Charlotte Hornets: It’s Time for Steve Clifford to Bench Brian Roberts
After a few weeks of taking over the backup point guard spot, it is clear that Steve Clifford needs to bench and move on from Brian Roberts.
Brian Roberts was originally signed to man the emergency point guard role for the Charlotte Hornets this season but he was thrust into the backup spot when Ramon Sessions went down with a serious knee injury. While B-Rob might be a solid third string player, he has not nearly played well enough to maintain his current spot in the rotation. It’s time for Steve Clifford to make the tough decision and bench Roberts for the remainder of the season.
After losing Jeremy Lin in the summer, the Hornets have lacked a solid scorer/playmaker behind Kemba Walker this year. Neither Ramon nor Brian have provided a consistent spark off the bench as they have each had their fair share of struggles. With Sessions now likely out for the rest of the season, Coach Clifford turned to Roberts but that hasn’t quite worked out for Charlotte.
In 18 games as the primary back since Sessions got injured, Brian is only averaging 4.2 points per game and 1.7 assists per game in 11.5 minutes per game. Those numbers are largely underwhelming and except for a season-high 15-point outing against the Orlando Magic, Roberts has not scored in double-figures in any other game this season.
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It is going to be tough for Coach Clifford to bench the 31-year old veteran because the team’s only other option is an unproven Briante Weber. Also, Steve trusts Roberts because he knows the offense and it’s tough to bench a player you signed before the season started in favor of a young prospect like Weber.
It could send ripples through the Hornets’ chemistry and locker room but Brian is a veteran that understands the game that is the NBA. If he were benched, he wouldn’t get upset or make a scene.
The main reason why Clifford should bench Roberts is because of the second unit’s poor play. While he isn’t responsible for the entire bench’s production, Brian hasn’t done much to help the other five players on the court. He isn’t a great playmaker and his scoring impact is minimal. He is a -11 in +/- over 18 games and if you take out the one outlier (40-point win over Orlando) he’s actually -39.
Even though Briante is just an unproven prospect, he isn’t your average undrafted player as the point guard was the top rated D-League player earlier this season. If the Hornets are going to sign him for the remainder of the season once his 10-day contract expires, they should at least give him and chance and see what they’ve got in the 24-year old.
It isn’t clear if benching Roberts would help or hurt the team but it is clear that their current rotation with him as the backup point guard isn’t working. He adds little to no positive impact while in and it’s clear that Steve Clifford is trying his best to sparingly use Brian as he tried to keep Kemba in for as long as possible.
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After 17 less than stellar outings from Roberts, it is unlikely that Coach Clifford makes the move now with only about a month left in the season. In all honesty, he should’ve done the benching a week or two ago. As the Charlotte Hornets’ playoff hopes grow smaller with each loss, the team needs a spark and Brian hasn’t provided that.