Charlotte Hornets: A Look at Preseason
The Charlotte Hornets will play Boston and Minnesota twice in the midst of their preseason slate this October.
Just because the Carolina Panthers are in the midst of their preseason doesn’t mean we should forget about the Charlotte Hornets and theirs. The Hornets spent the off-season trying to keep their big guns at home and find some replacements for everyone who left. They were mostly successful at that with Nicolas Batum and Marvin Williams sticking around.
Jeremy Lin, Al Jefferson, and Courtney Lee all departed. Their places were taken by Ramon Sessions, Roy Hibbert, and the return of a healthy Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. Marco Belinelli fits in there too somewhere. The design is the same but the pieces on the skeleton look different.
Therefore the preseason becomes an important time to look at the progress of the Hornets. The new must mesh with the old. The Hornets will also have to deal with Batum coming back from the French National Team where he will have been in game shape, but perhaps a bit tired. Kemba Walker and Kidd-Gilchrist are coming off injuries.
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So what will these initial tests look like?
Mon., Oct. 3 at Dallas Mavericks (American Airlines Center), 8:30 p.m.
Dallas is also putting together some new pieces in their Dirk Nowitzki farewell tour project. Harrison Barnes will make his first appearance as a Maverick.
Thu., Oct. Oct. 6 vs. Boston Celtics (Greensboro Coliseum), 7:30 p.m.
Boston is one of the teams who tied with the Hornets in the East. They also added Al Horford to get significantly better. The two game test against the Celtics will tell the Hornets how much they have to go up against this coming season.
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Sat., Oct. 8 at Celtics (Mohegan Sun Arena), 3:30 p.m.
Mon., Oct. 10 vs. Minnesota Timberwolves (Time Warner Cable Arena), 7:00 p.m.
The Timberwolves are the second team that the Hornets see twice here in the preseason. The Timberwolves have a lot of youth to offer and the depth of the Hornets should be tested here. Also the low post defense will get a significant test.
Mon., Oct. 17 at Chicago Bulls (United Center), 8:00 p.m.
Who are the Bulls? On paper they are a challenger to the Eastern playoff balance of power. In reality it looks like a lot of nice pieces with no real model to work off of and that includes Coach Fred Hoiberg. Sadly this is a road game and fans will have to wait to see Dwyane Wade in Charlotte.
Thu., Oct. 20 vs. Miami Heat (Time Warner Cable Arena), 7:00 p.m.
Who are the Heat? The old James-Bosh-Wade core is entirely broken. Bosh is not guaranteed to suit up. This is now Goran Dragic’s team, which is an amazing thought. Better hope Hassan Whiteside wasn’t doing it all for the money.
Fri., Oct. 21 at Timberwolves (Target Center), 8:00 p.m.
That is the preseason. A lot of good matchups as far as where the Hornets are right now as a club. By October 21, we should have learned a bit about how things are going to go.