirty five percent from the field in three for nine
from beyond the yark. But somehow, someway, the Hornets were
(02:29):
able to find a way there in that fourth quarter.
They cut it down to single digits. Early on, they
had a thirteen to five run. In fact, they had
a micro run of seven to nothing in a forty
nine second span there. With still eight and a half
left to go in regulation, the Hornets had to burn
a challenge there in the fourth quarter as well to
overturn a charge on Davis Berton's Hornets were able to
get a bucket out of that one. Hornets cut it
to three with about four to forty two left to go.
(02:51):
They tied the game at one oh seven with three
to ten left to play, and they were able to
take a lead around the two thirty two mark, but
that one kind of seesaw back and forth. It looked
like it was gonna squeak this one out. They let
it one fourteen to one eleven with about thirty four
seconds left to go, but the Hornets were able to
advance the ball after a made bucket on a timeout
and he were able to get it within a one
point advantage, and then Miles Bridges, with some pretty late
(03:14):
second dramatics able to at least give the Hornets the
lead for good. With three seconds left to go.
Speaker 4 (03:19):
Fernando missed the shot, loose ball comes to Miles Bridges.
Speaker 5 (03:22):
They'll run it out seven seconds left.
Speaker 4 (03:23):
Miles Bridges attacks up with the right hand laying yes.
Speaker 5 (03:26):
With three point eight seconds remaining time out.
Speaker 4 (03:29):
Atlanta Hornet to acquire the rebound and Bridges, without hesitation,
goes coast to coast for the lay in to give
Charlotte a one point lead with just three point eight
seconds remaining.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
On the ensuing possession, Atlanta able to advance the ball.
They had one time out left and tray Man it
looked like a block at the time, but he was
able to get a hand in. The cookie jar officially
goes down as a steal, and that's pretty significant. We'll
tell you why here in a few moments later on,
but he was able to get the game ceiling steel
there for the Hornets to win it one fifteen to
one oh four. Before we get to your thoughts here
(04:03):
on this one, will we want to hear from Miles
Bridges about what transpired on that game winner. Here's what
he had to say to Sam Farbara right after the contest, full.
Speaker 4 (04:10):
Corn ahead of you? What were you thinking as you're
driving with the opportunity to take the lead?
Speaker 6 (04:15):
Dumb miss the layup? I probably should have threw it
up to Brandon. I ain't see up til last minute,
but I'm just happy I made it.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
The Hornets did have a two on one there and
Brandon Miller was running neck and neck with Miles Bridges,
but hey, that's pretty sound advice anytime you get into
that kind of situation, don't screw up, and Miles Bridges
certainly did not, as the Hornets were able to win
it one fifteen to one oh four. Again, like I mentioned,
will Hornets trailed this one by as many as eighteen.
They trailed by fifteen going into the fourth quarter alone. Somehow, someway,
(04:42):
they found a way. They now are twenty and sixty
on a season, and oh, by the way, they win
the season series against the Hawks three games to won,
a team that's bound for the playoffs.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
A lot to liken this one, rob especially when you
think about the fact that you do get that division
rivalry season series win over an Atlanta team that at
least for the people who I talk to, you know,
I got a bunch of friends down there. I don't
want to say they meld this one in, but after
that double overtime loss that you mentioned, seemed like to
me there was at least some sort of a incentive
from the front office sit there, maybe pull back on
(05:11):
the reins a bit from the guys tonight, especially with
the second night of a back to back, and obviously
when you Trey Young was on a minister restriction as well,
with the twenty one minutes only played in his first
game in under two months. So it did look like
at least that the Hornets might have been playing a
handicapped team, at least in that perspective. But you take
advantage of the opportunities when you have them, and when
you have different runs down the stretch. I think the
(05:34):
quoted run that I had was twenty to eight in
the middle part of that fourth quarter and then sixteen
to five down the stretch. It all boils down to
the fact the Hornets made their shots that needed to.
They got some great defensive plays. You mentioned Trey Man
with seven steals, including that one late that ended up
stealing the deal. And something I said to Sam on
the postgame show is that we're starting to see, you know,
(05:56):
a budding bromance between Brandon Miller and Miles bridges them together.
I think you wonder what it will look like when
you get LaMelo ball back. And even he mentioned also
Mark Williams did not mean to short change him in
the moment, but maybe a big three or a core
four that kind of comes together for the Hornets and
really turns themself into something where you feel like you
just build with smith slay pieces around them. This has
(06:17):
kind of been the plan all along for this Hoards
organization is to build around young talent, young ascending, budding talent,
and if you get Miles Bridges back here for next season,
you continue to grow around Brandon and LaMelo and hopefully
Mellow and Mark and stay healthy. This is something you
look at and say, could be definite building blocks for
an organization that can find themselves on the ascent. But
(06:38):
you definitely see them able to win games like this,
and they've had some great moments here, you know, dating
back to the homestand where they've had to play a
lot of close games and that only just helps for
the experience, especially for somebody who's young like Brandon.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
There's definitely a great core here in Charlotte. Again, of course,
the question here over the last couple of seasons is
can't it stay healthy? But when you go back and
you look at actually that fourth quarter in the game
last night, I feel like it was a big growing
up moment for several players and just basically for the
team in general, simply for the fact that there were
people out there on the floor that if you would
have went back to October and said, these are the
(07:12):
five guys that are going to be out there on
the floor to finish the game. Well, I wouldn't have
got any of them right, probably outside of maybe Miles
Bridges and Brandon Miller, because all the other guys were
mid season acquisitions or pickups. Because the finishing five out
there was Brandon Miller, Miles Bridges, Grant Williams, Trey Mann,
and Alexi Pokoschewsky. Again, three of those guys weren't even
on the training camp roster to begin with. But when
(07:32):
you boil this down and you look at it in
the fourth quarter, the Hornets really had the piece this
one together in a sense down to stretch as well.
Nick Richards filed out with about three minutes and forty
seconds left. Grant Williams had his fifth fout about the
two twenty mark there in the fourth quarter, so he
kind of had to play with one hand behind his
back there for the final couple of pivotal moments, especially
defensively as well. Bryce McGowan's was out there late in
(07:53):
the fourth quarter. JT. Thorp played eighteen minutes. Marquis Bolden
is a guy they had to come in and spell
a couple of big man minutes because Nick Richard's fount
out in the game as well. So there were a
lot of people out there on the floor that normally
would not be in those certain situations. I know, obviously
injuries and absences have a lot to do with that here,
but again, some other guys out there on the floor
that you normally don't see. I thought that was also
(08:14):
a really big growing up moment for several of those
key bench guys who, let's be honest too, a lot
of decisions have to be made this offseason on a
lot of players on this roster, and this was an
opportunity for them to showcase their ability and crunch time very.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
Much so, rom And I mean, I think a guy
like even somebody like Alexey Pokachevsky, I think, you know,
you and I have been kind of very intrigued by him.
You and I have loved our friends from Eastern Europe
over the course the last couple of months, with you know,
Vaston Michitch Opracy being a big part of that and
Davis Parton's, but Boko's somebody who's incredibly intriguing. You know,
He's had a couple of double legit performances off the bench.
We definitely know he can shoot, and he started to
(08:48):
kind of get the rest of his game well rounded.
He had six rebounds on Wednesday night as well. And
as somebody who I think as he continues to get
himself closer to having an NBA body, starts to learn
the NBA game a little bit more, he can kind
of be as something of a rotation piece that kind
of maybe stretches teams out across the next couple of seasons.
And you know, the other part of this too, from
(09:10):
the Hornets perspective, is that a lot of the guys
who were starters right now are going to have to
become bench guys, you know, like a Grant Williams, like
a Vasa Michicic. Those are guys who are only going
to be you know, buoyed by this late stretch as well,
based on the fact that they are going to hold
significant roles, even though they might not be as significant
as the ones they've held here down the stretch. With
this this main lineup that Steve Lifford has used and
(09:32):
the other thing that he's also said, and something I
think they'll be very interesting for the next head coach.
Is the one thing that we were promised with the
Horns lineup coming into this season was a diversity of
situations to be able to play in, Like you can
play five out with this group that has Williams the center,
and you know, when you have Mark Williams healthy, that
brings you a different look. That's going to be something
(09:52):
that I think is very very intriguing and I think
something that provides at least as somewhat of a film
study for whoever the next head coach of this team
is in terms of trying to figure out, Okay, what
are the best ways the Hornets can kind of close
themselves out. Could this be a pretty good closing lineup
once you had you know, a Lamela ball back into
the mix, and you know, have you know man be
able to play down the stretch of a big game
(10:13):
like this, or have Bossed metichin situation where you might
be want to have Lamela ba off the ball. It
provides a lot of different great options for the Hornets,
and I think too this is just part of the
you know, building boxers trying to try to find for
whatever happens next year.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
All five starters for Atlanta were in double figures. They
had seven in double figures in total, but it wasn't
enough for the Hawks, as the Hornets are able to
sting Atlanta down in Atlanta one fifteen to one fourteen.
Five players in double figures for the Hornets, led by
Brandon Miller with a game high twenty seven points, Miles
Bridges with eighteen, Grant Williams had sixteen points, Trey Man
had sixteen points, Alexey Pokachewski in double figures ten points
(10:50):
off the bench as well for him. Trey Young, by
the way, in that return, he touched on the twenty
one minutes fourteen points, four rebounds, eleven assists, a double
double for Tray in his first game back twenty three games.
But Hornet's able to pick up the win one fifteen
to one fourteen a nail bier in Atlanta. We're gonna
talk about our top performers because there's a lot to
pick from in terms of our stars of the night
(11:10):
that comes your way. Right after these messages here on
the Hornets, I've cast Rob Longo and Will Polachik of
Sports Radio WFNZ. You hear him on the postgame show
recapping the Hornets games each and every night. You might
also hear him on Charlotte of c of course, as
well on the calls on the weekends. But a big
winner for the Hornets last night in Atlanta won fifteen
(11:31):
to one fourteen Stars of the Night. You know how
this segment works, will ep. We got to pick one
top performer. I just gave you the rundown on a
couple of them in the previous segment A lot the
love in this one. As guest of honor, I will
let you go first. Who is your top performer, your
start of the night if you will, from last night's game.
Speaker 3 (11:47):
Well, well, the two guys who stand out points wise
are Brandon Miller and Miles Bridges. But I gotta go
with the man who got the defensive stop at the end.
Trey Man hits seven steals and the last one helping
the Hornets get them so the victory.
Speaker 4 (12:00):
Windler sends it in, Forrest receives Forrest pull up.
Speaker 5 (12:04):
No, He's flocked by trey Man, and that's it. Trey
Man the defensive stop and Charlotte grabs a victory on
the road see one fifteen to one fourteen and they
take the season series over their rivals of the Atlanta
Hawks three games to one.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
Career best seven steals for Man tied for the most
in a game by any player this season. That's from
Hornets pr Anthony Davis, Sake, Ovius Alexander, and Herb Jones
have that mark this year, the twelve Hornet player ever
to swipe seven steals in a game. He had sixteen
points to go along with it. But I had to
feel like we had to give at least a little
bit of a nod and tip of the cap the
man who was part of the reason that the Hornets
(12:46):
got themselves a one point victory last time.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
Yeah, Tray was tremendous. No puns certainly intended there. But
he had the seven seals. That's a career high. The
six was already a career high, but he was able
to add one more there. Like I touched on there
back in that first segment, a little bit of a
I don't want to say a disparity, but something that
in real time maybe looked like a block officially goes
down as a steal. So Trey Man finishes sixteen points,
(13:08):
seven assists, seven steals. Anytime that you get close to
a triple double and you have a defensive effort like that,
that's really really impressive. The most steals since twenty twelve
for a Hornets player. But Trey Man was phenomenal last night,
played thirty seven minutes that ended up being a team
high as well. And again it's just one of those
things that he just goes out there and for lack
of a better term, he's a dog. He goes out
(13:29):
there and he competes every night in a night out.
There was one instance there in that defensive Stopboor Miles
Bridges had the runout. It looked like he came up
limping a little bit, as if someone stepped on his ankle.
He got it out the final three seconds had the
game ceiling defensive play. Trey Man a phenomenal pick for
Star of the Night last night. But for me, I
gotta go with the guy that had the game high
twenty seven points. That's Brandon Miller, mostly because of this dunk.
Speaker 5 (13:53):
Now, Brandon Miller up the middle head enormous right handed finish.
It's a doctor pepper and it's the fall.
Speaker 4 (14:01):
Two leaders brings the bench for Buzz City up to
its feet. They are holding one another for.
Speaker 5 (14:08):
Support after the devastation unleashed by Brandon Miller.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
Now that play happened there early stages of the second quarter.
It made it forty one to forty in favor of Atlanta.
The Hornets were able to at least rally around at
and take a lead there midway through the second quarter
because of that play that Brandon Miller had there really
ignited and I thought lit a fire under the Hornets
a good bit there. But again, he had a phenomenal
game in general with the twenty seven points, nine to
(14:35):
seventeen from the field, five for eleven beyond the york,
perfect at the free throw line, four for four to
three rebounds to assist. And in the process of that game,
with the twenty seven points, he is officially third all
time among Hornets rookies in the scoring column for most
points in a rookie season. He passes Rex Chapman. He's
not going to pass Alonzo Morning or Larry Johnson, just
not enough games left because there are a couple hundred
(14:57):
points ahead of him. But Brandon Miller is going to
finish top three in his first season here in the
Queen City in terms of scoring. So really impressive mark
there from Brandon Miller, and after the game he was
asked about his dunk. It was a pretty quirky answer.
I had fun with it.
Speaker 7 (15:10):
Let me tell you how to build up my teammate said,
I was supposed to dunk the first one. I'm like, hey, bro,
I can't dunk nowhere, And it was like we know.
I'm like, man, I got you. I'm I'm a dunt
the next one. So the next possession kind of got
the chance to dunk that.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
That's what I did.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
I don't know how you can't love that kid anymore.
Brandon Miller a ray a sunshine in the locker room.
But when it's game time, it's go time. He's ready
to go. And certainly you saw that in the contest
last night. But Brandon Miller just continues to be that
shining light here in what is a very dim season
for the Hornets overall. But Brandon Miller, Man, I don't
think you can hit on a second overall pick much better.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
It definitely can't rob it. And the thing that I
just can't stand is the fact that he's probably going
to lose the Rookie of the Year at Victorim Wimala
because it's going to overshadow for a lot of people
what he's done this year for the Hornets. But I
know Hornets fans, it can't be over shatout anymore. And
this is after somebody who and you and I have
talked about this. There was a lot of divisiveness about,
(16:06):
you know, what was going to happen with that number
two overall pick, and you know a lot of people
had their particular thoughts about it. I don't think you
can look at the scenario now and think anything else
other than the fact that Brandon Miller deserves to be
the number two overall pick, and he is the future
of this organization and is the future of the league.
I know that Sam says he can be a future
All Star. I totally agree the fact that he's just
got all the tools that are continuing to really kind
(16:29):
of develop. You know, he's got the shooting, he's got
the mid range game, he's got the ability to drive
the basketball. I think the thing we knew about him
coming out of college was that he could play defense
as well. And it's the other part of his game
that I feel like, you know, we don't talk about
a lot, is his basketball. Like you he's somebody who
And I think this is something that you're also going
to see as part of the new wave of guys
(16:49):
coming to the NBA, is that you know there's no
longer these one and dones, guys who don't have a
lot of basketball experience behind them. I think you're going
to see guys who spend a longer time in college
and time of the G League level that have the
ability to have absorbed the game, absorb high level situations
and know what needs to be done in those given
scenarios and done so against high level talent. And as
(17:10):
a result, you're seeing the first fruits of that with
Brandon Miller worn out over the course of his rookie season,
and it's only going to get.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
Better, rob It really is. And let's be honest, there's
no shame in losing Rookie of the Year to a
guy like Victor woman Yama, because, as funny as it is,
history has a way of repeating itself. The last time
that the Hornets had a number two overall pick that
had a phenomenal rookie season that didn't win Rookie of
the Year, you have to go back into the nineties
where and a Lonzo Morning lost the Rookie of the
Year campaign to a guy by I believe his name
(17:38):
is shaq I think that's maybe like a first name guy,
Shaquille O'Neal. So there's no shame in that. And again,
Shack obviously a generational talent. I know a lot of
people have that hype around Victor wembin Yama, but a
lots of morning still a Hall of Fame career. Hopefully
Brandon Miller is able to follow in those footsteps as well.
But again, the Hornets went at one fifteen to one
fourteen last night in Atlanta. And as we continue this
(17:58):
farewell tour for head coach Stevefford, we're gonna talk about
Coach cliff here in just a few moments and continue
that conversation here for you on a Hornet Sive cast.
Speaker 4 (18:09):
How much does this last road trip mean to you
and your teammates to get to play under coach Clifford
a couple more times.
Speaker 6 (18:16):
I mean, just leaving it all on the floor, because
that's what he does. You know, he he coaches even
when he doesn't feel good or anything. So we just
want to leave it out on the floor for Cliff
because he'll do the same for US.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
That's Miles Bridges catching up with Sam Farber after last
night's one fifteen to one to fourteen win in Atlanta.
Rob Longo in a postgame host of Hornets post game
on the flagship station sports radio WFNZ, will plogic with
you here putting a button on this episode of the
Hornetsive Cast, and will only a couple of more games left.
Obviously two more left on the road. Would be great
to see head coach Steve Clifford ride out into the
(18:46):
sunset with a three game winning streak. It is feasible,
It is definitely possible, as the Boston Celtics is the
next opponent up on Friday. Obviously a tough test considering
the record, but Celtics don't have a whole lot to
play for in that one, and they will also be
on a second night of a back to back. They
already have the best record in the NBA wrapped up,
They've already clinched the top spot in the Eastern Conference,
(19:06):
so again, not a whole lot to play for going
into that one. It will be interesting to see what
the lineup and rotations look like for the Celtics in
that one, And then you got you got a Cleveland
team on Sunday for the final game of the season,
And depending on what happens between here and now, you
never know, the cast might not be playing for a
whole lot. They'll definitely be in that postseason conversation, but
the seating might already be sealed up and ready to go,
(19:28):
so they might not have a whole lot of motivation
going into that one either. But time will tell, certainly
on those ones. And of course we'll have game previews
throughout the end of the week for those contests. But
since this is the last time that we will have
you on this season for the Hornets iive cast, We'll
just wanted to get your final thoughts on the legacy
that Steve Clifford will leave behind here for the Hornets,
and just the everyday interactions that we're going to miss
(19:50):
from a guy like Coach cliff I know you're always
in those pregame press conferences, You're always asking him questions.
We're certainly going to miss them a whole lot, but
just wanted to get your general thoughts on Coach cliff
here on your final well season episode here of the
Hornons Podcast.
Speaker 3 (20:03):
You mean you don't want me to break down Grant
Williams versus Luke Cornette potentially on Friday. I mean, if
you're more than welcome a skeleton crew together.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
Yeah, I mean, if you wanted to, you're more than
welcome to. I don't know how much that's going to
really dive into it. You can certainly dive into on
a postgame show with Sam Farber.
Speaker 3 (20:20):
I'm okay, I am going to miss Cliff. I feel
like I don't want to go so far as to
say that that Cliff got a raw deal, but I
think from his perspective, I think we all kind of
wanted to know and see what this would have looked
like if he had gotten any semblance of a full
deck in either of the two years that he had,
because I think he definitely deserved it after doing what
(20:42):
he had to do to come back and basically come
out of the you know, non coaching ranks, me back
into the coaching ranks. He'd been a consultant at a couple
of different places after that last gig in Orlandos, So
it was something you looked at and you said, Okay,
you know, this is something that at least is kind
of a return to form for him and the fact
that it's a return to a place that he had
(21:02):
been dismissed for. I think that probably took a little
bit of a some reconsign that had to happen between
the organization as well as you know Mitch cup Check
at the time, and of course ownership at the time
as well, and he ended up taking it in stride
and handling it with the utmost level of class, and unfortunately,
like I said before, was dealt really a poor hand.
When you think about all the injuries that happened. You know,
(21:24):
more injuries lost for players in terms of the last
couple of seasons than anybody I can remember. And the
fact is that when you lose the two guys who
you were basically building your team around this year in
the LA Ball and Mark Williams significant stretch of the season,
it's very very hard to overcome that. And I think
that's the one thing that's the charge of whoever we
get next in here, Rob, is the fact that you
(21:47):
have to find somebody who is best at dept at
not only being able to mold those guys around a
certain philosophy, but also who can grow with this organization,
because it does seem at least from you know, a
lot of the inner workings, and what people that try
to say across the league is that it's more than
likely going to be a first time head coach that
steps in here. So you're gonna have to find somebody
who grows with the organization and it'll be definitely somebody
(22:10):
who has set the town. But you know, for a
guy like Steve Clifford, who's a great basketball man, I'm
very happy that he's at least going to keep his
influence around the arena and around the team by being
a consultant and an advisor to general manager Jeff Peterson.
The fact that his influence will not go away from
this team, and then he will be able to, you know,
(22:30):
lend his voice and his sounding board as well as
being somebody in there because they'll make no mistake about it.
I think at times we've looked at the season and
looked at the you know, the point totals and not
necessarily been happy with the Hornets. One thing Steve Clifford
does know how to do is get teams out of
play defense, and that'll be something that I know we're
very very curious of making sure that that could happen
(22:50):
over the course in the next couple of yearons because
we're seeing now the level of defense the teams have
to play in order to win the NBA rise to
a much different level. This is not the NBA of
the late nineties and early two thousands, where you know,
defense kind of went haywire and people were scoring and
the kinds of numbers that you were thinking about during
that time. I know the number totals are high, but situationally,
(23:13):
defense still needs to be played in this league in
order to have success. And that's something that Steve Clifford
knows how to instill in a team. And hopefully the
next head coach comes from that particular type of cloth
and hopefully they will have Clifford at their disposal to
try and instill some of that same philosophy.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
And that's something that cliff has talked a lot about
in terms of if you want to be a good team,
you got to be a good defensive team. He talks
about going back and looking at all of the defensive
ratings over the years, and if you don't have a
top ten defensive rated team, you're probably not going to
win a title. There's a couple of outliers of course
to that, but for the most part, you can get
away with an okay, top third, top half offense, but
(23:51):
if your defense is not top ten, you are not
going to make a run in the NBA playoffs. It's
just a nature of how the game happens. It slows down,
the rotations shortened, all kind of different things happen in
the playoffs. It's not quite like hockey, where it's maybe
a completely different style of play or a completely different
season for that matter, but it's pretty darn close. And
I know that's something that Steve Clifford has definitely preached. Unfortunately,
(24:13):
he hasn't been able to get to that promised land
here over the last two seasons. But again, like you mentioned,
the fact that he's able to stay on here and
work in some capacity with this team, that's going to
be invaluable. You pay the guy what he's worth, and
he's worth a lot, and his worth his weight in
gold to basketball knowledge that he has come up with
over several decades, especially in the NBA game. He just
(24:33):
continues to learn too, and that's something that is really commendable,
just based off the fact that it's very easy to
just kind of call it a quits because the last
two seasons haven't gone very well. But Steve Clifford, he's
a lifelong learner. He wants to continue to learn. He
talked about it at that press conference with Jeff Peterson
a couple of days ago, where he doesn't want to
(24:54):
just step away. He wants to continue to learn. He
doesn't know a lot about the draft process. He wants
to learn how the draft process works. He wants to
learn how the front office works, the inner workings of
that as well. He's constantly learning. And the ability to
have that is just something that you can continue to
really rely on and instill in your team because, again,
like you mentioned, whoever the next coach is here for
(25:15):
the Hornets, chances are they are not going to have
the experience that Steve Clifford has. So the fact that
you're able to lay on that and rely on that,
that is going to be invaluable for whoever the next
person is to take over this Hornet squad.
Speaker 3 (25:27):
And I think too that the biggest thing that you
want to have happen with the next head coach of
this team is they're going to want to recognize the
resources that they have around it because there is a
young GM in here in Jeff Peterson, and there is
you know, going to be a lot of support staff.
But I think somebody who is going to be a
big part of that support staff is Steve Clifford, because
(25:50):
I think that's always going to be something you look
at and say, you know, when you're looking at a
young NBA staff, you're going to want people who have
experience in the league. You know, there's no substitute for
that kind of experience, and you know, Steve Cliffords somebody
who who does know how this league works and and
and has an identification with this organization as well. So
I think that's something you definitely can look at and say,
(26:11):
and I think it just it stands the reason that,
you know, everything that new ownership has done with with
Rick Snall and Gabe Plotkin since they've taken over, has
really come to at least show that they are open to,
you know, new ways of thinking, but also wanting to
add their influence on things as well. And I think
that's something that you look at and say, you know, Rick,
(26:33):
knowing Jeff from his time back in Atlanta, I think
really kind of comes into the fact that hey, you know,
they must have seen something in Jeff from his time
way back, you know, when he started out as an
intern and kind of worked his way up around the league.
And I'm very, very excited about what the future this
organization looks like, not just with the players in the
on the floor, but also the building as we've talked
(26:54):
about as well with the reimagined Spectrum Center. This is
going to be a lot of fun over the course
of this offseason and and very is the Hornets try
to reclaim some claim to getting themselves back on the Ascent,
because I think we all liked what it was like
a couple of years ago and we were getting to
back to back playing games and knowing that, you know,
maybe there could be some greater horizons out there for
(27:15):
the Hornets. They just need to make sure that they
can restart the bus back up, because once once you
start up the Mountain rob it'll be something you look
at and say, maybe the Hornets can get themselves a
couple of Playoffs series wins, and who knows, maybe even
hoist some hardware as well.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
It would certainly be a great day here in the
Queen City when that happens. I'm going to speak it
into his existence when it happens, not if it happens.
So a lot to be excited for here and Charlotte
Hornets again, still have two more games here left on
this season and left on this road trip. Would be
great to see Cliff go out on three consecutive wins
here and right off into the sunset a couple of
winners here in a few days. But in the meantime,
(27:49):
of course, there will be a couple of game previews
in between those contests. We will have Hornets and Celtics
coming up. On tomorrow's edition of the Hornets Podcast, Sam
Farbara will preview the matchup with Mike's and then Sam
will also preview the matchup with the Cleveland Cavaliers on
Sunday with Kyle Bailey. Will Plodgick's coworker. As a matter
of fact, you hear him on Hornets pregame. So we
(28:10):
got the pregame show, we got the postgame show, all
covered here on the last couple of days of the
Hornets Hoovecast. So with that said, well, thank you all
season long for joining me here on the AHHC and
thank you for joining me on a winning edition. To
cap things off here on your tenure here this season
on a Hornets Podcast.
Speaker 3 (28:25):
Always a pleasure to share the air with my birthday twin,
so always love it.
Speaker 2 (28:29):
That is very true, so thank you Will for that.
Thank you to all of you for tuning in as well.
A reminder of course tomorrow Hornets and Celtics coming up.
Sam Farbara will have a preview of that one for
you here once again on a Hornets Podcast.
Speaker 1 (28:42):
Thank you for listening to the Hornets Podcast, brought to
you by Santa, the official i ear nosen Throatcare provider
of the Charlotte Hornets. For more coverage, visit Hornets dot com.
Welcome to the Hornets Podcast, 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 (00:14):
Hi friends, Welcome to today's edition of the Hornets Podcast,
the official podcast of the Charlotte Hornets, brought to you
by Santa Charlotte, I ear Nos and Throat Associates, the
official I earos and throat Care provider of the Charlotte Hornets.
Rob Longo with you here on a winning edition of
the HHC Charlotte Overcoming a massive deficit in the game
in Atlanta last night, trailed by as many as eighteen,
(00:35):
trailed by fifteen going into the fourth quarter, and somehow, someway,
they found a way in that final frame to win
it one fifteen to one. Fourteen outscored the Hawks thirty
eight to twenty two in that final quarter. It was
a phenomenal game. Several players stepped up late, especially in
the waning moments of the contest. We'll recap this one
for you, provide you with our stars of the night,
and we're going to talk about the last couple of
(00:56):
games here with the Hornets underhead coach Steve Clifford and
helping me out with all of these topics on this
episode of the Hornetsive Cast, his final one of the season,
and we love him here on the Hornetsive Cast. The
host of Hornets post game on the flagship station sports
radio WFNZ Will Pelagic. So, Willie P, thank you for
joining me on this episode of the Hornet Tive Cast.
I'm glad we were able to send you out a
winner on this season.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
I was best to say, I hope it's not the
final one ever, final one of the season, definitely, because
this is definitely a high note. I don't want to forget.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
This was a lot of fun in this one last
night as both teams on the second night of a
back to back last night, Atlanta maybe a little less
juice left in the tank after they fell in double
overtime the night prior against the Miami Heat at home.
But again, the Hawks are playing for a little bit
more than the Hornets, considering that they are solidified in
the play in tournament flipping between them in Chicago for
(01:45):
that nine and ten spot. They need every win they
can get because Chicago has the tiebreaker over the Hawks
this season. But again a lot of players out in
this one last night for Atlanta, know de Jontey Murray,
no DeAndre Hunter. They've had some longer term injuries as well.
But they did get Trey Young back last night. It
was his first game in twenty three games since the
twenty third of February that was the last game he played.
But again, Atlanta led this one sixty one to fifty
(02:08):
five at halftime. There were ten league changes in seven
ties in the first half alone, and as the third
quarter dragged on, it looked like that was going to
hold up, as Atlanta led it ninety two to seventy seven.
After three quarters of play. The Hawks were shooting very well.
Charlotte had a bad third quarter where they shot just
thirty five percent from the field in three for nine
from beyond the yark. But somehow, someway, the Hornets were
(02:29):
able to find a way there in that fourth quarter.
They cut it down to single digits. Early on, they
had a thirteen to five run. In fact, they had
a micro run of seven to nothing in a forty
nine second span there. With still eight and a half
left to go in regulation, the Hornets had to burn
a challenge there in the fourth quarter as well to
overturn a charge on Davis Berton's Hornets were able to
get a bucket out of that one. Hornets cut it
to three with about four to forty two left to go.
(02:51):
They tied the game at one oh seven with three
to ten left to play, and they were able to
take a lead around the two thirty two mark, but
that one kind of seesaw back and forth. It looked
like it was gonna squeak this one out. They let
it one fourteen to one eleven with about thirty four
seconds left to go, but the Hornets were able to
advance the ball after a made bucket on a timeout
and he were able to get it within a one
point advantage, and then Miles Bridges, with some pretty late
(03:14):
second dramatics able to at least give the Hornets the
lead for good. With three seconds left to go.
Speaker 4 (03:19):
Fernando missed the shot, loose ball comes to Miles Bridges.
Speaker 5 (03:22):
They'll run it out seven seconds left.
Speaker 4 (03:23):
Miles Bridges attacks up with the right hand laying yes.
Speaker 5 (03:26):
With three point eight seconds remaining time out.
Speaker 4 (03:29):
Atlanta Hornet to acquire the rebound and Bridges, without hesitation,
goes coast to coast for the lay in to give
Charlotte a one point lead with just three point eight
seconds remaining.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
On the ensuing possession, Atlanta able to advance the ball.
They had one time out left and tray Man it
looked like a block at the time, but he was
able to get a hand in. The cookie jar officially
goes down as a steal, and that's pretty significant. We'll
tell you why here in a few moments later on,
but he was able to get the game ceiling steel
there for the Hornets to win it one fifteen to
one oh four. Before we get to your thoughts here
(04:03):
on this one, will we want to hear from Miles
Bridges about what transpired on that game winner. Here's what
he had to say to Sam Farbara right after the contest, full.
Speaker 4 (04:10):
Corn ahead of you? What were you thinking as you're
driving with the opportunity to take the lead?
Speaker 6 (04:15):
Dumb miss the layup? I probably should have threw it
up to Brandon. I ain't see up til last minute,
but I'm just happy I made it.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
The Hornets did have a two on one there and
Brandon Miller was running neck and neck with Miles Bridges,
but hey, that's pretty sound advice anytime you get into
that kind of situation, don't screw up, and Miles Bridges
certainly did not, as the Hornets were able to win
it one fifteen to one oh four. Again, like I mentioned,
will Hornets trailed this one by as many as eighteen.
They trailed by fifteen going into the fourth quarter alone. Somehow, someway,
(04:42):
they found a way. They now are twenty and sixty
on a season, and oh, by the way, they win
the season series against the Hawks three games to won,
a team that's bound for the playoffs.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
A lot to liken this one, rob especially when you
think about the fact that you do get that division
rivalry season series win over an Atlanta team that at
least for the people who I talk to, you know,
I got a bunch of friends down there. I don't
want to say they meld this one in, but after
that double overtime loss that you mentioned, seemed like to
me there was at least some sort of a incentive
from the front office sit there, maybe pull back on
(05:11):
the reins a bit from the guys tonight, especially with
the second night of a back to back, and obviously
when you Trey Young was on a minister restriction as well,
with the twenty one minutes only played in his first
game in under two months. So it did look like
at least that the Hornets might have been playing a
handicapped team, at least in that perspective. But you take
advantage of the opportunities when you have them, and when
you have different runs down the stretch. I think the
(05:34):
quoted run that I had was twenty to eight in
the middle part of that fourth quarter and then sixteen
to five down the stretch. It all boils down to
the fact the Hornets made their shots that needed to.
They got some great defensive plays. You mentioned Trey Man
with seven steals, including that one late that ended up
stealing the deal. And something I said to Sam on
the postgame show is that we're starting to see, you know,
(05:56):
a budding bromance between Brandon Miller and Miles bridges them together.
I think you wonder what it will look like when
you get LaMelo ball back. And even he mentioned also
Mark Williams did not mean to short change him in
the moment, but maybe a big three or a core
four that kind of comes together for the Hornets and
really turns themself into something where you feel like you
just build with smith slay pieces around them. This has
(06:17):
kind of been the plan all along for this Hoards
organization is to build around young talent, young ascending, budding talent,
and if you get Miles Bridges back here for next season,
you continue to grow around Brandon and LaMelo and hopefully
Mellow and Mark and stay healthy. This is something you
look at and say, could be definite building blocks for
an organization that can find themselves on the ascent. But
(06:38):
you definitely see them able to win games like this,
and they've had some great moments here, you know, dating
back to the homestand where they've had to play a
lot of close games and that only just helps for
the experience, especially for somebody who's young like Brandon.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
There's definitely a great core here in Charlotte. Again, of course,
the question here over the last couple of seasons is
can't it stay healthy? But when you go back and
you look at actually that fourth quarter in the game
last night, I feel like it was a big growing
up moment for several players and just basically for the
team in general, simply for the fact that there were
people out there on the floor that if you would
have went back to October and said, these are the
(07:12):
five guys that are going to be out there on
the floor to finish the game. Well, I wouldn't have
got any of them right, probably outside of maybe Miles
Bridges and Brandon Miller, because all the other guys were
mid season acquisitions or pickups. Because the finishing five out
there was Brandon Miller, Miles Bridges, Grant Williams, Trey Mann,
and Alexi Pokoschewsky. Again, three of those guys weren't even
on the training camp roster to begin with. But when
(07:32):
you boil this down and you look at it in
the fourth quarter, the Hornets really had the piece this
one together in a sense down to stretch as well.
Nick Richards filed out with about three minutes and forty
seconds left. Grant Williams had his fifth fout about the
two twenty mark there in the fourth quarter, so he
kind of had to play with one hand behind his
back there for the final couple of pivotal moments, especially
defensively as well. Bryce McGowan's was out there late in
(07:53):
the fourth quarter. JT. Thorp played eighteen minutes. Marquis Bolden
is a guy they had to come in and spell
a couple of big man minutes because Nick Richard's fount
out in the game as well. So there were a
lot of people out there on the floor that normally
would not be in those certain situations. I know, obviously
injuries and absences have a lot to do with that here,
but again, some other guys out there on the floor
that you normally don't see. I thought that was also
(08:14):
a really big growing up moment for several of those
key bench guys who, let's be honest too, a lot
of decisions have to be made this offseason on a
lot of players on this roster, and this was an
opportunity for them to showcase their ability and crunch time very.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
Much so, rom And I mean, I think a guy
like even somebody like Alexey Pokachevsky, I think, you know,
you and I have been kind of very intrigued by him.
You and I have loved our friends from Eastern Europe
over the course the last couple of months, with you know,
Vaston Michitch Opracy being a big part of that and
Davis Parton's, but Boko's somebody who's incredibly intriguing. You know,
He's had a couple of double legit performances off the bench.
We definitely know he can shoot, and he started to
(08:48):
kind of get the rest of his game well rounded.
He had six rebounds on Wednesday night as well. And
as somebody who I think as he continues to get
himself closer to having an NBA body, starts to learn
the NBA game a little bit more, he can kind
of be as something of a rotation piece that kind
of maybe stretches teams out across the next couple of seasons.
And you know, the other part of this too, from
(09:10):
the Hornets perspective, is that a lot of the guys
who were starters right now are going to have to
become bench guys, you know, like a Grant Williams, like
a Vasa Michicic. Those are guys who are only going
to be you know, buoyed by this late stretch as well,
based on the fact that they are going to hold
significant roles, even though they might not be as significant
as the ones they've held here down the stretch. With
this this main lineup that Steve Lifford has used and
(09:32):
the other thing that he's also said, and something I
think they'll be very interesting for the next head coach.
Is the one thing that we were promised with the
Horns lineup coming into this season was a diversity of
situations to be able to play in, Like you can
play five out with this group that has Williams the center,
and you know, when you have Mark Williams healthy, that
brings you a different look. That's going to be something
(09:52):
that I think is very very intriguing and I think
something that provides at least as somewhat of a film
study for whoever the next head coach of this team
is in terms of trying to figure out, Okay, what
are the best ways the Hornets can kind of close
themselves out. Could this be a pretty good closing lineup
once you had you know, a Lamela ball back into
the mix, and you know, have you know man be
able to play down the stretch of a big game
(10:13):
like this, or have Bossed metichin situation where you might
be want to have Lamela ba off the ball. It
provides a lot of different great options for the Hornets,
and I think too this is just part of the
you know, building boxers trying to try to find for
whatever happens next year.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
All five starters for Atlanta were in double figures. They
had seven in double figures in total, but it wasn't
enough for the Hawks, as the Hornets are able to
sting Atlanta down in Atlanta one fifteen to one fourteen.
Five players in double figures for the Hornets, led by
Brandon Miller with a game high twenty seven points, Miles
Bridges with eighteen, Grant Williams had sixteen points, Trey Man
had sixteen points, Alexey Pokachewski in double figures ten points
(10:50):
off the bench as well for him. Trey Young, by
the way, in that return, he touched on the twenty
one minutes fourteen points, four rebounds, eleven assists, a double
double for Tray in his first game back twenty three games.
But Hornet's able to pick up the win one fifteen
to one fourteen a nail bier in Atlanta. We're gonna
talk about our top performers because there's a lot to
pick from in terms of our stars of the night
(11:10):
that comes your way. Right after these messages here on
the Hornets, I've cast Rob Longo and Will Polachik of
Sports Radio WFNZ. You hear him on the postgame show
recapping the Hornets games each and every night. You might
also hear him on Charlotte of c of course, as
well on the calls on the weekends. But a big
winner for the Hornets last night in Atlanta won fifteen
(11:31):
to one fourteen Stars of the Night. You know how
this segment works, will ep. We got to pick one
top performer. I just gave you the rundown on a
couple of them in the previous segment A lot the
love in this one. As guest of honor, I will
let you go first. Who is your top performer, your
start of the night if you will, from last night's game.
Speaker 3 (11:47):
Well, well, the two guys who stand out points wise
are Brandon Miller and Miles Bridges. But I gotta go
with the man who got the defensive stop at the end.
Trey Man hits seven steals and the last one helping
the Hornets get them so the victory.
Speaker 4 (12:00):
Windler sends it in, Forrest receives Forrest pull up.
Speaker 5 (12:04):
No, He's flocked by trey Man, and that's it. Trey
Man the defensive stop and Charlotte grabs a victory on
the road see one fifteen to one fourteen and they
take the season series over their rivals of the Atlanta
Hawks three games to one.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
Career best seven steals for Man tied for the most
in a game by any player this season. That's from
Hornets pr Anthony Davis, Sake, Ovius Alexander, and Herb Jones
have that mark this year, the twelve Hornet player ever
to swipe seven steals in a game. He had sixteen
points to go along with it. But I had to
feel like we had to give at least a little
bit of a nod and tip of the cap the
man who was part of the reason that the Hornets
(12:46):
got themselves a one point victory last time.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
Yeah, Tray was tremendous. No puns certainly intended there. But
he had the seven seals. That's a career high. The
six was already a career high, but he was able
to add one more there. Like I touched on there
back in that first segment, a little bit of a
I don't want to say a disparity, but something that
in real time maybe looked like a block officially goes
down as a steal. So Trey Man finishes sixteen points,
(13:08):
seven assists, seven steals. Anytime that you get close to
a triple double and you have a defensive effort like that,
that's really really impressive. The most steals since twenty twelve
for a Hornets player. But Trey Man was phenomenal last night,
played thirty seven minutes that ended up being a team
high as well. And again it's just one of those
things that he just goes out there and for lack
of a better term, he's a dog. He goes out
(13:29):
there and he competes every night in a night out.
There was one instance there in that defensive Stopboor Miles
Bridges had the runout. It looked like he came up
limping a little bit, as if someone stepped on his ankle.
He got it out the final three seconds had the
game ceiling defensive play. Trey Man a phenomenal pick for
Star of the Night last night. But for me, I
gotta go with the guy that had the game high
twenty seven points. That's Brandon Miller, mostly because of this dunk.
Speaker 5 (13:53):
Now, Brandon Miller up the middle head enormous right handed finish.
It's a doctor pepper and it's the fall.
Speaker 4 (14:01):
Two leaders brings the bench for Buzz City up to
its feet. They are holding one another for.
Speaker 5 (14:08):
Support after the devastation unleashed by Brandon Miller.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
Now that play happened there early stages of the second quarter.
It made it forty one to forty in favor of Atlanta.
The Hornets were able to at least rally around at
and take a lead there midway through the second quarter
because of that play that Brandon Miller had there really
ignited and I thought lit a fire under the Hornets
a good bit there. But again, he had a phenomenal
game in general with the twenty seven points, nine to
(14:35):
seventeen from the field, five for eleven beyond the york,
perfect at the free throw line, four for four to
three rebounds to assist. And in the process of that game,
with the twenty seven points, he is officially third all
time among Hornets rookies in the scoring column for most
points in a rookie season. He passes Rex Chapman. He's
not going to pass Alonzo Morning or Larry Johnson, just
not enough games left because there are a couple hundred
(14:57):
points ahead of him. But Brandon Miller is going to
finish top three in his first season here in the
Queen City in terms of scoring. So really impressive mark
there from Brandon Miller, and after the game he was
asked about his dunk. It was a pretty quirky answer.
I had fun with it.
Speaker 7 (15:10):
Let me tell you how to build up my teammate said,
I was supposed to dunk the first one. I'm like, hey, bro,
I can't dunk nowhere, And it was like we know.
I'm like, man, I got you. I'm I'm a dunt
the next one. So the next possession kind of got
the chance to dunk that.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
That's what I did.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
I don't know how you can't love that kid anymore.
Brandon Miller a ray a sunshine in the locker room.
But when it's game time, it's go time. He's ready
to go. And certainly you saw that in the contest
last night. But Brandon Miller just continues to be that
shining light here in what is a very dim season
for the Hornets overall. But Brandon Miller, Man, I don't
think you can hit on a second overall pick much better.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
It definitely can't rob it. And the thing that I
just can't stand is the fact that he's probably going
to lose the Rookie of the Year at Victorim Wimala
because it's going to overshadow for a lot of people
what he's done this year for the Hornets. But I
know Hornets fans, it can't be over shatout anymore. And
this is after somebody who and you and I have
talked about this. There was a lot of divisiveness about,
(16:06):
you know, what was going to happen with that number
two overall pick, and you know a lot of people
had their particular thoughts about it. I don't think you
can look at the scenario now and think anything else
other than the fact that Brandon Miller deserves to be
the number two overall pick, and he is the future
of this organization and is the future of the league.
I know that Sam says he can be a future
All Star. I totally agree the fact that he's just
got all the tools that are continuing to really kind
(16:29):
of develop. You know, he's got the shooting, he's got
the mid range game, he's got the ability to drive
the basketball. I think the thing we knew about him
coming out of college was that he could play defense
as well. And it's the other part of his game
that I feel like, you know, we don't talk about
a lot, is his basketball. Like you he's somebody who
And I think this is something that you're also going
to see as part of the new wave of guys
(16:49):
coming to the NBA, is that you know there's no
longer these one and dones, guys who don't have a
lot of basketball experience behind them. I think you're going
to see guys who spend a longer time in college
and time of the G League level that have the
ability to have absorbed the game, absorb high level situations
and know what needs to be done in those given
scenarios and done so against high level talent. And as
(17:10):
a result, you're seeing the first fruits of that with
Brandon Miller worn out over the course of his rookie season,
and it's only going to get.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
Better, rob It really is. And let's be honest, there's
no shame in losing Rookie of the Year to a
guy like Victor woman Yama, because, as funny as it is,
history has a way of repeating itself. The last time
that the Hornets had a number two overall pick that
had a phenomenal rookie season that didn't win Rookie of
the Year, you have to go back into the nineties
where and a Lonzo Morning lost the Rookie of the
Year campaign to a guy by I believe his name
(17:38):
is shaq I think that's maybe like a first name guy,
Shaquille O'Neal. So there's no shame in that. And again,
Shack obviously a generational talent. I know a lot of
people have that hype around Victor wembin Yama, but a
lots of morning still a Hall of Fame career. Hopefully
Brandon Miller is able to follow in those footsteps as well.
But again, the Hornets went at one fifteen to one
fourteen last night in Atlanta. And as we continue this
(17:58):
farewell tour for head coach Stevefford, we're gonna talk about
Coach cliff here in just a few moments and continue
that conversation here for you on a Hornet Sive cast.
Speaker 4 (18:09):
How much does this last road trip mean to you
and your teammates to get to play under coach Clifford
a couple more times.
Speaker 6 (18:16):
I mean, just leaving it all on the floor, because
that's what he does. You know, he he coaches even
when he doesn't feel good or anything. So we just
want to leave it out on the floor for Cliff
because he'll do the same for US.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
That's Miles Bridges catching up with Sam Farber after last
night's one fifteen to one to fourteen win in Atlanta.
Rob Longo in a postgame host of Hornets post game
on the flagship station sports radio WFNZ, will plogic with
you here putting a button on this episode of the
Hornetsive Cast, and will only a couple of more games left.
Obviously two more left on the road. Would be great
to see head coach Steve Clifford ride out into the
(18:46):
sunset with a three game winning streak. It is feasible,
It is definitely possible, as the Boston Celtics is the
next opponent up on Friday. Obviously a tough test considering
the record, but Celtics don't have a whole lot to
play for in that one, and they will also be
on a second night of a back to back. They
already have the best record in the NBA wrapped up,
They've already clinched the top spot in the Eastern Conference,
(19:06):
so again, not a whole lot to play for going
into that one. It will be interesting to see what
the lineup and rotations look like for the Celtics in
that one, And then you got you got a Cleveland
team on Sunday for the final game of the season,
And depending on what happens between here and now, you
never know, the cast might not be playing for a
whole lot. They'll definitely be in that postseason conversation, but
the seating might already be sealed up and ready to go,
(19:28):
so they might not have a whole lot of motivation
going into that one either. But time will tell, certainly
on those ones. And of course we'll have game previews
throughout the end of the week for those contests. But
since this is the last time that we will have
you on this season for the Hornets iive cast, We'll
just wanted to get your final thoughts on the legacy
that Steve Clifford will leave behind here for the Hornets,
and just the everyday interactions that we're going to miss
(19:50):
from a guy like Coach cliff I know you're always
in those pregame press conferences, You're always asking him questions.
We're certainly going to miss them a whole lot, but
just wanted to get your general thoughts on Coach cliff
here on your final well season episode here of the
Hornons Podcast.
Speaker 3 (20:03):
You mean you don't want me to break down Grant
Williams versus Luke Cornette potentially on Friday. I mean, if
you're more than welcome a skeleton crew together.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
Yeah, I mean, if you wanted to, you're more than
welcome to. I don't know how much that's going to
really dive into it. You can certainly dive into on
a postgame show with Sam Farber.
Speaker 3 (20:20):
I'm okay, I am going to miss Cliff. I feel
like I don't want to go so far as to
say that that Cliff got a raw deal, but I
think from his perspective, I think we all kind of
wanted to know and see what this would have looked
like if he had gotten any semblance of a full
deck in either of the two years that he had,
because I think he definitely deserved it after doing what
(20:42):
he had to do to come back and basically come
out of the you know, non coaching ranks, me back
into the coaching ranks. He'd been a consultant at a couple
of different places after that last gig in Orlandos, So
it was something you looked at and you said, Okay,
you know, this is something that at least is kind
of a return to form for him and the fact
that it's a return to a place that he had
(21:02):
been dismissed for. I think that probably took a little
bit of a some reconsign that had to happen between
the organization as well as you know Mitch cup Check
at the time, and of course ownership at the time
as well, and he ended up taking it in stride
and handling it with the utmost level of class, and unfortunately,
like I said before, was dealt really a poor hand.
When you think about all the injuries that happened. You know,
(21:24):
more injuries lost for players in terms of the last
couple of seasons than anybody I can remember. And the
fact is that when you lose the two guys who
you were basically building your team around this year in
the LA Ball and Mark Williams significant stretch of the season,
it's very very hard to overcome that. And I think
that's the one thing that's the charge of whoever we
get next in here, Rob, is the fact that you
(21:47):
have to find somebody who is best at dept at
not only being able to mold those guys around a
certain philosophy, but also who can grow with this organization,
because it does seem at least from you know, a
lot of the inner workings, and what people that try
to say across the league is that it's more than
likely going to be a first time head coach that
steps in here. So you're gonna have to find somebody
who grows with the organization and it'll be definitely somebody
(22:10):
who has set the town. But you know, for a
guy like Steve Clifford, who's a great basketball man, I'm
very happy that he's at least going to keep his
influence around the arena and around the team by being
a consultant and an advisor to general manager Jeff Peterson.
The fact that his influence will not go away from
this team, and then he will be able to, you know,
(22:30):
lend his voice and his sounding board as well as
being somebody in there because they'll make no mistake about it.
I think at times we've looked at the season and
looked at the you know, the point totals and not
necessarily been happy with the Hornets. One thing Steve Clifford
does know how to do is get teams out of
play defense, and that'll be something that I know we're
very very curious of making sure that that could happen
(22:50):
over the course in the next couple of yearons because
we're seeing now the level of defense the teams have
to play in order to win the NBA rise to
a much different level. This is not the NBA of
the late nineties and early two thousands, where you know,
defense kind of went haywire and people were scoring and
the kinds of numbers that you were thinking about during
that time. I know the number totals are high, but situationally,
(23:13):
defense still needs to be played in this league in
order to have success. And that's something that Steve Clifford
knows how to instill in a team. And hopefully the
next head coach comes from that particular type of cloth
and hopefully they will have Clifford at their disposal to
try and instill some of that same philosophy.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
And that's something that cliff has talked a lot about
in terms of if you want to be a good team,
you got to be a good defensive team. He talks
about going back and looking at all of the defensive
ratings over the years, and if you don't have a
top ten defensive rated team, you're probably not going to
win a title. There's a couple of outliers of course
to that, but for the most part, you can get
away with an okay, top third, top half offense, but
(23:51):
if your defense is not top ten, you are not
going to make a run in the NBA playoffs. It's
just a nature of how the game happens. It slows down,
the rotations shortened, all kind of different things happen in
the playoffs. It's not quite like hockey, where it's maybe
a completely different style of play or a completely different
season for that matter, but it's pretty darn close. And
I know that's something that Steve Clifford has definitely preached. Unfortunately,
(24:13):
he hasn't been able to get to that promised land
here over the last two seasons. But again, like you mentioned,
the fact that he's able to stay on here and
work in some capacity with this team, that's going to
be invaluable. You pay the guy what he's worth, and
he's worth a lot, and his worth his weight in
gold to basketball knowledge that he has come up with
over several decades, especially in the NBA game. He just
(24:33):
continues to learn too, and that's something that is really commendable,
just based off the fact that it's very easy to
just kind of call it a quits because the last
two seasons haven't gone very well. But Steve Clifford, he's
a lifelong learner. He wants to continue to learn. He
talked about it at that press conference with Jeff Peterson
a couple of days ago, where he doesn't want to
(24:54):
just step away. He wants to continue to learn. He
doesn't know a lot about the draft process. He wants
to learn how the draft process works. He wants to
learn how the front office works, the inner workings of
that as well. He's constantly learning. And the ability to
have that is just something that you can continue to
really rely on and instill in your team because, again,
like you mentioned, whoever the next coach is here for
(25:15):
the Hornets, chances are they are not going to have
the experience that Steve Clifford has. So the fact that
you're able to lay on that and rely on that,
that is going to be invaluable for whoever the next
person is to take over this Hornet squad.
Speaker 3 (25:27):
And I think too that the biggest thing that you
want to have happen with the next head coach of
this team is they're going to want to recognize the
resources that they have around it because there is a
young GM in here in Jeff Peterson, and there is
you know, going to be a lot of support staff.
But I think somebody who is going to be a
big part of that support staff is Steve Clifford, because
(25:50):
I think that's always going to be something you look
at and say, you know, when you're looking at a
young NBA staff, you're going to want people who have
experience in the league. You know, there's no substitute for
that kind of experience, and you know, Steve Cliffords somebody
who who does know how this league works and and
and has an identification with this organization as well. So
I think that's something you definitely can look at and say,
(26:11):
and I think it just it stands the reason that,
you know, everything that new ownership has done with with
Rick Snall and Gabe Plotkin since they've taken over, has
really come to at least show that they are open to,
you know, new ways of thinking, but also wanting to
add their influence on things as well. And I think
that's something that you look at and say, you know, Rick,
(26:33):
knowing Jeff from his time back in Atlanta, I think
really kind of comes into the fact that hey, you know,
they must have seen something in Jeff from his time
way back, you know, when he started out as an
intern and kind of worked his way up around the league.
And I'm very, very excited about what the future this
organization looks like, not just with the players in the
on the floor, but also the building as we've talked
(26:54):
about as well with the reimagined Spectrum Center. This is
going to be a lot of fun over the course
of this offseason and and very is the Hornets try
to reclaim some claim to getting themselves back on the Ascent,
because I think we all liked what it was like
a couple of years ago and we were getting to
back to back playing games and knowing that, you know,
maybe there could be some greater horizons out there for
(27:15):
the Hornets. They just need to make sure that they
can restart the bus back up, because once once you
start up the Mountain rob it'll be something you look
at and say, maybe the Hornets can get themselves a
couple of Playoffs series wins, and who knows, maybe even
hoist some hardware as well.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
It would certainly be a great day here in the
Queen City when that happens. I'm going to speak it
into his existence when it happens, not if it happens.
So a lot to be excited for here and Charlotte
Hornets again, still have two more games here left on
this season and left on this road trip. Would be
great to see Cliff go out on three consecutive wins
here and right off into the sunset a couple of
winners here in a few days. But in the meantime,
(27:49):
of course, there will be a couple of game previews
in between those contests. We will have Hornets and Celtics
coming up. On tomorrow's edition of the Hornets Podcast, Sam
Farbara will preview the matchup with Mike's and then Sam
will also preview the matchup with the Cleveland Cavaliers on
Sunday with Kyle Bailey. Will Plodgick's coworker. As a matter
of fact, you hear him on Hornets pregame. So we
(28:10):
got the pregame show, we got the postgame show, all
covered here on the last couple of days of the
Hornets Hoovecast. So with that said, well, thank you all
season long for joining me here on the AHHC and
thank you for joining me on a winning edition. To
cap things off here on your tenure here this season
on a Hornets Podcast.
Speaker 3 (28:25):
Always a pleasure to share the air with my birthday twin,
so always love it.
Speaker 2 (28:29):
That is very true, so thank you Will for that.
Thank you to all of you for tuning in as well.
A reminder of course tomorrow Hornets and Celtics coming up.
Sam Farbara will have a preview of that one for
you here once again on a Hornets Podcast.
Speaker 1 (28:42):
Thank you for listening to the Hornets Podcast, brought to
you by Santa, the official i ear nosen Throatcare provider
of the Charlotte Hornets. For more coverage, visit Hornets dot com.
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