Welcome to Buzz City Beat, a daily roundup of the latest news and stories from around the web about the Charlotte Hornets.
The Charlotte Hornets have a real bench problem as they are +10.6 with Kemba Walker on the floor and a -23.3 with him off. In this edition of Buzz City Beat, we look at why the New York Knicks could regret not drafting Malik Monk, Dwight Howard being fined for an obscene gesture toward a fan and the Greensboro Swarm falling to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants.
Hornets rookie shows why he could be a Knicks regret (NYpost.com)
"Maybe the Knicks should have drafted Malik Monk after all. He certainly looked at home at the Garden on Tuesday night. “He looked like he was back at Kentucky,” Knicks forward Kyle O’Quinn said. “He has a lot of confidence coming into the building.”"
Malik Monk took center stage at Madison Square Garden. If not for Kristaps Porzingis‘ heroics, we would be talking about a revenge game from Charlotte’s rookie. Malik scored 21 points (18 in the first half) with five made three’s. Before the season, the Kentucky product talked about playing the Knicks and how he would use being passed on in the draft by them as motivation. Monk, his agent, family and agency all thought he was going to be selected by NY at No. 8 but instead fell to the Hornets at No. 11.
To be fair, New York’s rookie point guard, Frank Ntilikina, looked pretty good in his own right racking up eight assists against the Hornets and playing some great defense down the stretch on Kemba Walker. Still, Monk showed why he was such a highly rated prospect coming out of college. In a few seasons, Malik could be a top player from this draft class and make all 10 teams that passed on him regret that decision for years to come.
Dwight Howard fined $25,000 for obscene gesture (CBSsports.com)
"[Dwight Howard] made an obscene gesture towards a fan near the end of the second quarter, which has now cost him $25,000."
Dwight became the third player in the NBA so far this season, along with DeMarcus Cousins and Kyrie Irving, to be fined $25k for an interaction with a fan. The incident took place during a game in Minnesota where the Hornets lost to the T-Wolves. Here is the video of what Howard did to receive the hefty fine.
It looks like D12 took a page straight out of the WWE and gave a fan the “DX crotch chop.” Although it was a minor incident that could be seen as somewhat comical, the team shouldn’t want this to become a common occurrence. Howard has been known for his off the court issues with teammates and fans so hopefully, this was addressed and doesn’t happen again.
Greensboro Swarm lose to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants (JournalGazette.com)
"The Mad Ants want stinginess to be a staple of their season and they demonstrated that defensive tenacity Tuesday in a 105-93 victory over the Greensboro Swarm in front of 4,234 fans at Memorial Coliseum for the home opener. Greensboro (1-1) was paced by Marcus Paige‘s 18 points."
Next: Jeremy Lamb has taken his game to the next level
After winning their season opener at home, the Swarm fell to the Mad Ants on the road. Two-way player, Marcus Paige, scored a team-high 18 points while Charlotte’s other two-way player, Mangok Mathiang, did not play and received a DNP – Coach’s Decision. Aside from those two, Pelicans’ assignee, Jalen Jones, scored 17 off of Greensboro’s bench. They will look to bounce back in their next game which is against the Long Island Nets on November 9th.