April 4, 2025 • 31 mins
With the Hornets kicking off their final homestand of the season, Sam Farber and Sam Perley take a look at the play of some of the rookies for Buzz City, and also some milestones they are keeping an eye on. The two also preview Charlotte's showdown against the Kings.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the Hornets Hoovecast, presented by Charlotte I ear
Nosen Throat Associates, the official I ear nos in Throatcare
provider of the Charlotte Hornets. Here's your host, Sam Farber.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Welcome to another edition of the Hornets iivee Cast, your
Hornets podcast with all the notes, quotes, and daily buzz
around your favorite NBA team. I'm Sam Farber and it
is a pleasure and a privileged dev You with us
here once again on the hornetside Cast, brought to you
by SENTA Charlotte, I Hear nos and Throat Associates, the
official I Hear nos and throat Care provider of the
Charlotte Hornets. It's a game to edition. Hornets Tip it
off the final home stand of the twenty four to
(00:36):
twenty five campaign. The host of the Sacramento Kings Tonight,
we'll talk about our players to watch, stats to watch
for tonight's game individually, and then extending to the remainder
of the home stand and the season. Who and what
are the items we're looking for. We're going to focus
on the youngsters as well as some of the elder
statesmen of the franchise. What's at stake. We've detailed a
(00:58):
lot of it, but in case you're just catching up
here for the final home stand of the season, we'll
get you caught up here on the HC helping me
on all these topics. He is the senior writer for
Hornets dot Com and part of every two Sam's edition
of The Hornets. I've cast the great Sam Purley here
with us once again. Sam, thanks for joining me.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
Of course, thank you for having me. I made a
joke with Rob after the Indiana game yesterday that that
was the last thing I did on Wednesday night and
then coming in first thing this morning is meeting with you.
So I don't know if I've ever done that before,
finishing the day doing one podcast with one person, starting
the next day with the podcast with the other one.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
It's the era we're in. It's all podcasting all the time.
That's what we do here. Unfortunately, we're going to run
out of dates for the podcast well, of course, take
a bit of a summer break, but we'll keep everyone
updated as to the draft lottery. Obviously after draft night
we'll have a full breakdown here from the head honchos
of the Hornet's front office about what takes place then,
(01:53):
So make sure you're keeping an eye or an ear
open to the Hornets I've cast throughout the season. As
we get into the final stretch here, there is a
different perspective on how the Hornets are attacking things as
opposed to early in the season. Obviously at the onset,
everyone starts a season with great expectations, at least most
teams do, and the Hornets were no exception. Sadly, injuries
(02:14):
and absences have derailed the team's opportunities and now where
we are, where the team is eliminated from postseason contention.
But there is value in every game, and I wanted
to focus today Sam on what is at stake here
for the young players and what is at stake here
for some of the veteran players who have significant things
(02:35):
in front of them. So I'll let you be the judge.
You want to start with something old or something new.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
Let's start with something new.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Let's start with something new. So in that case, it's
kind of obvious because the rookie class is getting major,
major minutes right now, and when you look at kJ
Simpson's starting games here with LaMelo now being out for
the remainder of the season, just had his surgery the
other day or surgeries, i should say the other day,
(03:03):
and looking forward to speedy recovery for him and him
getting back to work in Earnest here for the summer
very shortly. But when you look at the rookie class overall,
they're getting more opportunities right now and seem to be
taking great advantage of them as well. When you look
in the last fifteen games or so here that'd be
(03:24):
the month of March, month of April, we're seeing a
lot more starts for t Jon Salon and for kJ Simpson,
and a lot more success quite frankly for both of them,
including closing out a win over Utah. So as you
examine them their growth and what you're looking for in
these finals six games of the season and this last
home stand in particular, what catches your eye.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
Yeah, Starting with kJ, It's interesting because the memory that
sticks out to me the most of him this season,
and I think it's one that he kind of discussed.
It was the Hornets are playing at home against Orlando
earlier in the season, maybe like early November or something,
and it was like this first real significant minutes in
the rotation that game came into the first quarter or
second quarter, I think, he admittedly said after the game,
(04:05):
I mean it was a little bit of a little
bit of a deer in a headlights kind of moment.
You know. It just you could just tell everything was
moving really really fast, and that's normal for you know,
an NBA rookie getting his first real regular season you know,
action and playing time against a very good Orlando Magic
team that was, you know, one of the best defensive team.
It's still one of the best defensive teams in the league,
(04:25):
and within a week of that happening, it just felt
like everything slowed down so considerably for kJ And it's
been an interesting rookie season, you know. I think obviously,
I think coming into the year, you expected him to
spend a significant amount of the time in the G League,
which he has, but he's also been in the rotation.
He's starting games now, you know, because of the injuries.
So I've just been so impressed with how he has
(04:46):
handled sort of the ebbs and flows. I Mean, he
goes from you know, starting in the NBA for you know,
maybe a week, and then it's back of the rotation,
then it's on the bench, and then it's in Greensboro,
and then it's this and that, So it hasn't really
been a gradual trajectory throughout the season. It's kind of
been and a little bit all over the place. But
he's handled it very very well. And again I've said
it before, I love the way he competes. He competes
(05:06):
on both ends, defensively, offensively. Even when his shot is
not falling, having a tough time getting points up, He's
finding ways to impact the game. He's a competitor and
he's got it. He's got a nice edge to him
and he saw that a little bit in that Utah
game too, a little bit of you know, can get
under an opponent's skin, which he did with with Keante
George and drew a technical and you know he's drawn
some charges. I mean, I just I think he's exactly
(05:28):
the kind of player that the Hornets spoke about during
the draft process. They loved so much at Colorado, the
competitiveness on both ends. The just plays with a lot
of heart, and it's it's really cool to kind of
see where kJ started the year to where he is now.
You wouldn't expect that it's been only three or four
months and just.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
To jump in here ONKJ, because I think there's some
interesting comparison points. One is, you know, kJ is a
second round pick, if you were to compare him just
in games he starts to another rookie was very highly
acclaimed at least going into his draft year and didn't
end up being a lottery pick. But Isaiah Collier is
someone we just saw with Utah. Has started a lot
of games here for Utah over the course of the season.
(06:11):
One point, very early in the process, was rumored to
potentially be the number one pick in that class. Obviously
drifted a further down. But you look at his numbers
as a rookie, and kJ Simpson compares very favorably. Call
your better assist numbers seven point seven per game as
a starter. This is just starting games. We're gonna throw
out everything where they were reserved because there's such fluctuation
(06:32):
in minutes in so many of those. So just games
where we know they're playing a lot thirty plus minutes
per game. Collier is averaging eleven points and seven assists
per game, Simpsons averaging eleven points and four and a
half assists per game. The difference is in the shooting percentages.
Collier is a sixty nine percent free throw shooter, and
he is a twenty seven percent three point shooter. Simpson's
(06:52):
an eighty three percent free throw shooter and a thirty
six percent three point shooter. So that the areas that
you really focus on for young guards, things that we
think you can teach, but really it becomes evident very
quickly where the floor is for a player and where
they're building from. kJ Simpson's operating from a pretty high floor.
(07:12):
And you compare him head to head with someone who
again is a first round pick and pretty highly acclaimed,
similar size, somewhat similar background. Simpson a little bit older
coming into the NBA, but both coming from formerly packed
twelve schools. I think that's one that really compares favorably
here for kJ Simpson.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
Yeah, and one thing too is, you know, he has
the experience. Like you said, he's a little bit older.
He comes from a winning program too. I mean, took
Colorado to the NCAA tournament last year and obviously hit
that very memorable shot that bounced a couple times on
the rim against Florida in the first round. So yeah,
and that's important. I think it's important you come from
a winning environment. You come from a competitive environment. That
(07:50):
Colorado team put two other guys in the NBA, so
especially coming into the season, I think he knew that
the thing that was sort of attached to him was
his size, and he has used that as motivation, which
I'm sure he's used at every single stop in his
basketball career. That you know he is going to be
I could very easily see him being one of these
guys that you love having on your team because he
(08:11):
just annoys the other team in a really good way, defensively, offensively,
just getting under people's skin, and it's really important to
have that. It is I don't know what exactly you
call that element, if it's just annoyingness or feistiness or
but he hasn't and it's again the competitiveness. You see it,
and that's what I've really enjoyed about watching him play
(08:32):
over this last handful of games since he came back
from the G League.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
Since the start of February, he is averaging ten points
per game and again as a starter as a star,
which is not likely to be his role next year. Okay,
LaMelo Ball is probably going to be the starting point
guard for this team. But just to give you reference
for the number of minutes and the level of players
probably around kJ Simpson in those minutes as well, he's
(08:56):
able to operate very efficiently thirty six percent from three.
The other rookie to talk about is obviously t Jan Salon.
T Jon has been getting more run here. His numbers
don't have as big of a fluctuation from starter to reserve,
which I don't think is a bad thing because most
of the time when he's come in as a reserve,
he's not coming in for just the last two or
(09:17):
three minutes. He comes into those games with a role
in mind, so he's still playing significant time. But the
big jump that we are seeing here over the course
of the last couple of months is a his scoring
average is growing over the course of the season, and
B we're seeing some pretty good blips in a positive
direction in terms of his three point shooting. April. We're
(09:38):
only one game into it, so it's too small sample
size to really take anything away from. But he's coming
off a month of March where he played in ten
games and he had statistically speaking, his best month of
his career seven and a half points, five point seven rebounds,
one point six assists per game, shooting forty nine percent
from the floor forty percent from three. He's not only
making more threes, but he's finishing at a higher rate
(10:00):
and the paint. I think we're seeing a much stronger
version of t John Salon, which should be somewhat expected
because he's nineteen years old. He's growing, literally growing into
his body and growing into the game, but clearly getting
much more comfortable in the NBA and hopefully in these
final six games of the season, April ends up being
an even better month than March.
Speaker 3 (10:21):
Was, for sure, And again if you look at the overall,
you know, you look at the numbers as a whole
in the season, the shooting numbers. Obviously, it was a
little rough to start the year. So what you said,
you want to see progression throughout the year, and if
you watch him play, and again, similar to kJ, I
think he was thrust into a much larger role at
the beginning of the year than maybe the organization was
(10:42):
necessarily expecting. You know, it's one of those things that's okay,
it's your time, time to go, and there's going to
be some growing pains. I think, you know, obviously Grant
Williams got injured I think in mid November. Miles Bridges
was dealing with a knee injury at the time, which
opened up some more minutes at that four and Mark
Williams also still wasn't playing. So yes, I think there
was a little bit of a At times it looked
a little crazy, but there were also times too you're like, Okay,
(11:05):
I get it. He's running up and down the floor,
he's playing hard. You know, maybe it's a little all
over the place, but you're seeing the energy. You're seeing
the competitive competitiveness like with kJ and you're seeing the
especially on the defensive end, he uses his size, he
gets up and down the court quickly, and again went
to the G League for a little bit last month,
(11:26):
and I think he was also deemed with a little
bit of an ankle injury as well. But you can
again see things slowing down a little bit. And one
thing that's really impressed me with Tjon two is I
think at the start of the year he was kind
of resigned to maybe some of the catch and shoot threes,
whether from the corners. You're seeing a little bit more
of creating off the dribble, creating isolation for himself. I
(11:47):
mean his legs are you know, his strides are so
big that he can create space. You know, the ball
handlings gotten a little bit better. I think that's something
that will you know, obviously be an area, a focal
area this summer. Just tightening it up just a little
bit and be getting the catch and shoot threes off
just a little bit quicker before some of those close out.
But you're seeing the progress. And again, like you said,
he's nineteen years old. I like to think of it
(12:08):
this way as nineteen. In three years, he's going to
be twenty two, which is still very young in the NBA.
I mean there's guys that are gonna be you know,
high draft picks in the upcoming NBA draft that are
twenty two years old, and he's going to be twenty
two in three years. So again, like you said, creating
a little bit more off the drill or driving finishing
at the rim, it's gonna come around again. It looks
a little raw right now, but there's less rawness as
(12:30):
the season goes on and you're seeing more and more
of those moments where you're like, Okay, I think we
might have something here.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
We'll take a look at t Jon Salon kJ Simpson
for these final few remaining games, including tonight against the
Sacramento Kings. Tiptime set for seven pm, and we'll have
our game preview coming up in just a little bit.
Next though, there's a couple of veterans aiming for big
time statistical accomplishments. We will break those down for you
next Here on the Hornets, I've cast Sam Farber Sam
(13:00):
Early here with you on the AHHC the Hornet Time Cast,
brought to you by SENTA. All Right, we talked about
the youngsters, the rookies, what we're looking for for them
for the final six games of the season. There are
always things to watch for in each and every NBA game.
You never know when something unique and amazing's gonna happen, Like,
for instance, the other day, Seth Curry inbounding to Mark
Williams with point two on the shot clock. That is
(13:21):
considered a hand grenade. No one ever executes that one.
The Hornets did. Seth Curry high lob Mark Williams using
that wing span tapping it in. Those are kinds of
moments you never know when if they're going to occur,
and that's why it's always worthwhile to go see an
NBA game, But there are some accomplishments that you can
anticipate to a certain extent, and there's two on the
table right now for the Horns that we wanted to
(13:43):
dig into. We've been monitoring Seth Curry for a while.
He has been around the upper levels of the NBA
in terms of three point percentage for the majority of
the season, and it's all been about how many games
has he played as of late, does he have enough
made threes one per game on average to qualify in
(14:05):
that particular moment for the title, and where is he
shooting so overall right now, he is at forty four
point nine percent from three, and he has made seventy
five threes in seventy six games, So statistically speaking, he
does not qualify. Now, that's seventy six games for the team.
It's not for him important to note, and I'll tell
you why in a moment here, but seventy five threes
in seventy six games for the team. So he has
(14:26):
not applied to the leaderboard. If he was on it,
he would be in second right now, right behind Torrean Prince,
who was already qualified. He's made more than eighty two three,
so he doesn't have to attempt another shot from distance,
and he would be right now the winner at forty
five percent. So not only does Seth Curry need to
make one more three than one per game from here
(14:47):
on out, hopefully that makes sense, but he's got to
do so at a better than forty five percent clip
or he's not going to pass Torrian Prince. That is
what's at stake here in these finals six games. We're
just going to kind of handicap this one. Sam. I
think he gets there because the Hornets are starting Seth Curry.
They seem to be aware of what's at stake for him.
(15:08):
They seem to want it. He has had, for the
most part, a really good run as a starter for
the Charlotte Hornets. He's averaging more than two may threes
per game. He's shooting forty seven percent from three in
those games. He is a veteran player, he is a Curry.
He is used to pressure. I don't think he is
going to have this moment overwhelm him. I think if
(15:31):
he gets the appropriate number of attempts, and to his credit,
he's not forcing them. He's taking shots that are in
rhythm that are good looks for him. But if he
gets the shot attempts, he should be able to do
this for sure.
Speaker 3 (15:41):
And that one he hit in Indiana, I think it
was his second, the left one in the left corner
where he had just about I don't know, virtually no room.
I mean, it never ceases to amaze me how they
can get those shots off and like it's nothing. So yeah,
I think he is. I think he spoke a little
bit about it after shoot around a few weeks ago
when he had I think he was coming off like
(16:02):
a four or five three pointer game and vaulted him
into the league lead at the time. So he is
cognizant of it. But you know, a seasoned veteran, you know,
knowing Seth that he's not going to be going out
and forcing shots, I mean and taking bad shots. He's
going to take the right shots and play in the
flow of the game, and you know, if it happens,
it happens. But it's certainly something that is I think
(16:23):
he's cognizant of, but not something that he would ever,
you know, and none of these guys would would you know,
take away from the team. You know, if the right
open shot is there, he's going to take it. If
it's not, you know, he'll pass to somebody else. So yeah,
I'm excited. And especially two with the Kings coming into town.
They have two guys that are kind of lurking right
behind Seth I think in third and fourth with Zach
(16:44):
Lavine and Kean Ellis. So I'll be interested. I might
start watching a little bit of these other guys mix. Okay,
you know, tune into the Kings game, see if they
can start missing some threes and Tory and Prince can
miss some threes and maybe Luke Canard as well.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
The other stat to watch for right now is the
pursuit of a thous career games for Taj Gibbson. And
I want to put this in a little bit of
perspective now, not on the podcast, but Rob and I
have had this debate quite a bit, and Eric Collins
kind of sparked it. But I'm just gonna ask you
this question, Yes or no? Should ABA stats count on
the NBA record book as a general concept, Sam.
Speaker 3 (17:17):
Purley, you mean to like combine them like if you
played in both leagues. It's a great question. I haven't
really thought about that. I would say no.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
I'm with you. I think the answer is no. I
think they shouldn't count, But I do think from the
perspective of games played, it's worth including because if you
play in that many games, you definitely played in both.
The ABA wasn't around long enough for someone to play
only in a thousand games in the ABA, so you
had a lengthy NBA career as well as some time
(17:44):
in the ABA, and putting them together maybe puts into
clearer perspective how many games you played. So the reason
I'm bringing it up is because according to the stats
I can see in the history of the NBA right now,
one hundred and fifty one players have played a thousand
or more NBA games, including Glenn Rice, who played exactly
a thousand games. Talked to Thera Collins about this accounte
when a couple of days ago on the podcast the
(18:05):
Preview for Indiana. Can hear his thoughts on talking to
Glenn Rice about, Hey, how did you play in exactly
a thousand career games? Complete coincidence apparently in any case
for the ABA, if you include those guys in, you
chip in players like Rick Berry, for instance, who made it.
If you tack on his ABA games as well, but
it's only one hundred and fifty nine, so TODJ. Gibson
(18:26):
would be the one hundred and sixtieth person to do,
so he's not going to be able to do it
at home. He unfortunately was ill in Indiana. Had he
been healthy, probably would have played him because it would
have set things up for Tod Gibson's one thousandth game
to be on the final home game of the season.
But that puts it in a little bit of perspective.
Sixteen current players have played in a thousand or more
(18:48):
career games. Most of them are legends there Lebron, James
Chris Paul Russell Westbrook, Guys like Demarta Rosen who've been
to multiple All Star Games, Kyle Lowry, Mike Conley, James
hard and Al Horfore, Kevin Durant, de Andre Jordan Brook, Lopez,
Drew Holliday, Steph Curry's played in a thousand games, so
you don't get to this stature on accident. Most of
(19:11):
these guys are multiple times over All Stars, prominent players,
and Todd Gibson was for a very long time just
that for playoff teams has now taken more of a
veteran leadership role, but he so long as he's healthy,
seems like the team is aware of it wants to
get him there. Unfortunate won't happen at home, but that's
something certainly to watch for here in these final six
(19:31):
games of the season.
Speaker 3 (19:32):
Thousand is a big number and to thinking. And I
was looking at those leader boards too, and I the
one that first caught my eye was the one sixty
one or where he ranks all time in NBA slash
ABA games played. But I might have to circle back
on the next podcast. The more I think about it,
you kind of caught me on the spot, But yeah,
and it's I also looked up to in his draft
class in two thousand and nine draft class or players
(19:54):
that made their NBA debut in two thousand and nine,
he would be the fifth behind mar De Roz and
James Harden, Drew Holliday, and Steph Curry for of whom,
as you will appreciate former Pac ten guys at the
time that probably competed against each other. So it's a
testament too. And again we you know, kind of just
seeing him for this loan season, but you know, he's
been a mainstay in the league for a long, long
(20:14):
time was on some really really good Chicago Bulls teams.
I think it wrote downe. He also has seventy one
career playoff games as well, with four different teams. And again,
you don't get to this point of your career by accident.
You keep yourself in phenomenal shape. You're a great competitor,
Guys listen to you, and you are a just sensational teammate.
I mean, there's a reason he's still in the league
(20:35):
at you know, age thirty eight, thirty nine, third oldest
player in the league. It's because he can still compete
and he can still provide a tremendous amount of guidance
and wisdom to some of the younger players in the
locker room. So it's been awesome to see Taj because
you can tell how much respect he Garners and hearing
from other teams and players throughout the league. It's the
same as well.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
And for the record, I hope this isn't the last season.
I hope he's got many more years. But it'd be
fun to celebrate a thousand games and then get him
back out there on the floor next season. But we'll
see how things go. Hopefully he is available to play
tonight against Sacramento and ready to go and hopefully lead
the Hornets to win over the Kings. We're gonna preview
the contest next, Hornets Kings tipping Off, the final home
(21:15):
stand of the twenty four to twenty five season. Game
preview coming up next. Here on the Hornet SIVE Cast,
Sam Farber, Sam Parley, here with you on the AHHC
The Hornet SIBE Cast, brought to you by Santa all Right, Sam,
you know how these things work. We need players to
watch in a stat to watch other than points, because
that's cheating. Obviously, whoever scores the most points wins the game.
Just some context for you. Charlotte nineteen and fifty seven
(21:37):
long eliminated now from postseason contention, seems solidly locked in
as the third worst record in the NBA. So anyone
who's a conspiracy theorist out there thinking, oh, you gotta
lose so many, you know what? Enough already Charlotte is
pretty well deep in the standings at the third worst record.
Bottom three teams have flattened odds, so the chances of
(22:00):
moving up in the draft don't really change in terms
of getting the number one pick. Based on losing any
more fourth worst record as the New Orleans Pelicans, who
are two wins ahead of Charlotte. Hopefully all that makes sense.
The game that has more ramifications for the postseason. From
the Sacramento perspective, they are just a game ahead of
the Phoenix Suns. Neither team is playing very well. Sacramento
(22:22):
just lost to Washington the other day, so the Kings
could very easily fall out of a play in tournament spot.
And they've invested a lot to get this team to
a playoff level. They've got some bonus over there. They've
got Deroz and they've got Levine. They were not expecting
to fall off this much right now. Dallas kind of
surging with the return of Anthony Davis, and Sacramento has
(22:42):
the threat of a Phoenix team that could still be
dangerous in the postseason if they're able to get there,
lurking right behind them. So Kings should be motivated tonight,
Sam Purley, where do you want to begin, Hornet king
or stat to watch?
Speaker 3 (22:54):
I will go Hornet to watch, my hornet to watch.
We talked them a little bit earlier. Is kJ Simpson
last five games, he is averaging nine point eight points
shooting thirty six percent thirty two percent from three again
a little bit lower, but making up for almost four rebounds,
over three assists, one steal, and half a block as well.
(23:15):
And what's also impressed me too is, you know, this
is a big role. He's really kind of you know,
he's played over thirty minutes the last three games. He
played the fourth entire fourth quarter of both the last
two games. Only one point six turnovers to three point
four assists. I think you'll take that just for rookie
point guards. It's it's a unforgiving learning curve sometimes. But
you know, again, I've really one thing that's really impressed
(23:37):
me in particular during this stretch and went up and
just looked at it real quick, is some good finishing
at the rim right now. During this five game stretch,
he is eight of fourteen in the restricted area fifty
seven percent. That's a pretty high number for a drive
first point guard, you know, caliber kind of player. So
again we spoken about kJ earlier, Love his competitiveness, Love
the growth he's made. Even though the efficiency is a
(23:58):
little low. You watch him play and you're like, he's
taking good shots. You know, it's nothing's being forced He's
not trying to go out there and score fifteen or
twenty points a game and carry the team offensively. Goes
out and makes the right plays, and at this point
that's more than enough that you can ask for right now.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
I like the pick. I like the focus on kJ Simpson.
I think he's been a really good. Part of me
wants to just take Tejon here and wrap up the
rookie class. But I'm going to be selfish, samp Early,
I'm gonna be selfish. I want to see history. I
want to see something that's never happened for a Curry
in the city of Charlotte before, and that is leading
the league in three point percentage, and I want it
to happen here in front of our home fans. So
(24:33):
I'm going with Seth Curry as my player to watch,
and just for some context here while we're focused on
he needs one three per game, one three per game,
so just making two in a game would give everyone
a lot of comfort. I wanted to happen at home.
Could it happen at home? He needs seven threes in
a three game span. If you look back to early
in the season when he was starting for Charlotte, out
of the gates. This is when Brandon Miller got hurt.
(24:54):
He did do just that. He started four consecutive games
and in a row at home, and in that span
he made in the four games a total of nine threes,
so on average, he got to that threshold. Lately he
has started back to back games. I see no reason,
given some of the injuries the team is dealing with,
(25:15):
why he wouldn't get more starts or at least starter
quality minutes out there. So I want to see it happen.
I want to see a two to three, maybe a
five to three game here tonight again Sacramento. Let's get
things a little bit closer and see him chase it
down here at the Hive. How about that next up
King to Watch or stat to watch.
Speaker 3 (25:32):
I'm gonna go king to watch. And it's a little
bit of a piggyback off the three point percentage title.
Chase it's Keon Ellis through Wednesday night. They are they
coming off a loss to the Wizards. That he is
now fourth in the NBA and three point percentage at
forty three point two percent. Zach Lavine is also at
forty three point two percent. He must have been one
hundredth or so ahead, but he's actually in third. Keon
Ellis recently had a four game stretch of fourteen points
(25:54):
with shooting really really well, four and a half rebounds,
four point, zero assists and three steals between March twenty
second in twenty seventh, which were all starts. Since then,
falling off just a little bit, he's had a rough
three games five point five points and shooting forty four percent,
which is decent, but he's only taken nine shots in
his two of six from three. Overall, very good defensive
point guard, very good story too. I think he was
(26:15):
undrafted and it's kind of worked his way up. He
started at a junior college, went to Alabama, and has worked
his way up to being a very good rotational player.
Does again similar to kJ Simpson. He doesn't score a
lot right now, but he's very competitive, especially at the
defensive end. He's taken on a lot more role or
a heightened role with the darn Fox tray that happened
a couple months ago, and you know, he's a guy.
(26:36):
I think it's a really interesting matchup between kJ and
keon their competitiveness, the defensive intangibles, things like that. So
I'm expecting and it'll be again interesting too to see Keon.
There will be part of me that says, oh, he's
taken a three and he misses. Okay, that's you know,
write that one down. That's good. So just gives a
little bit more of a game within the game with
him being right there that three point percentage title Chase
(26:56):
as well.
Speaker 2 (26:57):
I like the pick, as you mentioned though, coming off
a bit of a stinker early. Biby part of the
reason why the Kings lost to the Wizards. He did
not shoot the ball well from three or from anywhere.
My player to watch this is somewhat out of selfishness.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
Again.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
Jonas Valentiunis, he's the center off the bench right now
for Sacramento. He has long been a hornet killer. He
just has these enormous games. Orange, especially when they had
injuries at the center spot, did not match up well
with this guy. And now with Nurkic on the roster,
with Mark Williams healthy and playing well, I think they do.
(27:28):
So I'm looking at this as a test case where
has Charlotte shown some growth. Valentiunis is the prototype of
kind of random but maybe you know, standard NBA center,
big body back to the basket, gets a ton of
offensive rebounds and putbacks who has just crushed the team
in previous seasons. I think Charlotte's center death is as
strong now as it has been the entire time I've
(27:50):
been here, going back in the entire five seasons. Now,
I want to see where the growth is and limiting
Valentiunis would be a real positive sign to me that
the Orients have the right mix of centers available to them, who,
by the way, are all under contract for next season
as well. Last, but not least, we need a stat
to watch.
Speaker 3 (28:08):
I think no matter what team Yonas Valanciunas is on,
he is always going to be your opposing player to
watch podcasts. It seems like regardless if he's on the Wizards, Pelicans, Grizzlies, Raptors,
he's always going to be your guy because you're right,
he is. He's always been. It seems like he's one
of these guys it's going to play forever because he's
just strong and physical and his game's gotten a lot better.
He's you know, shooting threes and become a thread on
(28:30):
that end.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
So there's going to be a preseason game one year
against AC Milan. He's going to be forty nine years
old player to watch.
Speaker 3 (28:38):
My stat to watching it is going to be three
point shooting, kind of going in line with what we've
just been talking about. Kings are eleventh in the NBA
and three point percentage since Zach Lavine's team debut on
February fifth at just under thirty seven percent. I think
they were seventh before that Wizard's game, uh, and they
fell a few spots. Credit the additional Levine He's He's
also been a hornet killer at times, particularly one memorable
(28:59):
or infamously unmemorable game in November of twenty nineteen when
he was in Chicago here at the Spectrum Center. He's
done really well with the shot making to open things
up a little bit. I also think the subtraction of
Kevin Herder and Darn Fox, who have had some really
good years in Sacramento, but they were really struggling from
three point range. This year, they've moved on and it's
kind of helped everything. Keegan Murray is shooting really well too.
(29:20):
He's at forty percent since the start of February. The
King's three point shooting has really opened up a little
bit with the addition of Levigne, kind of moving on
from some guys that weren't shooting so well from three
point range, and again, Keegan Murray's playing a lot better too.
Before they got Levin. The Kings are twenty fourth in
the NBA and three point percentage again now they're eleventh
cents February fifth, So that is the stat I'm looking
(29:41):
forward to tonight.
Speaker 2 (29:43):
I am kind of a similar wavelength, but I'm looking
at it from a much more personally selfish perspective. I'm
looking at paint touches. Seth Curry's best three point options
tend to be on driving kicks. To suck that defender
away from Seth, you got to get pressure on the rim.
Charlotte's been pretty good at that, especially with Miles Bridges
and some other guys attacking the basket. I think they've
(30:03):
had more success at that opening Seth Curry up for
his best look. So I'm looking at paint touches. Also
significant because as you mentioned, Sacramento has got a lot
of guys who score great from the mid range to
Marta Rozen or have excellent paint presence in sabonisvalancew this
so if the Horns are gonna win the game, they
gotta limit that quite a bit from Sacramento. But also
for me, I don't want to say the team could
(30:25):
lose one hundred and twenty to twelve and I'd be
okay with it if the twelve was all seth Curry threes.
But if there was ever a time wer that might
be the case. This would be because I want the record,
I want set to get this at home, and I
think it's possibly on the line. We'll see if it happens,
if the Horns climb a little closer here tonight. However
it turns out, Sam Perli will have the right up
for you tomorrow on Hornets dot com. Sam, thanks for
(30:46):
joining me here today on the HC.
Speaker 3 (30:47):
Thank you so much for having me in real quick.
One last stat. The road team is four and one
in the last five meetings between the Kings and Hornets,
so hopefully.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
Not a great stat, Sam, Thanks, no, but.
Speaker 3 (30:57):
It's something so the Hornets. Actually, I'll take that away.
Let me start again.
Speaker 2 (31:02):
No, no, it's too late. It's in the pod now.
Speaker 1 (31:05):
Now.
Speaker 2 (31:05):
We'll see how it turns out. But obviously, as always,
things to watch for here in the tail end of
the season.
Speaker 3 (31:11):
Yes, a trend that they can hopefully buck. How about that?
Speaker 2 (31:14):
I like that one. Thanks to Sam Perley for joining
me in studio. Thanks for our producer, Rob Blanca for
putting this podcast together. Most of all, to all of
you for tuning in. For everyone here, I'm Sam Farber
saying it's been a pleasure of privilege having you along.
We'll talk to you next time right here on the
Hornets Hoodcast.
Speaker 1 (31:27):
Thank you for listening to The Hornets Podcast, brought to
you by Santa, the official i ear nosen throad care
provider of the Charlotte Hornets. For more coverage, visit Hornets
dot com.
Welcome to the Hornets Hoovecast, presented by Charlotte I ear
Nosen Throat Associates, the official I ear nos in Throatcare
provider of the Charlotte Hornets. Here's your host, Sam Farber.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Welcome to another edition of the Hornets iivee Cast, your
Hornets podcast with all the notes, quotes, and daily buzz
around your favorite NBA team. I'm Sam Farber and it
is a pleasure and a privileged dev You with us
here once again on the hornetside Cast, brought to you
by SENTA Charlotte, I Hear nos and Throat Associates, the
official I Hear nos and throat Care provider of the
Charlotte Hornets. It's a game to edition. Hornets Tip it
off the final home stand of the twenty four to
(00:36):
twenty five campaign. The host of the Sacramento Kings Tonight,
we'll talk about our players to watch, stats to watch
for tonight's game individually, and then extending to the remainder
of the home stand and the season. Who and what
are the items we're looking for. We're going to focus
on the youngsters as well as some of the elder
statesmen of the franchise. What's at stake. We've detailed a
(00:58):
lot of it, but in case you're just catching up
here for the final home stand of the season, we'll
get you caught up here on the HC helping me
on all these topics. He is the senior writer for
Hornets dot Com and part of every two Sam's edition
of The Hornets. I've cast the great Sam Purley here
with us once again. Sam, thanks for joining me.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
Of course, thank you for having me. I made a
joke with Rob after the Indiana game yesterday that that
was the last thing I did on Wednesday night and
then coming in first thing this morning is meeting with you.
So I don't know if I've ever done that before,
finishing the day doing one podcast with one person, starting
the next day with the podcast with the other one.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
It's the era we're in. It's all podcasting all the time.
That's what we do here. Unfortunately, we're going to run
out of dates for the podcast well, of course, take
a bit of a summer break, but we'll keep everyone
updated as to the draft lottery. Obviously after draft night
we'll have a full breakdown here from the head honchos
of the Hornet's front office about what takes place then,
(01:53):
So make sure you're keeping an eye or an ear
open to the Hornets I've cast throughout the season. As
we get into the final stretch here, there is a
different perspective on how the Hornets are attacking things as
opposed to early in the season. Obviously at the onset,
everyone starts a season with great expectations, at least most
teams do, and the Hornets were no exception. Sadly, injuries
(02:14):
and absences have derailed the team's opportunities and now where
we are, where the team is eliminated from postseason contention.
But there is value in every game, and I wanted
to focus today Sam on what is at stake here
for the young players and what is at stake here
for some of the veteran players who have significant things
(02:35):
in front of them. So I'll let you be the judge.
You want to start with something old or something new.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
Let's start with something new.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Let's start with something new. So in that case, it's
kind of obvious because the rookie class is getting major,
major minutes right now, and when you look at kJ
Simpson's starting games here with LaMelo now being out for
the remainder of the season, just had his surgery the
other day or surgeries, i should say the other day,
(03:03):
and looking forward to speedy recovery for him and him
getting back to work in Earnest here for the summer
very shortly. But when you look at the rookie class overall,
they're getting more opportunities right now and seem to be
taking great advantage of them as well. When you look
in the last fifteen games or so here that'd be
(03:24):
the month of March, month of April, we're seeing a
lot more starts for t Jon Salon and for kJ Simpson,
and a lot more success quite frankly for both of them,
including closing out a win over Utah. So as you
examine them their growth and what you're looking for in
these finals six games of the season and this last
home stand in particular, what catches your eye.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
Yeah, Starting with kJ, It's interesting because the memory that
sticks out to me the most of him this season,
and I think it's one that he kind of discussed.
It was the Hornets are playing at home against Orlando
earlier in the season, maybe like early November or something,
and it was like this first real significant minutes in
the rotation that game came into the first quarter or
second quarter, I think, he admittedly said after the game,
(04:05):
I mean it was a little bit of a little
bit of a deer in a headlights kind of moment.
You know. It just you could just tell everything was
moving really really fast, and that's normal for you know,
an NBA rookie getting his first real regular season you know,
action and playing time against a very good Orlando Magic
team that was, you know, one of the best defensive team.
It's still one of the best defensive teams in the league,
(04:25):
and within a week of that happening, it just felt
like everything slowed down so considerably for kJ And it's
been an interesting rookie season, you know. I think obviously,
I think coming into the year, you expected him to
spend a significant amount of the time in the G League,
which he has, but he's also been in the rotation.
He's starting games now, you know, because of the injuries.
So I've just been so impressed with how he has
(04:46):
handled sort of the ebbs and flows. I Mean, he
goes from you know, starting in the NBA for you know,
maybe a week, and then it's back of the rotation,
then it's on the bench, and then it's in Greensboro,
and then it's this and that, So it hasn't really
been a gradual trajectory throughout the season. It's kind of
been and a little bit all over the place. But
he's handled it very very well. And again I've said
it before, I love the way he competes. He competes
(05:06):
on both ends, defensively, offensively. Even when his shot is
not falling, having a tough time getting points up, He's
finding ways to impact the game. He's a competitor and
he's got it. He's got a nice edge to him
and he saw that a little bit in that Utah
game too, a little bit of you know, can get
under an opponent's skin, which he did with with Keante
George and drew a technical and you know he's drawn
some charges. I mean, I just I think he's exactly
(05:28):
the kind of player that the Hornets spoke about during
the draft process. They loved so much at Colorado, the
competitiveness on both ends. The just plays with a lot
of heart, and it's it's really cool to kind of
see where kJ started the year to where he is now.
You wouldn't expect that it's been only three or four
months and just.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
To jump in here ONKJ, because I think there's some
interesting comparison points. One is, you know, kJ is a
second round pick, if you were to compare him just
in games he starts to another rookie was very highly
acclaimed at least going into his draft year and didn't
end up being a lottery pick. But Isaiah Collier is
someone we just saw with Utah. Has started a lot
of games here for Utah over the course of the season.
(06:11):
One point, very early in the process, was rumored to
potentially be the number one pick in that class. Obviously
drifted a further down. But you look at his numbers
as a rookie, and kJ Simpson compares very favorably. Call
your better assist numbers seven point seven per game as
a starter. This is just starting games. We're gonna throw
out everything where they were reserved because there's such fluctuation
(06:32):
in minutes in so many of those. So just games
where we know they're playing a lot thirty plus minutes
per game. Collier is averaging eleven points and seven assists
per game, Simpsons averaging eleven points and four and a
half assists per game. The difference is in the shooting percentages.
Collier is a sixty nine percent free throw shooter, and
he is a twenty seven percent three point shooter. Simpson's
(06:52):
an eighty three percent free throw shooter and a thirty
six percent three point shooter. So that the areas that
you really focus on for young guards, things that we
think you can teach, but really it becomes evident very
quickly where the floor is for a player and where
they're building from. kJ Simpson's operating from a pretty high floor.
(07:12):
And you compare him head to head with someone who
again is a first round pick and pretty highly acclaimed,
similar size, somewhat similar background. Simpson a little bit older
coming into the NBA, but both coming from formerly packed
twelve schools. I think that's one that really compares favorably
here for kJ Simpson.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
Yeah, and one thing too is, you know, he has
the experience. Like you said, he's a little bit older.
He comes from a winning program too. I mean, took
Colorado to the NCAA tournament last year and obviously hit
that very memorable shot that bounced a couple times on
the rim against Florida in the first round. So yeah,
and that's important. I think it's important you come from
a winning environment. You come from a competitive environment. That
(07:50):
Colorado team put two other guys in the NBA, so
especially coming into the season, I think he knew that
the thing that was sort of attached to him was
his size, and he has used that as motivation, which
I'm sure he's used at every single stop in his
basketball career. That you know he is going to be
I could very easily see him being one of these
guys that you love having on your team because he
(08:11):
just annoys the other team in a really good way, defensively, offensively,
just getting under people's skin, and it's really important to
have that. It is I don't know what exactly you
call that element, if it's just annoyingness or feistiness or
but he hasn't and it's again the competitiveness. You see it,
and that's what I've really enjoyed about watching him play
(08:32):
over this last handful of games since he came back
from the G League.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
Since the start of February, he is averaging ten points
per game and again as a starter as a star,
which is not likely to be his role next year. Okay,
LaMelo Ball is probably going to be the starting point
guard for this team. But just to give you reference
for the number of minutes and the level of players
probably around kJ Simpson in those minutes as well, he's
(08:56):
able to operate very efficiently thirty six percent from three.
The other rookie to talk about is obviously t Jan Salon.
T Jon has been getting more run here. His numbers
don't have as big of a fluctuation from starter to reserve,
which I don't think is a bad thing because most
of the time when he's come in as a reserve,
he's not coming in for just the last two or
(09:17):
three minutes. He comes into those games with a role
in mind, so he's still playing significant time. But the
big jump that we are seeing here over the course
of the last couple of months is a his scoring
average is growing over the course of the season, and
B we're seeing some pretty good blips in a positive
direction in terms of his three point shooting. April. We're
(09:38):
only one game into it, so it's too small sample
size to really take anything away from. But he's coming
off a month of March where he played in ten
games and he had statistically speaking, his best month of
his career seven and a half points, five point seven rebounds,
one point six assists per game, shooting forty nine percent
from the floor forty percent from three. He's not only
making more threes, but he's finishing at a higher rate
(10:00):
and the paint. I think we're seeing a much stronger
version of t John Salon, which should be somewhat expected
because he's nineteen years old. He's growing, literally growing into
his body and growing into the game, but clearly getting
much more comfortable in the NBA and hopefully in these
final six games of the season, April ends up being
an even better month than March.
Speaker 3 (10:21):
Was, for sure, And again if you look at the overall,
you know, you look at the numbers as a whole
in the season, the shooting numbers. Obviously, it was a
little rough to start the year. So what you said,
you want to see progression throughout the year, and if
you watch him play, and again, similar to kJ, I
think he was thrust into a much larger role at
the beginning of the year than maybe the organization was
(10:42):
necessarily expecting. You know, it's one of those things that's okay,
it's your time, time to go, and there's going to
be some growing pains. I think, you know, obviously Grant
Williams got injured I think in mid November. Miles Bridges
was dealing with a knee injury at the time, which
opened up some more minutes at that four and Mark
Williams also still wasn't playing. So yes, I think there
was a little bit of a At times it looked
a little crazy, but there were also times too you're like, Okay,
(11:05):
I get it. He's running up and down the floor,
he's playing hard. You know, maybe it's a little all
over the place, but you're seeing the energy. You're seeing
the competitive competitiveness like with kJ and you're seeing the
especially on the defensive end, he uses his size, he
gets up and down the court quickly, and again went
to the G League for a little bit last month,
(11:26):
and I think he was also deemed with a little
bit of an ankle injury as well. But you can
again see things slowing down a little bit. And one
thing that's really impressed me with Tjon two is I
think at the start of the year he was kind
of resigned to maybe some of the catch and shoot threes,
whether from the corners. You're seeing a little bit more
of creating off the dribble, creating isolation for himself. I
(11:47):
mean his legs are you know, his strides are so
big that he can create space. You know, the ball
handlings gotten a little bit better. I think that's something
that will you know, obviously be an area, a focal
area this summer. Just tightening it up just a little
bit and be getting the catch and shoot threes off
just a little bit quicker before some of those close out.
But you're seeing the progress. And again, like you said,
he's nineteen years old. I like to think of it
(12:08):
this way as nineteen. In three years, he's going to
be twenty two, which is still very young in the NBA.
I mean there's guys that are gonna be you know,
high draft picks in the upcoming NBA draft that are
twenty two years old, and he's going to be twenty
two in three years. So again, like you said, creating
a little bit more off the drill or driving finishing
at the rim, it's gonna come around again. It looks
a little raw right now, but there's less rawness as
(12:30):
the season goes on and you're seeing more and more
of those moments where you're like, Okay, I think we
might have something here.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
We'll take a look at t Jon Salon kJ Simpson
for these final few remaining games, including tonight against the
Sacramento Kings. Tiptime set for seven pm, and we'll have
our game preview coming up in just a little bit.
Next though, there's a couple of veterans aiming for big
time statistical accomplishments. We will break those down for you
next Here on the Hornets, I've cast Sam Farber Sam
(13:00):
Early here with you on the AHHC the Hornet Time Cast,
brought to you by SENTA. All Right, we talked about
the youngsters, the rookies, what we're looking for for them
for the final six games of the season. There are
always things to watch for in each and every NBA game.
You never know when something unique and amazing's gonna happen, Like,
for instance, the other day, Seth Curry inbounding to Mark
Williams with point two on the shot clock. That is
(13:21):
considered a hand grenade. No one ever executes that one.
The Hornets did. Seth Curry high lob Mark Williams using
that wing span tapping it in. Those are kinds of
moments you never know when if they're going to occur,
and that's why it's always worthwhile to go see an
NBA game, But there are some accomplishments that you can
anticipate to a certain extent, and there's two on the
table right now for the Horns that we wanted to
(13:43):
dig into. We've been monitoring Seth Curry for a while.
He has been around the upper levels of the NBA
in terms of three point percentage for the majority of
the season, and it's all been about how many games
has he played as of late, does he have enough
made threes one per game on average to qualify in
(14:05):
that particular moment for the title, and where is he
shooting so overall right now, he is at forty four
point nine percent from three, and he has made seventy
five threes in seventy six games, So statistically speaking, he
does not qualify. Now, that's seventy six games for the team.
It's not for him important to note, and I'll tell
you why in a moment here, but seventy five threes
in seventy six games for the team. So he has
(14:26):
not applied to the leaderboard. If he was on it,
he would be in second right now, right behind Torrean Prince,
who was already qualified. He's made more than eighty two three,
so he doesn't have to attempt another shot from distance,
and he would be right now the winner at forty
five percent. So not only does Seth Curry need to
make one more three than one per game from here
(14:47):
on out, hopefully that makes sense, but he's got to
do so at a better than forty five percent clip
or he's not going to pass Torrian Prince. That is
what's at stake here in these finals six games. We're
just going to kind of handicap this one. Sam. I
think he gets there because the Hornets are starting Seth Curry.
They seem to be aware of what's at stake for him.
(15:08):
They seem to want it. He has had, for the
most part, a really good run as a starter for
the Charlotte Hornets. He's averaging more than two may threes
per game. He's shooting forty seven percent from three in
those games. He is a veteran player, he is a Curry.
He is used to pressure. I don't think he is
going to have this moment overwhelm him. I think if
(15:31):
he gets the appropriate number of attempts, and to his credit,
he's not forcing them. He's taking shots that are in
rhythm that are good looks for him. But if he
gets the shot attempts, he should be able to do
this for sure.
Speaker 3 (15:41):
And that one he hit in Indiana, I think it
was his second, the left one in the left corner
where he had just about I don't know, virtually no room.
I mean, it never ceases to amaze me how they
can get those shots off and like it's nothing. So yeah,
I think he is. I think he spoke a little
bit about it after shoot around a few weeks ago
when he had I think he was coming off like
(16:02):
a four or five three pointer game and vaulted him
into the league lead at the time. So he is
cognizant of it. But you know, a seasoned veteran, you know,
knowing Seth that he's not going to be going out
and forcing shots, I mean and taking bad shots. He's
going to take the right shots and play in the
flow of the game, and you know, if it happens,
it happens. But it's certainly something that is I think
(16:23):
he's cognizant of, but not something that he would ever,
you know, and none of these guys would would you know,
take away from the team. You know, if the right
open shot is there, he's going to take it. If
it's not, you know, he'll pass to somebody else. So yeah,
I'm excited. And especially two with the Kings coming into town.
They have two guys that are kind of lurking right
behind Seth I think in third and fourth with Zach
(16:44):
Lavine and Kean Ellis. So I'll be interested. I might
start watching a little bit of these other guys mix. Okay,
you know, tune into the Kings game, see if they
can start missing some threes and Tory and Prince can
miss some threes and maybe Luke Canard as well.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
The other stat to watch for right now is the
pursuit of a thous career games for Taj Gibbson. And
I want to put this in a little bit of
perspective now, not on the podcast, but Rob and I
have had this debate quite a bit, and Eric Collins
kind of sparked it. But I'm just gonna ask you
this question, Yes or no? Should ABA stats count on
the NBA record book as a general concept, Sam.
Speaker 3 (17:17):
Purley, you mean to like combine them like if you
played in both leagues. It's a great question. I haven't
really thought about that. I would say no.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
I'm with you. I think the answer is no. I
think they shouldn't count, But I do think from the
perspective of games played, it's worth including because if you
play in that many games, you definitely played in both.
The ABA wasn't around long enough for someone to play
only in a thousand games in the ABA, so you
had a lengthy NBA career as well as some time
(17:44):
in the ABA, and putting them together maybe puts into
clearer perspective how many games you played. So the reason
I'm bringing it up is because according to the stats
I can see in the history of the NBA right now,
one hundred and fifty one players have played a thousand
or more NBA games, including Glenn Rice, who played exactly
a thousand games. Talked to Thera Collins about this accounte
when a couple of days ago on the podcast the
(18:05):
Preview for Indiana. Can hear his thoughts on talking to
Glenn Rice about, Hey, how did you play in exactly
a thousand career games? Complete coincidence apparently in any case
for the ABA, if you include those guys in, you
chip in players like Rick Berry, for instance, who made it.
If you tack on his ABA games as well, but
it's only one hundred and fifty nine, so TODJ. Gibson
(18:26):
would be the one hundred and sixtieth person to do,
so he's not going to be able to do it
at home. He unfortunately was ill in Indiana. Had he
been healthy, probably would have played him because it would
have set things up for Tod Gibson's one thousandth game
to be on the final home game of the season.
But that puts it in a little bit of perspective.
Sixteen current players have played in a thousand or more
(18:48):
career games. Most of them are legends there Lebron, James
Chris Paul Russell Westbrook, Guys like Demarta Rosen who've been
to multiple All Star Games, Kyle Lowry, Mike Conley, James
hard and Al Horfore, Kevin Durant, de Andre Jordan Brook, Lopez,
Drew Holliday, Steph Curry's played in a thousand games, so
you don't get to this stature on accident. Most of
(19:11):
these guys are multiple times over All Stars, prominent players,
and Todd Gibson was for a very long time just
that for playoff teams has now taken more of a
veteran leadership role, but he so long as he's healthy,
seems like the team is aware of it wants to
get him there. Unfortunate won't happen at home, but that's
something certainly to watch for here in these final six
(19:31):
games of the season.
Speaker 3 (19:32):
Thousand is a big number and to thinking. And I
was looking at those leader boards too, and I the
one that first caught my eye was the one sixty
one or where he ranks all time in NBA slash
ABA games played. But I might have to circle back
on the next podcast. The more I think about it,
you kind of caught me on the spot, But yeah,
and it's I also looked up to in his draft
class in two thousand and nine draft class or players
(19:54):
that made their NBA debut in two thousand and nine,
he would be the fifth behind mar De Roz and
James Harden, Drew Holliday, and Steph Curry for of whom,
as you will appreciate former Pac ten guys at the
time that probably competed against each other. So it's a
testament too. And again we you know, kind of just
seeing him for this loan season, but you know, he's
been a mainstay in the league for a long, long
(20:14):
time was on some really really good Chicago Bulls teams.
I think it wrote downe. He also has seventy one
career playoff games as well, with four different teams. And again,
you don't get to this point of your career by accident.
You keep yourself in phenomenal shape. You're a great competitor,
Guys listen to you, and you are a just sensational teammate.
I mean, there's a reason he's still in the league
(20:35):
at you know, age thirty eight, thirty nine, third oldest
player in the league. It's because he can still compete
and he can still provide a tremendous amount of guidance
and wisdom to some of the younger players in the
locker room. So it's been awesome to see Taj because
you can tell how much respect he Garners and hearing
from other teams and players throughout the league. It's the
same as well.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
And for the record, I hope this isn't the last season.
I hope he's got many more years. But it'd be
fun to celebrate a thousand games and then get him
back out there on the floor next season. But we'll
see how things go. Hopefully he is available to play
tonight against Sacramento and ready to go and hopefully lead
the Hornets to win over the Kings. We're gonna preview
the contest next, Hornets Kings tipping Off, the final home
(21:15):
stand of the twenty four to twenty five season. Game
preview coming up next. Here on the Hornet SIVE Cast,
Sam Farber, Sam Parley, here with you on the AHHC
The Hornet SIBE Cast, brought to you by Santa all Right, Sam,
you know how these things work. We need players to
watch in a stat to watch other than points, because
that's cheating. Obviously, whoever scores the most points wins the game.
Just some context for you. Charlotte nineteen and fifty seven
(21:37):
long eliminated now from postseason contention, seems solidly locked in
as the third worst record in the NBA. So anyone
who's a conspiracy theorist out there thinking, oh, you gotta
lose so many, you know what? Enough already Charlotte is
pretty well deep in the standings at the third worst record.
Bottom three teams have flattened odds, so the chances of
(22:00):
moving up in the draft don't really change in terms
of getting the number one pick. Based on losing any
more fourth worst record as the New Orleans Pelicans, who
are two wins ahead of Charlotte. Hopefully all that makes sense.
The game that has more ramifications for the postseason. From
the Sacramento perspective, they are just a game ahead of
the Phoenix Suns. Neither team is playing very well. Sacramento
(22:22):
just lost to Washington the other day, so the Kings
could very easily fall out of a play in tournament spot.
And they've invested a lot to get this team to
a playoff level. They've got some bonus over there. They've
got Deroz and they've got Levine. They were not expecting
to fall off this much right now. Dallas kind of
surging with the return of Anthony Davis, and Sacramento has
(22:42):
the threat of a Phoenix team that could still be
dangerous in the postseason if they're able to get there,
lurking right behind them. So Kings should be motivated tonight,
Sam Purley, where do you want to begin, Hornet king
or stat to watch?
Speaker 3 (22:54):
I will go Hornet to watch, my hornet to watch.
We talked them a little bit earlier. Is kJ Simpson
last five games, he is averaging nine point eight points
shooting thirty six percent thirty two percent from three again
a little bit lower, but making up for almost four rebounds,
over three assists, one steal, and half a block as well.
(23:15):
And what's also impressed me too is, you know, this
is a big role. He's really kind of you know,
he's played over thirty minutes the last three games. He
played the fourth entire fourth quarter of both the last
two games. Only one point six turnovers to three point
four assists. I think you'll take that just for rookie
point guards. It's it's a unforgiving learning curve sometimes. But
you know, again, I've really one thing that's really impressed
(23:37):
me in particular during this stretch and went up and
just looked at it real quick, is some good finishing
at the rim right now. During this five game stretch,
he is eight of fourteen in the restricted area fifty
seven percent. That's a pretty high number for a drive
first point guard, you know, caliber kind of player. So
again we spoken about kJ earlier, Love his competitiveness, Love
the growth he's made. Even though the efficiency is a
(23:58):
little low. You watch him play and you're like, he's
taking good shots. You know, it's nothing's being forced He's
not trying to go out there and score fifteen or
twenty points a game and carry the team offensively. Goes
out and makes the right plays, and at this point
that's more than enough that you can ask for right now.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
I like the pick. I like the focus on kJ Simpson.
I think he's been a really good. Part of me
wants to just take Tejon here and wrap up the
rookie class. But I'm going to be selfish, samp Early,
I'm gonna be selfish. I want to see history. I
want to see something that's never happened for a Curry
in the city of Charlotte before, and that is leading
the league in three point percentage, and I want it
to happen here in front of our home fans. So
(24:33):
I'm going with Seth Curry as my player to watch,
and just for some context here while we're focused on
he needs one three per game, one three per game,
so just making two in a game would give everyone
a lot of comfort. I wanted to happen at home.
Could it happen at home? He needs seven threes in
a three game span. If you look back to early
in the season when he was starting for Charlotte, out
of the gates. This is when Brandon Miller got hurt.
(24:54):
He did do just that. He started four consecutive games
and in a row at home, and in that span
he made in the four games a total of nine threes,
so on average, he got to that threshold. Lately he
has started back to back games. I see no reason,
given some of the injuries the team is dealing with,
(25:15):
why he wouldn't get more starts or at least starter
quality minutes out there. So I want to see it happen.
I want to see a two to three, maybe a
five to three game here tonight again Sacramento. Let's get
things a little bit closer and see him chase it
down here at the Hive. How about that next up
King to Watch or stat to watch.
Speaker 3 (25:32):
I'm gonna go king to watch. And it's a little
bit of a piggyback off the three point percentage title.
Chase it's Keon Ellis through Wednesday night. They are they
coming off a loss to the Wizards. That he is
now fourth in the NBA and three point percentage at
forty three point two percent. Zach Lavine is also at
forty three point two percent. He must have been one
hundredth or so ahead, but he's actually in third. Keon
Ellis recently had a four game stretch of fourteen points
(25:54):
with shooting really really well, four and a half rebounds,
four point, zero assists and three steals between March twenty
second in twenty seventh, which were all starts. Since then,
falling off just a little bit, he's had a rough
three games five point five points and shooting forty four percent,
which is decent, but he's only taken nine shots in
his two of six from three. Overall, very good defensive
point guard, very good story too. I think he was
(26:15):
undrafted and it's kind of worked his way up. He
started at a junior college, went to Alabama, and has worked
his way up to being a very good rotational player.
Does again similar to kJ Simpson. He doesn't score a
lot right now, but he's very competitive, especially at the
defensive end. He's taken on a lot more role or
a heightened role with the darn Fox tray that happened
a couple months ago, and you know, he's a guy.
(26:36):
I think it's a really interesting matchup between kJ and
keon their competitiveness, the defensive intangibles, things like that. So
I'm expecting and it'll be again interesting too to see Keon.
There will be part of me that says, oh, he's
taken a three and he misses. Okay, that's you know,
write that one down. That's good. So just gives a
little bit more of a game within the game with
him being right there that three point percentage title Chase
(26:56):
as well.
Speaker 2 (26:57):
I like the pick, as you mentioned though, coming off
a bit of a stinker early. Biby part of the
reason why the Kings lost to the Wizards. He did
not shoot the ball well from three or from anywhere.
My player to watch this is somewhat out of selfishness.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
Again.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
Jonas Valentiunis, he's the center off the bench right now
for Sacramento. He has long been a hornet killer. He
just has these enormous games. Orange, especially when they had
injuries at the center spot, did not match up well
with this guy. And now with Nurkic on the roster,
with Mark Williams healthy and playing well, I think they do.
(27:28):
So I'm looking at this as a test case where
has Charlotte shown some growth. Valentiunis is the prototype of
kind of random but maybe you know, standard NBA center,
big body back to the basket, gets a ton of
offensive rebounds and putbacks who has just crushed the team
in previous seasons. I think Charlotte's center death is as
strong now as it has been the entire time I've
(27:50):
been here, going back in the entire five seasons. Now,
I want to see where the growth is and limiting
Valentiunis would be a real positive sign to me that
the Orients have the right mix of centers available to them, who,
by the way, are all under contract for next season
as well. Last, but not least, we need a stat
to watch.
Speaker 3 (28:08):
I think no matter what team Yonas Valanciunas is on,
he is always going to be your opposing player to
watch podcasts. It seems like regardless if he's on the Wizards, Pelicans, Grizzlies, Raptors,
he's always going to be your guy because you're right,
he is. He's always been. It seems like he's one
of these guys it's going to play forever because he's
just strong and physical and his game's gotten a lot better.
He's you know, shooting threes and become a thread on
(28:30):
that end.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
So there's going to be a preseason game one year
against AC Milan. He's going to be forty nine years
old player to watch.
Speaker 3 (28:38):
My stat to watching it is going to be three
point shooting, kind of going in line with what we've
just been talking about. Kings are eleventh in the NBA
and three point percentage since Zach Lavine's team debut on
February fifth at just under thirty seven percent. I think
they were seventh before that Wizard's game, uh, and they
fell a few spots. Credit the additional Levine He's He's
also been a hornet killer at times, particularly one memorable
(28:59):
or infamously unmemorable game in November of twenty nineteen when
he was in Chicago here at the Spectrum Center. He's
done really well with the shot making to open things
up a little bit. I also think the subtraction of
Kevin Herder and Darn Fox, who have had some really
good years in Sacramento, but they were really struggling from
three point range. This year, they've moved on and it's
kind of helped everything. Keegan Murray is shooting really well too.
(29:20):
He's at forty percent since the start of February. The
King's three point shooting has really opened up a little
bit with the addition of Levigne, kind of moving on
from some guys that weren't shooting so well from three
point range, and again, Keegan Murray's playing a lot better too.
Before they got Levin. The Kings are twenty fourth in
the NBA and three point percentage again now they're eleventh
cents February fifth, So that is the stat I'm looking
(29:41):
forward to tonight.
Speaker 2 (29:43):
I am kind of a similar wavelength, but I'm looking
at it from a much more personally selfish perspective. I'm
looking at paint touches. Seth Curry's best three point options
tend to be on driving kicks. To suck that defender
away from Seth, you got to get pressure on the rim.
Charlotte's been pretty good at that, especially with Miles Bridges
and some other guys attacking the basket. I think they've
(30:03):
had more success at that opening Seth Curry up for
his best look. So I'm looking at paint touches. Also
significant because as you mentioned, Sacramento has got a lot
of guys who score great from the mid range to
Marta Rozen or have excellent paint presence in sabonisvalancew this
so if the Horns are gonna win the game, they
gotta limit that quite a bit from Sacramento. But also
for me, I don't want to say the team could
(30:25):
lose one hundred and twenty to twelve and I'd be
okay with it if the twelve was all seth Curry threes.
But if there was ever a time wer that might
be the case. This would be because I want the record,
I want set to get this at home, and I
think it's possibly on the line. We'll see if it happens,
if the Horns climb a little closer here tonight. However
it turns out, Sam Perli will have the right up
for you tomorrow on Hornets dot com. Sam, thanks for
(30:46):
joining me here today on the HC.
Speaker 3 (30:47):
Thank you so much for having me in real quick.
One last stat. The road team is four and one
in the last five meetings between the Kings and Hornets,
so hopefully.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
Not a great stat, Sam, Thanks, no, but.
Speaker 3 (30:57):
It's something so the Hornets. Actually, I'll take that away.
Let me start again.
Speaker 2 (31:02):
No, no, it's too late. It's in the pod now.
Speaker 1 (31:05):
Now.
Speaker 2 (31:05):
We'll see how it turns out. But obviously, as always,
things to watch for here in the tail end of
the season.
Speaker 3 (31:11):
Yes, a trend that they can hopefully buck. How about that?
Speaker 2 (31:14):
I like that one. Thanks to Sam Perley for joining
me in studio. Thanks for our producer, Rob Blanca for
putting this podcast together. Most of all, to all of
you for tuning in. For everyone here, I'm Sam Farber
saying it's been a pleasure of privilege having you along.
We'll talk to you next time right here on the
Hornets Hoodcast.
Speaker 1 (31:27):
Thank you for listening to The Hornets Podcast, brought to
you by Santa, the official i ear nosen throad care
provider of the Charlotte Hornets. For more coverage, visit Hornets
dot com.
Hosts And Creators
Sam Farber
Rob Longo
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