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Buzz City Beat: Charlotte Hornets’ Defense Was the Problem, Rich Cho’s Last Chance

By Jerry Stephens

Apr 10, 2017; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Bucks guard Malcolm Brogdon (13) holds the ball away from Charlotte Hornets guard Brian Roberts (22) during the first quarter at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 10, 2017; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Bucks guard Malcolm Brogdon (13) holds the ball away from Charlotte Hornets guard Brian Roberts (22) during the first quarter at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports /
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Welcome to Buzz City Beat, a daily roundup of the latest and greatest news and stories from around the web about the Charlotte Hornets.

The Charlotte Hornets‘ players, coaches and general manager all gave their exit interviews and the work towards next season is already underway. In this edition of Buzz City Beat, we look at the team’s defense being the problem, Rich Cho having one last chance and an updated look at a mock draft.

Charlotte’s Defense Was the Problem (NBA.com)

"Charlotte’s 1-on-1 defense was a huge problem, Clifford said. Teams routinely got past Hornets defenders at the point of attack and found easy kick-outs to the wing for open 3-pointers. Charlotte’s 3-point defense was among the worst in the league."

The Hornets were lazy on defense this past season. Players would constantly get beat off the dribble and their closeouts to shooters were slow. Charlotte’s been known for their great perimeter defense over the past few years and they built that reputation without great individual defenders.

So what does it say when a coach who is known for preaching defense can’t get a group of players to buy into actually defending at a high level? Steve Clifford is likely coaching for his job next season so he needs to get the Hornets back to being a top-10 defensive squad.

Rich Cho Has One Last Chance (CharlotteObserver.com)

"What is clear, though, is that the Hornets better get it right next time. Jordan has shown uncharacteristic patience with the decision to stay with the status quo. But there’s no way MJ’s patience can extend past another disappointing season."

The Hornets are somewhat of a mess. Not quite Kings or Knicks level mess but still a mess. The problem is that they have very little cap space to sign players this summer. This means that Cho will need to make Charlotte’s first round draft pick, their mid-level exception and any sort of trades really count as they can’t afford to miss on any of them.

On the other hand, Rich made this mess so it is up to him to fix it and get the Hornets out of it. Whether he can actually do so remains to be seen. Charlotte’s GM can’t be blamed for everything but if the team misses out on the playoffs again, it will almost guarantee his time being up with them.

Hornets Take Zach Collins in Updated Mock Draft (BleacherReport.com)

"The Charlotte Hornets re-signed Cody Zeller, but after missing the playoffs, they aren’t in any position to pass on the draft’s top available player. There appears to be a gap between Zach Collins and the next-best talent after his convincing NCAA tournament, which backed up a year of production and efficiency in a weak West Coast Conference."

Next: Hornets to Target Rim Protector and Backup PG in FA

With Miles Bridges returning to Michigan State, the lottery lost a top-level talent. There are arguably around 10-12 players in this upcoming draft class that stands out above the rest. Collins is one of them and even though the Hornets already have a number of 7-footer’s, Zach could still be a valuable asset going forward but they will likely need to move Miles Plumlee, Cody Zeller or Frank Kaminsky if they do draft him. Plus, he has Kemba’s approval.

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