July 29, 2023 • 23 mins
While Hornets fans await the announcement of the regular-season schedule, the team released its preseason schedule. Radio broadcaster Sam Farber and Hornets Radio Network manager Rob Longo highlight the schedule, as well as discuss the signing of Leaky Black to a two-way contract. The two also go over offseason power rankings.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to the Hornets Highcast, presented by Charlotte I ear
nosen Throat Associates, the official I ear nosen throat care
provider of the Charlotte Hornets. Here's your host, Sam Farber.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Welcome to another edition of the Hornets Podcast, 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 to have you with us
here once again on the hornetsobecst brought to you by
Santa Charlotte I ear Nose and Throat Associates, the official
I ear nosen throat care provider of the Charlotte Hornets.
We were gone for maybe a week, little bit of
(00:38):
a breather here in the off season, but we've gathered
up some good news that we'd like to talk about
with all of you find folks today here on the
AJC Hornets just releasing their preseason schedule. Also, in recent
days they have let us all know that they've signed
a player to a two way contract. Leaky Black of
North Carolina fame will now be part of the Greensboro
Swarm and hopefully perhaps the Charlott Hornets as well, and
(01:02):
there's already off season power ranking, so we'll find something
new to get angry about here on this edition of
the HC.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
Helping me on all these topics.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
He's my producer on the Hornets Radio Network, Ause Weth,
the producer of this fine podcast, Rob Longo.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
Rob, good to have you back. How have you enjoyed
your break here?
Speaker 4 (01:16):
Yeah, honestly, to be honest with you, it hasn't really
felt like a whole lot of a break. But time
flies when you're having fun, and before you know it,
we'll have Hornets basketball ready to go. And we already
have a couple opponents known that are we're going to
see at the beginning of October. So exciting to release
those and go through those and detail those and get
ready for some Hornets hoop soon.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
Yeah, we have dates certain now on when we get
back to work. We're a little over.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Two months two and a half, i'd say, at this
stage of the game from seeing the Hornets back on
the hardwood again. As the Hornets preseason schedule has been announced,
it's going to start on October tenth, the Tuesday, Hornets
will be on the road in Miami against the defending
Eastern Conference champions. Then they'll continue with another division opponent,
(01:58):
staying on the road, this time of the Nation's Capital
to take on the Washington Wizards on October the twelfth.
Two home games on the horizon as well. Charlotte will
have a Sunday not quite matten a a little bit
earlier start time for the home preseason opener against the
Oklahoma City Thunder, and then on Thursday the nineteenth, Charlotte
will open against Boston. I should throw in there that
(02:21):
the entire NBA is supposed to open up sometime around
the twenty fourth, that should be opening night. Unlikely the
Hornets will play that night. Typically there's only one or
two games. It typically involves the defending champs, So based
off recent history, I think there will probably be somewhere
in the neighborhood of a week break after that game
against Boston at Spectrum Center to get ready for the
(02:42):
regular season. But we'll know those dates in the future.
Right now, we know the preseason overall.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
Rob your thoughts.
Speaker 4 (02:48):
Just excited to have some dates on the calendar finally,
and you take a look at the schedule, it's pretty
friendly in terms of travel and opponents that the Hornets
will face kicks off with that game in Miami, like
you mentioned, day off, then you kind of get in
an at rhythm a little bit, go up the road
to Washington. Then you have a few more days off,
you have Oklahoma City at home, and then you finish
off with a tough Boston team at home. So it's
very similar, I guess, in a sense to preseason schedules
(03:11):
we've seen in the past. And the little caveat that
I don't think a lot of people realize is that
the teams are more or less responsible for putting together
their preseason schedule. They can put as many as they
want together, they can put as few as they want.
They can kind of mix and match and pick their
opponents as well. So I go back to a couple
of seasons ago, the Hornets played the likes of Oklahoma
City on the road. They also had Memphis at home,
(03:32):
and I believe they also had Dallas at home in
that same year as well. And then you go last year,
the Hornets more or less had that extra game, if
you want to call it that way. They had five
preseason games because of that one against the Celtics in Greensborough.
So a little disappointed we're not going back to Greensboro
this season, but really cool to see at least like
there's a level of opponents more or less here for
the Hornets, where you have two divisional opponents in Miami
(03:53):
and Washington, then you have a really young and exciting
team in Oklahoma City, and then you got one of
the strongholds of the Eastern Conference in Boston, and you
get the at home too. So all in all, I
think it's a really good schedule works out well. It's
going to provide a lot of different tests for these
Hornets team and these Hornets players.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
Yeah, I like it a lot.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
I think having the four games perhaps a reaction to
last year where in preseason the Hornets started to suffer injuries,
and so maybe you reduce the opportunity for that to
happen by taking it down to four games. I don't
know that it's that reactionary, but it certainly could be.
But just in general, I like the lack of enormous travel.
(04:27):
There's only two games on the road, they're probably going
to be part of one longer road trip. They're both
division opponents, so they're both in the general regional area.
Just reduces the wear and tear and time outside of
the gym on these players, and then two good home
games Oklahoma City and up and coming team from the
Western Conference Boston and there to wrap it up. Who
(04:49):
knows how much of the Celtics regulars will be seeing
at that stage, or for that matter, the Hornets regulars,
but I do think it's significant that the Horns are
going to get to face the two Eastern Conference finally
on this preseason slate. We've got the four games. Time
for the big question, Rob Longo, which of these four
are you most looking forward to and why?
Speaker 4 (05:08):
I think the one that I'm looking most forward to
is that October fifteenth against Oklahoma City, because, first off,
it's home. It's the first time we get to see
the Hornets at home this season, first time we'll get
to see Brandon Miller in a Hornets jersey, and some
of the other first round picks like Nick Smith Junior
and maybe some of the second round guys like Amari
Bailey as well. So excited to see them. Also excited
to see the matchup between chet Holmgrum potentially and Mark Williams.
(05:30):
I know we'll probably see that in a regular season
knock on what everybody stays healthy for both sides, because
obviously chet had to deal with that foot injury and
he missed his entire rookie season, so this is technically
his rookie season coming into the twenty twenty three to
twenty twenty four campaign. But I'm excited to see that matchup.
Do they both play who knows? That's TBD obviously, that's very,
very far down the line, obviously, and it's the third
(05:51):
game of the preseason believe for Charlotte. I haven't seen
Oklahoma City schedule, but I'm assuming it's probably their third
game as well, so who knows how much time the
starters are going to see. But I would love to
see that matchup between chet Holmgerm and Mark Williams. And
that's part of the reason why I want to see
that OKAC matchup, or at least that's the matchup that
I'm looking forward to the most out of these four games.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
Well, Rob, you stole my answer. That's the one I
had circled. I thought for sure you would have stayed
away from that one. But yeah, ok, see top of
my list as well. It is the home opener, so
there's some significance there. Also Oklahoma City kind of did
kind of did what the Hornets are hoping to do
this year. Thunder did it last year in terms of
making a jump. They got into the play in Tournament,
(06:31):
but had a really strong end of season run. Charlotte
did get a win at OKAC despite that nice finish
for the Thunder. I just think in general, it's a
good comparison point, but the rob rules are always in effect,
so I'll go in a different direction. I'm gonna pick
at Washington on October twelfth. The general consensus out there
(06:51):
is that Washington is rebuilding. They moved on from Bradley Beial,
They've moved on from Kristaps Porzingis. Still have Kuzma there,
Kyle Kuzma, who's a very talented player, to be sure,
and there are some other good pieces around. But the
general consensus is that Washington is likely to take a
step back if Charlotte's gonna take one forward. This is
one of the teams they need to put in their
(07:13):
rear view mirror. So you're not getting a full regular
season type of matchup, but you might get six to
eight minutes of one, or the very least you might
get to see what the ends the benches under normal
circumstances might look like, and so for that, with that
in mind, I'm gonna put Washington on as my number
one game to look forward to, even though heart of Hearts,
(07:35):
it's actually the Oklahoma City one, the home opener. All
these contests are available for you to tune into on
our flagship station ninety two point seven Sports Radio WFNZ
on the Hornets Radio Network. Most of the games will
be TALI will be televised on Bally Sports Southeast as well,
and for the two home games October fifteen versus Oklahoma
(07:56):
City as well as October nineteenth versus Boston, you can.
Speaker 3 (07:59):
Go to those as well as all the games all.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
Forty one of the regular season by joining the Hive Society.
Memberships for the twenty three to twenty four season available
now extremely limited availability, but there is some in the
lower level at last word. Pick twenty three plans also available,
featuring the first and last home games of the regular season.
In addition, you get twenty one games of your choice
and it starts at just eighteen dollars per ticket. In
(08:23):
the Uptown concourse for more information or to purchase tickets,
called seven four Hornets. Coming up next, we're gonna talk
about the roster. There was one, not two, shocking, but
there was an addition made Leaky Black signed to a
two way contract. We'll talk about that next Here on
the Hornets, I've cast Sam Farber, Rob Longo here with
(08:47):
you on the HHC back in the saddle again after
a little bit of break there after our last couple
of episodes of the Hornets ive cast. Not sure when
we'll have our next one. Of course, whenever news breaks,
will have it covered for you. Sometimes though, we got
to aggregate that news selection. And that's the case of
our next topic, which is Leaky Black. Now that he's
not a significant signing. He surely is, but we decided
(09:10):
to let Rob have a little bit of a breather
from the desk, and so we're packaging him in as
a part of this podcast. Leaky Black the former North
Carolina Tar. He'll spend five seasons in Chapel Hill. All around,
not eye popping stats offensively, but he was in All
acc defensive team selection his final two college seasons. He
(09:30):
will be a part of the Hornets on a two
way contract. It was announced about a week ago or so.
Right now so he would be expected to spend a
lot of time in Greensboro and certainly have the opportunity
to contribute with the Charlotte Hornets. Biggest thing for me
here Rob Longo. In the three games with the Hornets
between the California Classic and the NBA two K twenty
(09:50):
four Summer League, Black got in about fifteen minutes per game.
Was a really strong rebounder. This isn't a huge player,
He's just a very strong defensive player. Kind of fits
maybe hopefully a little bit of a Cody Martin type
of role. Already played more of a role than being
an explosive scorer at North Carolina, But we'll see what
(10:11):
he brings to the table either way. I think this
is an interesting, a good two way selection. Sometimes you
take big swings with these guys, and I think there's
a chance Leaky Black might be that. But you want
to get guys who have some championship DNA. Leaky was
clearly part of the NCAA tournament run for the Tar
Hills two seasons a go now, and just in general,
(10:31):
I think he is a winning player and that's something
that you want to get your young guys accustomed to
and if you do need to backfill onto the main
roster has happened all too often last season, having someone
with this kind of defensive mindset could come in handy.
Speaker 4 (10:44):
Those are all very good points and basically how I
feel about the signing as well. And again, there's a
lot of flexibility now that the Hornets in the NBA
is general have that third two way contract that they
can kind of toy with and play around with a
little bit, and they have at their disposal. So this
is a great signing in that sense where you're able
to bring a guy that's maybe a fringe NBA player
more or less, considering that Leaky was undrafted, give him
(11:07):
an opportunity, give him a chance. Again, he's a Concord guy,
he's a local guy. He's playing for his hometown team.
Seems like it's a great environment in that sense where
it's a good opportunity for him to stay at home,
have a great base around him, and then if he
has to go up the road to Greensboro and play
with the swarm, then he's that guy that's a tad
bit of an older presence more or less. I mean,
he was a five year player at the NCAA level
(11:29):
in this era of one and done, it's good to
have that guy that had all that experience at the
collegiate level. It should be a smooth transition going from
there to Greensboro or even if he has to fill
in some time in the NBA roster as well. And
you talk about the defense, that is very very important,
especially in this day and age of where offenses just
seemed to be able to score at will. You need
that defensive minded guy to have that mentality to come
(11:52):
in and clamp down. He saw that with Dennis Smith
Junior a lot last year. We've seen that with Cody
Martin over the last couple of seasons. Now this is
another opportunity for a guy like Leaky Black to come
in if he's called upon, and make that impact on
this team.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
I would agree. I would agree wholeheartedly.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
I think some of the things defensively that you really
focus in on. He's got some length at six foot
nine average better than a steal per game a couple
of times in his five years at Chapel Hill. And again,
the guy is a winner. He was part of that
twenty two championship game run for North Carolina. I think
he is really going to bring something significant here to Greensboro,
(12:28):
and he'll be an interesting parent. We don't know all
of the two way contracts right now, only two out
of the three allotted have been taken by Charlotte, so
you know, a lot can change in terms of what
that roster is made up of. But having him and
Amari Bailey playing a significant role for the Greensboro Swarm,
I think it's an interesting team. Amari Bailey obviously has
a huge amount of upside with his athleticism and his
(12:51):
scoring ability, and I think Leaky Black is someone who
maybe is flying a little bit under the radar at
the moment here, but definitely brings some big time defense
game and as you mentioned, a North Carolina guy.
Speaker 3 (13:02):
We always root for.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
Those, so Leaky Black on the squad under a two
way contract, he will be expected to be a part
of the preseason roster, which now we have dates certain
on that that's coming up about two almost two and
a half months away from right now. Even though we've
got a lot more summer left to get through before
we get to basketball season, people are already putting out
power rankings. It's Rob Longo's favorite segment. We'll talk about
(13:26):
him next tier on the AJC, Sam Farber and Rob
Longo here with you on the Hornet. I've cast all right, Rob,
We were waiting a little bit for enough news to
collect or really push out a podcast, trying to give
ourselves a little bit of a break here the preseason
schedule announcement. It's significant. We would have found a reason
(13:46):
to talk about that immediately, no matter what. So that's
kind of a cop out me putting that in this
category leaky black.
Speaker 3 (13:51):
Obviously, the news has been out for a while.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
We've been excited to talk about it, but we held
it on the back burner just for the moment we
needed a third segment, and lo and behold, the Basketball
media Guides have shined a bonus and they have given
us a couple of power rankings. So I know it's
your favorite topic. I'm gonna take you off the hot
seat because there's a variety, and I was trying to
be a good broadcaster here and not look too deeply
(14:15):
into them. By I know there's a couple options. I'm
gonna let you play host, me play guinea pig here
and you can ask the questions.
Speaker 4 (14:21):
All right, So this is a little bit of row reversal,
but I will certainly take it so as we have
done this in the past, is to remind our audience.
We usually try to pick in the hierarchy, or at
least in our opinion, where we believe that the Horns
should be ranked in the power rankings. We pick a
different media outlet every time, and this week's media outlet
or this segment's media outlet, I guess more or less
(14:41):
because maybe we do more of these in the future.
But this one is coming from the Athletic and we
have talked about the Athletic Power rankings here time and
time again over the course of the last couple of seasons.
So if you are a frequent listener to the AHHC,
you would probably have some sort of idea on how
we personally feel about the Athletic Power rankings or power
rankings in general. So farvar in the hierarchy of the
(15:02):
thirty teams in the NBA, Where do you believe that
the Athletic has ranked the Hornets in the offseason power rankings?
Speaker 2 (15:07):
Well, first off, I love power rankings because it's just
perfect for a daily podcast that we operate throughout the season.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
So it's good to have the material.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
Secondly, I think this all comes down to how do
you view the Hornets what lens Are you comparing them
to last year's team, which had one of the bottom
four bottom five records in the entire NBA but was
riddled with injuries, or are you making a comparison to
two seasons ago where there are some significant differences in
terms of personnel on the roster, but maybe it's a
(15:37):
little bit closer of an image to what you're going
to see this season.
Speaker 3 (15:41):
I prefer to go with the latter.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
So with that in mind, I am comparing this team
to a forty three wins squad from two seasons ago
rather than one that was picking in the top five
before winning.
Speaker 3 (15:52):
The lottery last season.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
So with that in mind, I don't know that I
want to be so aggressive as to say they should
be in the top half the NBA. You do have
to prove this at some point. It can't just be
a theory. So I'm gonna go with twenty one. I'm
going to say that that should be good enough most
years to be in or around the play in tournament picture.
I'm going to go out on a limb here and
(16:15):
say the national media is not giving the Hornets a
ton of credit having just picked up a top five pick,
but I think that addition, plus some better injury luck,
should put the Hornets in a really good spot. So
I shudder to think what the Athletic might have put
us at. I'm not going to say they made them
eighteen or fifteen or anything like that, even though I
think there is a good chance for the Hornets to
end up there at season zen right now, I'll be,
(16:38):
in my opinion, a little conservative and say twenty one.
Speaker 4 (16:41):
Well, unfortunately, Sam, that is not conservative enough. According to
the Athletics, the Hornets are ranked twenty ninth in the Athletics'
latest power rankings, which I just think is absolutely absurd,
and I'm sure you do as well.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
Yeah, that's ridiculous if you're comparing it to last year's team,
where every conceivable injury or absence possible seem to befall
the Hornets. They were just a shell of what they
were intended to be in terms of available personnel. So
you know, just toss that out altogether. Even then, though
they were not the second worst team in the NBA,
(17:16):
they weren't the second worst team in their conference. So
I just don't think that bears any weight to me
at all.
Speaker 3 (17:23):
If you see someone.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
Giving you that kind of prediction, I think they're just
off their rockers. I think this roster as it sits
is too talented and some of the unknowns, like what
will Miles Bridges look like as he gets back into form,
how will Brandon Miller adjust to the NBA who fills
in as that eighth or ninth guy as part of
the rotation. Does Cody Martin look like his old self
(17:45):
again this year? These are significant questions, but not enough
to me to move the needle the way that all
the injuries did last year. Of course, if injuries happened, yeah,
twenty ninth could happen, but that's a lot of injuries.
A lot had to go wrong for the Hornets to
end up with the two, twenty seventh or twenty eighth
best record in the NBA last year. I think a
lot would have to go wrong for them to end
(18:07):
up twenty nine.
Speaker 4 (18:08):
I totally agree with you. I think it's absolutely outrageous
as well. So, as we usually do these exercises, we
then take the teams that are ahead of the Hornets
and say where they should be placed above so because
this spread is so big, you got a lot of
options here. So according to the Athletic, well according to you, Sam,
you had the Hornets ranked twenty first and your personal
power rankings. According to the Athletic, the twenty first ranked
team in their power rankings are the Indiana Pacers, followed
(18:31):
by the Orlando Magic at twenty two, Brooklyn at twenty three.
Twenty fourth is the Chicago Bulls twenty fifth, the Houston
Rockets twenty sixth, San Antonio twenty seventh, would be Portland,
and then Washington at twenty eight. So in terms of
those teams, I personally have a number of teams that
I think the Hornets should be above, and a lot
of them I feel are very clear cut. But in
(18:51):
your personal opinion, where would you rank the Hornets above
those teams or how many would you put above them?
Speaker 2 (18:56):
Multiple? But I'll take the easiest one. I mentioned them
in our preseason conversation. I'll say, Washington, you know when
you give up two superstars, I mean you would expect
a significant step back. It was a Wizard's team that
did not make the playoffs last year even with those
two guys, So giving up porzingis giving up Beal and
(19:16):
not getting an All Star in return would lead me
to believe that they're going to take a step back
from where they were previously. So I think that's an
easy one. Charlotte should jump in front of them. And
keep in mind, the Hornets effectively last year did lose
two superstars.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
They lost two.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
Twenty point per game on average players for sixty five
percent of the season last year, and LaMelo Ball only
played about thirty five games, and then you lost Miles
Bridges for the entire season. Who knows if Miles Bridges
is going to come back at exactly the same level
of play on the floor with LaMelo, you expect them
to be even better. So barring LaMelo missing fifty plus
(19:57):
games for another season, I don't see any way Charlotte
should be rated behind the Washington Wizards.
Speaker 4 (20:03):
Yeah. I totally agree with you there. If I had
to pick one, I'm gonna take them even one step further.
I'm gonna take them higher. I'm gonna replace them at
that twenty five spot with Houston. And I know the
Rockets have made a lot a lot of big splashes here.
Dylan Brooks, Fred Van Fleet, getting Amy a Duka for
their head coach. Now, there's a lot going on. You
got two top twenty picks too as well. You had
Amen Thompson and Cam Whitmore that you took in this
(20:25):
year's draft. There's a lot of hype around a team,
and rightfully so, I think, But at the same time,
that roster is just kind of all over the spot.
They don't really have that one defined person like who
is the man? Is it going to be Amen Thompson,
Is it gonna be Cam Whitmore, Is it going to
be Jalen Green who has been the last couple of years.
Who was your big shiny lottery pick not that long ago.
There's just a weird, weird roster construction, I feel like,
(20:46):
and I don't know how those people are all going
to fit together, and it's gonna be a lot of
bumps and bruises. There's a lot of continuity involved, I'm sure,
and I'm sure they've been working on it over the offseason.
But again, they're still in the West. The West is
still a very dominant conference, as is the Eastern Conference.
Both conference are very very strong right now and very
very top heavy. I feel like I feel like there
is some parody, but for the most part, this Houston
team is just so many unknowns. Well, at least with
(21:08):
the Hornets, we know what we're getting because of all
of those pieces that you talked about. If the health
is there, if Miles Bridges returns to a twenty point
per game score, all of those things have a big
factor in for Charlotte. But at the same time, this
Houston team, and I'm not trying to break them or
look down upon them or anything, but it's just a weird,
weird roster construction. I just don't know where they're going
to end up at the end of the day. So
that's why I'm taking them ahead of them. I think
(21:28):
Washington is the very easy one, like you pointed out,
but heck, I'm gonna shoot for the stars. I'm going
to take them over Houston as well.
Speaker 3 (21:34):
I don't mind it at all.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
I think there is a chance Houston ends up better
because they did make a coaching change to a very
accomplished head coach on the floor in emi Udoka. I
think adding Van Vliet and Brooks being big spenders, those
were big swings. Are those players already at their ceilings
or do they have another gear. We'll find out and
most importantly, how do they mesh with the young guys
and where is the improvement of those young guys. If
(21:57):
Alber and Sen Goon or Jabari Smith make a big jump,
or even Jalen Green if he were to make a
big jump as some of these rookies pan out immediately,
they could go a little further. I took kind of
the easier one on the tee there with Washington, but
I agree with you. I think there's a good chance
that the Hornets are better than Houston as well. All Right,
that's gonna do it for this edition of the Hornetshivee Cast.
(22:17):
We'll keep our eyes open for more breaking news and
make sure to get you another episode of the AHHC
whenever we've.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
Got enough to talk about.
Speaker 2 (22:25):
Soon enough, we'll have the regular season schedule out, and
before you know it, those.
Speaker 3 (22:29):
Two months are just gonna fly. By Rob Longo, we'll
be ready for the preseason.
Speaker 4 (22:33):
But I'm sure we'll be back on the AHAC before.
Speaker 3 (22:35):
You know it.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
Indeed, with thanks to Rob Longo for joining me today
and to all of you for tuning in, I'm Sam
Farber saying it's been a pleasure and privilege having you
with us. We'll talk to you next time, right here
on the Hornetshope Cast.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
Thank you for listening to the hornets Hip Cast, brought
to you by Senta, the official I hear NOS and
throatcare provider of the Charlotte Hornets. For more coverage, visit
hornets dot com.
Welcome to the Hornets Highcast, presented by Charlotte I ear
nosen Throat Associates, the official I ear nosen throat care
provider of the Charlotte Hornets. Here's your host, Sam Farber.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Welcome to another edition of the Hornets Podcast, 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 to have you with us
here once again on the hornetsobecst brought to you by
Santa Charlotte I ear Nose and Throat Associates, the official
I ear nosen throat care provider of the Charlotte Hornets.
We were gone for maybe a week, little bit of
(00:38):
a breather here in the off season, but we've gathered
up some good news that we'd like to talk about
with all of you find folks today here on the
AJC Hornets just releasing their preseason schedule. Also, in recent
days they have let us all know that they've signed
a player to a two way contract. Leaky Black of
North Carolina fame will now be part of the Greensboro
Swarm and hopefully perhaps the Charlott Hornets as well, and
(01:02):
there's already off season power ranking, so we'll find something
new to get angry about here on this edition of
the HC.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
Helping me on all these topics.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
He's my producer on the Hornets Radio Network, Ause Weth,
the producer of this fine podcast, Rob Longo.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
Rob, good to have you back. How have you enjoyed
your break here?
Speaker 4 (01:16):
Yeah, honestly, to be honest with you, it hasn't really
felt like a whole lot of a break. But time
flies when you're having fun, and before you know it,
we'll have Hornets basketball ready to go. And we already
have a couple opponents known that are we're going to
see at the beginning of October. So exciting to release
those and go through those and detail those and get
ready for some Hornets hoop soon.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
Yeah, we have dates certain now on when we get
back to work. We're a little over.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Two months two and a half, i'd say, at this
stage of the game from seeing the Hornets back on
the hardwood again. As the Hornets preseason schedule has been announced,
it's going to start on October tenth, the Tuesday, Hornets
will be on the road in Miami against the defending
Eastern Conference champions. Then they'll continue with another division opponent,
(01:58):
staying on the road, this time of the Nation's Capital
to take on the Washington Wizards on October the twelfth.
Two home games on the horizon as well. Charlotte will
have a Sunday not quite matten a a little bit
earlier start time for the home preseason opener against the
Oklahoma City Thunder, and then on Thursday the nineteenth, Charlotte
will open against Boston. I should throw in there that
(02:21):
the entire NBA is supposed to open up sometime around
the twenty fourth, that should be opening night. Unlikely the
Hornets will play that night. Typically there's only one or
two games. It typically involves the defending champs, So based
off recent history, I think there will probably be somewhere
in the neighborhood of a week break after that game
against Boston at Spectrum Center to get ready for the
(02:42):
regular season. But we'll know those dates in the future.
Right now, we know the preseason overall.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
Rob your thoughts.
Speaker 4 (02:48):
Just excited to have some dates on the calendar finally,
and you take a look at the schedule, it's pretty
friendly in terms of travel and opponents that the Hornets
will face kicks off with that game in Miami, like
you mentioned, day off, then you kind of get in
an at rhythm a little bit, go up the road
to Washington. Then you have a few more days off,
you have Oklahoma City at home, and then you finish
off with a tough Boston team at home. So it's
very similar, I guess, in a sense to preseason schedules
(03:11):
we've seen in the past. And the little caveat that
I don't think a lot of people realize is that
the teams are more or less responsible for putting together
their preseason schedule. They can put as many as they
want together, they can put as few as they want.
They can kind of mix and match and pick their
opponents as well. So I go back to a couple
of seasons ago, the Hornets played the likes of Oklahoma
City on the road. They also had Memphis at home,
(03:32):
and I believe they also had Dallas at home in
that same year as well. And then you go last year,
the Hornets more or less had that extra game, if
you want to call it that way. They had five
preseason games because of that one against the Celtics in Greensborough.
So a little disappointed we're not going back to Greensboro
this season, but really cool to see at least like
there's a level of opponents more or less here for
the Hornets, where you have two divisional opponents in Miami
(03:53):
and Washington, then you have a really young and exciting
team in Oklahoma City, and then you got one of
the strongholds of the Eastern Conference in Boston, and you
get the at home too. So all in all, I
think it's a really good schedule works out well. It's
going to provide a lot of different tests for these
Hornets team and these Hornets players.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
Yeah, I like it a lot.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
I think having the four games perhaps a reaction to
last year where in preseason the Hornets started to suffer injuries,
and so maybe you reduce the opportunity for that to
happen by taking it down to four games. I don't
know that it's that reactionary, but it certainly could be.
But just in general, I like the lack of enormous travel.
(04:27):
There's only two games on the road, they're probably going
to be part of one longer road trip. They're both
division opponents, so they're both in the general regional area.
Just reduces the wear and tear and time outside of
the gym on these players, and then two good home
games Oklahoma City and up and coming team from the
Western Conference Boston and there to wrap it up. Who
(04:49):
knows how much of the Celtics regulars will be seeing
at that stage, or for that matter, the Hornets regulars,
but I do think it's significant that the Horns are
going to get to face the two Eastern Conference finally
on this preseason slate. We've got the four games. Time
for the big question, Rob Longo, which of these four
are you most looking forward to and why?
Speaker 4 (05:08):
I think the one that I'm looking most forward to
is that October fifteenth against Oklahoma City, because, first off,
it's home. It's the first time we get to see
the Hornets at home this season, first time we'll get
to see Brandon Miller in a Hornets jersey, and some
of the other first round picks like Nick Smith Junior
and maybe some of the second round guys like Amari
Bailey as well. So excited to see them. Also excited
to see the matchup between chet Holmgrum potentially and Mark Williams.
(05:30):
I know we'll probably see that in a regular season
knock on what everybody stays healthy for both sides, because
obviously chet had to deal with that foot injury and
he missed his entire rookie season, so this is technically
his rookie season coming into the twenty twenty three to
twenty twenty four campaign. But I'm excited to see that matchup.
Do they both play who knows? That's TBD obviously, that's very,
very far down the line, obviously, and it's the third
(05:51):
game of the preseason believe for Charlotte. I haven't seen
Oklahoma City schedule, but I'm assuming it's probably their third
game as well, so who knows how much time the
starters are going to see. But I would love to
see that matchup between chet Holmgerm and Mark Williams. And
that's part of the reason why I want to see
that OKAC matchup, or at least that's the matchup that
I'm looking forward to the most out of these four games.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
Well, Rob, you stole my answer. That's the one I
had circled. I thought for sure you would have stayed
away from that one. But yeah, ok, see top of
my list as well. It is the home opener, so
there's some significance there. Also Oklahoma City kind of did
kind of did what the Hornets are hoping to do
this year. Thunder did it last year in terms of
making a jump. They got into the play in Tournament,
(06:31):
but had a really strong end of season run. Charlotte
did get a win at OKAC despite that nice finish
for the Thunder. I just think in general, it's a
good comparison point, but the rob rules are always in effect,
so I'll go in a different direction. I'm gonna pick
at Washington on October twelfth. The general consensus out there
(06:51):
is that Washington is rebuilding. They moved on from Bradley Beial,
They've moved on from Kristaps Porzingis. Still have Kuzma there,
Kyle Kuzma, who's a very talented player, to be sure,
and there are some other good pieces around. But the
general consensus is that Washington is likely to take a
step back if Charlotte's gonna take one forward. This is
one of the teams they need to put in their
(07:13):
rear view mirror. So you're not getting a full regular
season type of matchup, but you might get six to
eight minutes of one, or the very least you might
get to see what the ends the benches under normal
circumstances might look like, and so for that, with that
in mind, I'm gonna put Washington on as my number
one game to look forward to, even though heart of Hearts,
(07:35):
it's actually the Oklahoma City one, the home opener. All
these contests are available for you to tune into on
our flagship station ninety two point seven Sports Radio WFNZ
on the Hornets Radio Network. Most of the games will
be TALI will be televised on Bally Sports Southeast as well,
and for the two home games October fifteen versus Oklahoma
(07:56):
City as well as October nineteenth versus Boston, you can.
Speaker 3 (07:59):
Go to those as well as all the games all.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
Forty one of the regular season by joining the Hive Society.
Memberships for the twenty three to twenty four season available
now extremely limited availability, but there is some in the
lower level at last word. Pick twenty three plans also available,
featuring the first and last home games of the regular season.
In addition, you get twenty one games of your choice
and it starts at just eighteen dollars per ticket. In
(08:23):
the Uptown concourse for more information or to purchase tickets,
called seven four Hornets. Coming up next, we're gonna talk
about the roster. There was one, not two, shocking, but
there was an addition made Leaky Black signed to a
two way contract. We'll talk about that next Here on
the Hornets, I've cast Sam Farber, Rob Longo here with
(08:47):
you on the HHC back in the saddle again after
a little bit of break there after our last couple
of episodes of the Hornets ive cast. Not sure when
we'll have our next one. Of course, whenever news breaks,
will have it covered for you. Sometimes though, we got
to aggregate that news selection. And that's the case of
our next topic, which is Leaky Black. Now that he's
not a significant signing. He surely is, but we decided
(09:10):
to let Rob have a little bit of a breather
from the desk, and so we're packaging him in as
a part of this podcast. Leaky Black the former North
Carolina Tar. He'll spend five seasons in Chapel Hill. All around,
not eye popping stats offensively, but he was in All
acc defensive team selection his final two college seasons. He
(09:30):
will be a part of the Hornets on a two
way contract. It was announced about a week ago or so.
Right now so he would be expected to spend a
lot of time in Greensboro and certainly have the opportunity
to contribute with the Charlotte Hornets. Biggest thing for me
here Rob Longo. In the three games with the Hornets
between the California Classic and the NBA two K twenty
(09:50):
four Summer League, Black got in about fifteen minutes per game.
Was a really strong rebounder. This isn't a huge player,
He's just a very strong defensive player. Kind of fits
maybe hopefully a little bit of a Cody Martin type
of role. Already played more of a role than being
an explosive scorer at North Carolina, But we'll see what
(10:11):
he brings to the table either way. I think this
is an interesting, a good two way selection. Sometimes you
take big swings with these guys, and I think there's
a chance Leaky Black might be that. But you want
to get guys who have some championship DNA. Leaky was
clearly part of the NCAA tournament run for the Tar
Hills two seasons a go now, and just in general,
(10:31):
I think he is a winning player and that's something
that you want to get your young guys accustomed to
and if you do need to backfill onto the main
roster has happened all too often last season, having someone
with this kind of defensive mindset could come in handy.
Speaker 4 (10:44):
Those are all very good points and basically how I
feel about the signing as well. And again, there's a
lot of flexibility now that the Hornets in the NBA
is general have that third two way contract that they
can kind of toy with and play around with a
little bit, and they have at their disposal. So this
is a great signing in that sense where you're able
to bring a guy that's maybe a fringe NBA player
more or less, considering that Leaky was undrafted, give him
(11:07):
an opportunity, give him a chance. Again, he's a Concord guy,
he's a local guy. He's playing for his hometown team.
Seems like it's a great environment in that sense where
it's a good opportunity for him to stay at home,
have a great base around him, and then if he
has to go up the road to Greensboro and play
with the swarm, then he's that guy that's a tad
bit of an older presence more or less. I mean,
he was a five year player at the NCAA level
(11:29):
in this era of one and done, it's good to
have that guy that had all that experience at the
collegiate level. It should be a smooth transition going from
there to Greensboro or even if he has to fill
in some time in the NBA roster as well. And
you talk about the defense, that is very very important,
especially in this day and age of where offenses just
seemed to be able to score at will. You need
that defensive minded guy to have that mentality to come
(11:52):
in and clamp down. He saw that with Dennis Smith
Junior a lot last year. We've seen that with Cody
Martin over the last couple of seasons. Now this is
another opportunity for a guy like Leaky Black to come
in if he's called upon, and make that impact on
this team.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
I would agree. I would agree wholeheartedly.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
I think some of the things defensively that you really
focus in on. He's got some length at six foot
nine average better than a steal per game a couple
of times in his five years at Chapel Hill. And again,
the guy is a winner. He was part of that
twenty two championship game run for North Carolina. I think
he is really going to bring something significant here to Greensboro,
(12:28):
and he'll be an interesting parent. We don't know all
of the two way contracts right now, only two out
of the three allotted have been taken by Charlotte, so
you know, a lot can change in terms of what
that roster is made up of. But having him and
Amari Bailey playing a significant role for the Greensboro Swarm,
I think it's an interesting team. Amari Bailey obviously has
a huge amount of upside with his athleticism and his
(12:51):
scoring ability, and I think Leaky Black is someone who
maybe is flying a little bit under the radar at
the moment here, but definitely brings some big time defense
game and as you mentioned, a North Carolina guy.
Speaker 3 (13:02):
We always root for.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
Those, so Leaky Black on the squad under a two
way contract, he will be expected to be a part
of the preseason roster, which now we have dates certain
on that that's coming up about two almost two and
a half months away from right now. Even though we've
got a lot more summer left to get through before
we get to basketball season, people are already putting out
power rankings. It's Rob Longo's favorite segment. We'll talk about
(13:26):
him next tier on the AJC, Sam Farber and Rob
Longo here with you on the Hornet. I've cast all right, Rob,
We were waiting a little bit for enough news to
collect or really push out a podcast, trying to give
ourselves a little bit of a break here the preseason
schedule announcement. It's significant. We would have found a reason
(13:46):
to talk about that immediately, no matter what. So that's
kind of a cop out me putting that in this
category leaky black.
Speaker 3 (13:51):
Obviously, the news has been out for a while.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
We've been excited to talk about it, but we held
it on the back burner just for the moment we
needed a third segment, and lo and behold, the Basketball
media Guides have shined a bonus and they have given
us a couple of power rankings. So I know it's
your favorite topic. I'm gonna take you off the hot
seat because there's a variety, and I was trying to
be a good broadcaster here and not look too deeply
(14:15):
into them. By I know there's a couple options. I'm
gonna let you play host, me play guinea pig here
and you can ask the questions.
Speaker 4 (14:21):
All right, So this is a little bit of row reversal,
but I will certainly take it so as we have
done this in the past, is to remind our audience.
We usually try to pick in the hierarchy, or at
least in our opinion, where we believe that the Horns
should be ranked in the power rankings. We pick a
different media outlet every time, and this week's media outlet
or this segment's media outlet, I guess more or less
(14:41):
because maybe we do more of these in the future.
But this one is coming from the Athletic and we
have talked about the Athletic Power rankings here time and
time again over the course of the last couple of seasons.
So if you are a frequent listener to the AHHC,
you would probably have some sort of idea on how
we personally feel about the Athletic Power rankings or power
rankings in general. So farvar in the hierarchy of the
(15:02):
thirty teams in the NBA, Where do you believe that
the Athletic has ranked the Hornets in the offseason power rankings?
Speaker 2 (15:07):
Well, first off, I love power rankings because it's just
perfect for a daily podcast that we operate throughout the season.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
So it's good to have the material.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
Secondly, I think this all comes down to how do
you view the Hornets what lens Are you comparing them
to last year's team, which had one of the bottom
four bottom five records in the entire NBA but was
riddled with injuries, or are you making a comparison to
two seasons ago where there are some significant differences in
terms of personnel on the roster, but maybe it's a
(15:37):
little bit closer of an image to what you're going
to see this season.
Speaker 3 (15:41):
I prefer to go with the latter.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
So with that in mind, I am comparing this team
to a forty three wins squad from two seasons ago
rather than one that was picking in the top five
before winning.
Speaker 3 (15:52):
The lottery last season.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
So with that in mind, I don't know that I
want to be so aggressive as to say they should
be in the top half the NBA. You do have
to prove this at some point. It can't just be
a theory. So I'm gonna go with twenty one. I'm
going to say that that should be good enough most
years to be in or around the play in tournament picture.
I'm going to go out on a limb here and
(16:15):
say the national media is not giving the Hornets a
ton of credit having just picked up a top five pick,
but I think that addition, plus some better injury luck,
should put the Hornets in a really good spot. So
I shudder to think what the Athletic might have put
us at. I'm not going to say they made them
eighteen or fifteen or anything like that, even though I
think there is a good chance for the Hornets to
end up there at season zen right now, I'll be,
(16:38):
in my opinion, a little conservative and say twenty one.
Speaker 4 (16:41):
Well, unfortunately, Sam, that is not conservative enough. According to
the Athletics, the Hornets are ranked twenty ninth in the Athletics'
latest power rankings, which I just think is absolutely absurd,
and I'm sure you do as well.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
Yeah, that's ridiculous if you're comparing it to last year's team,
where every conceivable injury or absence possible seem to befall
the Hornets. They were just a shell of what they
were intended to be in terms of available personnel. So
you know, just toss that out altogether. Even then, though
they were not the second worst team in the NBA,
(17:16):
they weren't the second worst team in their conference. So
I just don't think that bears any weight to me
at all.
Speaker 3 (17:23):
If you see someone.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
Giving you that kind of prediction, I think they're just
off their rockers. I think this roster as it sits
is too talented and some of the unknowns, like what
will Miles Bridges look like as he gets back into form,
how will Brandon Miller adjust to the NBA who fills
in as that eighth or ninth guy as part of
the rotation. Does Cody Martin look like his old self
(17:45):
again this year? These are significant questions, but not enough
to me to move the needle the way that all
the injuries did last year. Of course, if injuries happened, yeah,
twenty ninth could happen, but that's a lot of injuries.
A lot had to go wrong for the Hornets to
end up with the two, twenty seventh or twenty eighth
best record in the NBA last year. I think a
lot would have to go wrong for them to end
(18:07):
up twenty nine.
Speaker 4 (18:08):
I totally agree with you. I think it's absolutely outrageous
as well. So, as we usually do these exercises, we
then take the teams that are ahead of the Hornets
and say where they should be placed above so because
this spread is so big, you got a lot of
options here. So according to the Athletic, well according to you, Sam,
you had the Hornets ranked twenty first and your personal
power rankings. According to the Athletic, the twenty first ranked
team in their power rankings are the Indiana Pacers, followed
(18:31):
by the Orlando Magic at twenty two, Brooklyn at twenty three.
Twenty fourth is the Chicago Bulls twenty fifth, the Houston
Rockets twenty sixth, San Antonio twenty seventh, would be Portland,
and then Washington at twenty eight. So in terms of
those teams, I personally have a number of teams that
I think the Hornets should be above, and a lot
of them I feel are very clear cut. But in
(18:51):
your personal opinion, where would you rank the Hornets above
those teams or how many would you put above them?
Speaker 2 (18:56):
Multiple? But I'll take the easiest one. I mentioned them
in our preseason conversation. I'll say, Washington, you know when
you give up two superstars, I mean you would expect
a significant step back. It was a Wizard's team that
did not make the playoffs last year even with those
two guys, So giving up porzingis giving up Beal and
(19:16):
not getting an All Star in return would lead me
to believe that they're going to take a step back
from where they were previously. So I think that's an
easy one. Charlotte should jump in front of them. And
keep in mind, the Hornets effectively last year did lose
two superstars.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
They lost two.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
Twenty point per game on average players for sixty five
percent of the season last year, and LaMelo Ball only
played about thirty five games, and then you lost Miles
Bridges for the entire season. Who knows if Miles Bridges
is going to come back at exactly the same level
of play on the floor with LaMelo, you expect them
to be even better. So barring LaMelo missing fifty plus
(19:57):
games for another season, I don't see any way Charlotte
should be rated behind the Washington Wizards.
Speaker 4 (20:03):
Yeah. I totally agree with you there. If I had
to pick one, I'm gonna take them even one step further.
I'm gonna take them higher. I'm gonna replace them at
that twenty five spot with Houston. And I know the
Rockets have made a lot a lot of big splashes here.
Dylan Brooks, Fred Van Fleet, getting Amy a Duka for
their head coach. Now, there's a lot going on. You
got two top twenty picks too as well. You had
Amen Thompson and Cam Whitmore that you took in this
(20:25):
year's draft. There's a lot of hype around a team,
and rightfully so, I think, But at the same time,
that roster is just kind of all over the spot.
They don't really have that one defined person like who
is the man? Is it going to be Amen Thompson,
Is it gonna be Cam Whitmore, Is it going to
be Jalen Green who has been the last couple of years.
Who was your big shiny lottery pick not that long ago.
There's just a weird, weird roster construction, I feel like,
(20:46):
and I don't know how those people are all going
to fit together, and it's gonna be a lot of
bumps and bruises. There's a lot of continuity involved, I'm sure,
and I'm sure they've been working on it over the offseason.
But again, they're still in the West. The West is
still a very dominant conference, as is the Eastern Conference.
Both conference are very very strong right now and very
very top heavy. I feel like I feel like there
is some parody, but for the most part, this Houston
team is just so many unknowns. Well, at least with
(21:08):
the Hornets, we know what we're getting because of all
of those pieces that you talked about. If the health
is there, if Miles Bridges returns to a twenty point
per game score, all of those things have a big
factor in for Charlotte. But at the same time, this
Houston team, and I'm not trying to break them or
look down upon them or anything, but it's just a weird,
weird roster construction. I just don't know where they're going
to end up at the end of the day. So
that's why I'm taking them ahead of them. I think
(21:28):
Washington is the very easy one, like you pointed out,
but heck, I'm gonna shoot for the stars. I'm going
to take them over Houston as well.
Speaker 3 (21:34):
I don't mind it at all.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
I think there is a chance Houston ends up better
because they did make a coaching change to a very
accomplished head coach on the floor in emi Udoka. I
think adding Van Vliet and Brooks being big spenders, those
were big swings. Are those players already at their ceilings
or do they have another gear. We'll find out and
most importantly, how do they mesh with the young guys
and where is the improvement of those young guys. If
(21:57):
Alber and Sen Goon or Jabari Smith make a big jump,
or even Jalen Green if he were to make a
big jump as some of these rookies pan out immediately,
they could go a little further. I took kind of
the easier one on the tee there with Washington, but
I agree with you. I think there's a good chance
that the Hornets are better than Houston as well. All Right,
that's gonna do it for this edition of the Hornetshivee Cast.
(22:17):
We'll keep our eyes open for more breaking news and
make sure to get you another episode of the AHHC
whenever we've.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
Got enough to talk about.
Speaker 2 (22:25):
Soon enough, we'll have the regular season schedule out, and
before you know it, those.
Speaker 3 (22:29):
Two months are just gonna fly. By Rob Longo, we'll
be ready for the preseason.
Speaker 4 (22:33):
But I'm sure we'll be back on the AHAC before.
Speaker 3 (22:35):
You know it.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
Indeed, with thanks to Rob Longo for joining me today
and to all of you for tuning in, I'm Sam
Farber saying it's been a pleasure and privilege having you
with us. We'll talk to you next time, right here
on the Hornetshope Cast.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
Thank you for listening to the hornets Hip Cast, brought
to you by Senta, the official I hear NOS and
throatcare provider of the Charlotte Hornets. For more coverage, visit
hornets dot com.
Hosts And Creators
Sam Farber
Rob Longo
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Therapy Gecko
An unlicensed lizard psychologist travels the universe talking to strangers about absolutely nothing. TO CALL THE GECKO: follow me on https://www.twitch.tv/lyleforever to get a notification for when I am taking calls. I am usually live Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but lately a lot of other times too. I am a gecko.