Charlotte Hornets: Four things to watch for against the Detroit Pistons

After falling to the Celtics 94-82, the Hornets will take on the Pistons on October 4th. Here are four things to look out for if you tune in.

The Charlotte Hornets‘ preseason basketball has officially kicked off. Although they fell to the Boston Celtics in their first exhibition game, it was still exciting to see the Hornets in action. If you plan on watching Charlotte’s next match-up against the Detroit Pistons, here are some things to watch out for.

1. Jeremy Lamb‘s Improved Consistency

Lanky two guard Jeremy Lamb led the Hornets in scoring last night with 17 points in 22 minutes off the bench. While not surprising to Charlotte faithful that he is capable of scoring outbursts like this, it remains to be seen if he can string multiple outstanding performances together. Lamb dropped buckets on Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, and Gordon Hayward, which is not a cast of defensive slouches.

Looking forward to Wednesday night, Lamb will likely face second unit defenders like Reggie Bullock, Stanley Johnson, and Luke Kennard. This will be a perfect opportunity to cement himself as the bench’s leading source of offense. That combination of wings is weak defensively, and Lamb should be able to take advantage.

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More specifically, watch the second unit sets to see if Lamb operates as a creator. Last season, when Brian Roberts was the de facto backup point guard, we got to see Lamb work as a hybrid point guard. While Julyan Stone brought the ball up most of the time when the bench squad was on the floor, Lamb could be an interesting wrinkle operating as a secondary ball handler.

2. Too Many Turnovers

In 2016-2017, Charlotte led the league with the fewest number of turnovers per game at 11.5. This smart and carefully crafted brand of basketball allowed the Hornets to maximize opportunities offensively and cut down on the number of transition opportunities for opponents. Unfortunately, last night was not a repeat of last season.

There’s no reason to overreact, as the simplest explanation is that Charlotte was rusty. With only a few days of training camp under their belts, it’s no wonder there were some turnovers. However, it’s worth keeping an eye out for if the situation repeats itself again against the Pistons.

The 19 turnovers were mostly a result of Dwight Howard and Frank Kaminsky, responsible for 6 and 5 turnovers, respectively. Those turnovers were mostly the result of either lazy passes or digging double teams in the post. If both bigs can improve their awareness on the low block, Charlotte should be back to their cautious ways soon.

3. Perimeter Defense Improvement

Dwight Howard and Cody Zeller anchor the defense as both above average interior defenders. Especially when Howard was on the court, it was apparent that Charlotte was okay to gamble a bit on the perimeter with the assurance that Dwight was back to protect the rim. However, when Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward were driving, the rest of the defense would collapse and it simply led to too many open threes.

Again, there’s no reason to truly be alarmed after one preseason game. Steve Clifford even said that defense didn’t come up in training camp. And with Howard and Zeller protecting the rim, there shouldn’t be too much cause for concern about open drives.

With that said though, the collapsing perimeter defenders may explain why Charlotte allowed the most threes to opponents last season. If they can improve on closeouts and stop getting beat off the dribble, the vaunted Charlotte defense may return to form.

4. Guarding… Henry Ellenson?!?

The last time Charlotte played Detroit was in the Orlando Summer League this off-season. In that game, big men Henry Ellenson and Johnny O’Bryant combined for a whopping 55 points. While they will both certainly see less time on the court this time around, players like Ellenson could give Hornets defenders fits.

In the first quarter of last night’s game, we saw Charlotte defend screens by dropping Howard into the paint and forcing Walker to fight over the top. While it cut off driving guards, it allowed for screeners like Aron Baynes to pop out and knock down midrange jumpers. If the Pistons choose to implement Ellenson or Jon Leuer like that, the Hornets could be in danger of three-point barrages from opposing bigs.

To defend this, Charlotte may look at using Frank Kaminsky more at the 5. While he’ll never be the fleetest of foot on that end, his effort was greatly improved last night. He may be more prepared than Cody Zeller or Dwight Howard. Of course, Marvin Williams will always be a valuable option in shutting those pick and pops down, but he can only do so much if he isn’t guarding the screener.

Next: Storylines to pay attention to this season

Tomorrow night the Charlotte Hornets will take on the Detroit Pistons on the road in the new Little Caesar’s Arena. Follow along and watch for these four aspects during the game. Charlotte will round out their preseason schedule with games at Detroit, at Miami, vs. Boston, and vs. Dallas.