Hornets Week in Review: Defense Rules the Day

After an embarrassing loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on December 15th, Charlotte Hornets head coach James Borrego decided it was time to make a change. The defense had been pitiful on both nights of a back to back. Players weren’t exerting themselves on that end of the court, and it was leading to losses. As a result, the coaching staff tightened up the rotation and placed a renewed emphasis on defensive effort.

The results were palpable. In the two games after the Lakers loss, the Hornets held both the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Detroit Pistons under 100 points. The team’s 98.4 defensive rating across those two games was the fourth best of 19 teams to play twice between that Wednesday and Friday. Unsurprisingly, that defense pushed the Hornets to back to back wins.

Then the weekend came. The Hornets had only won one of their last four weekend contests, and that didn’t change against the Boston Celtics. Kyire Irving and company blitzed the Hornets with 39 points in the second quarter, the first time the Hornets had allowed more than 30 in any quarter since the Lakers game. The 18 point scoring difference in the quarter allowed the Celtics to go into cruise control for the rest of the game.

The Highs

Even with the poor performance against the Celtics, the Hornets still finished the week with a 106.5 defensive rating, which is 2.6 points better than their season mark. Even in instances where the Hornets struggled to defend, their effort was apparent. Kemba Walker made a few huge defensive plays over the course of the week after being a sieve for much of his offensive slump. Nicolas Batum also showed up again on the side of the floor.

Kemba Walker has regained his touch. Coincidentally, his shooting slump this season spanned almost the exact same dates as the one he endured last season. The captain averaged 24.3 points and 5.0 assists on 48.3% shooting from the field and 37.9% from the 3-point line. The team goes as Kemba does, so a Kemba that’s dialed in from deep makes this Hornets team very dangerous offensively.

Marvin Williams kept up his hot shooting while increasing his volume. He attempted 20 3-pointers in three games and connected on nine of them. He’s up to 38% from behind the arc after a brutal start to the season.

The Lows

The Hornets still showed holes in their defense despite the renewed focus on that end of the court. Opponents attempted 27.4 open or wide open 3-pointers per game, which is still too high. They were fortunate that only 28% of those attempts dropped, which is extraordinarily low. There are still too many instances of guys over-helping in the lane and leaving shooters open. It didn’t matter this week, but that could be a big problem against hotter shooting foes.

Jeremy Lamb has cooled a bit now that Walker is back on track. The Hornets really need both clicking at the same time, but that hasn’t happened yet. After a good performance against the hapless Cavs, Lamb shot just seven of 23 from the field in the ensuing two games against the Pistons and the Celtics.

The Whole

The Hornets still can’t string enough wins together to distance themselves from the .500 line. They have a favorable stretch of games coming up before a tough January, and will need to step it up and create a buffer, or they could soon find themselves on the outside of the playoffs looking in.

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