How do you evaluate Steve Clifford’s coaching in the first half of the season as they gear up for the last 40 games? What are the chances he’s gone next season? Finally, we decide which players have benefited the most from LaMelo Ball’s return through a new version of everyone’s favorite game(s): Stangin’ or Clangin’
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#Hornets #LaMelo #LaMeloBall #CharlotteHornets #NBA #MichaelJordan
Today we'll discuss Steve Clifford and The first half assessment is there a Chance that he has a one and done year And a second stint with Charlotte then We'll discuss the rotation if it hits Tank time this season all today unlocked On Hornets you were locked on hornets Part of the locked on podcast Network Your team every day in America we live It's locked on hornets part of the Locked on podcast Network it's your team Every day thanks for making us your First listen we're free and available Anywhere you get your podcast that Includes YouTube by the way you can see Me walk or mail you can find me on Twitter at walkermail and on WFNZ 92 7 FM from 12 to 3. if you're watching Youtube you can also see my partner Doug Branson he's been standing up lately He's been bringing the fire lately you Can find a sub stack everyone's box Score on every Hornet's box score.com You've been sticking with the standing Up by the way I haven't seen you sit Down ever since you started baby you Can't keep yourself down uh yeah I mean Look it's it's good for your health I Think it's good for my mentality in this Show I'm ready to attack someone said Someone commented on our last video that They liked our back and forth and you Know that's that's part of the back and Forth is me standing getting the blood
Pumping ready to attack your bad takes And I'm just the Mellow I'm walking Mellow trying to make sure that Everybody's just chilling out as much And that's why we balance each other Doug this is why we're on the lockdown Hornets podcast together and we Appreciate everybody for making us their First listen I wanted to discuss Steve Clifford we did the whole Midway Point Thing yesterday and kind of made some Second half predictions and looked into The first 41 games we didn't really do That with Steve Clifford and with Steve Clifford this is someone that came over The second time to be the head coach Amidst all the chaos we had Kenny Atkinson he was the coach for two weeks Then decided to stick with golden state And all across the country didn't want To didn't want to make that trip with His family to Charlotte and then we Thought well all right since we had Mike D'Antoni in the mix 50 win dantoni you Might call him you had you had Terry Stotts you had experienced coaches that Clearly Michael Jordan and Mitch cupcak Wanted to go to but she had some Assistance that were also pretty Tantalizing all right well who's going To be the next guy wait what Steve Clifford again is this 2016. so Steve Clifford comes aboard and he discusses In the coach coaches luncheon how he
Didn't want to be a part of a rebuild he Did not want to do that and how you have To have playoff success as a head coach In order to be measured as anything in This league in order to be put up with Not only just the grades but to be Considered a good coach you have to have Playoff success and we have the one 2015-16 playoff series where they Battled the Miami Heat in seven games And eventually they'd fall out of favor That was it that's as far as Steve Clifford has gone in the postseason we Know maybe partly because of Steve Clifford but in my opinion mostly it's Been the crazy amount of injuries that Have happened in the first 41 games it's Been the chaos that is not having your Roster with especially miles Bridges Arrested for felony domestic violence Right before you hit free agency and Then the front office freezes and they Don't know what to do you haven't had Any chemistry being able to be developed So it doesn't mean that I think Steve Clifford is this top half coach that's Been amazing I just think it's been Really hard to evaluate him my question Is Doug do you think even with it being So difficult to evaluate a first half For Steve Clifford does that matter and The well we'll still give him a second Season here with Charlotte and what are The real chances that he's actually out
And you bring in a new head coach again This offseason well I certainly think That there's a chance because so much is Changing right now and you're not Winning and so anytime as a team that You're not winning there's a chance for A coaching change even with all of the Context around injuries but I think what Makes this even more interesting is if They if things get really bad and and They do tear this thing down to to go After webinyama then all of the calculus Changes right because then you're Talking about who do you want you know If they get the first or the second pick Who do you want you know shepherding That new era with that player that you Think is going to turn your franchise Around alongside lamello ball lamello Ball obviously has something to do with This as well now ball has been effusive With his praise of Steve Clifford in the Past Walker but we haven't really heard A ton from lamello in terms of Steve Clifford or the game plan or anything Like that in some of these post games Even the post games that he's involved In where he comes out and speaks he Hasn't really talked a ton about the Game plan or how he feels we know other Players have in fact after this latest Loss to the Toronto Raptors both Terry Rozier and Cody Martin if you look at The quotes from Rod Boone's right up in
The Charlotte Observer both of those Players basically said the coach has a Great game plan we're not following it And I think in a season where there's Been a lot of losing and and a lot of Context around that losing in terms of Injuries the one thing that you can Judge a coach on is is he keeping the Roster together is he offering good game Plans that players are buying into at Least in in spirit maybe they're not Executing it but they still believe in The game plan and so far he's passed That test but it's just too early to say Whether or not that they will choose to Retain him because there's so many Variables at this point yeah part I I Wonder how much the direction of the Franchise matters and it sounds Ridiculous to ask that because you might I will say of course you know the Direction of the franchise absolutely Matters and if you retain Steve Clifford But there are arguments to be made made For both sides both different ways Retaining them or not if you decide to Rebuild altogether you might just decide To go with the classic I mean we've seen This a lot in the NFL but if you just do The whole rebuild thing you go new coach Maybe you decide to go an assistant Coach up and comer right we've we saw Some of those guys in the mix Sean Sweeney from Dallas David Vanderpool
We've seen that before or you could Decide to go with Steve Clifford to Provide some stability if you don't Decide to do the whole rebuild thing Let's say you don't trade Terry Rozier You keep Gordon Hayward the last year of His contract and then you're just Banking on doing a very very very light Version and I can't stress light enough Very light version of what golden state Did when they just had a whole bunch of Injuries and then ended up with the Second overall pick maybe you're just Banking maybe you're just banking on That and then you keep Steve Clifford or Maybe proved enough to you and then you Decide to move on like there's so many Different routes as I mentioned Yesterday that you could take not only This off-season Personnel decision wise But also just with the head coach I Don't know what you're going to do so That's one way to look at it that's a Huge that's I'll say that if they decide To go that route and hold on to all of These pieces and essentially roll the Dice that they're going to be bad enough Anyway even with all of these injuries Because when you bring in a new coach That new coach is trying to install a New system and and trying to install Some defensive accountability that's What they wanted Steve Clifford to do But to do that that has to happen in the
That has to happen in the off season That has to happen in training camp when You have opportunities to practice That's the issue right now like the Players understand what the right thing To do is it's just really difficult to Get out of all of those bad habits when You've had to really throw out all of The game plans at the beginning of the Season because of all of the injuries And figure out new ways to play and so All of this is snowballed on them right So the organization yeah you're right They could take that chance and say Well They're not going to pull it all Together so we could keep all these Players not have to say sacrifice Anything and still end up with an Opportunity you know one of those 14 and A half percent chances at the number one Pick but that's a big risk Walker and I'll tell you why because the players Still believe in Steve Clifford and Steve Clifford is a good coach and has Proven in the past that he's able to get Players to do things that they haven't Normally done before and so I would be Scared that that's why I keep saying Take the keys away from Clifford don't You know don't allow him uh to drive This car well like you got to take the You got to take the keys away so that he Doesn't actually start you know winning Games and you end up in a panther
Situation where you you know you were in Line for a big pick that could have Changed a franchise you start winning a Few games well now you gotta eject the Coach and you don't have a great draft Pick Yeah and just as far as the assessment Goes with Steve you know kind of looking Into the scheme and whatever some of the Numbers that are behind the Hornets Again it's tough to evaluate because you Haven't had lamelo the whole season You've missed out on Gordon Hayward Which probably should be expected at This point Kelly upray too right we Already know that whole shindig but when You look at the first half you know We've talked about the Hornets getting Open shots they're actually taking some Higher quality shots compared to the Other teams in the NBA and they're just Not hitting them which goes and speaks To the shooting problem and even with The offense maybe not looking as Organized as it did last year so much of That is because lamella was playing the Entire season and the offense while you Still have problems offensively right I Mean I think they're still ranked Towards the bottom in the NBA Offensively and that is with lamello Lamella is not being as efficient as he Was last season when he's playing and I Think that's having a huge impact but
You are getting some of the more open Shots still Um yeah I I wonder that with Steve if You believe in in what he's preaching Even offensively because we know Defensively he's gathered enough respect Around the league to where if the Players apply what Steve Clifford wants To do then they're going to be maxed out On that end of the floor or close to it But offensively do you believe in the Right shots that they're taking and Hopefully they just start getting Knocked down and then the Cody Martin Comment where they seem to believe at Least they're telling us that if we just Do what Steve is telling us then maybe We can turn this thing around but they Haven't done it yet which also speaks to A head coach and how much you believe in Them yeah and a lot of these players Right now are starting to look a lot Better than they did at the beginning of The Season uh Mark Williams for sure uh Has looked a lot better Terry Rozier is Starting to pick it up Jayla McDaniels Is picking it up and and Gordon Hayward's absence uh I I think he helped Kelly ubre turn into a a better more Useful version of Kelly oubre maybe not As offensively efficient but again when You don't have lamelo out on the floor It's difficult to to maximize what You're getting out of some of these
Other pieces so but but he turned him Into a player that actually is more Useful and defensively uh more uh of a Useful tool for sure so you know I think Again that's what you judge a coach on Can can they maximize the strengths of The players that they have and I think Clifford's been able to do that and I Think the system offensively Clifford Has always been known as a guy going Back to Kemba Walker that says all right You're my point guard I trust you I'm Going to allow you to do the things that That you do well and I think he's done That with lamello and you know the the Offensive issues I I think have been You know the fact that you have guys That were typically shooting well last Season that haven't shot the basketball Particularly well Lamello's not finishing well enough at The Rim they're not getting out of the Transition enough and some of these Teams have sort of figured out that hey If you don't if you keep the Hornets off The offensive boards you can really Limit what they can do offensively so All of that's come together to really Still keep those offensive numbers down They have to figure that out yeah they Certainly do or they just might be Finding themselves tanking the second Half of the season and if that happens We'll ask this question coming up next
On the lockdown Hornets podcast don't go To sleep on the Hornets just yet how Does the rotation change if it does Indeed become tank time do you pick Lamello spots more carefully James book Knight JT Thor Kai Jones will they just Get a ton of minutes we'll discuss that In the next segment I don't know what This new music is but it is throwing me For Loop is this on purpose this on Purpose baby just roll with it we're Just grooving grooving into the break Okay it's the first time I've ever heard It and uh the first time the first ad That we'll read for this particular Music that's playing it's gonna go to Build bar this episode is brought to you By Bill Barr if you're looking for a Delicious treat but don't want all of The fat and the calories then you gotta Try a belt bar we just got through the Holidays I know my goal is to eat a Little healthier after all the snacks And goodies that we ate over the holiday Season if you're like me if you want to Eat healthier but you don't want to Compromise The Taste then you gotta try Built bar with built healthy is actually Tasty seriously they're so delicious you Won't think they're good for you because They kind of taste like a candy bar but They're high in protein they're high in Fiber they're low in sugar they're low In calories and they come in
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Thanks for making us your first listen Make your second list in game to game NBA they dissect every single contest Throughout the association of part of Livecon NBA the show you can only find I'm a lockdown podcast Network I dug the Rotation we've seen lamelo Ball come in And he's affected a lot of the play from His uh from his colleagues we know that A lot of players have been Um seeing an uptick in their production When lamelo's come onto the floor and we Can talk about that a little bit more in The third segment you know we'll go a Little bit Uh of staying in her clanging because we Can apply that title well we can apply That title to so many different games I Wanted to do Deal or No Deal and then You said well you know we can call it Staying and or clang it and then I Wanted to go through a rapid no I didn't Say we could I said we should because Everybody does dealer no deal that's not Our show we don't just pick up on the Cliche that I mean it doesn't even air Anymore does that show even come on Anymore dealer no deal like get out of It We did this on WFNZ yesterday I don't Hear a Deal or No Deal being done Anywhere please why are you I don't know You're you're destroying me you got to Be a ridge here so we gotta go stay is
It staying in or is it clanging so so if It's staying in or clanging we apply That to the Deal or No Deal concept game And then I wanted to go through a rapid Fire session of players who have Benefited or maybe not benefited as much With lamelo's return and you said I know We should call it staying in or clanging It works any game any game it doesn't Matter staying in or playing and that's What we're working with we can get to That in the third segment I do want to Discuss how the rotation would change if They decide to tank so let's say You know we can do a couple of different Hypotheticals if they trade Gordon Hayward if they trade Terry Rozier or if They just are hurt and you're not Playing them I don't know what would Happen to Terry we know Gordon Hayward Is hurt all the time So maybe if they're hurt and then you Decide to uptick the minutes for James Book Knight Kai Jones JT Thor how would That look especially revolving around Lamello your star you want to put the Whole butts in the seats type thing at The Spectrum Center and so people want To see lamelo you also don't want him to Get hurt or be exposed out there with Worse basketball players how do you Handle all of that Well I think you you don't let your Pieces that you feel like are going to
Be part of the future of your Organization you don't let those players Play through any injuries but I think it Would be a big mistake to limit them in Some kind of especially young players Like if we're talking about older Players then you know yeah occasionally They may end up on the dnp you know Broken thumbnail kind of situation but That's that you don't do that with young Players like every time the lamello ball Steps on the floor it's an opportunity For him to learn something despite Getting the All-Star bid his game is not Complete uh he came in with a huge Head Start in terms of his instincts and Ability to uh to play especially on the Offensive end of the floor but his game Is not complete he's got opportunities To learn every time he plays so so I Think yes you play him if he if he Suffers any kind of injury you manage That differently than you would if you Were actually trying trying to win Basketball games but you absolutely Absolutely have to play him unless it's A blowout you know that's that's the big Thing for me is if it's the fourth Quarter and you're down by 20 okay no no PJ no lamello nothing like that that That's when you do protect them a little Bit Well and I know you absolutely play him I don't think many fans you know would
Assume that playing uh playing other Guys over lamelo was the right decision Even if it goes to tank time but do you Pick your spots a little more carefully Though Doug or do you just let him run You know we ran 38 minutes against Toronto do you go those same 38 minutes Do you go different lineups around them I mean do you pick your spots more Carefully I should say yeah yeah I mean I think you do adjust a minute somewhat Right I mean you don't want to play him Uh you know major major minutes that you Again it's all about your mentality at That point like are you trying to do Rotations such to win basketball games Or are you trying to do them such to Develop players see what you got but you Want to play lamelo Because as we've Talked about all episodes lamella makes Other players better it's one of the Most fantastic parts of his game right Now his his ability to deliver passes on Time on Target and in spaces that other Players you know can't make those passes And put them in positions where they Have a little bit more space to knock Down shots or get to the rim and so if You want a better look at Kai you got to See him with the Mellow if you want a Better look at James booknight although Boy I'm getting some like weird reports About James book Knight in his time in Greensboro maybe they're not I don't
Know if they're like starting them Anymore like maybe he's on the bench in Greensboro like oh boy this book Night Situation just doesn't seem to be Getting any better No it does not and so if you decide to Play James book Night you're right Though lamello that's the problem you Don't necessarily want him to be I mean you do want them to be the key That unlocks everybody else but you Would hate to have to rely on him in Order to give us the best evaluation Possible of the younger players right And you don't want to come that to come At the expense of putting him Necessarily In Harm's Way whether that Be putting him on the court more for Injury's sake or putting him on the Court and at the detriment of his Numbers right because if his number is Hurt he's not getting the same assist And the team the on off numbers aren't As good because he's starting to play With younger players you know that Starts to affect what lamello is Perceived as possibly when when people Don't watch the games they check Basketball reference they look at some Of the advanced stats some of the Traditional stats and so I wonder if one Even Steve Clifford cares about that and Also you know exit maybe how much Lamello his party whatever how much they
Care about it either and are you Concerned that lamello ball seems to be Pressing right now on the offensive end Right trying to win basketball games for His team Oh he's taking 15 threes with Kai and Book night and yeah he's yeah so does he Press even more does he fall back into Some fall back even further into some of The bad habits is one way to phrase it Uh that that he's had on the offensive End of the floor does he fall even Further into those and and cement those To where Steve Clifford or another coach Is going to be unable Um to break those and and because that's That's been my concern from day one Which is why which is why this past Office past off season frustrated me so Much was that do something get good Players around the Mellow right now Allow him to be the best version of Lamella which is on on a good roster Because I think he is going to sort of Get into that mentality of like all Right well it's all on me and and I Think that's dangerous for really any Young player to feel that way especially One that has so much of that like Raw Instinct and talent that lamello Possesses I just so important to get Players around him that are going to Knock down shots help help him so he Doesn't feel like he has to press all
The time Well and maybe you know it's funny Because we criticize the front office Quite a bit and maybe you know some more Than others for bringing in Gordon Hayward at 30 million dollars a year for You know signing Terry Rozier and a lot Of people love the Terry signing but I Think the idea was about Lamelo ball being surrounded by some of The veterans right like and so you know Not only just for the future and trying To win but it was in order to make Lamello better I know that was kind of a Thought process hey look you got this Young point guard you know you're Bringing in Gordon Hayward you're Bringing in Terry Rozier we're going to Try to allow these young players to Develop alongside lamello and this is a Better situation than if we had not Signed Gordon Hayward if we had not you Know Inked Terry Rozier for a longer Term deal that kicks in this season in Bringing in Mason Plumley as a center to Help Nick Richards Vernon Kerry until we Trade him out mantras Harold pick and Roll right like you know that that's Something that the front office may have Been trying to do this whole time And this is wild speculation honestly Walker because we simply don't know Because this is Uncharted Territory we Don't know how Steve Clifford as a coach
Would operate in that kind of Environment it's been a long time since He's helmed a Charlotte team that is This bad and and but that but even those Bobcats teams didn't feature major Talent like lamelo ball any any Talent Close to a lamello ball so we don't know How he's going to operate I think it'll Be really interesting to watch as we Move forward a lot of questions Um last question here as far as the Rotation goes do we ask the same Question we're asking about lamello for Any other player does PJ Washington fit That bill or do you just play him However you want to the the veterans are A little more interesting just because Let's say that they are losing a lot Still they're they're in tank mode but They didn't sell right they're just Losing because and they still have Terry On the roster Gordon Hayward is starting To come back from injury and you know Maybe there's 30 games left and Gordon Is available for you how do you operate With some of the veterans that might be On this roster and even a PJ who you Know you want to sign to a long-term Extension right like is there anything To talk about there or is it nah man Lamella was the only one to talk about Here because of how special he is and Then you do whatever you damn well Please with the other players on the
Roster I guess PJ maybe if you intended to sign Him to a long-term deal if that if That's if if you already have that Mindset if that's already made up but I Don't think that's the case I don't I Think the organization is still on the Fence about that and wanting to see what The market has in store for PJ then Maybe there's some protection that Happens there in terms of the veterans Like you paid for it I mean go go ahead And go ahead and get one run you can Because both of those players well do You sit them though right like that's The point do you sit them to get a Better look and why I would say no Because to me it's not a Nick Batum Situation with the with the Nick Batum They were already like all right we're Going to stretch this guy like the Nick Batum era is completely over and so There's no point in continuing to play Him but I but I don't think even if they Decided to keep Terry and Gordon I don't Think they would feel that way about Either one of those players I think they Would think all right we need to keep Playing Terry and Gordon for that exact Reason that we've been talking about is You even if you're going to play book Night more book night's going to eat Into like dsj's minutes you know kai is Going to eat into I don't know maybe
Some plumley's minutes you know you go Mark Williams and Kai or something and Finally get a look at Kai at five that Would be really interesting because the Only look we've got nikai this season Really has been at four and is that fair To Kai to really get that look we need To see Kai at the five to understand Both the strengths and the weaknesses That that he's got to deal with But yeah you got to put good players Around some of these young players you Want to get good looks at or otherwise They're not good looks Yep 100 agreed and um the second half of The season Um I'm Mitch cupshack well he do the Thing that he has not done in season Anything the thing that he has not done Is he's back to do something just do do One thing Doug you need to get a stick from Outside and become the meme in person Because that it always comes back to do Something do something that's that's the Analysis for boy Doug Branson you can Find it on a sub stack every Hornets box Score everyone need to make a t-shirt Make some money oh we do need one I'd Wear it I'd rip it all right coming up Next on the lockdown Hornets podcast Don't go to sleep on the Hornets just Yet It's everybody's favorite five six seven
Games it continues to grow staying in Her playing and it's coming up next what Variation of the game are we going to be Playing in the next segment you'll have To stick around and find out this Episode is brought to you by LinkedIn as A small business owner hiring manager You know that's success in 2023 all Depends on the team members you surround Yourself with that's why you have to Check out LinkedIn jobs with LinkedIn Jobs you can hire qualified candidates More efficiently by matching open roles With people who have the skills values And experiences to help you achieve your Goals LinkedIn jobs helps you quickly Attract qualified candidates to your Open jobs with targeting tools and you Can identify the most qualified Candidates on LinkedIn jobs and connect With them fast and for free LinkedIn Jobs makes it easy to screen and rate Applicants based on your job Qualifications all on one platform LinkedIn jobs helps you find the Qualified candidates you want to talk to Faster post your job for free at Linkedin.com lockdown NBA that's Linkedin.com slash locked on NBA to post Your job for free terms and conditions Apply one more segment to go locked on Hornets it's locked on Hornets Walker sometimes you don't have to have The best package sometimes you just have
To have the only package if you wait or This is uh if my dating life taught me Anything sometimes you just have to wait Around long enough until you're the only Thing remaining and then suddenly you Look pretty great in comparison It's time for more of the locked on Hornets podcast Foreign Doug second game against Toronto back to Back it'll be the first time they do This But they'll do it a second time against Boston at the Spectrum Center they'll Play on MLK Day always fun I believe tip Is at one o'clock if I'm not mistaken so No s and Walker that day we're on from 12 to 3 but the Hornets game on MLK day Will be airing on WFNZ in our time slot So that's fine we'll gladly step aside For the Hornets to take over the Airwaves I'm going to be at the game to Watch them play so that'll be a lot of Fun I always love matinee basketball Um Toronto tonight couple games against Boston coming up right after that real Quickly before we go to staying in or Playing and is there anything that you Wanted to empty out from the previous Contest in your notebook Um in the second match up in a row Against the Raptors Loves what I saw to Mark Williams he had A couple of really stand out plays to me
One was an offensive rebound that he Grabbed really out of nowhere it was Like his hands has have like you know That fly sticky paper on it he was just Like it looked like a frog tongue He's grabbing a flight Franklin on The Replacements yeah that's so great Because that's what you want to see you Want to see like really good hands Because I think that's something that This Hornets team has been missing so Many of these just devastating offensive Rebounds that they've given up and they Gave up 18 of them to Toronto in that First matchup but so many of them have Come from the fact that the Hornets just Cannot secure a rebound and so you want To see a guy be able one I mean he did It one-handed but you know even one hand Two hands whatever just grab the Basketball that's what he did there and Then the other one was a pass so we're Not even talking about a dunk or a dream Shake or some of the other stuff that We've seen from him offensively or a Block shot that we've seen a lot Defensively now we're talking about a Rebound and a pass this pass that he Made this little drop off that he makes To a cutting Dennis Smith Jr was just Amazing off the Baseline Dennis Smith Jr Uh pulled the defense and shot the ball To the corner PJ missed it so it was Almost a hockey assist for Mark Williams
But just some of these things you go wow Like I'm noticing the great things that He's doing and I'm not noticing any of The I'm not really noticing anything That I go wow that's not very good at All that should keep him off the floor And that's encouraging well yeah and Another thing real quickly just kind of Tying this back to the first segment is Mark Williams a rookie is the exact type Of player that Steve Clifford has been Criticized before in the past saying you Know Steve clever won't play those guys Frank Kaminsky played as a rookie Cody Zeller did people you know defending him Might have pointed to some of those Players in the past but also they were The Bobcats slash you know first Iteration of the Hornets kind of and They were not nearly as talented and I Guess Kaminsky Kaminsky was on that Playoff team right was that his first Year was he I think he was there yeah so So anyways Mark Williams maybe not Playing at the beginning but playing now I think that's a nice compromise and Even with this team in the and the wins Not coming the way of Hornets yes maybe You are talking about lack of talent It's nice to see Mark develop and play You know very well in my opinion like For even against the Toronto Raptors the First game Doug I was talking to you About this before
Nick Richard's not getting any minutes Like you're you're seeing a baseline From Mark Williams where we we just Don't need to see anybody else come in And replace him even with only one made Field goal even if you're only going to A five to a four you can see the defense As a factor when guards Drive in the Paint still and you're just seeing a Nice Baseline level this is cool and you Described it well before we started Recording saying you're not watching him And saying oh good God what was that You're not seeing that a whole lot from Mark you're just seeing solid standing In the right spot at the right time Which is really all it takes when you're That big in that size yeah it's been Nice to see Mark just even after the First wow factor we got against OKC just Give you a nice base level production Yeah Frank Kaminsky his first season was 15 and 16. so that was his rookie year And he played 81 games uh started I Think I saw two of them maybe three of Them let's see older player two so you Know maybe that needs to be factored in Well older player and you gotta look at The roster too right I mean they had Al Jefferson at Center uh they had Cody Zeller and so like there was prime time For Frank Kaminsky to get like a little Look because it's it's right at the end Of the Al Jefferson era he was on his
Way out last year yeah yeah so you know I think there was opportunity there for Him uh to get plenty of minutes like he Had to beat out Spencer Hawes for Minutes so with this team you know you You did you did have a pretty solid Again it's not great but Mason Plumley Played well Nick Richards played well That's the thing we would have seen Mark Williams way earlier had Nick Richards Come in and been to Nick Richards that We had seen in previous seasons and yet It's still an injury opened the door for Mark and and there are things that Mark Does on the floor that I think are Keeping Nick ridges off the floor I Don't think it's just an issue of like Well you know he's playing well we also Have Nick Richards and he's playing well But Nick Nick got hurt so now we're Going to play Mark I think it's a Situation where you got to look at Mark And you went oh wait he's good in the Pick and roll oh wait he's good at Defensive rebounding and those are two Things that are we and he can pass and Those are three things that are Weaknesses for Nick Richards despite the Things that he does well and so I think That's what's keeping Mark Williams on The floor right now and keeping Nick Richards off of it and it will get super Interesting in this next offseason as You you would think that the team is
Going to move away from Mason Plumley And allow Mark uh or Nick to start next Season Okay let's get to your game here Doug Stinging or clanging uh the the category We're gonna play and apply this to it's It's gonna be players that have Benefited from lamelo Ball's return Because we had talked so much this Season about guys not performing as well As they had in years past because their Role changed talked about it with PJ Washington having to bear so much Responsibility when you don't have Lamelo ball Terry Rozier misses some Games at the beginning Gordon Hayward Right like we know the responsibility PJ Carried same thing with maybe even a Dennis Smith Jr before he got hurt so We're gonna go down the list who is Staying in since lamelo's return and who Is clanging since lamelo's return so Let's start with Terry Rozier seems like A pretty easy one here Doug is he Staying in her playing in since lamelo Came back all right now baby Terry is on Fire he smuggled the sauce across the Border to Toronto he is stinging PJ Washington another easy one seems to Me but I'm not the authority here you Are is he stealing the sauce not Stealing is he smuggling the sauce Across Canada Border as well uh no he's Not smuggling the sauce it's so you know
He's I don't think he's doing things on The level of Terry Rozier right now but He is certainly doing it on both ends of The floor he has caught the tough Assignments and I think he's done it Admirably and then on the offensive end Of the floor he's doing the one thing That you ask of him which is you know The shot the the passes that lamello Delivers to him knock down those shots He's been doing that consistently so he Is staying in You're staying and I don't think we're Gonna get a clanging here how about Mason Plumley staying at her clangan oh Mason Plumley the reverse yams have Returned oh thank goodness it was like The one area of his game that had gone Missing and and they're back and they're Back in full force I think he hit like He always had six dunks and I think half Of them were of the reverse variety I Love it he's hitting the rewind button On the VHS it's beautiful Mason Plumley Has been playing extremely well a double Double machine and a high scoring Double-double machine I mean a high Scoring relative to what Mason Plumley Has been doing in the past I think he's Been one of the big benefit maybe the Biggest beneficiary of of lamelo's Return because he's getting some decent Looks and and again less attention Pulled his way when teams go to play
Zones to try to take away what Terry and Lamello are doing it opens so much for Mason and to his credit I was watching Some of the because I roll through the The play-by-play to put some links into Every Hornet's box score and when they Play away you know you're you're looking At the away broadcast and so I'm getting A chance to hear some of those and People are like wait a minute I didn't Know Mason could move like that like a Center shouldn't be able to do some of The things that that he does Um so yeah absolutely he's staying and Just in time by the way because yep I Think some teams are going to be looking For a little bit of what Mason can Provide and and and because Of the I think because of the passing Because of what he can do with the pass And off the dribble there's some teams That are going to be interested in Getting Mason plumly in the reverse Jam Also just as important dsj tough one Here I haven't seen them on the court as Much because he's been injured but you Know I think he's played enough to where Maybe we can attempt to answer this Question what do you make of dsj whether He's staying in or clanging without a Question the defense is stagging yeah I Mean he's just picking everyone I don't Know like I'm trying to like put my Binoculars on when I watch these steals
That he makes and go and go like how Does he do that without fouling like Consistently like he's not getting reach In fouls he is physical in a way that he Doesn't draw the foul and I'm hoping That like dsj and lamello can like put Their heads together and maybe figure Out a way to extend some of that Non-fouling to lamello if they can kind Of share some Intel because it's really A amazing what dsj has been able to do And I think it has you know dsj And dsj's defense and lamello's play Making I think are like one and one a of Why the Hornets are competing because They should be getting blown out by Indiana they should be getting blown out By Toronto but instead they're competing And I think those are reasons why but Offensively I think this is going to be Our first clang in here because he's Literally clanging and I don't have Maybe I have this shot What kind of shot is that so that's Going to be the client so yeah I mean He's not hitting three pointers at the Rate that he was early in the season That's unfortunate but his defense is Good enough to to deal with that okay Last one and this one's the hardest one For me because I don't know how much has Changed maybe you think there has been Something that's changed here Jalen McDaniels we've seen him without lamelo
We've seen him with lamelo would you say That there has been a change with Jalen At all and would you call that staying Under playing it no I I think that Jalen Has been one of the more consistent Presences on this team and that's a good Thing and a bad thing because the good Is that what you expect him to do he Does I think he stepped up the defense a Little bit more in his role taking over For Gordon Hayward but the passing his Passing ability stands out to me as Something that's like oh man you wonder If that's if that's workable like if you Can work on that in the off season and Become better at that as his career goes On because some of the passes that he Makes are just not there and when you Stand in contrast to what Gordon does With the basketball in a sense in terms Of his decision making and just the like The ability to make the pass right I Mean it is about like should I make this Pass but then once you decide to make The pass making a good pass those are Two different things and I don't think He's doing really either particularly Well but he has been you know consistent So you know for that I'll give him a Stank okay because not much on this Roster or this team has been consistent Uh and and Jalen certainly has done that And he's gotten praise from Clifford for You know being one of those players that
You can trust to do the right thing yeah And there's not much playing in when Lamelo comes back so at least as far as What they were with lamello or without Lamelo you're certainly staying in with Lamello on the court way more so Um than you are without him all right That'll do it for lockdown Hornets Thanks for making us your first listen Today make your second listen game to Game NBA every moment every top Performance every result locked on game To game covers every game from across The association with local analysis that Only lockdown can deliver follow game to Game unlocked on NBA available on the Odyssey app YouTube and wherever you get Your podcast have a great rest of your Day we'll be back with you tomorrow Thank you
Charlotte North Carolina – A Great Place to Live
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Charlotte North Carolina – A Great Place to Live
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