Buzz City Beat: Charlotte Hornets Will Hire an Assistant After the Season, MKG a Top-20 SF?
Buzz City Beat is Swarm and Sting’s one stop for the newest articles from around the internet surrounding the Charlotte Hornets.
The Charlotte Hornets have a rest day before they take on the Boston Celtics in their home finale. In this edition of Buzz City Beat, we look at how the team will wait until after the season to hire an assistant to fill Patrick Ewing‘s role, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist possibly being a top-20 small forward and Frank Kaminsky‘s confidence growing.
Hornets Will Wait to Hire an Assistant (Twitter/ Chris Kroeger)
"Cliff also added: “We don’t need another associate head coach. Those guys deserve to be moved up and we’ll get somebody else to fill in.”"
After Patrick Ewing left for Georgetown, it left Steve Clifford without an associate head coach. Charlotte’s coaching staff isn’t complete as they finish out the year but Coach Clifford made it clear that they will wait until after the season to hire an assistant and promote a current one to the role of the associate head coach. The most likely candidate seems to be Stephen Silas.
Although, the Hornets will have their pick as they have one of the best coaching staffs in the league. With Bob Weis, Pat Delany, Bruce Kreutzer and Steve Hetzel are all capable options for the team going forward. Rather than hiring a high-profile coach to slide into the associate role, it looks like Steve Clifford will look to promote from the inside.
MKG a Top-20 Small Forward? (BleacherReport.com)
"Let’s check in on Michael Kidd-Gilchrist’s shot. He’s gone 1-of-9 from downtown throughout the entirety of the 2016-17 campaign, and his 35 percent shooting on twos from at least 16 feet isn’t too much better. He improves as he gets closer to the basket, but it’s a bit disheartening that the 23-year-old still isn’t showing any signs of jump-shooting growth. At least he’s stayed healthy and continued to assert himself as a bona fide All-Defensive candidate this year."
Bleacher Report ranked the top-30 small forward’s in the NBA and MKG came in at #17. Coming in just ahead of Terrence Ross and Joe Ingles, Kidd-Gilchrist is one of the youngest players (outside of Andrew Wiggins) in the 20-10 range. His previous ranking was #17 so, at the very least, he’s improving and moving up.
Of course, LeBron James came in at #1 with Kawhi Leonard, Jimmy Butler, Paul George and Gordon Heyward rounding out the top-five. Even though Michael has had his fair share of offensive struggles, being top-20 isn’t too bad of a ranking for him. Some of his biggest assets are his hustle and tenacity which result mainly in boards. MKG is fifth in the league among small forwards in rebounds per game with 7.1 per game.
Confidence Growing for Kaminsky (NBA.com)
"When it’s all said and done, self-assurance can be a priceless commodity in the NBA, but it doesn’t always come without some growing pains. All players are forced to deal with hardship at some point in their careers, and how they respond to such adversity can determine what kind of contributor they ultimately end up becoming. Lately, Frank Kaminsky’s confidence at the NBA level is at an all-time high and now it’s about maintaining it moving forward."
Next: Kemba's On the Verge of Making History
Sam Perley pinpointed the turning point in Kaminsky’s season. It was when he air balled a wide-open three that was the potential game-winner against the Sacramento Kings. Not only has Frank said that his confidence is important to his play but even Steve Clifford praised his outstanding play and improved confidence. Not to mention that Marvin Williams also spoke to his growth and play on the defensive end. All in all, the sophomore is slowly figuring things out in the NBA and the boost in confidence and largely helped his production this season.