August 18, 2023 • 34 mins
After a long offseason, the 2023-24 schedule for Buzz City is here! Sam Farber, Sam Perley and Rob Longo highlight the biggest games on the schedule, point out the most pivotal months of the slate, and also provide their projected win totals for the squad this season.
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, present it by Charlotte I
Ear Nose and 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 Time Cast, your
Hornets podcast with all the notes, quotes, san daily buzz
around your favorite NBA team. I'm Sam Farber and it
is a pleasure and a privilege have you with us
here once again on the Hornet Time Cast, brought to
you by SENTA Charlotte I Ear Nose and Throat Associates,
the official I ear Nosen Throat Care provider of the
Charlotte Hornets. An exciting day. The NBA schedule has dropped.
(00:38):
We know the Hornets schedule for the next I don't
know six months or so little more than that at
this stage as we sit here in August and prepare
for the NBA season, which we'll start now we know
for sure on October twenty fifth, Charlotte will host the
Atlanta Hawks for the season opener. We're gonna break it
down in every which way. Games were most excited about
(00:58):
the most important month of the most difficult month of
the season, and after having all of maybe ten minutes
to look at this schedule, we're going to give our
win prediction based on it, at least in some part.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
For the twenty three twenty four campaign for the Hornets.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Helping me on all these topics, he's my producer on
the Hornets Radio Network as well as the producer of
this fine podcast, Rob Longo.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
Rob, how exciting are you the schedules here?
Speaker 4 (01:19):
Thrilled finally get to figure out where we're going to be,
when we're gonna be, how it's gonna look, and I'm
just ready to jump right into it.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
I'm anticipating similar excitement from our other special guest here today,
the great Sam Purley, senior writer for Hornets dot Com.
Speaker 5 (01:33):
Hello, thank you for having me. I'll echo Rob two,
also very excited. It's cool to kind of finally see
everything laid out. You know who you're playing, when you're playing,
you know, back to backs everything. I love kind of
jumping into and breaking down all the nitty gritty stuff
with the schedule every year.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
I can feel it, I can feel that excitement.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
Hornets are going to tip things off on October twenty fifth,
that's a Wednesday, home open or three game homestand to
begin the season Wednesday, the twenty fifth of October against Atlanta,
Friday the twenty seventh versus Detroit, and then Monday the
thirtieth against Brooklyn. A three game slate for October to
open up the season, all three at home. So that's
a nice, interesting little wrinkle, which I'm sure Sam Purley
(02:10):
will dive into. Not to ran on the parade, but
you know, really this is the most exciting day with
the least actually changing for any of us or the
team itself. We knew that they're going to play eighty
two games, probably forty one home, forty one road in season.
Tournament does have a slight impact there, but overall we
do know now forty home forty road dates. All that said, though,
the order does matter, sequencing matters, and now that we
(02:32):
have it, we get to give our initial overarching thoughts
on the slate, and generally speaking, I think this is
pretty fair. I don't see any major calamitous pitfalls here
for the Hornets. There's no areas of the schedule I say, wow,
that's just impossible to handle, or road trips that make
no unearthly sense, kind of like we had last year.
There were a couple where just the directions and the
(02:53):
sequencing didn't make a lot of sense. I think generally speaking,
this schedule is pretty favorable to the Hornets. Deep into
it in a little bit, but I want to tip
things off with the games we're most excited about. Rob
rules are in effect. What game on this schedule. I'd
prefer you to keep it on home games because we
want the fans to come out and joy us. Join us,
by the way, Hornets dot com for all your ticket needs.
(03:15):
But what game do you have circled on your calendar.
I'm going to start with Sam Purley.
Speaker 5 (03:18):
Well, I'm going to do a little bit of a
cop out and pick a couple because I'm just going
to gonna I.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
Was gonna give you two, no matter, give me one,
give me one game.
Speaker 5 (03:27):
Well, first, I think one game I'm looking forward to
is the December twenty third game against Denver too. I
think it's right around Christmas. Obviously, the vibes is really
good around Christmas. It's a fun time of year and
you always want to see how you measure up against
the best team in the league. And Denver is the
best team or was the NBA champions last year, so
I think that's obviously you always want to play your
(03:47):
best against the team that has the title that everyone's chasing.
So the December twenty third home game, it's a Saturday
Night against Denver, and then just kind of overall, that
three game homestand to start the year, I think is
gonna be really exciting, just to kick off the season.
It's the first time they've had a three game homestand
to open the season since two thousand and eleven twelve,
and they've always They played Atlanta very well last year.
(04:07):
Detroit the team that I think is, you know, on paper,
looks to be kind of a beatable team, and then
Brooklyn too is you know, kind of where they're at.
So I think it's very lilistic. The Hornets could start
off with at least two, hopefully three wins to open
up the homestand before they head out on the road
to open November.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
Obviously, what he did there, he's kind of snuck in
stealing extra games.
Speaker 4 (04:23):
Of course, I do.
Speaker 5 (04:25):
Give I took like four games the god af four games.
Speaker 4 (04:28):
You think any of the ones I was looking at,
So that's good.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
I do give him credit because he did immediately have
the information. When was the last time the Hornets opened
with three straight home games?
Speaker 5 (04:36):
Yet?
Speaker 3 (04:36):
What was the year two thousand and.
Speaker 5 (04:38):
The twenty eleven twenty twelve season, which was the actually
a lockout shortened year, so and it was obviously a
season that did not go very well from the Hornets.
Hopefully this one will go much much better.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
Amen to that.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
So you actually took my number one pick on my
draft board. Hornets versus Denver welcoming into defending champs, a
two time MVP, and Nikola Jokic going to be a
great game Saturday, December twenty third, Hornets dot com for
all your ticket needs, Rob Longo your number one pick
for game you're most excited about.
Speaker 4 (05:05):
For me, I'm taking a look at November seventeenth. That
is a home game on a Friday night against Milwaukee.
It will be the first game back for Miles Bridges.
It will also be a in season's tornament game as well,
so a little bit of an added bonus. This will
finally be the chance, I think that we can see
the core of this team from two seasons ago that
we've talked about so much over the offseason finally behole again.
(05:27):
With the return of Miles Bridges. So that's the game
that I have circle just for a multiple points of emphasis,
and it's always fun to take on Giannis and the
rest of the Bucks at home. So that's the game
I'm looking at Friday, November seventeenth, seven pm. Tip tickets
at Hornets dot com.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
This is unbelievable. It's audio only this podcast, but I'm
showing the guys here. You guys took my top two picks.
Well you literally one and two.
Speaker 4 (05:47):
That's last.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
That's it, Hey, Rob rules in effect that. Yeah, I
think that's a great one to focus on. A lot
going on there, with it being the n season tournament,
Jannis Santetokoupo and the Bucks coming to town. I'll double
that one up and say, hey, Thursday, February twenty ninth,
Milwaukee also in town. A little deeper in the schedule,
so a couple more games, but that's not gonna count
as my pick because I don't want to steal your
thunder there. I think both those excellent choices. I'm gonna
(06:10):
say my top game that I'm most excited about Friday,
March twenty ninth, versus Golden State. It's been a little
hit or miss the last couple of seasons on whether
or not fans here in the Queen City got to
see one of their own, Steph Curry and the Golden
State Warriors actually on the floor.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
Obviously, COVID has.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
Had an impact before the health of Steph Curry individually
has had an impact, So you hope everyone's healthy. Horn
hits most importantly, but the NBA's schedule as exciting as
is for us who are immersed in it day after day.
For fans, it's about the chance to see your favorite players,
the guys that you look up to as young kids,
the ones that you want to be. You know, have
(06:50):
the posters on your wall or the wallpaper on your phone,
those kinds of guys. And Steph Curry and the Golden
State Warriors that's one of those teams. So I have
that one circled. Hopefully it's a meaningful game. You're talking
about the last ten to fifteen games of the season
that stretch, so could be even more on the line,
but it's the lone time on the calendar that Golden
State is coming to Charlotte, and so I've got it
(07:11):
circled as a game I am most excited about. Let's
go around one more time at speed round, Sam Purley,
one more game from you.
Speaker 5 (07:17):
I forgot one quick fact on my previous answer. This
is the first time the Hornets are opening up against Atlanta,
oddly enough since two thousand, only the second time in
franchise history as well, So a team that's right down
the road only played them two times or now two
times in the regular season opener. It's kind of an
odd oddity for sure. So one more game that I'm
looking forward to after I've already given four swing around
(07:42):
a rob come back.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
All right, are we still yes?
Speaker 4 (07:45):
That's fine?
Speaker 5 (07:46):
Are we?
Speaker 4 (07:46):
Are we still doing home games only? Or can we
pick some more games? Go wherever?
Speaker 2 (07:49):
One?
Speaker 3 (07:49):
But I think there's some some more home games that are.
Speaker 4 (07:52):
Well, yeah, let's go. Okay, I'll pick the home game
of January nineteenth against San Antonio is supposed to be
number one verse number two Wenby versus Brandon Mill. The
week prior to that, the Hornets are in San Antonio
to take on the Spurs. That's going to be a
Friday night game on ESPN, very very late tip here
in the Queen City ten o'clock, nine o'clock Central, So
gonna be a late night for everybody in San Antonio
as well. So that was the one I kind of
(08:13):
had my eye on just because of the national audience,
but for doing some home cooking the week later when
the Hornets will take on Wemby presumably and the Spurs
once again. So that's my pick. It will be January nineteenth,
Friday night here at the Hive against the Spurs.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
I love that pick.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
Didn't have that one circle, but I absolutely love it.
Let's go back to Sam Purley, who is pouring over
this schedule. He's looked at things as you know, as
deep a dive as knowing how many times have the
Hornets opened against the Hawks, when's the last time they
had a three game homestand and yet does not have
a favorite game on the schedule, or at least he
doesn't have two. Sam Purley has that enough time to
stall to give you a room to pick another one.
Speaker 5 (08:49):
I also can give this as a jack answer. I'm
excited for all of them, but I am I've got
my eyes or you know, inches away from the screen
kind of looking at it right now. Another kind of
intriguing one that just kind of stands out. In November
is the Tuesday fourteenth game against Miami. I believe that's
another in season tournament game. It feels like Miami is
a team that clearly went on that run last year
(09:10):
to the NBA Finals as the eighth seed, kind of
kind of out of nowhere. But Hornets beat him twice
last year at Miami. I remember those being really good games.
They were very close down in Miami too. I think
they were one of the ones in Miami last year.
I think went to double overtime. Second one was maybe
a little bit of a wider margin of.
Speaker 4 (09:25):
Victory for the Heat.
Speaker 5 (09:26):
But it always feels like a team like Miami is
something that brings the best out of the Hornets. They
seem a lot obviously being a divisional team, and with
that being their first home game against the Heat, having
a little bit more on the line with the in
season tournament standings, I think that'll be a good one.
So that's Tuesday, November fourteenth against the Miami Heat. Will
be the second I believe the second play in season
(09:46):
tournament game too, So that's one I'm looking forward to there.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
I like both picks, especially Rob's. I was not expecting
that one. I'm just going to clear my board here
and say, you know other games of significance. You got
the Hornets versus Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia seven six ers,
whatever they look like when they come to town. They're
coming twice, Saturday December sixteenth and Saturday January twenty, so
a couple of weekend showcase spotlight type games. Both are
(10:10):
on night two of a back to back, but both
are home home back to backs, which is an interesting
portion of those games. But obviously, anytime the big superstars,
current and former MVPs are in town adds a little
something to a game. So that one circled on my calendar.
Also Friday, March fifteenth versus Phoenix. They obviously have a
star Leyden roster. I think there'll be a lot of
(10:31):
excitement about that one. But the last one I wanted
to showcase highlight put a circle around Monday, February fifth
versus the LA Lakers. Anytime Lebron James comes to Charlotte,
especially the last couple of years where he's been in
the Western Conference, that has been a particularly hot ticket.
Speaker 3 (10:47):
No reason to believe it will be anything less.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
This season should be an exciting one, always is when
the Lakers and Lebron come to town. Whatever your favorite
team is, your favorite player is, you now know when
they're coming to Charlotte. This is assuming that they're your
second favorite behind of course the Hornet. So you can
go out and hunt for your particular favorite game, or
better yet, buy them all. We've got full season ticket
(11:10):
plans available still right now. There's the Pick twenty three
plans as well, where you get the home opener, the
last game of the season, fan appreciation Day, plus your
choice of all the games in between. It's really there's
a lot of great opportunities to come out and see
your Horns, who I think will have a very exciting
team this season. Go to Hornets dot com for all
of the information. Coming up next, we picked our most
(11:32):
important exciting games of the season. How about the most important,
most difficult months on the calendar. We'll get into that next.
Here on the Hornet Time Cast, Sam Farbar, Rob Longo,
Sam Purley here with you on the HHC the Hornet
Time Cast, talking about the twenty three to twenty four
regular season schedule.
Speaker 3 (11:52):
It is out, it is official.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
Hornets will open things up on October twenty fifth against
the Atlanta Hawks. Part of a three game home stand
for Buzz City Charlotte. Overall, they've got nineteen of their
forty one home games that are gonna fall on weekends.
That's Friday, Saturdays, and Sundays. That's more than the average
NBA squad, So lots of great opportunities to see your
(12:15):
Hornets play inside of Spectrum Center. Time to move to
our next segment. We're going to talk about the most
important and most difficult months on the calendar, gentlemen, and
for me, the most important thing to consider when you're
looking trying to project wins and losses are three things. Well,
first off is health, which we know all too well.
You have no control over, a little control over us
in this room, have zero control over. You just kind
(12:37):
of hope for good health for the team because that's
the biggest determining factor. If LaMelo Ball is on the floor,
Charlotte's got a much better chance of winning than when
he is not.
Speaker 3 (12:45):
Case in point last season. Number two is rest and
rest wise.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
I think this is a good schedule in the sense that,
according to the NBA, we are a net even on
games where the Hornets are fresh versus games where they
are tired. There are ten games where the Hornets will
have played the day before the opponent did not ten
games where the opponent is on night two of a
back to back and Charlotte is the fresh team. The
other sixty that are currently slated are all even, so
(13:09):
both teams had the previous day off, so that's a positive.
The other thing in there is back to backs. Charlotte
has on the high side for the Eastern Conference of
back to backs, but they also have a couple extra
back to backs where there is no travel, so that's
a positive for the team. And last, but not least,
it's the home road effect, which every team's got the
same number of home and road games slated at this point,
(13:30):
so you can kind of dive through it and find
where the pitfalls are. So with all that being said,
let's pick our most important month of the season. Sam Purley,
you have officially given up your number one pick status
by not having a second game that you are most
excited about circled, which means Rob Longo gets to pick
first on the month he has deemed the most important.
Speaker 4 (13:49):
Well, most important or most difficult? The most important? We're
most important. I think April's the most important just because
it's the end of the season, and the way that
the schedule shakes out is I guess different from what
we've seen in years past, because I feel like towards
the end of the season we've seen home and road,
home and road kind of alternating. This isn't the case
this time. This is going to be a chance from
the end of March into the end of the season
(14:09):
really where the Hornets are gonna have their longest homestand
it's gonna be fourteen days, eight games in that span.
But then they end the season on a three game
road trip and it includes the second night of a
back to back in Atlanta after playing Dallas in the
final home game of the season. Then you go to
Boston after having a day off, you have another day off,
and then you finish the season in Cleveland. And that's
a little bit of a tricky schedule the way down
(14:29):
to stretch that it looks like because Atlanta has always
been solid, Boston is going to be a perennial contender,
we don't know what Cleveland has. Cleveland was obviously a
playoff team last year, so that's three playoff teams that
you have to end the season on. On the road
while you're potentially fighting for playing tournament, birth, playoff, birth,
whatever it may be. So I think the end of
March beginning of April, hence the end of the season
is probably the most important because you want to finish strong.
Speaker 3 (14:51):
I gotta admit I like it.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
I was tempted when you said April, since it's a
half month, it's not necessarily a full month to remove
your first pick status and give it back to Sam Perly.
But you have excellent arguments, so Lawyer, I guess he
retains the number one pick for the next round. Here,
Sam Purley, April's off the board. Most important month on
the calendar. We're in good shape here from the Rob
rules standpoint. Because I believe it or not, I was
(15:13):
actually prepared to answer this question and my answer is
not April. I am going to say February. I think
February is, and we talk about most important, kind of
similar to what Rob says, when you've got a big
stretch of home games, that's where you got to pick
up wins because the road games are obviously going to
be challenging with the travel and things like that. In
the back to backs, you've got to take advantage of
your home games, and the Hornets have kind of starts
(15:36):
in January and rolls into the middle of February. But
there they've got a home stretch or a stretch from Friday,
January twenty six through the All Star Break on Valentine's
Day February fourteenth, which is a Wednesday, where they play
ten of twelve at home, the only road games being
Friday at Oklahoma City on the second and Friday the
ninth at Milwaukee. That's where you got to really kind
(15:57):
of take advantage of those ten home games. Win I
think you got to win at least seven of them
because and to run off the opponents real quick. It's Houston, Utah,
New York, Chicago, Indiana, Lakers, Toronto, Memphis, Indiana, and Atlanta.
Those are all the home games during that stretch. Get
some momentum going take advantage of your home games, go
into the All Star Break with some momentum, get some
(16:17):
rest because when you come out of the All Star Break,
you've got a four game road trip out west in Utah,
at Golden State, at Portland, and then at Milwaukee. All
of them are obviously very very good opponents. And then
you know a couple of plays with the Hornets have
really struggled to find wins the last few several years
in Utah and Portland. So I'm gonna go with February
being the most important month because you got to take
advantage of those home games, get some rest during the
(16:39):
All Star break, and then hit the ground running when
you go out because you've got a big four game
road trip out west to close mostly closed a month.
Some interesting stuff here because I have the same area
of the calendar circled, is my most important for very
similar reasons that I went with the preceding month. I
thought January. I think January is going to be the
most important month. For one, as you mentioned a lot
of home games. There's eight home games over the course
(17:01):
of the month of January. There's also eight road games
that month, so there's not the necessarily the tilt that
you have in February, but there's a lot of home
games there. I agree with you, you got to take
advantage also, I think more important than home road generally speaking,
after a few years for me personally, being in the
NBA and covering as closely as we get to back
to backs have more of an impact I think than
(17:22):
the home road advantages. So there's three back to backs
in January, but only one that includes travel, which are
the most difficult of the back to back, so I
think that is advantageous. There's three games also where the
Hornets are coming off multiple days of rest. That's a
big edge for Charlotte for those ones, and I'm with you,
it's a real opportunity to make a move. If I
(17:43):
were going to pick any thirty day period on this calendar,
I'm right there with you, Sam Purley, I'm going from
January nineteenth through the start of the All Star break
because over that span you've got all of these home games.
I went back a little bit further than you did,
but you've got twelve games out of sixteen. You went
the ten games out of twelve where they're all at home,
(18:06):
relatively good from a rest standpoint. This is the chance
to really bolt up the standings from wherever you were
preceding it.
Speaker 3 (18:14):
So I'm with you.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
In the same segment of the calendar, January, February, and
April are most important months of the season, all kind
of for similar reasons. Let's go to most difficult month
of the season, Rob Longo, You've retained number one pick
status most difficult month, What do you got?
Speaker 4 (18:28):
I think the common answer is December, but that's not
going to be my most difficult month. I'm going to
go with November just because you have fourteen games in there.
Eight of those are on the road, and I think
there's maybe a little bit of added pressure too with
this in season tournament, because that's when the bulk of
your games are. You got road games in Houston, Indiana, Dallas, Washington,
New York. You go on a little bit of a
lengthy road trip in there, and then in the month
(18:50):
on the road as well in Orlando. Then you have
to go back up to New York, and then you
swing over to Brooklyn, so you have a little bit
of some downtime there in the Big Apple, at least
where you don't have to travel as much, you can
stay at least in the same hotel. But just the
quality of opponents in that as well. I mentioned Dallas,
you play Washington two consecutive games, one home, one on
the road. You got Miami sprinkled in there along with
New York twice, both on the road, of course, then
(19:12):
you got Milwaukee. You play the Knicks like five times
in November. I swear the way that this schedule works out,
but I just think with the added bonus of the
in season tournament compared with how much you're on the
road as well, is makes November a little bit of
a shaky month because you start off really well with
three straight home games, and then you're basically on the
road for over the over more than the month of November.
(19:33):
So I think that November is kind of maybe the
most difficult. I know it doesn't include that West Coast
swing like December and January does, but I just think
from a sheer opponents standpoint, that November is a little
bit more difficult.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
Fair enough to confirm Hornet's playing the next three times
in November five times? I don't think that feels like it.
I don't think it's possible even with the in season tournament.
I guess we're gonna find that at the end of
the season. How many times you're allowed to play an opponent.
I think it's still max is out at four. So
rob Loongo has no November circled as his most difficult month.
Speaker 3 (20:02):
I'll be honest.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
That was my number two pick, So I gotta make
sure that Sam Perla doesn't take my number one, Sam
Purley most difficult month on the calendar.
Speaker 5 (20:10):
One quick note on the November as well. Three games
against the Wizards in the month of November as well,
and I think they come within a span of eight
games right in the middle of the month. But I
am going to take December as the toughest month for
the Hornets. I think the first full week of the season,
you've got the nd season tournaments, you don't exactly know
who you're playing yet. I don't know how exactly that's
gonna You know, you got to be able to adjust
and adapt on the fly with where you're going or
(20:31):
who you're playing. I would assume they'd have those opponents
as soon as the final group play games are finished,
I think in the last week in November. But to
not have an opponent in there right now, I think
is you just got to have to be flexible about
you know who you're facing, who you're where you're going,
things like that. But I think that road trip or
the road swing at the end of December and it
(20:51):
leads into January two is going to be one of
the toughest. Is the toughest stretch of the season. You
got a two game trip starting on Monday the eighteenth, interro,
then Indiana on the twentieth, and then you only play
one game in five days. But that one game, like
I said in the first segment, is at home against
the Denver Nuggets, and then goes over Christmas, and then
(21:11):
you go out West game at the Clippers, back to
back against the Lakers and Suns two days off, then
another back to back against Denver and Sacramento two days off,
and then you finished with an East Coast opponent in Chicago.
But if you look at all five of those teams
out West, I think they're all playoff teams last year
and all should be all could very well be vying
for home court advantage top four seeds. So I think
that Western Conference swing, and you factor in the two
(21:33):
game road trip, that kind of precedes it a little bit.
I think it ends up being what is it eight
eight of nine on the road before coming back home
for a two game homestand on the eighth I think
it's going to be the toughest stretch of the season,
just given the caliber of opponent, also the time of year.
It's kind of towards the end of December start of January,
right when you're kind of in the middle of the schedule.
So that'll be my vote is I guess December as
(21:54):
a whole kind of leaking into January my pick.
Speaker 2 (21:57):
I'm going with February, which was your pick. Are the
most most important, most difficult, or not mutually exclusive? But
I look at February and I see the most potential
trouble for the Hornets, regardless of health. Obviously, if there
ends up being one month where the Hornets are not
healthy compared to the others, that will end up being
the problem month. But if everything is equal, everything is
relatively the same health throughout. I do believe February is
(22:21):
the most difficult month on the calendar for the Hornets,
part because of the frequency of games. There are three
back to backs in here, two of which include travel.
That's the most of any month on the calendar for
the Hornets. Also, because the All Star break is in there,
the thirteen games are basically being played in twenty one days.
That's a pretty difficult frequency volume of games, even though
(22:46):
you get the week plus break from in game action
from the fourteenth. When the Hornets wrap things up on
Valentine's Day at home against the Atlanta Hawks before the
All Star Break to when they pick up again on
the backside of the All Star break against the Utah
Ja on the road. Even though you have that hiatus
in there, it's still a lot of games, a lot
of back to back sequences that have to factor in.
(23:08):
If you go from the leap your day February twenty
ninth into March first, that's another back to back, which
includes travel, show getting even more difficult there. So the
volumes a lot. There's six games in nine days to
start the month, doesn't matter that for at home.
Speaker 3 (23:21):
That's just a lot.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
So for me, I think that February is the most
difficult month. Doesn't mean that it doesn't present some opportunities
to rack up some wins, but it will be a challenge.
Full calendar is out Hornets dot Com for all of
your ticket information. Can't wait to see everyone inside Spectrum
Center for preseason which begins earlier in October, but of course,
(23:42):
the home opener for the regular season now on the
calendar October twenty fifth against the Atlanta Hawks. Last but
not least, our final thoughts on schedule release day and
our initial prediction for wins this season. Where do we
think the Hornets are going to finish, We've got that
for you. Next here on the Hornets, I've cast Sam Farber,
(24:03):
Rob Longo, Sam Purley here with you on a special
edition of the Hornet Podcast. Game schedule is out for
the twenty three to twenty four year. It's been a
little while since we've had a podcast. We're taking this
summer hiatus. We'll probably have another stretch until more news
breaks coming up after this one. But this is an
exciting day when everyone circles on their calendars because they
get to fill in their calendars from now through mid April,
(24:26):
at which point hopefully we'll be talking about a Hornets
playoffs schedule. But right now, some overarching thoughts and a
win total. That's what I want from each of you
as you look at the schedule. How does it influence
your thoughts on wins and losses for the Charlotte Hornets.
And are there any final notes you'd like to put
in to this podcast? Rob Longo, you have retained number
one pick status. Feel free.
Speaker 4 (24:47):
Let's start off with some news notes nuggets. I suppose
one of the things that stands out to me is
fifteen back to backs on the schedule that is slightly
above average compared to the rest of the league and
the conference that everybody else is around fourteen. But the
the biggest thing is six of those are with no travel,
which is good, but at the same time, five of
those back to backs include time zone changes when you
do have to travel, so kind of a little bit
(25:09):
of a yin and yang there in terms of distance traveled.
In terms of the rest of the conference, right around
the average of about thirty eight thousand total miles traveled.
The most that anybody in a conference has is about
forty four thousand. The lowest is about thirty three, so
kind of right in that sweet spot in the middle.
Not good, not great. And then the other thing that's
kind of an oddity for me too is the Hornets
only play one home game on a Thursday this year,
(25:29):
and of course it's that game that you just talked
about on leap Day against the Milwaukee Bucks. So if
things don't go well, then you will have to wait
four years, I guess, to kind of redeem yourself maybe
on leap Day. So with all that said, my total
prediction for this year, if you go back to last year,
I haven't here Handy Dandy. I had the Hornets at
forty two and forty and we know how that went.
So that is me crumbling up last year's schedule and
(25:51):
throwing it at Sam Farber's. So for me, my win
total prediction as it stands right now this year is
I currently have the Hornets at forty four and thirty six.
I think that the schedule sets up really well. Well,
Rob that's only eighty games. We still got a weight
on those two potentially maybe three depending on how the
nd Season Tournament goes, because the team could play eighty
three games if they make it to the n Season
Tournament Championship on December ninth. But when I take a
(26:13):
look at the schedule, it sets up great. I think
the Hornets can start to season three and Ozero that
those three home games against Atlanta, Detroit, and Brooklyn. Then
things could get rocky in November December. I think that
the Hornets finished this twenty twenty three portion of the
schedule at about thirteen and fifteen. I think they're actually
below five hundred before we flip the calendar to twenty
twenty four. But I have them at twenty eight and
twenty four at the All Star break post All Star
(26:35):
Break sixteen and twelve. That gets your forty four wins.
At least forty four wins. We don't know about those
other two depending on how the schedule stakes out, but
if you go back to two seasons ago, this is
basically the core of that team that ended up winning
forty three games. So why not forty four? Why not?
Speaker 3 (26:50):
More so?
Speaker 4 (26:50):
I got the Hornets right now at forty four and
thirty six.
Speaker 3 (26:52):
At least I like it.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
Clearly you went through game by game, win by win,
the U track down month, hour by hour, and I
get into my picks. I'll tell you why I didn't
do that this year, but I don't want to steal
Sam Purley's thunder.
Speaker 1 (27:05):
Sam.
Speaker 2 (27:05):
Any final thoughts on the schedule and a win prediction
based off of it.
Speaker 5 (27:09):
Yes, have a few more notes, and to follow up
on something Rob just said with the back to backs
fifteen back to backs six are all home.
Speaker 3 (27:17):
The Hornets only.
Speaker 5 (27:17):
Had two of those last year, so that's a little
bit of a big bump up in that particular era
the all home back to backs. A few more interesting notes.
Hornets will be looking to win, or have won their
regular season opener three times in a row just once
in franchise history nineteen ninety nine to two thousand and one.
They do so again this year, it'll be the second
time that's happened. A couple more things I thought were
(27:38):
kind of interesting. After their game in Portland on Sunday,
February twenty fifth, they will not play another game outside
of the Eastern or Central time zone for the rest
of the regular season. I think Rob might have mentioned
this in the stretches in the previous segment, but that
eight game homestand in the end of March early April
is the longest in franchise history. The team had a
seven game homestand in twenty sixteen did very well on it.
(28:00):
And the three game road trip to close out the
regular season. That is the first time that has happened
since two thousand and eight two thousand and nine season
when the Hornets finished with four in a row away
from home. So those are kind of just some oddities
I noticed. But for win total, I think I'm kind
of right around where Rob is too. I think forty
three and thirty nine is going to be my pick,
which is where they were two years ago. I have
(28:22):
to think in this is me kind of like looking
up at the basketball gods right now. They have to
get some better luck with injuries this year, because it
couldn't have gotten much worse last year. It's I think
we'll never really know how, you know, how many wins
they left on the table last year because of all
the injuries and the situations they were in. So I
think if you get some just average injury luck, just
(28:43):
we're not asking for every guy plays all eighty two games.
I think just having kind of a normal amount of availability.
I think you see some internal improvements from the young guys.
I think you get LaMelo out on the court. I
think Brandon Miller's going to be a big factor. You
get some of these guys back, and you get some
I think the biggest thing was just the continuity last year.
I mean it's a difference starting lineup every three or
four games, and you're mixing and matching because you know
(29:04):
one guy would come back and another guy would leave.
So I'm gonna go forty three and thirty nine, Like
you said, I didn't. I couldn't break it down game
by game, Rob And you know, this is a win,
and that's a loss, and this is a win and
that's a win. So I'll go forty three and thirty nine.
I think, you know, they bounce back from what was
a really tough year last year and get back to
sort of where they were in the was it twenty
twenty one dash twenty two season.
Speaker 3 (29:24):
I like the pick. I'm of a similar mind.
Speaker 2 (29:27):
First off, the reason I didn't do what Rob did
and just go through every game, which is actually what
I've been doing the last couple of years, is for
the most part, I think the functionality of doing that
is finding parts of the schedule that are really just Okay,
this is abysmally hard, or this is the real opportunity.
And I think generally speaking, when you look at this calendar,
I don't see any really terrible places. Even the most
(29:49):
difficult months have opportunities. I had February circlers my most
difficult month, and that one leads off with a sequence
where you've got six out of eight games at home.
So I think there's a lot of really good opportunity
here for Charlotte, and even the longer road stretches, the
way the games are sequenced, the way the rest is
built in, I think the Hornets have ample opportunity to
overcome it. Furthermore, I think when you're looking and comparing
(30:11):
to a season ago, you often are comparing the roster
from a season to go, and I just think you
have to throw it completely out the window because last
year's team fundamentally was not one that had LaMelo Ball
on it. It was one that had a mishmash of
other guards as the starting point guard because LaMelo was
more often on the bench than he was on the
floor due to all the injuries. So there's no way
(30:32):
I think you can look at last year's team and say, well,
let's compare that.
Speaker 3 (30:36):
I think he got to.
Speaker 2 (30:37):
Go back two seasons, and in doing so, I think
when you look spot by spot on the roster, more
often than that you see someone who should be a
much better version of either themselves or whoever occupied that
spot two seasons ago. LaMelo Ball was an All Star
two seasons ago when the team won forty three games.
He is going to be light years better this year
than he was that year. He was on the floor
(30:57):
last year, the few games we got him out there,
he was better than he had been the preceding year.
So we're going to see a much better point guard
Terry Rozier is as steady as they go in terms
of the two guard spot. I'm excited to see him there.
Gordon Hayward is yes, two years older than he was
in that season where Charlotte finished above five hundred, but
in the number two overall pick in Brandon Miller kind
of playing that position in tandem with him. I think
(31:18):
there's a lot to look forward to there. If you
don't believe the number two overall pick in the draft,
I don't know what to tell you. At the four
miles Bridges will be back. That should create a lot
better continuity at that spot once he's available for head
coach Steve Clifford. Plus we'll see how the depth looks
furthermore at that position. And finally, at center, Mark Williams
year two, he had a great impact on the team
when he entered the starting lineup, So you're comparing him
(31:41):
to Mason Plumley's first year with the Hornets. A very good,
accomplished center. But obviously we have high hopes for Mark Williams,
so position pop position. I think the Hornets are as
good or better than the team they had two years ago.
There's no major roadblocks that I see here on this
schedule that would create a speed bump and influence the
Hornets win totals that much.
Speaker 3 (32:01):
I'm gonna say forty five.
Speaker 2 (32:02):
I think forty five and thirty seven is something that
you can hope for as a Hornets fan, realistically saying
we're gonna have improvement from two seasons ago. The basketball
gods must shine on us. There are no major speed
bumps on this schedule to really hinder the Hornets. Forty
five wins is a goal that is worth putting out
(32:22):
there and something that's certainly achievable.
Speaker 4 (32:24):
I like it. I mean, it's basically one off of
what I had, and we have two games to play
with un a schedule, so maybe I think forty six.
So I think we're all kind of in the same
breath in that point. But yeah, I mean I'm excited.
I'm excited to get this season going. I think the
schedule sets up really well. Everybody's obviously gonna have some
tough stretches in there, but little adversity never heard anybody
so really looking forward to this season. I like it.
Speaker 5 (32:45):
I think we're all kind of like Rob said on
the same page, and my first thought is to all
these postgame podcasts. We're looking at fifteen less silver lining
podcasts if we get to that, at least just to
the forty three from the twenty seven wins last year,
and that's gonna make for obviously some much more lively,
energetic posting content when you are you've got fifteen more
that are gold stars and not silver linings.
Speaker 3 (33:04):
At minimum, the speak it into existence. How about fifty five,
fifty eight, fifty eight win. I'd be a great season.
Speaker 2 (33:09):
Hopefully we're talking about that many winning editions of the
Hornets Hypecast, speaking of which we're not sure when our
next edition of the AHHC is going to be. Obviously,
will continue to dive through this schedules more news breaks,
we'll cover it for you here on the Hornets Hive Cast,
but we'll continue to enjoy our summer vacations now making
plans for the fall. As the Hornet Schedule is officially out,
please go to Hornets dot com check it out for
(33:31):
yourself and circle some dates, get some tickets, come on
out and join us at Spectrum Center. It is going
to be a spectacular season. Thanks as always to Sam
Perley and Rob Longo for riding with me. On this
edition of the HAC. Most of all, thanks to all
of you for tuning in. For everyone here, I'm Sam
Farber saying it's been a pleasure and a privilege having
you along. We'll talk to you next time right here
on the Hornets Ipecast.
Speaker 1 (33:51):
Thank you for listening to the Hornets Hypecast, brought to
you by Senta, the official I here knows and throatcare
provider of this Charlotte Hornets. For more coverage, visit hornets
dot com.
Welcome to the Hornets Highcast, present it by Charlotte I
Ear Nose and 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 Time Cast, your
Hornets podcast with all the notes, quotes, san daily buzz
around your favorite NBA team. I'm Sam Farber and it
is a pleasure and a privilege have you with us
here once again on the Hornet Time Cast, brought to
you by SENTA Charlotte I Ear Nose and Throat Associates,
the official I ear Nosen Throat Care provider of the
Charlotte Hornets. An exciting day. The NBA schedule has dropped.
(00:38):
We know the Hornets schedule for the next I don't
know six months or so little more than that at
this stage as we sit here in August and prepare
for the NBA season, which we'll start now we know
for sure on October twenty fifth, Charlotte will host the
Atlanta Hawks for the season opener. We're gonna break it
down in every which way. Games were most excited about
(00:58):
the most important month of the most difficult month of
the season, and after having all of maybe ten minutes
to look at this schedule, we're going to give our
win prediction based on it, at least in some part.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
For the twenty three twenty four campaign for the Hornets.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Helping me on all these topics, he's my producer on
the Hornets Radio Network as well as the producer of
this fine podcast, Rob Longo.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
Rob, how exciting are you the schedules here?
Speaker 4 (01:19):
Thrilled finally get to figure out where we're going to be,
when we're gonna be, how it's gonna look, and I'm
just ready to jump right into it.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
I'm anticipating similar excitement from our other special guest here today,
the great Sam Purley, senior writer for Hornets dot Com.
Speaker 5 (01:33):
Hello, thank you for having me. I'll echo Rob two,
also very excited. It's cool to kind of finally see
everything laid out. You know who you're playing, when you're playing,
you know, back to backs everything. I love kind of
jumping into and breaking down all the nitty gritty stuff
with the schedule every year.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
I can feel it, I can feel that excitement.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
Hornets are going to tip things off on October twenty fifth,
that's a Wednesday, home open or three game homestand to
begin the season Wednesday, the twenty fifth of October against Atlanta,
Friday the twenty seventh versus Detroit, and then Monday the
thirtieth against Brooklyn. A three game slate for October to
open up the season, all three at home. So that's
a nice, interesting little wrinkle, which I'm sure Sam Purley
(02:10):
will dive into. Not to ran on the parade, but
you know, really this is the most exciting day with
the least actually changing for any of us or the
team itself. We knew that they're going to play eighty
two games, probably forty one home, forty one road in season.
Tournament does have a slight impact there, but overall we
do know now forty home forty road dates. All that said, though,
the order does matter, sequencing matters, and now that we
(02:32):
have it, we get to give our initial overarching thoughts
on the slate, and generally speaking, I think this is
pretty fair. I don't see any major calamitous pitfalls here
for the Hornets. There's no areas of the schedule I say, wow,
that's just impossible to handle, or road trips that make
no unearthly sense, kind of like we had last year.
There were a couple where just the directions and the
(02:53):
sequencing didn't make a lot of sense. I think generally speaking,
this schedule is pretty favorable to the Hornets. Deep into
it in a little bit, but I want to tip
things off with the games we're most excited about. Rob
rules are in effect. What game on this schedule. I'd
prefer you to keep it on home games because we
want the fans to come out and joy us. Join us,
by the way, Hornets dot com for all your ticket needs.
(03:15):
But what game do you have circled on your calendar.
I'm going to start with Sam Purley.
Speaker 5 (03:18):
Well, I'm going to do a little bit of a
cop out and pick a couple because I'm just going
to gonna I.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
Was gonna give you two, no matter, give me one,
give me one game.
Speaker 5 (03:27):
Well, first, I think one game I'm looking forward to
is the December twenty third game against Denver too. I
think it's right around Christmas. Obviously, the vibes is really
good around Christmas. It's a fun time of year and
you always want to see how you measure up against
the best team in the league. And Denver is the
best team or was the NBA champions last year, so
I think that's obviously you always want to play your
(03:47):
best against the team that has the title that everyone's chasing.
So the December twenty third home game, it's a Saturday
Night against Denver, and then just kind of overall, that
three game homestand to start the year, I think is
gonna be really exciting, just to kick off the season.
It's the first time they've had a three game homestand
to open the season since two thousand and eleven twelve,
and they've always They played Atlanta very well last year.
(04:07):
Detroit the team that I think is, you know, on paper,
looks to be kind of a beatable team, and then
Brooklyn too is you know, kind of where they're at.
So I think it's very lilistic. The Hornets could start
off with at least two, hopefully three wins to open
up the homestand before they head out on the road
to open November.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
Obviously, what he did there, he's kind of snuck in
stealing extra games.
Speaker 4 (04:23):
Of course, I do.
Speaker 5 (04:25):
Give I took like four games the god af four games.
Speaker 4 (04:28):
You think any of the ones I was looking at,
So that's good.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
I do give him credit because he did immediately have
the information. When was the last time the Hornets opened
with three straight home games?
Speaker 5 (04:36):
Yet?
Speaker 3 (04:36):
What was the year two thousand and.
Speaker 5 (04:38):
The twenty eleven twenty twelve season, which was the actually
a lockout shortened year, so and it was obviously a
season that did not go very well from the Hornets.
Hopefully this one will go much much better.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
Amen to that.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
So you actually took my number one pick on my
draft board. Hornets versus Denver welcoming into defending champs, a
two time MVP, and Nikola Jokic going to be a
great game Saturday, December twenty third, Hornets dot com for
all your ticket needs, Rob Longo your number one pick
for game you're most excited about.
Speaker 4 (05:05):
For me, I'm taking a look at November seventeenth. That
is a home game on a Friday night against Milwaukee.
It will be the first game back for Miles Bridges.
It will also be a in season's tornament game as well,
so a little bit of an added bonus. This will
finally be the chance, I think that we can see
the core of this team from two seasons ago that
we've talked about so much over the offseason finally behole again.
(05:27):
With the return of Miles Bridges. So that's the game
that I have circle just for a multiple points of emphasis,
and it's always fun to take on Giannis and the
rest of the Bucks at home. So that's the game
I'm looking at Friday, November seventeenth, seven pm. Tip tickets
at Hornets dot com.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
This is unbelievable. It's audio only this podcast, but I'm
showing the guys here. You guys took my top two picks.
Well you literally one and two.
Speaker 4 (05:47):
That's last.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
That's it, Hey, Rob rules in effect that. Yeah, I
think that's a great one to focus on. A lot
going on there, with it being the n season tournament,
Jannis Santetokoupo and the Bucks coming to town. I'll double
that one up and say, hey, Thursday, February twenty ninth,
Milwaukee also in town. A little deeper in the schedule,
so a couple more games, but that's not gonna count
as my pick because I don't want to steal your
thunder there. I think both those excellent choices. I'm gonna
(06:10):
say my top game that I'm most excited about Friday,
March twenty ninth, versus Golden State. It's been a little
hit or miss the last couple of seasons on whether
or not fans here in the Queen City got to
see one of their own, Steph Curry and the Golden
State Warriors actually on the floor.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
Obviously, COVID has.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
Had an impact before the health of Steph Curry individually
has had an impact, So you hope everyone's healthy. Horn
hits most importantly, but the NBA's schedule as exciting as
is for us who are immersed in it day after day.
For fans, it's about the chance to see your favorite players,
the guys that you look up to as young kids,
the ones that you want to be. You know, have
(06:50):
the posters on your wall or the wallpaper on your phone,
those kinds of guys. And Steph Curry and the Golden
State Warriors that's one of those teams. So I have
that one circled. Hopefully it's a meaningful game. You're talking
about the last ten to fifteen games of the season
that stretch, so could be even more on the line,
but it's the lone time on the calendar that Golden
State is coming to Charlotte, and so I've got it
(07:11):
circled as a game I am most excited about. Let's
go around one more time at speed round, Sam Purley,
one more game from you.
Speaker 5 (07:17):
I forgot one quick fact on my previous answer. This
is the first time the Hornets are opening up against Atlanta,
oddly enough since two thousand, only the second time in
franchise history as well, So a team that's right down
the road only played them two times or now two
times in the regular season opener. It's kind of an
odd oddity for sure. So one more game that I'm
looking forward to after I've already given four swing around
(07:42):
a rob come back.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
All right, are we still yes?
Speaker 4 (07:45):
That's fine?
Speaker 5 (07:46):
Are we?
Speaker 4 (07:46):
Are we still doing home games only? Or can we
pick some more games? Go wherever?
Speaker 2 (07:49):
One?
Speaker 3 (07:49):
But I think there's some some more home games that are.
Speaker 4 (07:52):
Well, yeah, let's go. Okay, I'll pick the home game
of January nineteenth against San Antonio is supposed to be
number one verse number two Wenby versus Brandon Mill. The
week prior to that, the Hornets are in San Antonio
to take on the Spurs. That's going to be a
Friday night game on ESPN, very very late tip here
in the Queen City ten o'clock, nine o'clock Central, So
gonna be a late night for everybody in San Antonio
as well. So that was the one I kind of
(08:13):
had my eye on just because of the national audience,
but for doing some home cooking the week later when
the Hornets will take on Wemby presumably and the Spurs
once again. So that's my pick. It will be January nineteenth,
Friday night here at the Hive against the Spurs.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
I love that pick.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
Didn't have that one circle, but I absolutely love it.
Let's go back to Sam Purley, who is pouring over
this schedule. He's looked at things as you know, as
deep a dive as knowing how many times have the
Hornets opened against the Hawks, when's the last time they
had a three game homestand and yet does not have
a favorite game on the schedule, or at least he
doesn't have two. Sam Purley has that enough time to
stall to give you a room to pick another one.
Speaker 5 (08:49):
I also can give this as a jack answer. I'm
excited for all of them, but I am I've got
my eyes or you know, inches away from the screen
kind of looking at it right now. Another kind of
intriguing one that just kind of stands out. In November
is the Tuesday fourteenth game against Miami. I believe that's
another in season tournament game. It feels like Miami is
a team that clearly went on that run last year
(09:10):
to the NBA Finals as the eighth seed, kind of
kind of out of nowhere. But Hornets beat him twice
last year at Miami. I remember those being really good games.
They were very close down in Miami too. I think
they were one of the ones in Miami last year.
I think went to double overtime. Second one was maybe
a little bit of a wider margin of.
Speaker 4 (09:25):
Victory for the Heat.
Speaker 5 (09:26):
But it always feels like a team like Miami is
something that brings the best out of the Hornets. They
seem a lot obviously being a divisional team, and with
that being their first home game against the Heat, having
a little bit more on the line with the in
season tournament standings, I think that'll be a good one.
So that's Tuesday, November fourteenth against the Miami Heat. Will
be the second I believe the second play in season
(09:46):
tournament game too, So that's one I'm looking forward to there.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
I like both picks, especially Rob's. I was not expecting
that one. I'm just going to clear my board here
and say, you know other games of significance. You got
the Hornets versus Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia seven six ers,
whatever they look like when they come to town. They're
coming twice, Saturday December sixteenth and Saturday January twenty, so
a couple of weekend showcase spotlight type games. Both are
(10:10):
on night two of a back to back, but both
are home home back to backs, which is an interesting
portion of those games. But obviously, anytime the big superstars,
current and former MVPs are in town adds a little
something to a game. So that one circled on my calendar.
Also Friday, March fifteenth versus Phoenix. They obviously have a
star Leyden roster. I think there'll be a lot of
(10:31):
excitement about that one. But the last one I wanted
to showcase highlight put a circle around Monday, February fifth
versus the LA Lakers. Anytime Lebron James comes to Charlotte,
especially the last couple of years where he's been in
the Western Conference, that has been a particularly hot ticket.
Speaker 3 (10:47):
No reason to believe it will be anything less.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
This season should be an exciting one, always is when
the Lakers and Lebron come to town. Whatever your favorite
team is, your favorite player is, you now know when
they're coming to Charlotte. This is assuming that they're your
second favorite behind of course the Hornet. So you can
go out and hunt for your particular favorite game, or
better yet, buy them all. We've got full season ticket
(11:10):
plans available still right now. There's the Pick twenty three
plans as well, where you get the home opener, the
last game of the season, fan appreciation Day, plus your
choice of all the games in between. It's really there's
a lot of great opportunities to come out and see
your Horns, who I think will have a very exciting
team this season. Go to Hornets dot com for all
of the information. Coming up next, we picked our most
(11:32):
important exciting games of the season. How about the most important,
most difficult months on the calendar. We'll get into that next.
Here on the Hornet Time Cast, Sam Farbar, Rob Longo,
Sam Purley here with you on the HHC the Hornet
Time Cast, talking about the twenty three to twenty four
regular season schedule.
Speaker 3 (11:52):
It is out, it is official.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
Hornets will open things up on October twenty fifth against
the Atlanta Hawks. Part of a three game home stand
for Buzz City Charlotte. Overall, they've got nineteen of their
forty one home games that are gonna fall on weekends.
That's Friday, Saturdays, and Sundays. That's more than the average
NBA squad, So lots of great opportunities to see your
(12:15):
Hornets play inside of Spectrum Center. Time to move to
our next segment. We're going to talk about the most
important and most difficult months on the calendar, gentlemen, and
for me, the most important thing to consider when you're
looking trying to project wins and losses are three things. Well,
first off is health, which we know all too well.
You have no control over, a little control over us
in this room, have zero control over. You just kind
(12:37):
of hope for good health for the team because that's
the biggest determining factor. If LaMelo Ball is on the floor,
Charlotte's got a much better chance of winning than when
he is not.
Speaker 3 (12:45):
Case in point last season. Number two is rest and
rest wise.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
I think this is a good schedule in the sense that,
according to the NBA, we are a net even on
games where the Hornets are fresh versus games where they
are tired. There are ten games where the Hornets will
have played the day before the opponent did not ten
games where the opponent is on night two of a
back to back and Charlotte is the fresh team. The
other sixty that are currently slated are all even, so
(13:09):
both teams had the previous day off, so that's a positive.
The other thing in there is back to backs. Charlotte
has on the high side for the Eastern Conference of
back to backs, but they also have a couple extra
back to backs where there is no travel, so that's
a positive for the team. And last, but not least,
it's the home road effect, which every team's got the
same number of home and road games slated at this point,
(13:30):
so you can kind of dive through it and find
where the pitfalls are. So with all that being said,
let's pick our most important month of the season. Sam Purley,
you have officially given up your number one pick status
by not having a second game that you are most
excited about circled, which means Rob Longo gets to pick
first on the month he has deemed the most important.
Speaker 4 (13:49):
Well, most important or most difficult? The most important? We're
most important. I think April's the most important just because
it's the end of the season, and the way that
the schedule shakes out is I guess different from what
we've seen in years past, because I feel like towards
the end of the season we've seen home and road,
home and road kind of alternating. This isn't the case
this time. This is going to be a chance from
the end of March into the end of the season
(14:09):
really where the Hornets are gonna have their longest homestand
it's gonna be fourteen days, eight games in that span.
But then they end the season on a three game
road trip and it includes the second night of a
back to back in Atlanta after playing Dallas in the
final home game of the season. Then you go to
Boston after having a day off, you have another day off,
and then you finish the season in Cleveland. And that's
a little bit of a tricky schedule the way down
(14:29):
to stretch that it looks like because Atlanta has always
been solid, Boston is going to be a perennial contender,
we don't know what Cleveland has. Cleveland was obviously a
playoff team last year, so that's three playoff teams that
you have to end the season on. On the road
while you're potentially fighting for playing tournament, birth, playoff, birth,
whatever it may be. So I think the end of
March beginning of April, hence the end of the season
is probably the most important because you want to finish strong.
Speaker 3 (14:51):
I gotta admit I like it.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
I was tempted when you said April, since it's a
half month, it's not necessarily a full month to remove
your first pick status and give it back to Sam Perly.
But you have excellent arguments, so Lawyer, I guess he
retains the number one pick for the next round. Here,
Sam Purley, April's off the board. Most important month on
the calendar. We're in good shape here from the Rob
rules standpoint. Because I believe it or not, I was
(15:13):
actually prepared to answer this question and my answer is
not April. I am going to say February. I think
February is, and we talk about most important, kind of
similar to what Rob says, when you've got a big
stretch of home games, that's where you got to pick
up wins because the road games are obviously going to
be challenging with the travel and things like that. In
the back to backs, you've got to take advantage of
your home games, and the Hornets have kind of starts
(15:36):
in January and rolls into the middle of February. But
there they've got a home stretch or a stretch from Friday,
January twenty six through the All Star Break on Valentine's
Day February fourteenth, which is a Wednesday, where they play
ten of twelve at home, the only road games being
Friday at Oklahoma City on the second and Friday the
ninth at Milwaukee. That's where you got to really kind
(15:57):
of take advantage of those ten home games. Win I
think you got to win at least seven of them
because and to run off the opponents real quick. It's Houston, Utah,
New York, Chicago, Indiana, Lakers, Toronto, Memphis, Indiana, and Atlanta.
Those are all the home games during that stretch. Get
some momentum going take advantage of your home games, go
into the All Star Break with some momentum, get some
(16:17):
rest because when you come out of the All Star Break,
you've got a four game road trip out west in Utah,
at Golden State, at Portland, and then at Milwaukee. All
of them are obviously very very good opponents. And then
you know a couple of plays with the Hornets have
really struggled to find wins the last few several years
in Utah and Portland. So I'm gonna go with February
being the most important month because you got to take
advantage of those home games, get some rest during the
(16:39):
All Star break, and then hit the ground running when
you go out because you've got a big four game
road trip out west to close mostly closed a month.
Some interesting stuff here because I have the same area
of the calendar circled, is my most important for very
similar reasons that I went with the preceding month. I
thought January. I think January is going to be the
most important month. For one, as you mentioned a lot
of home games. There's eight home games over the course
(17:01):
of the month of January. There's also eight road games
that month, so there's not the necessarily the tilt that
you have in February, but there's a lot of home
games there. I agree with you, you got to take
advantage also, I think more important than home road generally speaking,
after a few years for me personally, being in the
NBA and covering as closely as we get to back
to backs have more of an impact I think than
(17:22):
the home road advantages. So there's three back to backs
in January, but only one that includes travel, which are
the most difficult of the back to back, so I
think that is advantageous. There's three games also where the
Hornets are coming off multiple days of rest. That's a
big edge for Charlotte for those ones, and I'm with you,
it's a real opportunity to make a move. If I
(17:43):
were going to pick any thirty day period on this calendar,
I'm right there with you, Sam Purley, I'm going from
January nineteenth through the start of the All Star break
because over that span you've got all of these home games.
I went back a little bit further than you did,
but you've got twelve games out of sixteen. You went
the ten games out of twelve where they're all at home,
(18:06):
relatively good from a rest standpoint. This is the chance
to really bolt up the standings from wherever you were
preceding it.
Speaker 3 (18:14):
So I'm with you.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
In the same segment of the calendar, January, February, and
April are most important months of the season, all kind
of for similar reasons. Let's go to most difficult month
of the season, Rob Longo, You've retained number one pick
status most difficult month, What do you got?
Speaker 4 (18:28):
I think the common answer is December, but that's not
going to be my most difficult month. I'm going to
go with November just because you have fourteen games in there.
Eight of those are on the road, and I think
there's maybe a little bit of added pressure too with
this in season tournament, because that's when the bulk of
your games are. You got road games in Houston, Indiana, Dallas, Washington,
New York. You go on a little bit of a
lengthy road trip in there, and then in the month
(18:50):
on the road as well in Orlando. Then you have
to go back up to New York, and then you
swing over to Brooklyn, so you have a little bit
of some downtime there in the Big Apple, at least
where you don't have to travel as much, you can
stay at least in the same hotel. But just the
quality of opponents in that as well. I mentioned Dallas,
you play Washington two consecutive games, one home, one on
the road. You got Miami sprinkled in there along with
New York twice, both on the road, of course, then
(19:12):
you got Milwaukee. You play the Knicks like five times
in November. I swear the way that this schedule works out,
but I just think with the added bonus of the
in season tournament compared with how much you're on the
road as well, is makes November a little bit of
a shaky month because you start off really well with
three straight home games, and then you're basically on the
road for over the over more than the month of November.
(19:33):
So I think that November is kind of maybe the
most difficult. I know it doesn't include that West Coast
swing like December and January does, but I just think
from a sheer opponents standpoint, that November is a little
bit more difficult.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
Fair enough to confirm Hornet's playing the next three times
in November five times? I don't think that feels like it.
I don't think it's possible even with the in season tournament.
I guess we're gonna find that at the end of
the season. How many times you're allowed to play an opponent.
I think it's still max is out at four. So
rob Loongo has no November circled as his most difficult month.
Speaker 3 (20:02):
I'll be honest.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
That was my number two pick, So I gotta make
sure that Sam Perla doesn't take my number one, Sam
Purley most difficult month on the calendar.
Speaker 5 (20:10):
One quick note on the November as well. Three games
against the Wizards in the month of November as well,
and I think they come within a span of eight
games right in the middle of the month. But I
am going to take December as the toughest month for
the Hornets. I think the first full week of the season,
you've got the nd season tournaments, you don't exactly know
who you're playing yet. I don't know how exactly that's
gonna You know, you got to be able to adjust
and adapt on the fly with where you're going or
(20:31):
who you're playing. I would assume they'd have those opponents
as soon as the final group play games are finished,
I think in the last week in November. But to
not have an opponent in there right now, I think
is you just got to have to be flexible about
you know who you're facing, who you're where you're going,
things like that. But I think that road trip or
the road swing at the end of December and it
(20:51):
leads into January two is going to be one of
the toughest. Is the toughest stretch of the season. You
got a two game trip starting on Monday the eighteenth, interro,
then Indiana on the twentieth, and then you only play
one game in five days. But that one game, like
I said in the first segment, is at home against
the Denver Nuggets, and then goes over Christmas, and then
(21:11):
you go out West game at the Clippers, back to
back against the Lakers and Suns two days off, then
another back to back against Denver and Sacramento two days off,
and then you finished with an East Coast opponent in Chicago.
But if you look at all five of those teams
out West, I think they're all playoff teams last year
and all should be all could very well be vying
for home court advantage top four seeds. So I think
that Western Conference swing, and you factor in the two
(21:33):
game road trip, that kind of precedes it a little bit.
I think it ends up being what is it eight
eight of nine on the road before coming back home
for a two game homestand on the eighth I think
it's going to be the toughest stretch of the season,
just given the caliber of opponent, also the time of year.
It's kind of towards the end of December start of January,
right when you're kind of in the middle of the schedule.
So that'll be my vote is I guess December as
(21:54):
a whole kind of leaking into January my pick.
Speaker 2 (21:57):
I'm going with February, which was your pick. Are the
most most important, most difficult, or not mutually exclusive? But
I look at February and I see the most potential
trouble for the Hornets, regardless of health. Obviously, if there
ends up being one month where the Hornets are not
healthy compared to the others, that will end up being
the problem month. But if everything is equal, everything is
relatively the same health throughout. I do believe February is
(22:21):
the most difficult month on the calendar for the Hornets,
part because of the frequency of games. There are three
back to backs in here, two of which include travel.
That's the most of any month on the calendar for
the Hornets. Also, because the All Star break is in there,
the thirteen games are basically being played in twenty one days.
That's a pretty difficult frequency volume of games, even though
(22:46):
you get the week plus break from in game action
from the fourteenth. When the Hornets wrap things up on
Valentine's Day at home against the Atlanta Hawks before the
All Star Break to when they pick up again on
the backside of the All Star break against the Utah
Ja on the road. Even though you have that hiatus
in there, it's still a lot of games, a lot
of back to back sequences that have to factor in.
(23:08):
If you go from the leap your day February twenty
ninth into March first, that's another back to back, which
includes travel, show getting even more difficult there. So the
volumes a lot. There's six games in nine days to
start the month, doesn't matter that for at home.
Speaker 3 (23:21):
That's just a lot.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
So for me, I think that February is the most
difficult month. Doesn't mean that it doesn't present some opportunities
to rack up some wins, but it will be a challenge.
Full calendar is out Hornets dot Com for all of
your ticket information. Can't wait to see everyone inside Spectrum
Center for preseason which begins earlier in October, but of course,
(23:42):
the home opener for the regular season now on the
calendar October twenty fifth against the Atlanta Hawks. Last but
not least, our final thoughts on schedule release day and
our initial prediction for wins this season. Where do we
think the Hornets are going to finish, We've got that
for you. Next here on the Hornets, I've cast Sam Farber,
(24:03):
Rob Longo, Sam Purley here with you on a special
edition of the Hornet Podcast. Game schedule is out for
the twenty three to twenty four year. It's been a
little while since we've had a podcast. We're taking this
summer hiatus. We'll probably have another stretch until more news
breaks coming up after this one. But this is an
exciting day when everyone circles on their calendars because they
get to fill in their calendars from now through mid April,
(24:26):
at which point hopefully we'll be talking about a Hornets
playoffs schedule. But right now, some overarching thoughts and a
win total. That's what I want from each of you
as you look at the schedule. How does it influence
your thoughts on wins and losses for the Charlotte Hornets.
And are there any final notes you'd like to put
in to this podcast? Rob Longo, you have retained number
one pick status. Feel free.
Speaker 4 (24:47):
Let's start off with some news notes nuggets. I suppose
one of the things that stands out to me is
fifteen back to backs on the schedule that is slightly
above average compared to the rest of the league and
the conference that everybody else is around fourteen. But the
the biggest thing is six of those are with no travel,
which is good, but at the same time, five of
those back to backs include time zone changes when you
do have to travel, so kind of a little bit
(25:09):
of a yin and yang there in terms of distance traveled.
In terms of the rest of the conference, right around
the average of about thirty eight thousand total miles traveled.
The most that anybody in a conference has is about
forty four thousand. The lowest is about thirty three, so
kind of right in that sweet spot in the middle.
Not good, not great. And then the other thing that's
kind of an oddity for me too is the Hornets
only play one home game on a Thursday this year,
(25:29):
and of course it's that game that you just talked
about on leap Day against the Milwaukee Bucks. So if
things don't go well, then you will have to wait
four years, I guess, to kind of redeem yourself maybe
on leap Day. So with all that said, my total
prediction for this year, if you go back to last year,
I haven't here Handy Dandy. I had the Hornets at
forty two and forty and we know how that went.
So that is me crumbling up last year's schedule and
(25:51):
throwing it at Sam Farber's. So for me, my win
total prediction as it stands right now this year is
I currently have the Hornets at forty four and thirty six.
I think that the schedule sets up really well. Well,
Rob that's only eighty games. We still got a weight
on those two potentially maybe three depending on how the
nd Season Tournament goes, because the team could play eighty
three games if they make it to the n Season
Tournament Championship on December ninth. But when I take a
(26:13):
look at the schedule, it sets up great. I think
the Hornets can start to season three and Ozero that
those three home games against Atlanta, Detroit, and Brooklyn. Then
things could get rocky in November December. I think that
the Hornets finished this twenty twenty three portion of the
schedule at about thirteen and fifteen. I think they're actually
below five hundred before we flip the calendar to twenty
twenty four. But I have them at twenty eight and
twenty four at the All Star break post All Star
(26:35):
Break sixteen and twelve. That gets your forty four wins.
At least forty four wins. We don't know about those
other two depending on how the schedule stakes out, but
if you go back to two seasons ago, this is
basically the core of that team that ended up winning
forty three games. So why not forty four? Why not?
Speaker 3 (26:50):
More so?
Speaker 4 (26:50):
I got the Hornets right now at forty four and
thirty six.
Speaker 3 (26:52):
At least I like it.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
Clearly you went through game by game, win by win,
the U track down month, hour by hour, and I
get into my picks. I'll tell you why I didn't
do that this year, but I don't want to steal
Sam Purley's thunder.
Speaker 1 (27:05):
Sam.
Speaker 2 (27:05):
Any final thoughts on the schedule and a win prediction
based off of it.
Speaker 5 (27:09):
Yes, have a few more notes, and to follow up
on something Rob just said with the back to backs
fifteen back to backs six are all home.
Speaker 3 (27:17):
The Hornets only.
Speaker 5 (27:17):
Had two of those last year, so that's a little
bit of a big bump up in that particular era
the all home back to backs. A few more interesting notes.
Hornets will be looking to win, or have won their
regular season opener three times in a row just once
in franchise history nineteen ninety nine to two thousand and one.
They do so again this year, it'll be the second
time that's happened. A couple more things I thought were
(27:38):
kind of interesting. After their game in Portland on Sunday,
February twenty fifth, they will not play another game outside
of the Eastern or Central time zone for the rest
of the regular season. I think Rob might have mentioned
this in the stretches in the previous segment, but that
eight game homestand in the end of March early April
is the longest in franchise history. The team had a
seven game homestand in twenty sixteen did very well on it.
(28:00):
And the three game road trip to close out the
regular season. That is the first time that has happened
since two thousand and eight two thousand and nine season
when the Hornets finished with four in a row away
from home. So those are kind of just some oddities
I noticed. But for win total, I think I'm kind
of right around where Rob is too. I think forty
three and thirty nine is going to be my pick,
which is where they were two years ago. I have
(28:22):
to think in this is me kind of like looking
up at the basketball gods right now. They have to
get some better luck with injuries this year, because it
couldn't have gotten much worse last year. It's I think
we'll never really know how, you know, how many wins
they left on the table last year because of all
the injuries and the situations they were in. So I
think if you get some just average injury luck, just
(28:43):
we're not asking for every guy plays all eighty two games.
I think just having kind of a normal amount of availability.
I think you see some internal improvements from the young guys.
I think you get LaMelo out on the court. I
think Brandon Miller's going to be a big factor. You
get some of these guys back, and you get some
I think the biggest thing was just the continuity last year.
I mean it's a difference starting lineup every three or
four games, and you're mixing and matching because you know
(29:04):
one guy would come back and another guy would leave.
So I'm gonna go forty three and thirty nine, Like
you said, I didn't. I couldn't break it down game
by game, Rob And you know, this is a win,
and that's a loss, and this is a win and
that's a win. So I'll go forty three and thirty nine.
I think, you know, they bounce back from what was
a really tough year last year and get back to
sort of where they were in the was it twenty
twenty one dash twenty two season.
Speaker 3 (29:24):
I like the pick. I'm of a similar mind.
Speaker 2 (29:27):
First off, the reason I didn't do what Rob did
and just go through every game, which is actually what
I've been doing the last couple of years, is for
the most part, I think the functionality of doing that
is finding parts of the schedule that are really just Okay,
this is abysmally hard, or this is the real opportunity.
And I think generally speaking, when you look at this calendar,
I don't see any really terrible places. Even the most
(29:49):
difficult months have opportunities. I had February circlers my most
difficult month, and that one leads off with a sequence
where you've got six out of eight games at home.
So I think there's a lot of really good opportunity
here for Charlotte, and even the longer road stretches, the
way the games are sequenced, the way the rest is
built in, I think the Hornets have ample opportunity to
overcome it. Furthermore, I think when you're looking and comparing
(30:11):
to a season ago, you often are comparing the roster
from a season to go, and I just think you
have to throw it completely out the window because last
year's team fundamentally was not one that had LaMelo Ball
on it. It was one that had a mishmash of
other guards as the starting point guard because LaMelo was
more often on the bench than he was on the
floor due to all the injuries. So there's no way
(30:32):
I think you can look at last year's team and say, well,
let's compare that.
Speaker 3 (30:36):
I think he got to.
Speaker 2 (30:37):
Go back two seasons, and in doing so, I think
when you look spot by spot on the roster, more
often than that you see someone who should be a
much better version of either themselves or whoever occupied that
spot two seasons ago. LaMelo Ball was an All Star
two seasons ago when the team won forty three games.
He is going to be light years better this year
than he was that year. He was on the floor
(30:57):
last year, the few games we got him out there,
he was better than he had been the preceding year.
So we're going to see a much better point guard
Terry Rozier is as steady as they go in terms
of the two guard spot. I'm excited to see him there.
Gordon Hayward is yes, two years older than he was
in that season where Charlotte finished above five hundred, but
in the number two overall pick in Brandon Miller kind
of playing that position in tandem with him. I think
(31:18):
there's a lot to look forward to there. If you
don't believe the number two overall pick in the draft,
I don't know what to tell you. At the four
miles Bridges will be back. That should create a lot
better continuity at that spot once he's available for head
coach Steve Clifford. Plus we'll see how the depth looks
furthermore at that position. And finally, at center, Mark Williams
year two, he had a great impact on the team
when he entered the starting lineup, So you're comparing him
(31:41):
to Mason Plumley's first year with the Hornets. A very good,
accomplished center. But obviously we have high hopes for Mark Williams,
so position pop position. I think the Hornets are as
good or better than the team they had two years ago.
There's no major roadblocks that I see here on this
schedule that would create a speed bump and influence the
Hornets win totals that much.
Speaker 3 (32:01):
I'm gonna say forty five.
Speaker 2 (32:02):
I think forty five and thirty seven is something that
you can hope for as a Hornets fan, realistically saying
we're gonna have improvement from two seasons ago. The basketball
gods must shine on us. There are no major speed
bumps on this schedule to really hinder the Hornets. Forty
five wins is a goal that is worth putting out
(32:22):
there and something that's certainly achievable.
Speaker 4 (32:24):
I like it. I mean, it's basically one off of
what I had, and we have two games to play
with un a schedule, so maybe I think forty six.
So I think we're all kind of in the same
breath in that point. But yeah, I mean I'm excited.
I'm excited to get this season going. I think the
schedule sets up really well. Everybody's obviously gonna have some
tough stretches in there, but little adversity never heard anybody
so really looking forward to this season. I like it.
Speaker 5 (32:45):
I think we're all kind of like Rob said on
the same page, and my first thought is to all
these postgame podcasts. We're looking at fifteen less silver lining
podcasts if we get to that, at least just to
the forty three from the twenty seven wins last year,
and that's gonna make for obviously some much more lively,
energetic posting content when you are you've got fifteen more
that are gold stars and not silver linings.
Speaker 3 (33:04):
At minimum, the speak it into existence. How about fifty five,
fifty eight, fifty eight win. I'd be a great season.
Speaker 2 (33:09):
Hopefully we're talking about that many winning editions of the
Hornets Hypecast, speaking of which we're not sure when our
next edition of the AHHC is going to be. Obviously,
will continue to dive through this schedules more news breaks,
we'll cover it for you here on the Hornets Hive Cast,
but we'll continue to enjoy our summer vacations now making
plans for the fall. As the Hornet Schedule is officially out,
please go to Hornets dot com check it out for
(33:31):
yourself and circle some dates, get some tickets, come on
out and join us at Spectrum Center. It is going
to be a spectacular season. Thanks as always to Sam
Perley and Rob Longo for riding with me. On this
edition of the HAC. Most of all, thanks to all
of you for tuning in. For everyone here, I'm Sam
Farber saying it's been a pleasure and a privilege having
you along. We'll talk to you next time right here
on the Hornets Ipecast.
Speaker 1 (33:51):
Thank you for listening to the Hornets Hypecast, brought to
you by Senta, the official I here knows and throatcare
provider of this 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.