Buzz City Beat: Charlotte Hornets’ BPI ranking, MJ gives advice to Dwight Howard
Welcome to Buzz City Beat, a daily roundup of the best articles from around the internet surrounding the Charlotte Hornets.
Pete Guelli shared a picture of Kemba Walker in the Charlotte Hornets‘ throwback uniform. Here’s a video of Malik Monk scoring 50 points while taking on Lonzo Ball while in high school. In this edition of Buzz City Beat, we look at the Hornets’ BPI ranking, Michael Jordan‘s advice to Dwight Howard and why you shouldn’t sleep on Charlotte.
Hornets’ BPI ranking (ESPN.com)
"In making its game predictions, the model takes into account factors such as the strength of the two teams, the game’s location and rest differential between the two squads. BPI simulates the season 10,000 times to create its projections for both the season and the playoffs."
ESPN’s preseason BPI projects Charlotte to finish eighth in the Eastern Conference and 17th overall in the league with 42.3 expected wins and 39.7 expected losses. Looking at the rest of the NBA, Charlotte is projected to be the most average team. The Warriors are 9.4 points better than the average team and the Bulls are -7.2 points worse than the average team while the Hornets are average at 0.0.
Golden State vs Boston is the most likely NBA Finals matchup followed by the Warriors vs the Cavaliers. Chicago and Atlanta are expected to have the largest drop in wins this season while Minnesota and Philadelphia are projected to have the biggest jump.
Michael Jordan gives advice to Dwight Howard (Sports.Inquirer.net)
"“Why are you so pissed off?” Jordan asked his new prized center in a phone call this off season, according to Sports Illustrated. “When you’re pissed, you’re out of control, and you’re not focusing on your shots or your free throws or the right type of defense… Why play pissed when you can play determined?” the six-time NBA champion added."
As Dwight’s new boss, Michael Jordan had some great news for his newest big name addition. If you’ve watched Howard play over the past few seasons, there were plenty of times when he would get mad and his emotions would get the best of him. Specifically, there was a game against the Hornets last season where he got a flagrant 2 and was ejected after elbowing Cody Zeller in the face.
He has to limit those moments with Charlotte this year. With a familiar face in Steve Clifford and MJ in his corner, it should Dwight play “determined” as opposed to “pissed.” Howard has said that he’s feeling at his best with his new team but we’ll have to wait and see how he plays once the season begins.
Why you shouldn’t sleep on Charlotte (TheSportsPost.com)
"Best Case Scenario: Chemistry leads a less-than-talented Hornets group to a top-four seed and first round victory."
Next: Unofficial 2018 NBA Draft big board
There are a lot of question marks on the team’s roster with Dwight Howard being the biggest but the bottom line is that the Hornets are a good team. They may not challenge for a title but they have enough talent to at least make some noise in the Eastern Conference this season. Most predictions seem to place Charlotte as the eighth seed or just out of the playoffs which seems way too low for a team that won 48 games just two years ago with plenty of returning players.