April 8, 2025 • 30 mins
As the Hornets prepare for their final home game of the season, Sam Farber and Sam Perley take a look back at their favorite memories that took place at Spectrum Center this season, and also preview Charlotte's showdown against the Grizzlies.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the Hornets Hovecast, presented by Charlotte i ear
nosen Throat Associates, the official i ear nosen throatcare provider
of the Charlotte Hornets. Here's your host, Sam Farber.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Welcome to another edition of the 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 privileged have you with us
here once again on the Hornets Time Cast, brought to
you by Sena Charlotte i ear nos and Throat Associates,
the official i ear noosen throatcare provider of the Charlotte Hornets.
It's a game day edition, the final home game day
(00:34):
of the twenty twenty four to twenty five season, will
preview Hornets versus Memphis Grizzlies. Look forward to seeing everyone
one last time at the Hive for this twenty four
to twenty five season. Also, we're going to start looking
ahead to next season and talk about some of our
favorite memories from the year that's gone by inside the Hive.
Spectrum Center helping me on all these topics. He's a
part of every two Sam's edition of the Hornets. Iivecast
(00:56):
senior writer from Hornets dot Com, Sam Purley. Sam, consider
they're gonna start reimagining this building about five minutes after
the game ends tonight.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
This is going to be.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Probably our last in person in this studio conversation for
the podcast.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
Maybe for upwards of six months. Might be a minute.
Speaker 4 (01:13):
I didn't even think about that until you just brought
it up. I believe I at least will be in
here tonight with Rob Longo after the game, because I
know you'll be jumping on the plane to head up
to Toronto. So last Sam's version in the studio. Yes,
maybe Rob Longo and I will throw some sort of
party after the game to celebrate the final one before
the season ends.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Hornets and Grizzlies tonight. Not sure how I feel about
you celebrating me not being around, but that's fine. Hornet's
trying to take down Memphis tonight, a game that has
certainly a lot of significance when you're looking at the Grizzlies.
Memphis is in a log jam right now between realistically
third in the West and eighth in the West, depending
(01:53):
on how this final week of the season goes. Memphis
in theory could be hosting a during conference opening round series,
or they could be in the play in tournament starting
it off on the road. So a lot can change
here and tonight's result will go a long way towards
It will give you our game preview in a little bit.
But while this one has the potential to be the
(02:15):
biggest game of the home season for the twenty four
to twenty five Charlotte Hornets, there are forty other candidates
that we've had to choose from, and so are our
question to open things up, Sam Purley, is your favorite
game and favorite memory of this twenty four to twenty
five home season for the Charlotte Hornets.
Speaker 4 (02:32):
It's spectrum Center a little interesting because I missed two
full months worth of home games during the season, so
I Am not going to count any of those just
because I wasn't technically in the building, but I did
watch them all on television. My favorite home memory has
to be It's a pretty easy when it's Brandon Miller's
buzzer beater against the Detroit Pistons back on November sixth
(02:53):
that had to put back. I think was off of
Grant Williams miss three and if you can remember I
think the Hornets had like a two possession lead or
something towards the end, and he got stripped on an
inbounds I think by Ron Holland went the other way
for Pistons go ahead layup, and it was this big,
crazy swing because he felt like the Hornets at the
game kind of locked up and they made a couple
of mistakes and a shot I think by the Pistons,
(03:14):
and all of a sudden, you know they're about to
have a victory snatched away and about getting the inbound
grant put up the three Brandon boxed out. I think
it was Malik Beasley for the put back and it
went in pretty definitively, And you know, those are always exciting.
You maybe get one or two home buzzer beaters a season,
I think for the Hornets it had been a few
years with fans at least going back to the Tiers.
(03:35):
You just shot in an empty stadium in twenty twenty one,
I think, so, Yeah, that one stands out pretty significantly
for me. Back in early November against a Detroit team
that's you know, had a very good season as well.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
Yeah, I'll be honest, that was number one on my list.
As well for a variety of reasons. One is that
Detroit has had such a good season and so that
was a mile marker where Charlotte was healthy year certainly
far from healthy. They had no Vin Footers at the time.
The Hornets center rotation back then at starting spot was
Taj Gibson, who gave seven points four rebounds in just
(04:08):
about fifteen minutes worth of action. Musa Diabate was there
as the backup, but primarily the Hornets kind of went
small out. There went Grant Williams at the five, and
he had a good game in that one. Just looking
back at at the roster, for availability's sakes, Brandon Miller
obviously had the game winner. So that was a big,
big change from what we've experienced the last couple of months.
(04:29):
But Miles Bridges, LaMelo Ball, and Brandon Miller all playing
at that time, so you know, the big three, if
you want to call it, that was intact. But here's
the Hornets reserves for that game. Cody Martin, Grant Williams,
Trey Man, t Jan Salon, Seth Curry, and Mussa Diabate.
The first three, Martin, Williams and Man all played twenty
(04:50):
plus minutes. None of them still with the team at
this point, at least available to play now.
Speaker 4 (04:53):
It's a little strange. I actually didn't look at the
box score. I was just kind of looking at the
scheduled results and now looking up to another one that
sticks out. Wendell Moore Junior was on the Pistons then
now on the Hornets too, So it's kind of crazy,
and it just it, you know, shows you just how
much a season can change through injuries, through trades, through movements, signings,
things like that. I mean, November and time wise doesn't
(05:16):
feel like that long ago, but when you look at
in the context of a roster and a box score,
it's like, wow, it feels like in a completely different
era sometimes.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
And a good example of that is looking at Detroit's
starting lineup. One one significant player who was playing then
that is out now is Jade and Ivy. He had
a big injury, so that is a big blow. But otherwise,
this team's intact Cade Cunningham, Tobias Harris, Tim Hardaway Junior,
Jalen Dura, and Isaiah Stewart, Malik Beasley. These are the
big minute guys for Detroit now at the end of
(05:45):
the season, which is a big part of the reason
why they've.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
Had such success. So I love it. Great pick.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
That was one of the signature moments of the season
that put back by Brandon Miller in definitely something he'll
be able to think back fondly on as he progresses
into year three, which commence in this upcoming October. But
the rob rules are intact for even this segment, Sam,
and so I'm going to go with another one. And
if I had a close second, it would be the
win at home over San Antonio. Vastly different circumstances. On
(06:13):
a positive side, it was a Friday night at Spectrum Center,
so you know those tend to be some of our
biggest crowd nights. It was a packed house. They got
to see something really really special in a game winner
for Charlotte. On the other side, the reason why it
wasn't my number one, the Hornets had been hit with
so many injuries that the cake was honestly kind of
baked at that point. The team was twelve and thirty
(06:34):
six going into that one take the win over San Antonio.
Spurs weren't exactly in the catbird seed either. They were
below five hundred and on the outside looking in, but
they had just acquired Dearon Fox, They had Victor Webb
min Yama, they have Chris Paul. There's this thought that
maybe with Castle and Sohan and the Cell, they can
put it together and make a run at the play
(06:56):
in tournament. And Charlotte meanwhile, even though they don't have
Brandon and Miller at this point, they do have a
little bit more center depth. Although none of them played
in this particular game. They didn't have the benefit of
Mark Williams available for that contest, so the starting center
was Moussa Diabate, who had one of his better games
of the season. But the reason it became my favorite
(07:18):
of the year is one who they beat. They beat
a really good Spurs team that had Victor Wembenyama, had
Dearon Fox, had Chris Paul, and it had not one
but two buzzer beaters scenarios. Charlotte had the game winner,
as it proved to be, from Miles Bridges on a
beautiful drive and dime assist play from LaMelo Ball, one
of his best plays of his career, I would say
(07:40):
in that scenario, and he's had a lot of really
good ones, so I'm giving it very high praise to
put the bar that high. But on top of that,
the exquisite down to the wire defense from Nick Smith
Junior to time it oh soo perfectly that the ball
is still in the Aaron Fox's hand one one hundredth
of a second too long, so that Charlotte wins the game.
Even though Fox made the shot after the buzzer, it
(08:01):
was a great moment, a great crowd, It was a
great win, and it really showed some of the intestinal
fortitude of the guts of this Hornets team. I mean,
recall at that time, Charlotte had lost six in a row.
They were really struggling at that point, and they come
up with the big w over San Antonio. Obviously things
unraveled for that squad as well not too long after,
(08:23):
after the All Star break, but in that moment in time,
that was a really big win for the Charlotte Hornets
for sure.
Speaker 4 (08:28):
And I remember watching that one on TV and you know,
just kind of a back and forth towards the end,
obviously the Miles three, like you mentioned, and then watching
the Fox made such a good shot and I don't
think he got it off, and then you're like, you're
kind of like you know in your mind, but you
never really know. And then you see the replay and
be like, Okay, I think we're good. I think we're good.
Da da da da, and it's just like, okay, come on,
there's no way you got it off. And then you it.
(08:49):
So those games are you know, it provides a little
bit of drama. As long as you're on the right
side and the winning side of the drama, it makes
for a very enjoyable experience, and you know it's and
also looking at that one, what made it also so
such an important win, I guess just in the sense
of at the time they were on there, I think
eight or nine game homestand had lost, like you said,
(09:09):
six in a row, so it had been a tough
homestand and then they were going into three in a
row on the road going into the All Star Break,
and then another six coming out of the All Star
Break counting that rescheduled game against the Lakers. So you
knew that that was kind of one. It's like, we
got to get this one because you know, you know
the schedule, they're not going to be back home for
another month until early March. And you know, again, like
you said in the grand scheme of things. It you know,
(09:29):
didn't have a huge bearing on the standings of things
like that, but it was a good one to end
a tough homestand on, especially knowing that you had a long,
challenging road trip coming up as well.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
Might tonight's game be the one that surplants all others
as the home game of the season. I guess we'll
find out later tonight we'll have our game preview momentarily
for Hornets versus Grizzlies, But coming up next, we're going
to talk about the future here for the Charlotte Hornets.
What gives us the greatest optimism as we close out
the twenty four to twenty five home schedule, maybe start
(10:01):
to sneak a peek at what's to come in twenty
five to twenty six. That's next here on the Hornet
Sive Cast. Sam Farber, Sam Purley here with you on
the HHC the Hornet side Cast, brought to you by SENTA.
Hornets wrapping up the home schedule. They will finish with
more home wins Sam Purley this year than they had
a season ago. On the twenty three to twenty four campaign.
(10:24):
A bit ill faated a lot of injuries. In that
one as well, Charlotte finished with just eleven home wins.
It does appear as of now, though, that last season's
team will finish with more overall wins, but from a
home perspective, Charlotte performing at a slightly better rate. One
of the reasons why, one of the major reasons why,
at least in our opinion, that Charlotte has had such
(10:45):
a hard time putting together more wins, has been the injuries,
and that's been a major issue once more. Now in
the twenty three to twenty four season, we were singing
a very similar tune. We were looking at LaMelo Ball
having missed sixty games. Brand and Miller had a really
strong rookie season, but was only a rookie. Mark Williams
missed more than sixty games. So those two tent poles
(11:08):
right there really put Charlotte in a tough position for
this season. There hasn't been as traumatic, I would say,
an injury to the starting group, but the bench was
decimated by injuries, and there have still been significant injuries
as well to the starters. When it's all said and done,
Brandon Miller is gonna end up missing fifty five games
of his second season. LaMelo Ball will have missed thirty
(11:31):
five games of his second season. Miles Bridges is really
the only player who averages in double figures that is
going to even have a chance to meet the sixty
five game threshold that the league has now set as
a benchmark for qualifying for all NBA teams. The bench group,
you've got Trey Mann and Grant Williams, two really good
scores and productive players off the bench. They're gonna end
(11:52):
up playing in a combined twenty nine games this season.
So I think injuries is a valid reasoning as to
why things have gone awry, and I think it's a
valid reason for optimism for the future because even with
all these injuries to a variety of players, we've seen
incredible growth. LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller, Milesbridge's, Mark Williams are
(12:13):
all averaging at or right around career highs and scoring.
They're all very young players, so they're probably going to
improve from here and should certainly get better as they
play more with each other. So the question for you,
Sam Perley, with all that kept in mind, where do
you think we will see the Hornets this time next season?
Provided we finally get that healthy campaign we've been clamoring
(12:35):
for for now the last couple of years.
Speaker 4 (12:37):
Yeah, I mean a lot of it comes down to that,
and you just mentioned you know, good examples being the
Detroit Pistons. That just plays so much into it. You
get continuity, you get you know, repetitions, you get consistency,
and it's you know, that's part of it. If you
look at the teams that you know, the other high
playoff seeded teams, I mean, they can weather injuries and
you know, obviously well with what the Hornets went through
this year and some other teams as well, you know,
(12:59):
with that Philadelphia, New Orleans. I mean it's just it
reaches a point where there's just there's only so much
you can do. And hopefully this is you know, again
not a situation the Hornets are dealing with a year
from now. Hopefully you're seeing more improvement in you know,
late March, early April. And I think we're both on
the same page. I think, if if everything is not
necessarily suggesting that everybody is one hundred percent healthy and
(13:19):
firing in all cylinders and good to go like it's
opening day or anything, but if you have a reasonable
just kind of like normal season in terms of the injury.
I don't see any reason why this this Hornet's team
when you look at the work that you know, Jeff
Peterson and Charles Lee have put in in just a
short amount of time here that they can't be playing
games that have an impact either getting into the play
(13:39):
in tournament or getting into the you know, maybe even
a top six seed, who knows. I mean again, you
look at that Detroit team. That Detroit team at fourteen
wins last year. They added a couple guys in the offseason,
added some vets, they got some growth, they got a
lot of player development, they were able to turn things around,
they got some injury luck, and they're now a top
six seeds. So not the exact same situation. It's not
(14:01):
the blueprint go do what Detroit did. I'm just kind
of using that as an example, but it just goes
to show you that it can turn quickly if you
do the right thing and get a little bit of
luck here in there.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
Yeah, because to your point, Detroit did not make some
major enormous fundamental change to their starting group or their core.
They continue to draft, they continue to try and find
good pieces to add in to their group, but they
didn't exactly go out and bring in a different All Star.
They felt they had their guy in Ky Cunningham and
(14:33):
he's proven them right. One last thing to bring up here,
and that is we tend to dial in and say, oh,
whatever the standings look like now, that's probably what they're
going to look like a year from now. And it
never fails, particularly in the East where things can be
a little bit more of volatile. There are enormous swings
every year where a team that was out of the
postseason pitcher all together has a ten plus win bump
(14:53):
and all of a sudden appears to be a real
factor in postseason play. Last season there were two of them.
Or and Indiana both had a ten plus win add on,
Orlando took Cleveland all the way to the wire in
their opening round series, ended up falling short. Indiana made
it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals when
it was all said and done. And this year we've
(15:14):
got another example right now in Detroit that has had
this enormous turnaround from worst in the East with a
overall record of fourteen and sixty eight to now being
a team that's solidly in the top six and will
be in the postseason for the first time in a
long time, hopefully next season. This time, we're talking about
Charlotte making that meteoric rise in terms of the standings,
(15:36):
and they'll be the ones that, hopefully we'll have playoff
basketball to look forward to. Right now, we've only got
one home game left to look forward to. It is
tonight Hornets versus the Grizzlies. Our game preview is coming
up next here on the Hornet Tife Cast, Sam Farber,
Sam Purley here with you on the AHHC The Hornet
Tife Cast, brought to you by Santa Charlotte, I ear
(15:58):
Nose and Throat Associates, the official I ear Nosen Throat
Care provider of the Charlotte Hornet.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
Sam Purley, one.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
Last time with at least you and I doing this
for the twenty four to twenty five season when he
players to watch for both teams as well as a
stat to watch other than points, because that's cheating. Whoever
scores the most points wins the game. Hornets and Grizzlies,
Where do you want to begin?
Speaker 4 (16:17):
I will go Hornet player to watch and mine is
going to be Nick Smith Junior back from a two
game absence against the Bulls on Sunday afternoon, shot just
three of twelve and oh of seven from three point
and twenty two minutes. Did have four assists though, and
no turnover, so again, finding ways to contribute, you know,
even when a shot was a little rust he did
finish with eight points, got to the line a couple times.
(16:38):
Had a really good month for Nick Smith Junior in March.
He averaged twelve points, shot only thirty eight percent, but
was thirty five percent from three point range, and did
go sixteen of seventeen from the line as well as
almost three assists. So I think these last few games,
you know, I'd love to see Nick Smith kind of
get on a little bit of a heater. We've seen
it at times this season, and yeah, I think he
had played twenty five games in a row before missing
(17:00):
that Indiana game and then the one after that, so
I think it'd be, you know, good. You've seen a
lot of progress from Nick Smith Junior this year, finding
ways to contribute when the shot isn't falling as a playmaker,
as a rebounder, to as a tempo setter. So good
to see him kind of finish these last four games,
kind of getting back to where he was, like he
saw him in March, being that consistent off the bench
(17:21):
point getter, kind of in that twelve thirteen to fourteen
point zone, you know, shooting upwards of forty percent. So
I'm looking for Nixon mid junior to get back on
track a little bit lat tonight.
Speaker 3 (17:30):
I like the pick.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
I'm going to be selfish as I've tried to be
in these last you know, ten or so games of
the season. There's certain things that I'm looking for that
I just I want to see him. I want to
see him here at home, and then so I'm going
to you know, speak it into existence here via the podcast.
One of them is Taj Gibson hitting this thousand games mark.
Speaker 3 (17:49):
Now, I would have loved for it to happen at home.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
I think it would have been a wonderful celebration of
Taj his career, which I certainly hope is going to continue.
I hope he plays to age forty. I think he could.
He certainly had that durability, and he has such a
great imprint on the younger players around him. But this
will be the final time for this season at minimum,
that we will see him at Spectrum Center, and it's
something that's only happened one hundred and fifty one other
(18:14):
times in NBA history, someone playing in their nine hundred
and ninety ninth career games. So the big round number
is definitely the one that we're all waiting for, but
the reality is still the same. Nine hundred and ninety
nine career games is something that almost never happens in
the NBA, and there's certainly an argument to be made
that with load management and other factors, it's going to
(18:37):
happen less in the future, although I think the argument
behind load management and that is that it extends players careers.
But whatever, Taj Gibson is doing something really special right now.
There are only sixteen players, so basically an All Star
team worth of guys that have played in more games
and are still active in the NBA than Toaj Gibson.
He's going to get there this season, I'm certain of it,
(19:00):
but definitely someone that I'm going to be watching for
in there for he's my hornet to watch, next up,
Grizzlies player to watch, stat to watch, or anything more
to say about Taj.
Speaker 4 (19:08):
I totally agree with you. You're kind of hoping and the
way the way it was kind of approaching and coming,
you know, towards the end of the season, you're trying
to figure out you know, games and home versus way,
and you know, obviously we'd love to see the thousandth here,
but that doesn't you know, take away from the you know,
meaning of it or anything like that. It's obviously tremendous
accomplishment and something that you know, of all the people
that are playing, you know how hard it is to
get to the NBA, and the percentage of that that
(19:29):
get to a thousand games is so so so so
so so small that you know, it's it's certainly something
that I think should be really really celebrated as a big,
big milestone.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
One player who's not going to get there this season
in terms of this is a regular season accomplishment. That's
the number of games we're counting here, but could in
the future is Robin Lopez. I guess here at random
question if you were at nine hundred and ninety eight,
nine hundred ninety five something like that, do you have
to play the next season?
Speaker 1 (20:00):
Do it?
Speaker 3 (20:00):
Do you have to come back?
Speaker 2 (20:02):
Or are you you okay remaining that short of it
knowing that You're not just gonna show up and play
like two games and then right off into the sunset,
you're you're signed for the season.
Speaker 4 (20:11):
Well, I don't think Robin Lopez was in the league
this year because I think he got traded to Sacramento
with the deadline last year. It's kind of a salary thing, right,
and then he I think he got waived in Sacramento
wasn't in the league this year, So I think.
Speaker 3 (20:24):
It would be permanently at nine to ninety two.
Speaker 4 (20:26):
Yeah, he might be stuck there. But isn't there a
movie about this with with Bernie macmster three thousand where
he makes this whole big post baseball career about being
the guy that got three thousand hits exactly, and then
they do a statistical check and he actually has two
nine and ninety seven. He's going to come back out
of retirement to get his three hits or something. Is this?
Speaker 3 (20:46):
That's one of the sports movies I did not watch.
Speaker 4 (20:48):
Yeah, I don't. I haven't seen it. I know generally
the plot, but.
Speaker 3 (20:51):
If they played the Mets, then you saw it.
Speaker 4 (20:53):
Yeah, but just to come in and I don't know,
I would have to, you know, I wouldn't want to
just come out. You know, if you're stuck at nine
to ninety two, you know, if you feel like you
keep playing, you want to keep playing. And but you know,
nine to ninety two is if you're Robin Lopez and
he's he's had a really, really good career too. Actually
played against Tosh Gibson in college when he's at Stanford
and Taj is at USC So again, I'd have to
(21:15):
think about it. I have to come back, and I'd
want to keep playing because sometimes when it's time, it's time.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
Notable players who missed it by ten games or less.
Hall of Famer Dolph Schayes missed it by four, Hedo
Turka Glue missed it by three games, Sam Kassel by seven.
Robin Lopez and Metal World Peace also less than ten
games away from one thousand, but to date have not
quite made it there. I suppose Better World Peace could
try and come out of retirement as well.
Speaker 3 (21:40):
All right, next up, let's get back to it. Grizzlies
player to watch or stat to watch.
Speaker 4 (21:43):
I'm gonna go Grizzlies player to watch. It's going to
be John Morant in the four games he's played under
their new head coach. Tumas Izalo. Hope they pronounced that
my Tuomas Uzalo. Four games under new head coach tumas
Uzalo twenty nine points on fifty percent shooting forty one
percent from three, which is a major jump up from
(22:03):
where he started the season. He was twenty nine percent
over the first forty three games, almost six rebound, six assists,
steal in a half. His usage has also gone up
from thirty one to thirty four percent. He missed Memphis
last game against I believe it was Detroit with an illness.
They ended up winning anyways, So the Grizzes have had
five games since making the coaching change. They're two and three,
(22:23):
not a huge enough sample size to kind of figure
out heads or tails. They've had a couple tough opponents.
I think they played the Celtics, but the Warriors. They've
also spled the Lakers two. But it seems like they're
putting the ball back in Moran's hands a little bit
more as they make this final push towards hopefully getting
in for their sake, getting into that top six and
avoiding the play in Right now, you said they're all
(22:46):
very very tightly contested, which I think is going to
make tonight's game very very interesting and competitive because the
Grizzes have a lot to play for. It is a
big difference between getting fifth and getting eighth in that
Western Conference. So Morant, I think they're you know, he
had the game winner the other day. He's obviously the
guy that they're going to lean on to kind of
get them across the finish lineup with this final week.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
Yeah, and I really love the playing tournament for exactly that.
There's so much more interest and so much more at
stake at this late stage of the season, whereas in
the previous generation of the postseason, the difference between five
and eight seemed not as much. Obviously, it was five
ced avoid the top dogs in the NBA a little
(23:25):
bit longer, but you weren't necessarily fighting and scratching and
clawing to avoid the play in tournament or host play
and get you know, it opens up more avenues to
the postseason, which is a good thing, but the way
it does it, I think is the best Mike Grizzlies
player to watch.
Speaker 3 (23:38):
I'm going with Zach Edy. I'm going with the rookie.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
I always look for these matchups within the matchups, where
is there an opportunity for a Hornets player in particular
to test themselves. I think Mark Williams, this being the
last home game, I'm hopeful that he'll be out there
and be able to take out Zach Edy, who has
been on a great run here to wind down his
rookie season, particularly when it comes to rebounding. Now since
(24:03):
they've made the coaching change, they have gone ahead and
inserted Zach Edy into the starting lineup. He had started before,
So this is not a total you know, all the
new coach came in and sees a new new lens
for Zaki. He had started early. He had started in
the middle of his rookie season. It just so happened
the last three games before the coaching change was made
(24:23):
he had not been starting. But nevertheless, since then, shot
attempts have come down, shooting percentage has been consistently strong
at about sixty one percent. And the big thing that
he does well he rebounds. In four of those five
games he's had double digit rebounds. In the last three
he's had thirteen or more. In the last one that
win over Detroit on the road, he had a career
(24:44):
high twenty one. So this is a big body who
is maybe not fully formed in the NBA as a
center yet because his offensive game has got a long
ways to go. He's kind of a gigantic Musa diabade
out there, like Seaball, get ball, set screens, put it
back in the basket, keep the game simple. And he
does that incredibly well and obviously has an enormous talent
(25:05):
that is eventually gonna lead him to even greater start
him but right now, what he can do well rebound
the ball. I'm looking forward to seeing Mark Williams in particular,
But whoever the Hornets have out there at that given
moment at the center spot go head ahead with Zach Edy.
Speaker 4 (25:18):
Yeah, very interesting matchup. And I think it's seven foot
four and three hundred pounds. He's a good thing at
just taking up space. That's a really big human being.
I remember seeing him in the hotel at the Combine
last year and just a little bit of an eyebrow
raise of like, oh, I see it now, I see
It's different seeing it on TV. And then you see
Zach Edy in real life and you're like, your head
(25:40):
goes up just a little bit more and the eyebrows
go up a little bit more and you're like, Okay,
I think I'd have a hard time seeing anybody score
on you in the NBA. So it was an interesting
addition for them in the draft, and it's done really
well for the Grizzlies obviously, so I'm excited to look
at that matchup. Wrapping up. My stat to watch for
tonight is going to be pace, And this is kind
of piggy backing a little bit off the Chicago game
(26:01):
the other day. Right now, Grizzlies are first in the
NBA in pace at one hundred and three point eight
possessions per forty eight minutes. The Bulls are in second,
and we saw how quickly they were running the other day,
particularly in that forty six points second quarter. Hornets did
a good job not turning the ball over at least
in the first half the other day. I think they
only had five first half turnovers. They shot pretty well.
(26:21):
I thought their shot profile was really good, particularly in
the first quarter, and yet the Bulls still had a
seventeen to nothing edge in fast break points at halftime
and think finished at twenty six to five. So Hornets
did a good job I think of not letting the
Bulls control the pace or not getting they didn't get
sped up too much on offense and took quick shots
and bad shots to try and outscore them. I thought
(26:43):
that part was really good. It was Chicago was basically
running off everything. They're running off of turnovers, misshots, made shots.
Everything they got back so so quick. So it's more
on the pace on the defensive end. I think the
Hornets needed to be a little bit better at against
Chicago and not having that big quarter kind of get
away from them and dictate the rest of the game.
(27:05):
Happened against the Bulls, it happened against Sacramento two. So
again you're going to see an aggressive Grizzlies team tonight
that likes to run, just like the Bulls. Hornet's got
to make sure they're not getting sped up on offense.
Regardless of whether you make or missed, you got to
get back on defense.
Speaker 2 (27:18):
I like it very informative about how it will determine
the outcome of this game. But again I'm going to
be selfish. I'm looking at the three point shot. I
want Seth Curry to get on pace here to make
eighty two in eighty two and starting to get nervous,
Sam Prolely because I think he's playing really well. He
is not forcing shots, which can be a little bit
of fools goal there, because if you just start chucking
(27:40):
them up from three, even if you make a couple
extra than you would have, you're putting yourself at risk
because you might drop down that percentage and that could
be an even bigger issue because it doesn't matter if
you make eighty two if you finish third. So he
needs to continue to be patient with his shots. But
I am getting nervous here because what if he misses
one of the last three games. What if he finishes
with eighty one. We just got done talking about what
(28:02):
would you do if you finished with twenty nine hundred
ninety eight career hits in baseball or played in nine
hundred and ninety nine career games in basketball. Well, what
if going to the last game of the season and
they can't get him to eighty two, he finishes.
Speaker 3 (28:12):
With eighty one. That'd be a heartbreaker.
Speaker 2 (28:14):
So I want a big three point shooting day here
for the Charlotte Hornets Memphis overall because of the pace
of play, I think it opens themselves up to allow
for big days for the opposition. They're a good defensive
team rating wise, but points allowed wise, they give up
a good amount, and I think there's certainly an opportunity
(28:35):
here for Charlotte to take advantage of the pace of
play and go ahead and you know, knock down fifteen
to twenty plus threes. Just for people's own information, eleven
games this year where Sacramento has allowed twenty or more threes.
They have had thirty two games this year where they've
allowed fifteen or more threes, and in almost all of
(28:55):
their games they've allowed double figure three. So there's a
good amount they're available for play, like Seth Curry to
knock him down. I want a big three point shooting
day for the Hornets, and for Seth Curry in particular.
Speaker 4 (29:05):
I like it too, and I have faith I think
he's going to get back on track, not that he's
not on track right now, but you know, you won't.
You want to be just be a little bit ahead
of pace, just to not be playing ketchup in these
final few games. But I wonder if it's you, you
get to those last couple of games and you're like,
you know, I need a couple do you just just
go for it? If it's you, do you you know,
you just kind of not take bad shots, but just
(29:25):
see what you can do and leave no doubt that
you're not, you know, doing just the minimum to get there.
Do you want to see, let's get up to eighty
five ninety threes? Is that something you would try and do?
Speaker 2 (29:34):
If it were me, I'd be measuring it. If I
got into eighty two, I'd be like, what's my percentage?
Speaker 3 (29:38):
What's his?
Speaker 4 (29:39):
Get the calculator out? Yeah, I forty four? Okay, the
thousandth of a point, Okay, I'm good.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
Yes, I would be doing that, And then I would
I would be like, hey, coach in the back, I
know you're supposed to be watching this game to figure
out what we're challenging, but just keeping on Milwaukee right now.
I need to know what Torrian Prince does. We'll see
how it turns out. Hopefully, opportunity is knocking here for
Seth Curry and the Hornets. Tonight they'll take on the Grizzlies.
We'll celebrate our fantastic fans who have been spectacular all
season long, and then we will get ready for the
(30:06):
continued reimagining of Spectrum Center for what promises to be
an outstanding twenty five twenty six season, Sam Purley. Always
good to have you with me here in studio on
the Hornets Podcast.
Speaker 4 (30:15):
Of course, thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (30:17):
Thanks to our producer Rob Longa for putting the 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 and of privilege having you along. We'll talk to
you next time. Right here, I'm a Hornets podcast.
Speaker 1 (30:28):
Thank you for listening to The Hornets Podcast, brought to
you by Santa, the official i ear nosen Throadcare provider
of the Charnette Hornets. For more coverage, visit Hornets dot
com
Welcome to the Hornets Hovecast, presented by Charlotte i ear
nosen Throat Associates, the official i ear nosen throatcare provider
of the Charlotte Hornets. Here's your host, Sam Farber.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Welcome to another edition of the 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 privileged have you with us
here once again on the Hornets Time Cast, brought to
you by Sena Charlotte i ear nos and Throat Associates,
the official i ear noosen throatcare provider of the Charlotte Hornets.
It's a game day edition, the final home game day
(00:34):
of the twenty twenty four to twenty five season, will
preview Hornets versus Memphis Grizzlies. Look forward to seeing everyone
one last time at the Hive for this twenty four
to twenty five season. Also, we're going to start looking
ahead to next season and talk about some of our
favorite memories from the year that's gone by inside the Hive.
Spectrum Center helping me on all these topics. He's a
part of every two Sam's edition of the Hornets. Iivecast
(00:56):
senior writer from Hornets dot Com, Sam Purley. Sam, consider
they're gonna start reimagining this building about five minutes after
the game ends tonight.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
This is going to be.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Probably our last in person in this studio conversation for
the podcast.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
Maybe for upwards of six months. Might be a minute.
Speaker 4 (01:13):
I didn't even think about that until you just brought
it up. I believe I at least will be in
here tonight with Rob Longo after the game, because I
know you'll be jumping on the plane to head up
to Toronto. So last Sam's version in the studio. Yes,
maybe Rob Longo and I will throw some sort of
party after the game to celebrate the final one before
the season ends.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Hornets and Grizzlies tonight. Not sure how I feel about
you celebrating me not being around, but that's fine. Hornet's
trying to take down Memphis tonight, a game that has
certainly a lot of significance when you're looking at the Grizzlies.
Memphis is in a log jam right now between realistically
third in the West and eighth in the West, depending
(01:53):
on how this final week of the season goes. Memphis
in theory could be hosting a during conference opening round series,
or they could be in the play in tournament starting
it off on the road. So a lot can change
here and tonight's result will go a long way towards
It will give you our game preview in a little bit.
But while this one has the potential to be the
(02:15):
biggest game of the home season for the twenty four
to twenty five Charlotte Hornets, there are forty other candidates
that we've had to choose from, and so are our
question to open things up, Sam Purley, is your favorite
game and favorite memory of this twenty four to twenty
five home season for the Charlotte Hornets.
Speaker 4 (02:32):
It's spectrum Center a little interesting because I missed two
full months worth of home games during the season, so
I Am not going to count any of those just
because I wasn't technically in the building, but I did
watch them all on television. My favorite home memory has
to be It's a pretty easy when it's Brandon Miller's
buzzer beater against the Detroit Pistons back on November sixth
(02:53):
that had to put back. I think was off of
Grant Williams miss three and if you can remember I
think the Hornets had like a two possession lead or
something towards the end, and he got stripped on an
inbounds I think by Ron Holland went the other way
for Pistons go ahead layup, and it was this big,
crazy swing because he felt like the Hornets at the
game kind of locked up and they made a couple
of mistakes and a shot I think by the Pistons,
(03:14):
and all of a sudden, you know they're about to
have a victory snatched away and about getting the inbound
grant put up the three Brandon boxed out. I think
it was Malik Beasley for the put back and it
went in pretty definitively, And you know, those are always exciting.
You maybe get one or two home buzzer beaters a season,
I think for the Hornets it had been a few
years with fans at least going back to the Tiers.
(03:35):
You just shot in an empty stadium in twenty twenty one,
I think, so, Yeah, that one stands out pretty significantly
for me. Back in early November against a Detroit team
that's you know, had a very good season as well.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
Yeah, I'll be honest, that was number one on my list.
As well for a variety of reasons. One is that
Detroit has had such a good season and so that
was a mile marker where Charlotte was healthy year certainly
far from healthy. They had no Vin Footers at the time.
The Hornets center rotation back then at starting spot was
Taj Gibson, who gave seven points four rebounds in just
(04:08):
about fifteen minutes worth of action. Musa Diabate was there
as the backup, but primarily the Hornets kind of went
small out. There went Grant Williams at the five, and
he had a good game in that one. Just looking
back at at the roster, for availability's sakes, Brandon Miller
obviously had the game winner. So that was a big,
big change from what we've experienced the last couple of months.
(04:29):
But Miles Bridges, LaMelo Ball, and Brandon Miller all playing
at that time, so you know, the big three, if
you want to call it, that was intact. But here's
the Hornets reserves for that game. Cody Martin, Grant Williams,
Trey Man, t Jan Salon, Seth Curry, and Mussa Diabate.
The first three, Martin, Williams and Man all played twenty
(04:50):
plus minutes. None of them still with the team at
this point, at least available to play now.
Speaker 4 (04:53):
It's a little strange. I actually didn't look at the
box score. I was just kind of looking at the
scheduled results and now looking up to another one that
sticks out. Wendell Moore Junior was on the Pistons then
now on the Hornets too, So it's kind of crazy,
and it just it, you know, shows you just how
much a season can change through injuries, through trades, through movements, signings,
things like that. I mean, November and time wise doesn't
(05:16):
feel like that long ago, but when you look at
in the context of a roster and a box score,
it's like, wow, it feels like in a completely different
era sometimes.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
And a good example of that is looking at Detroit's
starting lineup. One one significant player who was playing then
that is out now is Jade and Ivy. He had
a big injury, so that is a big blow. But otherwise,
this team's intact Cade Cunningham, Tobias Harris, Tim Hardaway Junior,
Jalen Dura, and Isaiah Stewart, Malik Beasley. These are the
big minute guys for Detroit now at the end of
(05:45):
the season, which is a big part of the reason
why they've.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
Had such success. So I love it. Great pick.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
That was one of the signature moments of the season
that put back by Brandon Miller in definitely something he'll
be able to think back fondly on as he progresses
into year three, which commence in this upcoming October. But
the rob rules are intact for even this segment, Sam,
and so I'm going to go with another one. And
if I had a close second, it would be the
win at home over San Antonio. Vastly different circumstances. On
(06:13):
a positive side, it was a Friday night at Spectrum Center,
so you know those tend to be some of our
biggest crowd nights. It was a packed house. They got
to see something really really special in a game winner
for Charlotte. On the other side, the reason why it
wasn't my number one, the Hornets had been hit with
so many injuries that the cake was honestly kind of
baked at that point. The team was twelve and thirty
(06:34):
six going into that one take the win over San Antonio.
Spurs weren't exactly in the catbird seed either. They were
below five hundred and on the outside looking in, but
they had just acquired Dearon Fox, They had Victor Webb
min Yama, they have Chris Paul. There's this thought that
maybe with Castle and Sohan and the Cell, they can
put it together and make a run at the play
(06:56):
in tournament. And Charlotte meanwhile, even though they don't have
Brandon and Miller at this point, they do have a
little bit more center depth. Although none of them played
in this particular game. They didn't have the benefit of
Mark Williams available for that contest, so the starting center
was Moussa Diabate, who had one of his better games
of the season. But the reason it became my favorite
(07:18):
of the year is one who they beat. They beat
a really good Spurs team that had Victor Wembenyama, had
Dearon Fox, had Chris Paul, and it had not one
but two buzzer beaters scenarios. Charlotte had the game winner,
as it proved to be, from Miles Bridges on a
beautiful drive and dime assist play from LaMelo Ball, one
of his best plays of his career, I would say
(07:40):
in that scenario, and he's had a lot of really
good ones, so I'm giving it very high praise to
put the bar that high. But on top of that,
the exquisite down to the wire defense from Nick Smith
Junior to time it oh soo perfectly that the ball
is still in the Aaron Fox's hand one one hundredth
of a second too long, so that Charlotte wins the game.
Even though Fox made the shot after the buzzer, it
(08:01):
was a great moment, a great crowd, It was a
great win, and it really showed some of the intestinal
fortitude of the guts of this Hornets team. I mean,
recall at that time, Charlotte had lost six in a row.
They were really struggling at that point, and they come
up with the big w over San Antonio. Obviously things
unraveled for that squad as well not too long after,
(08:23):
after the All Star break, but in that moment in time,
that was a really big win for the Charlotte Hornets
for sure.
Speaker 4 (08:28):
And I remember watching that one on TV and you know,
just kind of a back and forth towards the end,
obviously the Miles three, like you mentioned, and then watching
the Fox made such a good shot and I don't
think he got it off, and then you're like, you're
kind of like you know in your mind, but you
never really know. And then you see the replay and
be like, Okay, I think we're good. I think we're good.
Da da da da, and it's just like, okay, come on,
there's no way you got it off. And then you it.
(08:49):
So those games are you know, it provides a little
bit of drama. As long as you're on the right
side and the winning side of the drama, it makes
for a very enjoyable experience, and you know it's and
also looking at that one, what made it also so
such an important win, I guess just in the sense
of at the time they were on there, I think
eight or nine game homestand had lost, like you said,
(09:09):
six in a row, so it had been a tough
homestand and then they were going into three in a
row on the road going into the All Star Break,
and then another six coming out of the All Star
Break counting that rescheduled game against the Lakers. So you
knew that that was kind of one. It's like, we
got to get this one because you know, you know
the schedule, they're not going to be back home for
another month until early March. And you know, again, like
you said in the grand scheme of things. It you know,
(09:29):
didn't have a huge bearing on the standings of things
like that, but it was a good one to end
a tough homestand on, especially knowing that you had a long,
challenging road trip coming up as well.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
Might tonight's game be the one that surplants all others
as the home game of the season. I guess we'll
find out later tonight we'll have our game preview momentarily
for Hornets versus Grizzlies, But coming up next, we're going
to talk about the future here for the Charlotte Hornets.
What gives us the greatest optimism as we close out
the twenty four to twenty five home schedule, maybe start
(10:01):
to sneak a peek at what's to come in twenty
five to twenty six. That's next here on the Hornet
Sive Cast. Sam Farber, Sam Purley here with you on
the HHC the Hornet side Cast, brought to you by SENTA.
Hornets wrapping up the home schedule. They will finish with
more home wins Sam Purley this year than they had
a season ago. On the twenty three to twenty four campaign.
(10:24):
A bit ill faated a lot of injuries. In that
one as well, Charlotte finished with just eleven home wins.
It does appear as of now, though, that last season's
team will finish with more overall wins, but from a
home perspective, Charlotte performing at a slightly better rate. One
of the reasons why, one of the major reasons why,
at least in our opinion, that Charlotte has had such
(10:45):
a hard time putting together more wins, has been the injuries,
and that's been a major issue once more. Now in
the twenty three to twenty four season, we were singing
a very similar tune. We were looking at LaMelo Ball
having missed sixty games. Brand and Miller had a really
strong rookie season, but was only a rookie. Mark Williams
missed more than sixty games. So those two tent poles
(11:08):
right there really put Charlotte in a tough position for
this season. There hasn't been as traumatic, I would say,
an injury to the starting group, but the bench was
decimated by injuries, and there have still been significant injuries
as well to the starters. When it's all said and done,
Brandon Miller is gonna end up missing fifty five games
of his second season. LaMelo Ball will have missed thirty
(11:31):
five games of his second season. Miles Bridges is really
the only player who averages in double figures that is
going to even have a chance to meet the sixty
five game threshold that the league has now set as
a benchmark for qualifying for all NBA teams. The bench group,
you've got Trey Mann and Grant Williams, two really good
scores and productive players off the bench. They're gonna end
(11:52):
up playing in a combined twenty nine games this season.
So I think injuries is a valid reasoning as to
why things have gone awry, and I think it's a
valid reason for optimism for the future because even with
all these injuries to a variety of players, we've seen
incredible growth. LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller, Milesbridge's, Mark Williams are
(12:13):
all averaging at or right around career highs and scoring.
They're all very young players, so they're probably going to
improve from here and should certainly get better as they
play more with each other. So the question for you,
Sam Perley, with all that kept in mind, where do
you think we will see the Hornets this time next season?
Provided we finally get that healthy campaign we've been clamoring
(12:35):
for for now the last couple of years.
Speaker 4 (12:37):
Yeah, I mean a lot of it comes down to that,
and you just mentioned you know, good examples being the
Detroit Pistons. That just plays so much into it. You
get continuity, you get you know, repetitions, you get consistency,
and it's you know, that's part of it. If you
look at the teams that you know, the other high
playoff seeded teams, I mean, they can weather injuries and
you know, obviously well with what the Hornets went through
this year and some other teams as well, you know,
(12:59):
with that Philadelphia, New Orleans. I mean it's just it
reaches a point where there's just there's only so much
you can do. And hopefully this is you know, again
not a situation the Hornets are dealing with a year
from now. Hopefully you're seeing more improvement in you know,
late March, early April. And I think we're both on
the same page. I think, if if everything is not
necessarily suggesting that everybody is one hundred percent healthy and
(13:19):
firing in all cylinders and good to go like it's
opening day or anything, but if you have a reasonable
just kind of like normal season in terms of the injury.
I don't see any reason why this this Hornet's team
when you look at the work that you know, Jeff
Peterson and Charles Lee have put in in just a
short amount of time here that they can't be playing
games that have an impact either getting into the play
(13:39):
in tournament or getting into the you know, maybe even
a top six seed, who knows. I mean again, you
look at that Detroit team. That Detroit team at fourteen
wins last year. They added a couple guys in the offseason,
added some vets, they got some growth, they got a
lot of player development, they were able to turn things around,
they got some injury luck, and they're now a top
six seeds. So not the exact same situation. It's not
(14:01):
the blueprint go do what Detroit did. I'm just kind
of using that as an example, but it just goes
to show you that it can turn quickly if you
do the right thing and get a little bit of
luck here in there.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
Yeah, because to your point, Detroit did not make some
major enormous fundamental change to their starting group or their core.
They continue to draft, they continue to try and find
good pieces to add in to their group, but they
didn't exactly go out and bring in a different All Star.
They felt they had their guy in Ky Cunningham and
(14:33):
he's proven them right. One last thing to bring up here,
and that is we tend to dial in and say, oh,
whatever the standings look like now, that's probably what they're
going to look like a year from now. And it
never fails, particularly in the East where things can be
a little bit more of volatile. There are enormous swings
every year where a team that was out of the
postseason pitcher all together has a ten plus win bump
(14:53):
and all of a sudden appears to be a real
factor in postseason play. Last season there were two of them.
Or and Indiana both had a ten plus win add on,
Orlando took Cleveland all the way to the wire in
their opening round series, ended up falling short. Indiana made
it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals when
it was all said and done. And this year we've
(15:14):
got another example right now in Detroit that has had
this enormous turnaround from worst in the East with a
overall record of fourteen and sixty eight to now being
a team that's solidly in the top six and will
be in the postseason for the first time in a
long time, hopefully next season. This time, we're talking about
Charlotte making that meteoric rise in terms of the standings,
(15:36):
and they'll be the ones that, hopefully we'll have playoff
basketball to look forward to. Right now, we've only got
one home game left to look forward to. It is
tonight Hornets versus the Grizzlies. Our game preview is coming
up next here on the Hornet Tife Cast, Sam Farber,
Sam Purley here with you on the AHHC The Hornet
Tife Cast, brought to you by Santa Charlotte, I ear
(15:58):
Nose and Throat Associates, the official I ear Nosen Throat
Care provider of the Charlotte Hornet.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
Sam Purley, one.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
Last time with at least you and I doing this
for the twenty four to twenty five season when he
players to watch for both teams as well as a
stat to watch other than points, because that's cheating. Whoever
scores the most points wins the game. Hornets and Grizzlies,
Where do you want to begin?
Speaker 4 (16:17):
I will go Hornet player to watch and mine is
going to be Nick Smith Junior back from a two
game absence against the Bulls on Sunday afternoon, shot just
three of twelve and oh of seven from three point
and twenty two minutes. Did have four assists though, and
no turnover, so again, finding ways to contribute, you know,
even when a shot was a little rust he did
finish with eight points, got to the line a couple times.
(16:38):
Had a really good month for Nick Smith Junior in March.
He averaged twelve points, shot only thirty eight percent, but
was thirty five percent from three point range, and did
go sixteen of seventeen from the line as well as
almost three assists. So I think these last few games,
you know, I'd love to see Nick Smith kind of
get on a little bit of a heater. We've seen
it at times this season, and yeah, I think he
had played twenty five games in a row before missing
(17:00):
that Indiana game and then the one after that, so
I think it'd be, you know, good. You've seen a
lot of progress from Nick Smith Junior this year, finding
ways to contribute when the shot isn't falling as a playmaker,
as a rebounder, to as a tempo setter. So good
to see him kind of finish these last four games,
kind of getting back to where he was, like he
saw him in March, being that consistent off the bench
(17:21):
point getter, kind of in that twelve thirteen to fourteen
point zone, you know, shooting upwards of forty percent. So
I'm looking for Nixon mid junior to get back on
track a little bit lat tonight.
Speaker 3 (17:30):
I like the pick.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
I'm going to be selfish as I've tried to be
in these last you know, ten or so games of
the season. There's certain things that I'm looking for that
I just I want to see him. I want to
see him here at home, and then so I'm going
to you know, speak it into existence here via the podcast.
One of them is Taj Gibson hitting this thousand games mark.
Speaker 3 (17:49):
Now, I would have loved for it to happen at home.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
I think it would have been a wonderful celebration of
Taj his career, which I certainly hope is going to continue.
I hope he plays to age forty. I think he could.
He certainly had that durability, and he has such a
great imprint on the younger players around him. But this
will be the final time for this season at minimum,
that we will see him at Spectrum Center, and it's
something that's only happened one hundred and fifty one other
(18:14):
times in NBA history, someone playing in their nine hundred
and ninety ninth career games. So the big round number
is definitely the one that we're all waiting for, but
the reality is still the same. Nine hundred and ninety
nine career games is something that almost never happens in
the NBA, and there's certainly an argument to be made
that with load management and other factors, it's going to
(18:37):
happen less in the future, although I think the argument
behind load management and that is that it extends players careers.
But whatever, Taj Gibson is doing something really special right now.
There are only sixteen players, so basically an All Star
team worth of guys that have played in more games
and are still active in the NBA than Toaj Gibson.
He's going to get there this season, I'm certain of it,
(19:00):
but definitely someone that I'm going to be watching for
in there for he's my hornet to watch, next up,
Grizzlies player to watch, stat to watch, or anything more
to say about Taj.
Speaker 4 (19:08):
I totally agree with you. You're kind of hoping and the
way the way it was kind of approaching and coming,
you know, towards the end of the season, you're trying
to figure out you know, games and home versus way,
and you know, obviously we'd love to see the thousandth here,
but that doesn't you know, take away from the you know,
meaning of it or anything like that. It's obviously tremendous
accomplishment and something that you know, of all the people
that are playing, you know how hard it is to
get to the NBA, and the percentage of that that
(19:29):
get to a thousand games is so so so so
so so small that you know, it's it's certainly something
that I think should be really really celebrated as a big,
big milestone.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
One player who's not going to get there this season
in terms of this is a regular season accomplishment. That's
the number of games we're counting here, but could in
the future is Robin Lopez. I guess here at random
question if you were at nine hundred and ninety eight,
nine hundred ninety five something like that, do you have
to play the next season?
Speaker 1 (20:00):
Do it?
Speaker 3 (20:00):
Do you have to come back?
Speaker 2 (20:02):
Or are you you okay remaining that short of it
knowing that You're not just gonna show up and play
like two games and then right off into the sunset,
you're you're signed for the season.
Speaker 4 (20:11):
Well, I don't think Robin Lopez was in the league
this year because I think he got traded to Sacramento
with the deadline last year. It's kind of a salary thing, right,
and then he I think he got waived in Sacramento
wasn't in the league this year, So I think.
Speaker 3 (20:24):
It would be permanently at nine to ninety two.
Speaker 4 (20:26):
Yeah, he might be stuck there. But isn't there a
movie about this with with Bernie macmster three thousand where
he makes this whole big post baseball career about being
the guy that got three thousand hits exactly, and then
they do a statistical check and he actually has two
nine and ninety seven. He's going to come back out
of retirement to get his three hits or something. Is this?
Speaker 3 (20:46):
That's one of the sports movies I did not watch.
Speaker 4 (20:48):
Yeah, I don't. I haven't seen it. I know generally
the plot, but.
Speaker 3 (20:51):
If they played the Mets, then you saw it.
Speaker 4 (20:53):
Yeah, but just to come in and I don't know,
I would have to, you know, I wouldn't want to
just come out. You know, if you're stuck at nine
to ninety two, you know, if you feel like you
keep playing, you want to keep playing. And but you know,
nine to ninety two is if you're Robin Lopez and
he's he's had a really, really good career too. Actually
played against Tosh Gibson in college when he's at Stanford
and Taj is at USC So again, I'd have to
(21:15):
think about it. I have to come back, and I'd
want to keep playing because sometimes when it's time, it's time.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
Notable players who missed it by ten games or less.
Hall of Famer Dolph Schayes missed it by four, Hedo
Turka Glue missed it by three games, Sam Kassel by seven.
Robin Lopez and Metal World Peace also less than ten
games away from one thousand, but to date have not
quite made it there. I suppose Better World Peace could
try and come out of retirement as well.
Speaker 3 (21:40):
All right, next up, let's get back to it. Grizzlies
player to watch or stat to watch.
Speaker 4 (21:43):
I'm gonna go Grizzlies player to watch. It's going to
be John Morant in the four games he's played under
their new head coach. Tumas Izalo. Hope they pronounced that
my Tuomas Uzalo. Four games under new head coach tumas
Uzalo twenty nine points on fifty percent shooting forty one
percent from three, which is a major jump up from
(22:03):
where he started the season. He was twenty nine percent
over the first forty three games, almost six rebound, six assists,
steal in a half. His usage has also gone up
from thirty one to thirty four percent. He missed Memphis
last game against I believe it was Detroit with an illness.
They ended up winning anyways, So the Grizzes have had
five games since making the coaching change. They're two and three,
(22:23):
not a huge enough sample size to kind of figure
out heads or tails. They've had a couple tough opponents.
I think they played the Celtics, but the Warriors. They've
also spled the Lakers two. But it seems like they're
putting the ball back in Moran's hands a little bit
more as they make this final push towards hopefully getting
in for their sake, getting into that top six and
avoiding the play in Right now, you said they're all
(22:46):
very very tightly contested, which I think is going to
make tonight's game very very interesting and competitive because the
Grizzes have a lot to play for. It is a
big difference between getting fifth and getting eighth in that
Western Conference. So Morant, I think they're you know, he
had the game winner the other day. He's obviously the
guy that they're going to lean on to kind of
get them across the finish lineup with this final week.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
Yeah, and I really love the playing tournament for exactly that.
There's so much more interest and so much more at
stake at this late stage of the season, whereas in
the previous generation of the postseason, the difference between five
and eight seemed not as much. Obviously, it was five
ced avoid the top dogs in the NBA a little
(23:25):
bit longer, but you weren't necessarily fighting and scratching and
clawing to avoid the play in tournament or host play
and get you know, it opens up more avenues to
the postseason, which is a good thing, but the way
it does it, I think is the best Mike Grizzlies
player to watch.
Speaker 3 (23:38):
I'm going with Zach Edy. I'm going with the rookie.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
I always look for these matchups within the matchups, where
is there an opportunity for a Hornets player in particular
to test themselves. I think Mark Williams, this being the
last home game, I'm hopeful that he'll be out there
and be able to take out Zach Edy, who has
been on a great run here to wind down his
rookie season, particularly when it comes to rebounding. Now since
(24:03):
they've made the coaching change, they have gone ahead and
inserted Zach Edy into the starting lineup. He had started before,
So this is not a total you know, all the
new coach came in and sees a new new lens
for Zaki. He had started early. He had started in
the middle of his rookie season. It just so happened
the last three games before the coaching change was made
(24:23):
he had not been starting. But nevertheless, since then, shot
attempts have come down, shooting percentage has been consistently strong
at about sixty one percent. And the big thing that
he does well he rebounds. In four of those five
games he's had double digit rebounds. In the last three
he's had thirteen or more. In the last one that
win over Detroit on the road, he had a career
(24:44):
high twenty one. So this is a big body who
is maybe not fully formed in the NBA as a
center yet because his offensive game has got a long
ways to go. He's kind of a gigantic Musa diabade
out there, like Seaball, get ball, set screens, put it
back in the basket, keep the game simple. And he
does that incredibly well and obviously has an enormous talent
(25:05):
that is eventually gonna lead him to even greater start
him but right now, what he can do well rebound
the ball. I'm looking forward to seeing Mark Williams in particular,
But whoever the Hornets have out there at that given
moment at the center spot go head ahead with Zach Edy.
Speaker 4 (25:18):
Yeah, very interesting matchup. And I think it's seven foot
four and three hundred pounds. He's a good thing at
just taking up space. That's a really big human being.
I remember seeing him in the hotel at the Combine
last year and just a little bit of an eyebrow
raise of like, oh, I see it now, I see
It's different seeing it on TV. And then you see
Zach Edy in real life and you're like, your head
(25:40):
goes up just a little bit more and the eyebrows
go up a little bit more and you're like, Okay,
I think I'd have a hard time seeing anybody score
on you in the NBA. So it was an interesting
addition for them in the draft, and it's done really
well for the Grizzlies obviously, so I'm excited to look
at that matchup. Wrapping up. My stat to watch for
tonight is going to be pace, And this is kind
of piggy backing a little bit off the Chicago game
(26:01):
the other day. Right now, Grizzlies are first in the
NBA in pace at one hundred and three point eight
possessions per forty eight minutes. The Bulls are in second,
and we saw how quickly they were running the other day,
particularly in that forty six points second quarter. Hornets did
a good job not turning the ball over at least
in the first half the other day. I think they
only had five first half turnovers. They shot pretty well.
(26:21):
I thought their shot profile was really good, particularly in
the first quarter, and yet the Bulls still had a
seventeen to nothing edge in fast break points at halftime
and think finished at twenty six to five. So Hornets
did a good job I think of not letting the
Bulls control the pace or not getting they didn't get
sped up too much on offense and took quick shots
and bad shots to try and outscore them. I thought
(26:43):
that part was really good. It was Chicago was basically
running off everything. They're running off of turnovers, misshots, made shots.
Everything they got back so so quick. So it's more
on the pace on the defensive end. I think the
Hornets needed to be a little bit better at against
Chicago and not having that big quarter kind of get
away from them and dictate the rest of the game.
(27:05):
Happened against the Bulls, it happened against Sacramento two. So
again you're going to see an aggressive Grizzlies team tonight
that likes to run, just like the Bulls. Hornet's got
to make sure they're not getting sped up on offense.
Regardless of whether you make or missed, you got to
get back on defense.
Speaker 2 (27:18):
I like it very informative about how it will determine
the outcome of this game. But again I'm going to
be selfish. I'm looking at the three point shot. I
want Seth Curry to get on pace here to make
eighty two in eighty two and starting to get nervous,
Sam Prolely because I think he's playing really well. He
is not forcing shots, which can be a little bit
of fools goal there, because if you just start chucking
(27:40):
them up from three, even if you make a couple
extra than you would have, you're putting yourself at risk
because you might drop down that percentage and that could
be an even bigger issue because it doesn't matter if
you make eighty two if you finish third. So he
needs to continue to be patient with his shots. But
I am getting nervous here because what if he misses
one of the last three games. What if he finishes
with eighty one. We just got done talking about what
(28:02):
would you do if you finished with twenty nine hundred
ninety eight career hits in baseball or played in nine
hundred and ninety nine career games in basketball. Well, what
if going to the last game of the season and
they can't get him to eighty two, he finishes.
Speaker 3 (28:12):
With eighty one. That'd be a heartbreaker.
Speaker 2 (28:14):
So I want a big three point shooting day here
for the Charlotte Hornets Memphis overall because of the pace
of play, I think it opens themselves up to allow
for big days for the opposition. They're a good defensive
team rating wise, but points allowed wise, they give up
a good amount, and I think there's certainly an opportunity
(28:35):
here for Charlotte to take advantage of the pace of
play and go ahead and you know, knock down fifteen
to twenty plus threes. Just for people's own information, eleven
games this year where Sacramento has allowed twenty or more threes.
They have had thirty two games this year where they've
allowed fifteen or more threes, and in almost all of
(28:55):
their games they've allowed double figure three. So there's a
good amount they're available for play, like Seth Curry to
knock him down. I want a big three point shooting
day for the Hornets, and for Seth Curry in particular.
Speaker 4 (29:05):
I like it too, and I have faith I think
he's going to get back on track, not that he's
not on track right now, but you know, you won't.
You want to be just be a little bit ahead
of pace, just to not be playing ketchup in these
final few games. But I wonder if it's you, you
get to those last couple of games and you're like,
you know, I need a couple do you just just
go for it? If it's you, do you you know,
you just kind of not take bad shots, but just
(29:25):
see what you can do and leave no doubt that
you're not, you know, doing just the minimum to get there.
Do you want to see, let's get up to eighty
five ninety threes? Is that something you would try and do?
Speaker 2 (29:34):
If it were me, I'd be measuring it. If I
got into eighty two, I'd be like, what's my percentage?
Speaker 3 (29:38):
What's his?
Speaker 4 (29:39):
Get the calculator out? Yeah, I forty four? Okay, the
thousandth of a point, Okay, I'm good.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
Yes, I would be doing that, And then I would
I would be like, hey, coach in the back, I
know you're supposed to be watching this game to figure
out what we're challenging, but just keeping on Milwaukee right now.
I need to know what Torrian Prince does. We'll see
how it turns out. Hopefully, opportunity is knocking here for
Seth Curry and the Hornets. Tonight they'll take on the Grizzlies.
We'll celebrate our fantastic fans who have been spectacular all
season long, and then we will get ready for the
(30:06):
continued reimagining of Spectrum Center for what promises to be
an outstanding twenty five twenty six season, Sam Purley. Always
good to have you with me here in studio on
the Hornets Podcast.
Speaker 4 (30:15):
Of course, thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (30:17):
Thanks to our producer Rob Longa for putting the 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 and of privilege having you along. We'll talk to
you next time. Right here, I'm a Hornets podcast.
Speaker 1 (30:28):
Thank you for listening to The Hornets Podcast, brought to
you by Santa, the official i ear nosen Throadcare provider
of the Charnette Hornets. For more coverage, visit Hornets dot
com
Hosts And Creators
Sam Farber
Rob Longo
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