We’re now 10 games into the Charlotte Hornets’ first season playing for coach James Borrego, and some themes are emerging.
The short version: The bench is better, partially because it’s more talented and partially because of how Borrego uses it. The players have embraced change, including launching more 3-pointers and making quicker offensive decisions. And they are still a team that can’t be trusted to win close games.
“I’m really proud of the guys for being sixth in net (efficiency) rating in the NBA and sixth in plus-minus,” Borrego said after practice Monday. “We should play with a spirit that we belong in that range.
“I really thought as we went through training camp that this team was built to have a good offense. How good, I didn’t quite know. I think we’ve still got a ways to go, but we’re much further ahead than I expected.”
Four observations on this Hornets’ edition:
The lineup
This group as configured has come together faster than I anticipated. In particular, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist deserves respect for not just accepting a very different role, but embracing it and excelling at it.
Borrego told Kidd-Gilchrist, a former No. 2 overall pick, he would no longer be a starter and would shift his primary position from small forward to power forward. When indications of this first came out around summer league in July, I thought that was risky, as far as retaining the defense and hustle MKG provides.
I can’t recall a player buying in more than MKG has. He set that tone the day before the start of training camp, saying positions don’t matter, that he’d still provide what he does best. That’s exactly how it’s worked and it’s reflected in his statistics. In slightly less playing time (21 1/2 minutes per game, versus 25 last season), his scoring and rebounds are up. This role lets him play with great intensity without much concern that he’ll foul out.
More generally, regarding who starts and who doesn’t: I asked someone with another NBA team, who has seen the Hornets play multiple times this season, if he’d change anything. Obviously not Kemba Walker, he said, and he also said Nic Batum clearly should start. As to the other three starters - center Cody Zeller, power forward Marvin Williams and shooting guard Jeremy Lamb - the reaction was there isn’t a big difference between those three and their backups as far as talent, but in each case their greater experience makes a difference as far as reliability.
The bench
A major flaw the past two seasons is now at least somewhat a strength. The Hornets’ reserves are outscoring their collective bench opponents by nearly four points a game. They are second in the league in bench points at 50 per game.
I’d say 70 percent of that is the upgrade in talent and 30 percent is how Borrego has chosen to use his reserves. As mentioned above, early returns on the Kidd-Gilchrist shift are a strong plus. Rookie Miles Bridges off the bench is promising at multiple positions, so long as fans understand his results will be uneven game-to-game, as will his minutes. Malik Monk is improving (more on that later).
But the huge difference is how signing Tony Parker has stabilized what had been a total mess at backup point guard. Parker’s raw stats don’t look radically different from a season ago until you project his current productivity per 100 possessions played. Then, it skyrockets.
Last season (when he was still not fully recovered from a ruptured quadriceps tendon suffered in May of 2017), Parker averaged 19.9 points and 9.2 assists per 100 possessions played for the San Antonio Spurs. This season: 28.2 points and 13.3 assists per 100 possessions.
“The only thing I think that was an adjustment was him coming off the bench and being this productive,” said Borrego, a former Spurs assistant. “He’s not fazed by the moment. He moves the ball and he gets to the (lane). He’s getting to the paint right now as much as anybody on our team. But that doesn’t surprise me; that’s who he’s been his entire career.”
Managing Monk
When general manager Mitch Kupchak interviewed candidates to be coach, a big topic of conversation was how to get more productivity from guard Monk, whose rookie season was disappointing to both him and others.
So far, Monk is this team’s second-leading scorer at 13.4 points per game. He is on a distinct uptick in his past three games with a string of 20, 21 and 16 points. In that span, he’s made 21 of 39 shots from the field.
Two key decisions Borrego made regarding Monk:
▪ Bringing him off the bench behind Lamb and no longer trying to use him as a point guard, as predecessor Steve Clifford occasionally did.
▪ Monk is a scorer. He has passing skills and Borrego wants to employ those, but that’s not the same as a point guard, and forcing that might have no premium.
Clutch time
As Borrego mentioned, the Hornets are sixth among 30 NBA teams in both net efficiency and point differential. So why is a team outscoring opponents by an average of 7.6 points just 5-5? Because so far they are 1-4 in games decided by four points or less.
Parker said Saturday he “takes that personally” and his experience and talent will help over an entire season. Right now, though, the Hornets still look predictable in clutch time: There’s Kemba Walker, sixth n the NBA in scoring at 28 points per game, and not much else.
The NBA keeps a separate set of stats based on a definition of clutch time as the last five minutes of a game when the point differential is five points or less. So far in those situations, Walker has taken 19 of the 39 shots attempted. No other Hornet has taken more than four (Monk and Marvin Williams each).
Walker is 6-of-19 in clutch time this season (31.6 percent). The other nine Hornets who have shot in clutch time are a combined 3-of-20.
Conclusion: The Hornets need to be more diverse in clutch time, but that’s at least as much about others performing better under pressure as it is how much Walker shoots in those situations.
