The Charlotte Hornets made it their mission over the off-season to perform an almost complete overhaul on their roster and the team’s style of play going forward. And so far this season, it seems like it has been a success. The Hornets are playing like the complete opposite of themselves last year.
Last year’s team struggled to share the ball on offense and had almost no ball movement. They struggled to shoot the ball from three and had some of the worst outside shooters on their team. Charlotte has always been known for their defense under Steve Clifford, as they have been one of the best defensive teams during his tenure. But last season the team struggled on both sides of the ball. Once the Hornets decided that defense was not the way that they were going to win and compete in this league, they decided to go in a different direction.
Charlotte decided that they were going to add offensive minded players that could shoot the ball from the outside and make them a more potent scoring threat. This would come with set backs but the team knew the risk that they were taking and it was a calculated risk.
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The Charlotte Hornets went into the off-sesason with a new mindset and signed, traded, and drafted for offensive minded players. They drafted big man, Frank Kaminsky, with the ninth overall pick in the NBA Draft. He was seen as an offensive big man who could shoot the ball from three and score in the low post.
They then traded for veteran swingman, Nicolas Batum, who would bring a deep shooting touch to the Charlotte Hornets wing positions, while also not losing too much on the defensive side of the ball.
The team then decided to trade for an unproven player in Jeremy Lamb, who was buried in Oklahoma City’s bench but has the ability to score the ball on offense and shoot the three.
The Charlotte Hornets also signed slashing and scoring threat, Jeremy Lin, to a friendly contract that would help both sides. Lin is a veteran scoring threat, who was mostly known for his slashing ability to get to the basket but he has improved his outside shooting ability tremendously this summer and now is a constant threat from three.
This team has made a decision to reinvent their team from a defensive minded franchise that would try to hold opponents to low numbers offensively and hope that they could get enough offense out of Al Jefferson and Kemba Walker that they might have a chance to win, to a team that will simply out-shoot and outscore you on a night in-night out basis.
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The Charlotte Hornets have become one of the funnest NBA teams to watch so far this year because of their fast style of play and the amount of three-point shots that they take and make. The team has made a complete 180 degree turn from last year.
Charlotte was last in the NBA last season in three-point percentage at only 31.8% but so far this year they are second in the NBA at 40.4% from three. (Second! Yes, SECOND! That is not a typo.) Head coach, Steve Clifford, Charlotte Hornets General Manager, Rich Cho, and the whole organization has bought into this offensive minded decision and are heading in a new direction.
They have gotten a lot of new players that can shoot, defend, and pass the ball. They are scoring and sharing the ball at an alarming rate. They are seventh in the NBA with 23 assists per game on 37 made shots a game.
The Charlotte Hornets are tied with the GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS with 11.5 three-point field goals made a game this year as the best teams in the NBA in that category. That is crazy! The Warriors are known as the best three-point shooting team in the last century and possibly ever, they have the best three-point shooting in the NAB with Steph Curry. Their whole team can shoot the ball from deep. And the Charlotte Hornets are keeping up with them in terms of three point field goals made and percentage wise as well.
The Hornets are also the best free throw shooting team percentage wise at 85% so far this year, compared to last season when they were in the bottom half of the league at a mere 74.8%.
There is no reason to think that this Charlotte Hornets’ team can keep up this incredible play but there is also no reason not to. They play together, they play freely, and they may be able to finish the season as a top-10 offensive team. And that would be a huge improvement for the team going forward and it would give them a sense of identity for not only this year’s team but for the Charlotte Hornets’ future.
Now while the Charlotte Hornets are only 1-3 on the season, the year is still young and maybe this style of play won’t continue and they won’t be able to sustain this outstanding shooting for the whole year but their new direction is evident. You can see the difference in this year’s team and the whole organization has made a concerted effort to change the way that this team looks. Steve Clifford has reinvented his coaching style to fit with the team and success is sure to come sooner rather than later if they keep this up.