April 5, 2025 • 28 mins
The Hornets final homestand of the 24/25 season is underway. Sam Farber and Rob Longo bread down Friday's matchup against Sacramento and preview Sunday's vs. Chicago.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the Hornets Hoivecast, presented by Charlotte I ear
nosen Throat Associates, the official I ear nos in throat
care provider of the Charlotte Hornets. Here's your host, Sam Farber.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Welcome to another edition of the Hornet Time Cast, your
Hornets podcast with all the notes, quote, san daily buzz
around your favorite NBA team. I'm Sam Farber and it
is a pleasure and a privilege heavy with us here
once again on the Hornet timee Cast, brought to you
by Santa Charlotte I ear Nose and Thrown Associates, the
official I ear nos and throatcare provider of the Charlotte Hornets.
It is a silver Linings edition as well as a
(00:34):
game day edition of the HC. We are going to
be previewing the Sunday matinee against the Chicago Bulls. That'll
be segment three here on the Hornets Tie Cast, but
through the first couple of sessions, we're gonna talk about
the loss to open up the final homestand of the
twenty four to twenty five season, a one to twenty
five one oh two defeat to the Sacramento Kings. Helping
(00:57):
me on all these topics. He's my producer on the
Hornets Radio Network as well as the producer of this
fine podcast.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
Rob Longo.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Here with me once again, Rob. The game started somewhat
promisingly for Charlotte. They had an early lead. The first
bucket goes to Seth. Curry grabbed the opening rebound coast
to coast for the lay in. Charlotte eventually built up
a twelve to six advantage, but it did not last long.
They were outscored twenty to six to end the first
quarter and the Kings just kind of piled on from there.
(01:25):
Played what I would turn to be a big stack poker,
just kind of leaning on the short stacks until things
toppled over. A lot of it was based off availability Sacramento,
even though they have been struggling overall. They had lost
seven of their last eight going into the game on
Friday night, they had all their guys there ready to go.
(01:46):
DeMar DeRozan, who is a potential future Hall of Famer.
He had twenty two demonas Sabonis should be like a
six time All Star at this point, he hasn't made
it the last couple of seasons. Maybe the biggest snub
in the NBA twenty four points eleven rebounds, Zach Love
at the peak of his powers, goes for twenty five
points and ten boards, and they have a slew of
really good players coming off the bench like Trey Lyles
(02:08):
and Malik Monk and Yonis Valanciunas. Too much for the
Hornets to overcome. Considering in addition to the long term
injuries of Brandon Miller and LaMelo Ball and Grant Williams
and Trey Mann, Charlotte also dealing with the absences of
Josh Green, Mark Williams, Nick Smith Junior Damian Baw It's
(02:28):
a lot to overcome, and the Hornets to win that
one probably needed a lot, not everything, but a lot
to go right.
Speaker 3 (02:37):
And it just didn't happen for Charlotte.
Speaker 4 (02:39):
Yeah, and I mean this Sacramento team's very good too.
I mean, you look at their record and they're thirty
seven and forty and it doesn't look very impressive. But again,
the West is very stacked and they're kind of fighting
for their playing tournament lives right now. There's still a
chance that they don't make the play in tournament depending
on how the chips fall. So Sacramento basically had all
the motivation in the world to play in this one,
and I'm not saying the Hornets didn't. But the Hornets,
(02:59):
of course, are eliminated from playoff contention, and a lot
of these guys are trying to figure out some things
and make sure that they can get some stuff on
tape so they can go into the offseason on knowing
what they need to improve on. And again, you're starting
five yesterday's kJ Simpson, Seth Curry, Dawan, Jefferies, Miles Bridges
in use of Nurkage. So it's a solid starting five
considering that the Hornets have had to deal with so
(03:21):
many injuries and absences this season. But again, just a
couple of spells in there that the Hornets did not
have the ability to score. I mean, you talked about
that twenty to six run the Sacramento went in the
final six minutes and fifty four seconds of the first quarter,
and there was a span of about a little bit
over three minutes where the Hornets didn't score a point
at all between the first quarter and the second quarter,
(03:41):
and that just was kind of them of the night
a little bit, I think, and that just kind of
spiraled into a bigger deficit, and again the Hornets fell
or the Hornets ended up being down as many as
nineteen there in that first half, trailed by nineteen after
the first half, and again it was just like you said,
big stack poker. I think that's a really good analogy,
because Sackero was able to outscore the Hornets by three,
(04:02):
four or five points in the third quarter, But after
you already amassed such a big lead, you don't really
need to have your foot on the gas pedal for
the majority of the second half. So again, this is
a very long road trip here for Sacramento. They still
have to go play three and four nights and go
to Cleveland and go to Detroit, which is some very
difficult games to play, and those are both on back
to the back, so you know, they were trying to
get as much as they can out of this one
(04:23):
early on to put it away so they can maybe
get a little bit of rest, and you know they're
obviously looking for higher aspirations. So again it's one of
those things, like you said, I think it's just a
lot of firepower to overcome here, and the Hornets just
didn't have the availability for this one. Yesterday at Spectrum.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
Center mission accomplished for the Kings.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
I think it does provide a blueprint for the future
for the Hornets. I think, you know, you can look
at this Sacramento roster and there's a lot of stars,
there's a lot of veterans, so also a lot of
role players who don't look too dissimilar from guys currently
on the Hornets roster developing. And it does lead you
to think, if the Charlotte Hornets had the same kind
of health the Kings do right now, might the Hornets
(05:01):
be able to exploit some of those advantages. I mean,
LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller, Mark Williams, those three not being available,
Grant Williams, Trainman, Nick Smith, JN goes on and on
and on. It creates a real deficit to the point
that you have to have so much more go right
and so little can go wrong to be able to
(05:23):
capitalize on these situations for the Kings. You know, DeRozan, Sabonis,
Levigne all going for twenty is going to be a
recipe for success on most nights against most teams. But
considering the amount of injuries the Horns were facing the
other night, just was not meant to be that said,
there are always silver linings, and there's a really good
few of.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
Them from the game.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
To open up the final homestand not the least, the
NBA debut of Jalen Simms, a native of Charlotte, he
had his first ever NBA game. We'll talk about that. Also,
there was a double double for Mussa Diabate, Miles Bridges
goes for twenty once again, Seth Curry continues his pursuit
of eighty two threes to qualify for the three point
(06:05):
percentage lead, and Taj Gibson continues his pursuit of one
thousand career NBA game. So lots to pick for silver linings.
We'll do that next. Here on the Hornets ipe cast,
Sam farbar Rod Longo here with you on the AHHC
The Hornets type cast, brought to you by Santa. The
Hornets continue the home stand. Depending on when you're listening
(06:27):
to this podcast today tomorrow Sunday, April sixth, Hornets are
going to take on the Chicago Bulls. It's a one
pm tip time from Spectrum Center and afterwards we're all
going out for Rob Longo's birthday.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
Yeah, buddy, Happy birthday.
Speaker 4 (06:40):
Twenty one again, Yeah, twenty again, emphasis on you again,
Thank you, I appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
We are looking forward to celebrating with you. Hopefully it's
a w to come on out and join the Longo
birthday party.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
Tickets are available at hornets dot com. Nice them to
sell tickets for your birthday as well.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Rob Hornets took the l against the Sacramento Kings, final
score one twenty five to one oh two.
Speaker 3 (06:59):
Got give credit where it's due.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Tomar de Rosen tremendous twenty two points, nine of ten
from the foul line, twenty four points and eleven boards,
as well as a game high seven assists for Demonis
Sabonis looking as dominant as ever, twenty five points, ten
rebounds for Zach Levine seemed to have his all start
form the other day, but Charlotte, despite being shorthanded, plenty
of silver Linings performances to select from. Rob Longo the
(07:24):
soon to be birthday boy, you get to pick first.
Speaker 4 (07:26):
You're gonna hand this up for a while, aren't you.
For the next twenty minutes of the podcast, I guess well,
I mean yeah, I mean there's Miles Bridges had a
team high twenty two in a game. Yes, the other
night against the Kings. But I think my guy coming
off the bench silver lining wise, is gonna be Mussa.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
The abte rebound kJ Simpson, Simpson will push the pace,
Simpson live inside diabatee for the doctor Pepper dunk USI
diabate now with ten off the bench, third hornet to
double figures.
Speaker 4 (07:53):
A solid double double for Mousy. You look at the
numbers twenty three minutes played. He goes for fifteen points,
eleven rebounds, six to nine from the field. Pretty efficient there,
three or four from the free throw line as well,
which is a very good improvement from where he was
free throw percentage wise at the beginning of the season.
I don't want to say he's kind of been the
forgotten guy here as of late, but because of everything
that transpired around the trade deadline with Mark Williams and
(08:15):
use of Nurkid entering the fold, I feel like Musa
gets a little bit overshadowed sometimes and it's just the
way that the rotations work out or anything like that. Granted,
obviously still earned that full time deal coming off the
two way to a full time contract, and he's still
very much worthy of it, and I think that This
is just one of those games where this is a
reminder of what Musa di Abatte can be and where
he can play. And I love what Charles Lee has
(08:37):
been doing the last couple of games too, playing with
multiple bigs out there on the floor. It's a copycat league,
and Cleveland's done a really good job with Evan Mobley
and Jared Allen playing some twin tower action. And now
you're starting to see that a little bit here for
the Hornets. No Mark Williams yesterday, but you saw use
of Nurkic and mussid'abatte out there on the floor at
the same time we saw todsh Gibson and Musid'abatte out
there on the floor a couple times as well. So
(08:59):
there's opportunities here the mix and match a little bit.
And maybe because Musa is so young, maybe you mold
him into a four a little bit more. I mean,
he can be versatile, he can play small ball five,
and that's why he's done a really good job of
this season. But maybe there's an opportunity for him to
play the four as well. So I like what Moosa
has been able to do in terms of just going
with the flow, for lack of a better term, being
able to play the four, play the five, and being
(09:21):
able to still be a fishing out there. And yesterday
was a good reminder of that.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
Yeah, I like the pick and I like the perspective
on it too, because I remember covering the G League
and listening to coaches talk about what your goals are,
and clearly you know you want to win games and
you want to put numbers on the board and show
people what you're capable of.
Speaker 5 (09:39):
It.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
Really, you're looking to audition, for lack of a better word,
for a role.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
You're looking to show coaches and front office members that
you can do X at the higher level. And the
likelihood is that isn't going to be score twenty five
points per game because that guy exists already in the
NBA Moose the Abade is not likely going to be
the starting center opening night next season for the Charlotte Hornets,
(10:06):
but he can be that second big in a Twin
Towers formation. He can be that big time energy guy
off the bench. And so to me, while I understand
what you're saying about, like you know, the trades and
the organization of the center position has maybe taken away
an opportunity that Mussa the Abade had early in the
(10:27):
season when all the centers were out due to injury,
and that opened things up for him to prove himself,
play a ton of games and get this full time contract.
The reality is, if Charlotte ends up in the same
situation again next year, that's not a good thing. Charlotte
wants to have a situation where they are at full health,
and Musa wants to find the scenario within that that
he plays the most. And that's the one that's reflected
(10:50):
on the opportunity in front of him now, which is
come off the bench, bring that energy. It's hard to
get a double double in the NBA. It's twice as
hard to do it, if not ten times, it is
hard to do it off the So for Musa to
take advantage of these opportunities playing alongside Nurkic, Mark Williams
when healthy, all those guys, that is a significant thing and.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
Could bode well for his future to come.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
Speaking of the Glague, well, first, some cap tips here
for me. One significant one Miles Bridges. He finishes with
twenty two points. Not an easy shooting day. A lot
of the defensive attention was on him, but still found
a way to get to twenty his thirty sixth time
this year scoring twenty or more.
Speaker 3 (11:29):
Why is that significant?
Speaker 2 (11:30):
He has now claimed the lead for the most twenty
point games for the Charlotte Hornets. Congrats to him for that.
Also as proof that I'm a nerd and track absolutely everything,
he had two turnovers in the loss to the Sacramento Kings.
That takes him to six hundred and seventy puts him
tenth in Hornets franchise history. I know the stat you
(11:50):
all wanted, Nicholas Batoum. He's on a few Hornets Franchise
top ten lists, but he's not on this one anymore.
He has been bumped off the top ten for career turnover.
I always say stats like these that might have a
negative connotation, it's a positive because you don't get that
high on the board unless you play long enough to
accumulate them. For instance, no one has more turnovers in
(12:12):
the history of the game than Lebron James. I don't
think anyone's going to hold that against him. So a
badge of honor, so to speak, for Miles Bridges here.
Congrats to him though on another twenty point performance, the
more notable of the two accomplishments. But my silver lining
selection is going to be a guy who made his
debut and a great story for the Hornets franchise and
(12:33):
the city itself. That's Jalen Sims. Simms is a Charlotte native.
Played his high school ball at United Faith Christian Academy
Go Falcons, went to UNC Wilmington. From there, played in
the G League for multiple seasons with the Greensboro Swarm.
He is the swarm all time scoring leader, led that
franchise to its first ever playoff berth this year. Sadly
(12:53):
they were one and done, but his season was not over.
Signs a ten day contract, makes his debut in his
hometown and watching him out there after the game interacting
with family, I asked him what it was like.
Speaker 3 (13:06):
Afterwards, he said, it's surreal. I said, it's only the.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
Beginning, buddy, and I hope it is because this is
a guy who has really worked hard for this chance,
and I think he did a pretty good job of
filling the role that maybe is a possibility for him
in the future. Can you come in off the bench,
bring a spark, knockdown free throws, he hit a three
point shot, be a pretty good defender out there. He
(13:30):
did all those things. Seven points in his debut, four assists,
tied for the team high, had a rebound, four for
four from the foul line. So he's perfect on his career,
a great, great debut. After the game, Hornet said coach
Charles Lee had this to say about his newcomer to
the Hornets roster, Jalen Simms.
Speaker 5 (13:50):
Very impressed with what Jalen gave us today. Not really
surprised because it's how he plays in the G League.
Just an overall great competitor and team guy. But I
saw a guy defensively that had a pretty good grasp
on who he was guarding and understanding tendencies and who
he can shift off of, who he can go under
or who he needs to.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
Go over on.
Speaker 5 (14:09):
I also just saw offensively, you know, there was a
close out situation versus I think it was McDermott, and
I mean he caught it on the wing and he
just drove it with a fearlessness, with a purpose and
got himself to the free throw line. So he's just
got a knack on that offensive side of the ball
of how he can be effective There you.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
Go, Hornet, said coach Charles Lee on Jalen Simms. Congrats
to him on his debut, to his family, to his friends.
He had a large rooting contingent out there for his
first ever NBA game, and I suspect they'll be back
again for a Sunday matinee against.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
The Chicago Bulls.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
We'll preview that one for you next here on the
Hornet Toodcast. Sam Farbara, Rob Longo here with you on
the AHHC The Hornet Tide Cast, brought to you by Santa.
The Hornets taking on the Chicago Bulls. And it's his birthday,
so I'll let him say it, the penultimate home game
of the say it was some excitement.
Speaker 3 (15:02):
Rob Longe, there it is, all right, Horne.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
It's taken on the Chicago Bulls, the penultimate. You know,
before I met you, I didn't know what that word was.
Speaker 4 (15:09):
I'd never heard it before, so it was this is
actually funny, quick aside, real quick. Yes, I said it
on the broadcast Friday, I said, this will be the
penultimate home game.
Speaker 3 (15:16):
And Willie p.
Speaker 4 (15:17):
Will Pologic our good friend at Sports Radio FNZ sits
next to me for the postgame show. So he can
do the stuff on the flagship, and he goes how
much and who paid you how much to say the
word penultimate. So it's a funny story real quick. It
goes back to when I was no, no, no, I wish
I wish, I wish I got royalties on it. But
going back to college are my professor and the broadcasting
(15:37):
lecture that I would go to, he would always have
a word of the day, and one of the words
of the day was penultimate, and then he would quiz
you at the end of the semester that was part
of your midterm. And I would use it on a
broadcast and one of my journalism friends that writes and
he would go, no, one says that word. So now
it's almost like a I told you so kind of thing.
So every time I see the word penultimate, I send
it to him, or when I say it, I send
it to him. So this one's definitely going to go
(15:59):
on the clips. So you can get a little annoyed by.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
Me, and we'll have a generation of Hornets fans who
have that as a part of itimate. There you go,
they'll have that part of their vocabulary from from here
on out. Well, the Hornets, in their penultimate home game
of the season, will take on the Chicago Bulls. Hornets
a chance to split the season series against Chicago. Hornets
got them earlier in the campaign, and we'll see if
(16:22):
Charlotte can make it two in a row. They won
the game that was added to the calendar because the
Hornets did not advance in the play in tournament. This
one has the potential to have some implications. On the
one hand, Charlotte has already eliminated from postseason contention, but
on the other you can split the season series with Chicago,
(16:43):
So that's a sign of progress here against a Bulls
team that has quite frankly, had the upper hand in
the overall head to head series for the last couple
of seasons. For Chicago, they're currently just a hair ahead
of Miami or right neck and neck quite frankly with
Miami for ninth in the Eastern Conference. That would mean
(17:05):
home court advantage in the first game of the play
in Tournament. They also still have an opportunity to move
as high as seventh in the East, which would give
them home court advantage in the playing tournament and also
the benefit of having to win just one out of
two games rather than having to win two in a
row to advance into the main bracket.
Speaker 3 (17:23):
So a lot at stake for Chicago.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
They're coming off a win over Portland on Friday one,
eighteen to one thirteen was the final score. Rob b
Longo his game preview time for your birthday. You get
to pick first player to watch, stat to watch, Hornet
to watch.
Speaker 3 (17:39):
Where do you want to begin?
Speaker 4 (17:40):
Let's go ahead with a Chicago player to watch. By
the way, two, Chicago's now won six of its last
eight games, So the Bulls are pretty hot as of late.
And nobody's been hotter against the Hornets in their career.
I feel like, at least then Nikolovucevich, so he's going
to be my player to watch. Drop forty against the
Hornets last time these two teams squared off in January.
Had another big game the other night against Portland. He
goes for thirty one points, twelve rebounds, had a couple
(18:02):
of assists in there, thirteen to twenty two from the field,
two for three from beyond the arc, as well a
couple of blocks. He can protect a paint. He always
just seems to be a Hornet killer. I feel like
every time that Chicago comes to town, or we go
to Chicago and we do a game preview, I feel
like I take Nikolovucevic, but he's just so dog one
good that it's hard to not take him. I know
that there were other players that had some really big
games on Friday, then I'm sure you'll touch on. But again,
(18:24):
he just always seems to be available and ready to
just pounce at any given moment on Hornets for some reason.
So you know, it's maybe some PTSD running through my
veins or something. I don't know, but for whatever reason,
my gut, my hunch just says, Nikola Vuchevic is the
Chicago player to watch.
Speaker 3 (18:41):
I like the pick.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
He's such a strong, underrated center, even though he's been
an All Star a couple of times in his career.
Former USC Trojan fight on and look, he's just a really,
really high quality player. I think the Hornets center position
now is a little deeper and maybe better able to
combat him in some of his skill sets, And certainly
they were earlier in the season when the Hornets had,
(19:02):
let me check my notes, no seven footers available to
play against Chicago, So that's definitely a game changer. I'm
gonna look to the point guard position. I'm going with
Josh Giddy for this one. We say it a lot,
rob You know, the league is drafting guys younger and younger.
We go into these drafts thinking, all, right, so and
so is a prospect to project, it's going to take
(19:24):
a couple of years, and then it never fails. Two
months into their rookie season, people are ready to write
them off. In the case of Josh Giddy, he got
a lot of praise for his rookie season with Oklahoma City,
you know, putting up triple doubles pretty regularly and winning
all Rookie honors both for the season overall, as well
as being a four time Rookie of the Month. But
(19:46):
eventually OKC decided they needed something else. They trade him
in the offseason for Alex Caruso, and a lot of
people had some questions as to what his numbers would
look like, particularly coming off eight somewhat unquote disappointing season.
Even though he averaged double figures twelve point six boards,
almost five assists, his three point shooting went down. A
(20:07):
couple of numbers were not quite where people thought they would. Well,
here he is he's got more of a starring role
for Chicago, a little more responsibility. Scoring is up to
fourteen points per game, rebounds up to almost eight boards
a game, assist career high seven per game, and he's
shooting the three ball better than he ever has before
thirty seven percent from three. That's a kind of percent
a lot of Hornets wish that they could tackle. So
(20:29):
Josh Getty has shown a lot of growth in his game.
He's the full time starter at point guard for the Bulls.
He's coming off a triple double against the Portland Trailblazers
in a home win up at the United Center. So
Josh Getty will be my player to watch for Chicago.
Next up Hornet to watch or istat to watch.
Speaker 4 (20:45):
Let's go ahead with a Hornet player to watch, and
you can kind of go all over the board just
because you don't really know who's going to be available
and who isn't here for Charlotte. Unfortunately, at this point
of the season, I'm going to take the back court
as well. I'll take kJ Simpson another start. The other
night against the Sacramento King's thirteen points, four assists goes
six to ten shooting from the field. Kind of gave
way in the second half, I think a little bit
(21:05):
to Miles Bridges. Miles had an even eleven points in
the first half, eleven points in the second half despite
the not so great shooting number seven to twenty one
in the field for Miles. But kJ Simpson really went
off in that first half. He had eleven of his
thirteen in the first two quarters, and then kind of
cooled off a little bit, but then went more to
the facilitating, went more to the passing, and those numbers
started to add up a little bit more. But I
(21:27):
like what he's done here over the last couple of games,
because again they've had to be really careful with a
guy like kJ because he was dressing. He was available
for a lot of games at the beginning of the season.
And why is that significant, Well, because here at the
back end of the season, he's still on a two
way contract and he can only dress and be active
for so many games. So there was a point here
not that long ago, where he was getting shuttled up
(21:48):
and down between Greensboro and Charlotte just to make sure
that he was getting some run, whether it was in
practice with the Swarm or some games with the swarm
and then he would come back and forth, and there
were times where he was just inactive for the Hornet
because he wasn't He wouldn't be available right now if
he was, unfortunately for just the number of games that
he's available on a two way contract. So despite all
(22:08):
of the uncertainty I would say here for kJ that
he's had to deal with not only basically for his
entire basketball career, but for his rookie season as well.
I think he's handled it really well the last couple
of games, and another good example of that was against
the Kings on Fridays. So kJ Simpson the two way
contract is going to be my player to watch here
for the Hornets.
Speaker 2 (22:25):
I'm gonna go with the other rookie for the Hornets
or the other draft pick rookie for the Horns, because
there's a couple others on the roster right now, and
that's t John Salon coming off a really nice performance
in terms of the overall counting stats thirteen points, five
rebounds to assist, shooting percentage left a little bit to
be desired from everywhere but the foul line, but he
plays with such tremendous energy and enthusiasm he has the
(22:47):
ability to galvanize the crowd, galvanize his teammates. There's just
that unbridled joy of a nineteen year old Parisian living
hot his dreams here in the Queens City, and I
just get I watching him play, watching him grow. We
can see it in the numbers. October November, he was
a pretty poor shooter by NBA standards, around thirty percent
(23:08):
from the floor, under thirty percent from three. That has
shot way way up here in the final six weeks
of the season. So t Jon Salon another data point,
another opportunity to learn what he's doing well at this stage,
what he can work on over the summer, for coaches
to get accustomed to where they want him to attack
in the summertime.
Speaker 3 (23:27):
There's a lot to look forward to.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
With t Jhon Salon, and that includes these final five
games of the season, especially this one against Chicago.
Speaker 3 (23:34):
Last but not least a stat to watch.
Speaker 4 (23:37):
So my stat to watch is going to be points
in the paint. You go back to the game that
the Hornets beat the Bulls back in the middle of
January out in Chicago. Hornets had sixty four points in
the paint. The Bulls had sixty two, so they won
that battle by two, and of course it ended up
being a two point game, so that worked out. Hornets
against Sacramento on Friday got outscored fifty to forty two
in the paint and again the shooting just wasn't there
(23:57):
for the Hornets on Friday only shot not even twenty
three percent from beyond the York eight to thirty five
from three, so that didn't help the cause to open
up the pain a little bit. But again you're going
up against a very good center like Nikola Vucevich. Hornets
had a good center to go up against the Demondasa
Bonas and Jonas Valentiunas for the Kings on Fridays. So
I'm looking at that area just to see what the
(24:17):
paint play looks like. Again, of course, the guards can
certainly help out by attacking and getting downhill and getting
to the rim and finishing at the rim. That will
certainly help the cause too, obviously, But again, just don't
really know what the availability looks like here for the
Hornets just in general, for the next couple of games
here as the season starts to wind down here, you
don't want anybody to be out there not playing one
hundred percent when you know the season is not quite over,
(24:39):
but you know you're not available and you're not, you know,
pushing for a playoff spot. So again, don't know what
the injury report looks like as of the recording of
this podcast, but the points in the paint could be
a big factor one way or the other. You just
can't get blown out in that category. And again, the
Horns didn't really get blown out against the Kings fifty
to forty two. It's an eight point spread, but you
know it can't be super lopsided against the guy like
(25:00):
nikol Vuchovich. So the points in the pain is going
to be the number that I'm looking at here today.
Speaker 3 (25:04):
I like that one.
Speaker 2 (25:06):
I used to find when I covered college basketball that
there were some scores tables that just like must have
had different interpretations of what like fast breakpoints were or
what an assist constituted because they're they're their numbers just
didn't match what I would always see, And I kind
of feeling maybe that's going on in Chicago. I don't know,
(25:28):
but the numbers are counterintuitive. They are second worst in
the NBA in opponents turnover percentage.
Speaker 3 (25:35):
That means they don't force a.
Speaker 2 (25:36):
Lot of them, yet they are top five in fast breakpoints,
which doesn't make any sense. I mean, usually the majority
of your fast breakpoints are points off turnovers. They're live
ball turnovers that you just turn in to easy buckets.
That clearly can't be the case for Chicago because they
don't play at fast enough of a pay well. I
guess they do kind of play it fast enough of pace,
(25:58):
but just in general, I don't I don't understand it,
and yet it's going to be my stat to watch
because my lack of understanding doesn't mean that it's not
showing up in the box score. They like to run.
They're a good three point shooting team. They'll take a
lot in transition. They don't have to force turnovers to run.
They'll runoff makes, they'll runoff missus, they'll run off your mistakes.
For Charlotte, you can't make mistakes. You can't feed into
(26:21):
this by giving up a bunch of live ball turnovers.
We know that the team has had a mix a
variety of lineups due to injuries and absences. That's not
likely to change here in the final five games of
the season, but this is an opportunity to put something
into practice, which is what you always want to see.
You want to see a test. How do the players
respond to said tests? Do they pass it or not?
(26:41):
The test I think for the Hornets in this one,
can you slow down Chicago, get back in your transition
defense and can you limit their fast break opportunities by
limiting your own turnovers? That will be the stat I'll
have on my eye for this one.
Speaker 3 (26:56):
Rob Longo, thanks as always for joining me here on
the AGC. Happy birthday, buddy.
Speaker 4 (27:00):
Thank you, I appreciate it. Always a pleasure to join you.
Speaker 2 (27:02):
We will be talking to you all after hopefully a
Hornets win and a reminder, only one Hornets home game
left after the penultimate home game of the season, Charlotte
host Memphis on Tuesday. One last note here for the
Hornet Time cast. We always love bringing this programming throughout
the season. Game previews every game day, reviews the day after,
and interviews every day in between. And our most recent
(27:24):
player interview is now available for you on the Hornet's
YouTube page. It's with Miles Bridges. He talks about his
relationship with the fantastic fans of the Queen City, including
one super fan in particular, who makes a guest appearance
on that episode of the HHC. He breaks down some
of his game winning plays from the season and much
much more, including his connection with LaMelo Bam. You can
(27:46):
go ahead and check out all the great coverage we
had for you on that one, thanks to Kyle Kiebert
and the video team for putting that one together as well,
but definitely encourage you to go to the Hornets YouTube
page and check out the Miles Bridges episode of the
Hornets Time Cast. We look forward to seeing you at
the Hive on on Sunday on Tuesday or for the
twenty five twenty six season. You're running out of opportunities,
but hopefully you'll get there to the Hive no matter what,
(28:06):
We'll have you covered right here on the Hornets Hoodcast.
Speaker 1 (28:10):
Thank you for listening to The Hornets Hoodcast, brought to
you by Santa, the official i ear nosen Throadcare provider
of the Charlotte Hornets. For more coverage, visit Hornets dot com.
Welcome to the Hornets Hoivecast, presented by Charlotte I ear
nosen Throat Associates, the official I ear nos in throat
care provider of the Charlotte Hornets. Here's your host, Sam Farber.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Welcome to another edition of the Hornet Time Cast, your
Hornets podcast with all the notes, quote, san daily buzz
around your favorite NBA team. I'm Sam Farber and it
is a pleasure and a privilege heavy with us here
once again on the Hornet timee Cast, brought to you
by Santa Charlotte I ear Nose and Thrown Associates, the
official I ear nos and throatcare provider of the Charlotte Hornets.
It is a silver Linings edition as well as a
(00:34):
game day edition of the HC. We are going to
be previewing the Sunday matinee against the Chicago Bulls. That'll
be segment three here on the Hornets Tie Cast, but
through the first couple of sessions, we're gonna talk about
the loss to open up the final homestand of the
twenty four to twenty five season, a one to twenty
five one oh two defeat to the Sacramento Kings. Helping
(00:57):
me on all these topics. He's my producer on the
Hornets Radio Network as well as the producer of this
fine podcast.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
Rob Longo.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Here with me once again, Rob. The game started somewhat
promisingly for Charlotte. They had an early lead. The first
bucket goes to Seth. Curry grabbed the opening rebound coast
to coast for the lay in. Charlotte eventually built up
a twelve to six advantage, but it did not last long.
They were outscored twenty to six to end the first
quarter and the Kings just kind of piled on from there.
(01:25):
Played what I would turn to be a big stack poker,
just kind of leaning on the short stacks until things
toppled over. A lot of it was based off availability Sacramento,
even though they have been struggling overall. They had lost
seven of their last eight going into the game on
Friday night, they had all their guys there ready to go.
(01:46):
DeMar DeRozan, who is a potential future Hall of Famer.
He had twenty two demonas Sabonis should be like a
six time All Star at this point, he hasn't made
it the last couple of seasons. Maybe the biggest snub
in the NBA twenty four points eleven rebounds, Zach Love
at the peak of his powers, goes for twenty five
points and ten boards, and they have a slew of
really good players coming off the bench like Trey Lyles
(02:08):
and Malik Monk and Yonis Valanciunas. Too much for the
Hornets to overcome. Considering in addition to the long term
injuries of Brandon Miller and LaMelo Ball and Grant Williams
and Trey Mann, Charlotte also dealing with the absences of
Josh Green, Mark Williams, Nick Smith Junior Damian Baw It's
(02:28):
a lot to overcome, and the Hornets to win that
one probably needed a lot, not everything, but a lot
to go right.
Speaker 3 (02:37):
And it just didn't happen for Charlotte.
Speaker 4 (02:39):
Yeah, and I mean this Sacramento team's very good too.
I mean, you look at their record and they're thirty
seven and forty and it doesn't look very impressive. But again,
the West is very stacked and they're kind of fighting
for their playing tournament lives right now. There's still a
chance that they don't make the play in tournament depending
on how the chips fall. So Sacramento basically had all
the motivation in the world to play in this one,
and I'm not saying the Hornets didn't. But the Hornets,
(02:59):
of course, are eliminated from playoff contention, and a lot
of these guys are trying to figure out some things
and make sure that they can get some stuff on
tape so they can go into the offseason on knowing
what they need to improve on. And again, you're starting
five yesterday's kJ Simpson, Seth Curry, Dawan, Jefferies, Miles Bridges
in use of Nurkage. So it's a solid starting five
considering that the Hornets have had to deal with so
(03:21):
many injuries and absences this season. But again, just a
couple of spells in there that the Hornets did not
have the ability to score. I mean, you talked about
that twenty to six run the Sacramento went in the
final six minutes and fifty four seconds of the first quarter,
and there was a span of about a little bit
over three minutes where the Hornets didn't score a point
at all between the first quarter and the second quarter,
(03:41):
and that just was kind of them of the night
a little bit, I think, and that just kind of
spiraled into a bigger deficit, and again the Hornets fell
or the Hornets ended up being down as many as
nineteen there in that first half, trailed by nineteen after
the first half, and again it was just like you said,
big stack poker. I think that's a really good analogy,
because Sackero was able to outscore the Hornets by three,
(04:02):
four or five points in the third quarter, But after
you already amassed such a big lead, you don't really
need to have your foot on the gas pedal for
the majority of the second half. So again, this is
a very long road trip here for Sacramento. They still
have to go play three and four nights and go
to Cleveland and go to Detroit, which is some very
difficult games to play, and those are both on back
to the back, so you know, they were trying to
get as much as they can out of this one
(04:23):
early on to put it away so they can maybe
get a little bit of rest, and you know they're
obviously looking for higher aspirations. So again it's one of
those things, like you said, I think it's just a
lot of firepower to overcome here, and the Hornets just
didn't have the availability for this one. Yesterday at Spectrum.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
Center mission accomplished for the Kings.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
I think it does provide a blueprint for the future
for the Hornets. I think, you know, you can look
at this Sacramento roster and there's a lot of stars,
there's a lot of veterans, so also a lot of
role players who don't look too dissimilar from guys currently
on the Hornets roster developing. And it does lead you
to think, if the Charlotte Hornets had the same kind
of health the Kings do right now, might the Hornets
(05:01):
be able to exploit some of those advantages. I mean,
LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller, Mark Williams, those three not being available,
Grant Williams, Trainman, Nick Smith, JN goes on and on
and on. It creates a real deficit to the point
that you have to have so much more go right
and so little can go wrong to be able to
(05:23):
capitalize on these situations for the Kings. You know, DeRozan, Sabonis,
Levigne all going for twenty is going to be a
recipe for success on most nights against most teams. But
considering the amount of injuries the Horns were facing the
other night, just was not meant to be that said,
there are always silver linings, and there's a really good
few of.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
Them from the game.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
To open up the final homestand not the least, the
NBA debut of Jalen Simms, a native of Charlotte, he
had his first ever NBA game. We'll talk about that. Also,
there was a double double for Mussa Diabate, Miles Bridges
goes for twenty once again, Seth Curry continues his pursuit
of eighty two threes to qualify for the three point
(06:05):
percentage lead, and Taj Gibson continues his pursuit of one
thousand career NBA game. So lots to pick for silver linings.
We'll do that next. Here on the Hornets ipe cast,
Sam farbar Rod Longo here with you on the AHHC
The Hornets type cast, brought to you by Santa. The
Hornets continue the home stand. Depending on when you're listening
(06:27):
to this podcast today tomorrow Sunday, April sixth, Hornets are
going to take on the Chicago Bulls. It's a one
pm tip time from Spectrum Center and afterwards we're all
going out for Rob Longo's birthday.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
Yeah, buddy, Happy birthday.
Speaker 4 (06:40):
Twenty one again, Yeah, twenty again, emphasis on you again,
Thank you, I appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
We are looking forward to celebrating with you. Hopefully it's
a w to come on out and join the Longo
birthday party.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
Tickets are available at hornets dot com. Nice them to
sell tickets for your birthday as well.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Rob Hornets took the l against the Sacramento Kings, final
score one twenty five to one oh two.
Speaker 3 (06:59):
Got give credit where it's due.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Tomar de Rosen tremendous twenty two points, nine of ten
from the foul line, twenty four points and eleven boards,
as well as a game high seven assists for Demonis
Sabonis looking as dominant as ever, twenty five points, ten
rebounds for Zach Levine seemed to have his all start
form the other day, but Charlotte, despite being shorthanded, plenty
of silver Linings performances to select from. Rob Longo the
(07:24):
soon to be birthday boy, you get to pick first.
Speaker 4 (07:26):
You're gonna hand this up for a while, aren't you.
For the next twenty minutes of the podcast, I guess well,
I mean yeah, I mean there's Miles Bridges had a
team high twenty two in a game. Yes, the other
night against the Kings. But I think my guy coming
off the bench silver lining wise, is gonna be Mussa.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
The abte rebound kJ Simpson, Simpson will push the pace,
Simpson live inside diabatee for the doctor Pepper dunk USI
diabate now with ten off the bench, third hornet to
double figures.
Speaker 4 (07:53):
A solid double double for Mousy. You look at the
numbers twenty three minutes played. He goes for fifteen points,
eleven rebounds, six to nine from the field. Pretty efficient there,
three or four from the free throw line as well,
which is a very good improvement from where he was
free throw percentage wise at the beginning of the season.
I don't want to say he's kind of been the
forgotten guy here as of late, but because of everything
that transpired around the trade deadline with Mark Williams and
(08:15):
use of Nurkid entering the fold, I feel like Musa
gets a little bit overshadowed sometimes and it's just the
way that the rotations work out or anything like that. Granted,
obviously still earned that full time deal coming off the
two way to a full time contract, and he's still
very much worthy of it, and I think that This
is just one of those games where this is a
reminder of what Musa di Abatte can be and where
he can play. And I love what Charles Lee has
(08:37):
been doing the last couple of games too, playing with
multiple bigs out there on the floor. It's a copycat league,
and Cleveland's done a really good job with Evan Mobley
and Jared Allen playing some twin tower action. And now
you're starting to see that a little bit here for
the Hornets. No Mark Williams yesterday, but you saw use
of Nurkic and mussid'abatte out there on the floor at
the same time we saw todsh Gibson and Musid'abatte out
there on the floor a couple times as well. So
(08:59):
there's opportunities here the mix and match a little bit.
And maybe because Musa is so young, maybe you mold
him into a four a little bit more. I mean,
he can be versatile, he can play small ball five,
and that's why he's done a really good job of
this season. But maybe there's an opportunity for him to
play the four as well. So I like what Moosa
has been able to do in terms of just going
with the flow, for lack of a better term, being
able to play the four, play the five, and being
(09:21):
able to still be a fishing out there. And yesterday
was a good reminder of that.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
Yeah, I like the pick and I like the perspective
on it too, because I remember covering the G League
and listening to coaches talk about what your goals are,
and clearly you know you want to win games and
you want to put numbers on the board and show
people what you're capable of.
Speaker 5 (09:39):
It.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
Really, you're looking to audition, for lack of a better word,
for a role.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
You're looking to show coaches and front office members that
you can do X at the higher level. And the
likelihood is that isn't going to be score twenty five
points per game because that guy exists already in the
NBA Moose the Abade is not likely going to be
the starting center opening night next season for the Charlotte Hornets,
(10:06):
but he can be that second big in a Twin
Towers formation. He can be that big time energy guy
off the bench. And so to me, while I understand
what you're saying about, like you know, the trades and
the organization of the center position has maybe taken away
an opportunity that Mussa the Abade had early in the
(10:27):
season when all the centers were out due to injury,
and that opened things up for him to prove himself,
play a ton of games and get this full time contract.
The reality is, if Charlotte ends up in the same
situation again next year, that's not a good thing. Charlotte
wants to have a situation where they are at full health,
and Musa wants to find the scenario within that that
he plays the most. And that's the one that's reflected
(10:50):
on the opportunity in front of him now, which is
come off the bench, bring that energy. It's hard to
get a double double in the NBA. It's twice as
hard to do it, if not ten times, it is
hard to do it off the So for Musa to
take advantage of these opportunities playing alongside Nurkic, Mark Williams
when healthy, all those guys, that is a significant thing and.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
Could bode well for his future to come.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
Speaking of the Glague, well, first, some cap tips here
for me. One significant one Miles Bridges. He finishes with
twenty two points. Not an easy shooting day. A lot
of the defensive attention was on him, but still found
a way to get to twenty his thirty sixth time
this year scoring twenty or more.
Speaker 3 (11:29):
Why is that significant?
Speaker 2 (11:30):
He has now claimed the lead for the most twenty
point games for the Charlotte Hornets. Congrats to him for that.
Also as proof that I'm a nerd and track absolutely everything,
he had two turnovers in the loss to the Sacramento Kings.
That takes him to six hundred and seventy puts him
tenth in Hornets franchise history. I know the stat you
(11:50):
all wanted, Nicholas Batoum. He's on a few Hornets Franchise
top ten lists, but he's not on this one anymore.
He has been bumped off the top ten for career turnover.
I always say stats like these that might have a
negative connotation, it's a positive because you don't get that
high on the board unless you play long enough to
accumulate them. For instance, no one has more turnovers in
(12:12):
the history of the game than Lebron James. I don't
think anyone's going to hold that against him. So a
badge of honor, so to speak, for Miles Bridges here.
Congrats to him though on another twenty point performance, the
more notable of the two accomplishments. But my silver lining
selection is going to be a guy who made his
debut and a great story for the Hornets franchise and
(12:33):
the city itself. That's Jalen Sims. Simms is a Charlotte native.
Played his high school ball at United Faith Christian Academy
Go Falcons, went to UNC Wilmington. From there, played in
the G League for multiple seasons with the Greensboro Swarm.
He is the swarm all time scoring leader, led that
franchise to its first ever playoff berth this year. Sadly
(12:53):
they were one and done, but his season was not over.
Signs a ten day contract, makes his debut in his
hometown and watching him out there after the game interacting
with family, I asked him what it was like.
Speaker 3 (13:06):
Afterwards, he said, it's surreal. I said, it's only the.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
Beginning, buddy, and I hope it is because this is
a guy who has really worked hard for this chance,
and I think he did a pretty good job of
filling the role that maybe is a possibility for him
in the future. Can you come in off the bench,
bring a spark, knockdown free throws, he hit a three
point shot, be a pretty good defender out there. He
(13:30):
did all those things. Seven points in his debut, four assists,
tied for the team high, had a rebound, four for
four from the foul line. So he's perfect on his career,
a great, great debut. After the game, Hornet said coach
Charles Lee had this to say about his newcomer to
the Hornets roster, Jalen Simms.
Speaker 5 (13:50):
Very impressed with what Jalen gave us today. Not really
surprised because it's how he plays in the G League.
Just an overall great competitor and team guy. But I
saw a guy defensively that had a pretty good grasp
on who he was guarding and understanding tendencies and who
he can shift off of, who he can go under
or who he needs to.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
Go over on.
Speaker 5 (14:09):
I also just saw offensively, you know, there was a
close out situation versus I think it was McDermott, and
I mean he caught it on the wing and he
just drove it with a fearlessness, with a purpose and
got himself to the free throw line. So he's just
got a knack on that offensive side of the ball
of how he can be effective There you.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
Go, Hornet, said coach Charles Lee on Jalen Simms. Congrats
to him on his debut, to his family, to his friends.
He had a large rooting contingent out there for his
first ever NBA game, and I suspect they'll be back
again for a Sunday matinee against.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
The Chicago Bulls.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
We'll preview that one for you next here on the
Hornet Toodcast. Sam Farbara, Rob Longo here with you on
the AHHC The Hornet Tide Cast, brought to you by Santa.
The Hornets taking on the Chicago Bulls. And it's his birthday,
so I'll let him say it, the penultimate home game
of the say it was some excitement.
Speaker 3 (15:02):
Rob Longe, there it is, all right, Horne.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
It's taken on the Chicago Bulls, the penultimate. You know,
before I met you, I didn't know what that word was.
Speaker 4 (15:09):
I'd never heard it before, so it was this is
actually funny, quick aside, real quick. Yes, I said it
on the broadcast Friday, I said, this will be the
penultimate home game.
Speaker 3 (15:16):
And Willie p.
Speaker 4 (15:17):
Will Pologic our good friend at Sports Radio FNZ sits
next to me for the postgame show. So he can
do the stuff on the flagship, and he goes how
much and who paid you how much to say the
word penultimate. So it's a funny story real quick. It
goes back to when I was no, no, no, I wish
I wish, I wish I got royalties on it. But
going back to college are my professor and the broadcasting
(15:37):
lecture that I would go to, he would always have
a word of the day, and one of the words
of the day was penultimate, and then he would quiz
you at the end of the semester that was part
of your midterm. And I would use it on a
broadcast and one of my journalism friends that writes and
he would go, no, one says that word. So now
it's almost like a I told you so kind of thing.
So every time I see the word penultimate, I send
it to him, or when I say it, I send
it to him. So this one's definitely going to go
(15:59):
on the clips. So you can get a little annoyed by.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
Me, and we'll have a generation of Hornets fans who
have that as a part of itimate. There you go,
they'll have that part of their vocabulary from from here
on out. Well, the Hornets, in their penultimate home game
of the season, will take on the Chicago Bulls. Hornets
a chance to split the season series against Chicago. Hornets
got them earlier in the campaign, and we'll see if
(16:22):
Charlotte can make it two in a row. They won
the game that was added to the calendar because the
Hornets did not advance in the play in tournament. This
one has the potential to have some implications. On the
one hand, Charlotte has already eliminated from postseason contention, but
on the other you can split the season series with Chicago,
(16:43):
So that's a sign of progress here against a Bulls
team that has quite frankly, had the upper hand in
the overall head to head series for the last couple
of seasons. For Chicago, they're currently just a hair ahead
of Miami or right neck and neck quite frankly with
Miami for ninth in the Eastern Conference. That would mean
(17:05):
home court advantage in the first game of the play
in Tournament. They also still have an opportunity to move
as high as seventh in the East, which would give
them home court advantage in the playing tournament and also
the benefit of having to win just one out of
two games rather than having to win two in a
row to advance into the main bracket.
Speaker 3 (17:23):
So a lot at stake for Chicago.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
They're coming off a win over Portland on Friday one,
eighteen to one thirteen was the final score. Rob b
Longo his game preview time for your birthday. You get
to pick first player to watch, stat to watch, Hornet
to watch.
Speaker 3 (17:39):
Where do you want to begin?
Speaker 4 (17:40):
Let's go ahead with a Chicago player to watch. By
the way, two, Chicago's now won six of its last
eight games, So the Bulls are pretty hot as of late.
And nobody's been hotter against the Hornets in their career.
I feel like, at least then Nikolovucevich, so he's going
to be my player to watch. Drop forty against the
Hornets last time these two teams squared off in January.
Had another big game the other night against Portland. He
goes for thirty one points, twelve rebounds, had a couple
(18:02):
of assists in there, thirteen to twenty two from the field,
two for three from beyond the arc, as well a
couple of blocks. He can protect a paint. He always
just seems to be a Hornet killer. I feel like
every time that Chicago comes to town, or we go
to Chicago and we do a game preview, I feel
like I take Nikolovucevic, but he's just so dog one
good that it's hard to not take him. I know
that there were other players that had some really big
games on Friday, then I'm sure you'll touch on. But again,
(18:24):
he just always seems to be available and ready to
just pounce at any given moment on Hornets for some reason.
So you know, it's maybe some PTSD running through my
veins or something. I don't know, but for whatever reason,
my gut, my hunch just says, Nikola Vuchevic is the
Chicago player to watch.
Speaker 3 (18:41):
I like the pick.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
He's such a strong, underrated center, even though he's been
an All Star a couple of times in his career.
Former USC Trojan fight on and look, he's just a really,
really high quality player. I think the Hornets center position
now is a little deeper and maybe better able to
combat him in some of his skill sets, And certainly
they were earlier in the season when the Hornets had,
(19:02):
let me check my notes, no seven footers available to
play against Chicago, So that's definitely a game changer. I'm
gonna look to the point guard position. I'm going with
Josh Giddy for this one. We say it a lot,
rob You know, the league is drafting guys younger and younger.
We go into these drafts thinking, all, right, so and
so is a prospect to project, it's going to take
(19:24):
a couple of years, and then it never fails. Two
months into their rookie season, people are ready to write
them off. In the case of Josh Giddy, he got
a lot of praise for his rookie season with Oklahoma City,
you know, putting up triple doubles pretty regularly and winning
all Rookie honors both for the season overall, as well
as being a four time Rookie of the Month. But
(19:46):
eventually OKC decided they needed something else. They trade him
in the offseason for Alex Caruso, and a lot of
people had some questions as to what his numbers would
look like, particularly coming off eight somewhat unquote disappointing season.
Even though he averaged double figures twelve point six boards,
almost five assists, his three point shooting went down. A
(20:07):
couple of numbers were not quite where people thought they would. Well,
here he is he's got more of a starring role
for Chicago, a little more responsibility. Scoring is up to
fourteen points per game, rebounds up to almost eight boards
a game, assist career high seven per game, and he's
shooting the three ball better than he ever has before
thirty seven percent from three. That's a kind of percent
a lot of Hornets wish that they could tackle. So
(20:29):
Josh Getty has shown a lot of growth in his game.
He's the full time starter at point guard for the Bulls.
He's coming off a triple double against the Portland Trailblazers
in a home win up at the United Center. So
Josh Getty will be my player to watch for Chicago.
Next up Hornet to watch or istat to watch.
Speaker 4 (20:45):
Let's go ahead with a Hornet player to watch, and
you can kind of go all over the board just
because you don't really know who's going to be available
and who isn't here for Charlotte. Unfortunately, at this point
of the season, I'm going to take the back court
as well. I'll take kJ Simpson another start. The other
night against the Sacramento King's thirteen points, four assists goes
six to ten shooting from the field. Kind of gave
way in the second half, I think a little bit
(21:05):
to Miles Bridges. Miles had an even eleven points in
the first half, eleven points in the second half despite
the not so great shooting number seven to twenty one
in the field for Miles. But kJ Simpson really went
off in that first half. He had eleven of his
thirteen in the first two quarters, and then kind of
cooled off a little bit, but then went more to
the facilitating, went more to the passing, and those numbers
started to add up a little bit more. But I
(21:27):
like what he's done here over the last couple of games,
because again they've had to be really careful with a
guy like kJ because he was dressing. He was available
for a lot of games at the beginning of the season.
And why is that significant, Well, because here at the
back end of the season, he's still on a two
way contract and he can only dress and be active
for so many games. So there was a point here
not that long ago, where he was getting shuttled up
(21:48):
and down between Greensboro and Charlotte just to make sure
that he was getting some run, whether it was in
practice with the Swarm or some games with the swarm
and then he would come back and forth, and there
were times where he was just inactive for the Hornet
because he wasn't He wouldn't be available right now if
he was, unfortunately for just the number of games that
he's available on a two way contract. So despite all
(22:08):
of the uncertainty I would say here for kJ that
he's had to deal with not only basically for his
entire basketball career, but for his rookie season as well.
I think he's handled it really well the last couple
of games, and another good example of that was against
the Kings on Fridays. So kJ Simpson the two way
contract is going to be my player to watch here
for the Hornets.
Speaker 2 (22:25):
I'm gonna go with the other rookie for the Hornets
or the other draft pick rookie for the Horns, because
there's a couple others on the roster right now, and
that's t John Salon coming off a really nice performance
in terms of the overall counting stats thirteen points, five
rebounds to assist, shooting percentage left a little bit to
be desired from everywhere but the foul line, but he
plays with such tremendous energy and enthusiasm he has the
(22:47):
ability to galvanize the crowd, galvanize his teammates. There's just
that unbridled joy of a nineteen year old Parisian living
hot his dreams here in the Queens City, and I
just get I watching him play, watching him grow. We
can see it in the numbers. October November, he was
a pretty poor shooter by NBA standards, around thirty percent
(23:08):
from the floor, under thirty percent from three. That has
shot way way up here in the final six weeks
of the season. So t Jon Salon another data point,
another opportunity to learn what he's doing well at this stage,
what he can work on over the summer, for coaches
to get accustomed to where they want him to attack
in the summertime.
Speaker 3 (23:27):
There's a lot to look forward to.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
With t Jhon Salon, and that includes these final five
games of the season, especially this one against Chicago.
Speaker 3 (23:34):
Last but not least a stat to watch.
Speaker 4 (23:37):
So my stat to watch is going to be points
in the paint. You go back to the game that
the Hornets beat the Bulls back in the middle of
January out in Chicago. Hornets had sixty four points in
the paint. The Bulls had sixty two, so they won
that battle by two, and of course it ended up
being a two point game, so that worked out. Hornets
against Sacramento on Friday got outscored fifty to forty two
in the paint and again the shooting just wasn't there
(23:57):
for the Hornets on Friday only shot not even twenty
three percent from beyond the York eight to thirty five
from three, so that didn't help the cause to open
up the pain a little bit. But again you're going
up against a very good center like Nikola Vucevich. Hornets
had a good center to go up against the Demondasa
Bonas and Jonas Valentiunas for the Kings on Fridays. So
I'm looking at that area just to see what the
(24:17):
paint play looks like. Again, of course, the guards can
certainly help out by attacking and getting downhill and getting
to the rim and finishing at the rim. That will
certainly help the cause too, obviously, But again, just don't
really know what the availability looks like here for the
Hornets just in general, for the next couple of games
here as the season starts to wind down here, you
don't want anybody to be out there not playing one
hundred percent when you know the season is not quite over,
(24:39):
but you know you're not available and you're not, you know,
pushing for a playoff spot. So again, don't know what
the injury report looks like as of the recording of
this podcast, but the points in the paint could be
a big factor one way or the other. You just
can't get blown out in that category. And again, the
Horns didn't really get blown out against the Kings fifty
to forty two. It's an eight point spread, but you
know it can't be super lopsided against the guy like
(25:00):
nikol Vuchovich. So the points in the pain is going
to be the number that I'm looking at here today.
Speaker 3 (25:04):
I like that one.
Speaker 2 (25:06):
I used to find when I covered college basketball that
there were some scores tables that just like must have
had different interpretations of what like fast breakpoints were or
what an assist constituted because they're they're their numbers just
didn't match what I would always see, And I kind
of feeling maybe that's going on in Chicago. I don't know,
(25:28):
but the numbers are counterintuitive. They are second worst in
the NBA in opponents turnover percentage.
Speaker 3 (25:35):
That means they don't force a.
Speaker 2 (25:36):
Lot of them, yet they are top five in fast breakpoints,
which doesn't make any sense. I mean, usually the majority
of your fast breakpoints are points off turnovers. They're live
ball turnovers that you just turn in to easy buckets.
That clearly can't be the case for Chicago because they
don't play at fast enough of a pay well. I
guess they do kind of play it fast enough of pace,
(25:58):
but just in general, I don't I don't understand it,
and yet it's going to be my stat to watch
because my lack of understanding doesn't mean that it's not
showing up in the box score. They like to run.
They're a good three point shooting team. They'll take a
lot in transition. They don't have to force turnovers to run.
They'll runoff makes, they'll runoff missus, they'll run off your mistakes.
For Charlotte, you can't make mistakes. You can't feed into
(26:21):
this by giving up a bunch of live ball turnovers.
We know that the team has had a mix a
variety of lineups due to injuries and absences. That's not
likely to change here in the final five games of
the season, but this is an opportunity to put something
into practice, which is what you always want to see.
You want to see a test. How do the players
respond to said tests? Do they pass it or not?
(26:41):
The test I think for the Hornets in this one,
can you slow down Chicago, get back in your transition
defense and can you limit their fast break opportunities by
limiting your own turnovers? That will be the stat I'll
have on my eye for this one.
Speaker 3 (26:56):
Rob Longo, thanks as always for joining me here on
the AGC. Happy birthday, buddy.
Speaker 4 (27:00):
Thank you, I appreciate it. Always a pleasure to join you.
Speaker 2 (27:02):
We will be talking to you all after hopefully a
Hornets win and a reminder, only one Hornets home game
left after the penultimate home game of the season, Charlotte
host Memphis on Tuesday. One last note here for the
Hornet Time cast. We always love bringing this programming throughout
the season. Game previews every game day, reviews the day after,
and interviews every day in between. And our most recent
(27:24):
player interview is now available for you on the Hornet's
YouTube page. It's with Miles Bridges. He talks about his
relationship with the fantastic fans of the Queen City, including
one super fan in particular, who makes a guest appearance
on that episode of the HHC. He breaks down some
of his game winning plays from the season and much
much more, including his connection with LaMelo Bam. You can
(27:46):
go ahead and check out all the great coverage we
had for you on that one, thanks to Kyle Kiebert
and the video team for putting that one together as well,
but definitely encourage you to go to the Hornets YouTube
page and check out the Miles Bridges episode of the
Hornets Time Cast. We look forward to seeing you at
the Hive on on Sunday on Tuesday or for the
twenty five twenty six season. You're running out of opportunities,
but hopefully you'll get there to the Hive no matter what,
(28:06):
We'll have you covered right here on the Hornets Hoodcast.
Speaker 1 (28:10):
Thank you for listening to The Hornets Hoodcast, brought to
you by Santa, the official i ear nosen Throadcare provider
of the Charlotte Hornets. For more coverage, visit Hornets dot com.
Hosts And Creators
Sam Farber
Rob Longo
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