What went wrong: Grading the Charlotte Hornets
Mar 23, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; Charlotte Hornets head coach Steve Clifford reacts to a call against his team during the second half of the NBA game against the Chicago Bulls at United Center. Bulls won 98-86. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports
At the beginning of the season for the Charlotte Hornets most people assumed, like I did, that this team would win 45 to 50 games. Those same people believed Charlotte would be a 6th seed at least in the playoffs. For all the people who believed those things, the joke is on us all, so enjoy the very early April Fool’s joke. We all know injuries have hurt the team but if Charlotte feels that they have improved the roster, then they should not be struggling with Boston for the 8th spot in the playoffs. This team won 43 games last season, and this season, with only 13 games left, they are at 30 wins. Unless Charlotte wins all of their final games (highly unlikely) then they will be behind where they were last season.
This season would not have been so bad if the right moves had been made in the offseason, and the right amount of coaching was being done to improve on the talent Charlotte already had. I give credit to the marketing side of the front office, because they hit the nail on the head with this rebrand stuff. It is just too bad that the rest of the front office could not have met them at least half way, when it comes to the talent that they delivered. I am now going to grade every position in the Charlotte organization, all the way up to the owner. So let’s see where Charlotte went wrong.
The point guard position
The point guard position was actually a strong position for this team. Kemba Walker is averaging 18.1 points per game, and 5 assists per game, according to ESPN.com, which is very good for a point guard in this league. I think the addition of Mo Williams has improved the depth at point guard tremendously, and has given the team some much needed scoring. When Kemba Walker got hurt earlier in the season I thought the team was out of the playoffs for sure, but the team added Mo Williams and it has kept them in the playoff race. In my opinion the point guard position has turned out to be the strongest position on the team. I give the point guard position an A-.
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The shooting guard position
The shooting guard position was a position, coming into the season, that I felt Charlotte was the strongest at, but I was wrong again (seems to be a common theme this season). Lance Stephenson was supposed to be the missing piece to drive this team past the first round of the playoffs, but it hasn’t worked out well. I think the whole “Lance can make them dance” thing has become “Lance we took a chance” instead. The Charlotte organization took a huge chance with Stephenson, and it has been horrible, but to their credit I thought he would eventually be a solid piece for them (well I was wrong again, and I wonder, will it ever stop).
Gerald Henderson has played like he should be the starter, and he has become the starter, because he has showed up in games this year. Henderson will never become a great shooter, but he is a great overall player. I still think, that on a good team, Henderson is not a starter, but a solid 6th man. I also believe that PJ Hairston should be the back up to Henderson, because he can shoot. Going from Henderson to a shooter is better than two bad shooters playing one after the other. I give the shooting guard position a C.
The small forward position
The small forward position was very crazy to start the season, with the Jeffrey Taylor domestic violence issue, but that has since played itself out, and he is back with the team. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist has been solid this year, and has shown improvements in his shooting form, which has helped him knock down quite a bit more jump shots than he has before this season. I had the feeling coming into the season that MKG would become a better shooter, and I was right (finally I am right on something “Thanks Mark Price”).
MKG still has a long ways to go before he becomes a consistently good shooter, but at least he is going in the right direction, even if the team isn’t. Jeffrey Taylor hasn’t had much playing time but is still a solid depth guy to have. I still think that a good small forward line up should include better shooting, at the NBA level, unless you have LeBron James at the position. I give the small forward position a B-.
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The power forward position
The power forward position has been worse than I expected, but not by much. I already had expectations coming into the season that this position would be the weakest on the team, and it has been. Cody Zeller has shown glimpses of his potentials, especially at the beginning of the season, but he is still too inconsistent and that hurts the team as a whole. I also notice Cody Zeller getting bullied in the paint a lot on defense, and that is almost an every night thing. Jason Maxiel is not even on the roster of a good playoff team, unless it is as a deep bench player, and that is a stretch. Maxiel is also a lot older and less mobile than most NBA power forwards.
Noah Vonleh is a draft pick I do not understand at all, and it is not because of his talent or potential. If you are trying to build a playoff team, and you pick a talented guy at your weakest position, wouldn’t you play that guy the next season? I tend to think you do play that guy, and that is why Vonleh sitting is a head scratcher to me. I give the power forward position a D.
The center position
The center position is the 2nd best position on this team, because it features a proven vet, who is still solid, even when having a somewhat bad year. There is also the emergence of Bismack Biyombo as a very solid back up, until he got hurt this season. Al Jefferson is a true big man, and by big I mean massive in all the good ways for a basketball player at the center position. Al Jefferson, for some reason, always reminds me of that guy from the movie “Life” asking, “You going to eat your cornbread?”, and he has played decent this year compared to previous years.
Jefferson could be doing better because last year was, I think, his best year as a pro. Jefferson has regressed some this year and it looks like father time is catching up with him. I did find some comfort this year in the emergence of Bismack Biyombo, who looked to be coming into his own. Biyombo was balling like the 7th overall pick should be balling, but his injury killed that momentum. I think Biyombo, if he comes out next year ready to play, could have a break out year. I give the center position a B+.
The coaching staff
The coaching staff has actually been good, if you are speaking about Mark Price and Patrick Ewing, but Steve Clifford has done a terrible job this year, if you consider the amount of talent he has on the roster. I think Clifford is a great coach, if he was coaching in the NBA of 20 years ago. The rule changes, with things like hand checking, has made offense more important than defense in the NBA of today.
Even if you play great defense, there are just too many great scoring teams who benefit from a more offense friendly NBA. I do believe that you need good defense to win, but it seems as if he favors defense solely over offense, and that leaves the offense stagnant when we need a bucket. A perfect example of that is the Noah Vonleh and PJ Hairston issue, because both of these guys can score, but are at best okay defenders. I understand the Hairston off court stuff, but even before Hairston missed a weight lifting session, he was benched.
What did Hairston do to get benched, well from his numbers in the game before he was benched, you have just as good an idea as I do. In Hairston’s last game he scored 16 points, and shot 4-9 from the three point line, according to ESPN.com, and I thought it was a break out game, because of the way he played defense in that game. Clifford must have thought differently, because he benched him after that game, and then came the issues appearing again off the court.
Noah Vonleh can score, and has shown the ability to do so in the very limited time he has played. I also have a problem with Maxiel playing over what was a 9th overall pick in the draft. I think Clifford, and his line ups, have hurt Charlotte in a lot of games they should have won. I give the coaching staff a D- (only reason it is not an F is because of the assistant coaching).
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The general manager and his staff
The general manager, Rich Cho, and his staff have been disappointing this year, and I think may have made some poorly thought out decisions. I think the signing of Marvin Williams was terrible, and I said so the day that he was signed (I said it over and over again). At $7 million a year, Marvin Williams is getting paid almost 7 times the amount, to do what Anthony Tolliver did better for us last year.
Then there is the drafting of Noah Vonleh which was a head scratcher, not because of his talent, but because Steve Clifford had to have told Rich Cho that he wasn’t playing him this season. If you just made the playoffs, you need to get some players who are going to further push you into the playoffs, not a player who the coach does not believe in. If Steve Clifford believed Noah Vonleh had the talent to be picked at number 9 in last year’s draft, then he would be playing by now. I think Cho has made a few costly mistakes which hurt this team’s playoff chances. I give Rich Cho, and his staff, a D.
The owner
Last, but not least, we have the owner Michael Jordan, who in my opinion, did his best this time around. Jordan has been less and less of a controlling figure when it comes to basketball decisions, and that has been what most people had a big gripe with. The hiring of Rich Cho and Steve Clifford showed Jordan was trying to get away from “yes men”, and starting to become a professional owner.
I think Cho and Clifford looking more and more like bad ideas, is not on Jordan, because he made decisions that at the time were good decisions in most people’s eyes. Of course with responsibility comes blame, so Jordan gets the blame for hiring Clifford and Cho. Jordan also gets the blame for allowing Cho to go forward with the bad signing of Marvin Williams and the drafting of Noah Vonleh knowing that Vonleh wasn’t going to be helping the team this year. I give the owner a C.
Who is to blame
After all the grades have been given out, it looks like a good portion of the blame goes to Steve Clifford and Rich Cho. I think that if this organization wants to continue growing, and becoming a more stable product, they may need to look elsewhere when it comes to the coaching and the general manager positions. If they end up making the playoffs, it will not be because they are a good team, it will be because the Eastern Conference is the weakest I have ever seen it. I love the Charlotte Hornets, but they have a lot of work to do, which I may have not seen at the beginning of the season because of my love for the team. If you have any opinions to share leave a comment, and I promise I do not bite.