Buzz City Beat is Swarm and Sting’s one stop for the best articles from around the internet surrounding the Charlotte Hornets.
Treveon Graham has been upgraded to questionable for the team’s game against the Chicago Bulls after missing the last two games. In this edition of Buzz City Beat, we look at Steve Clifford potentially changing up the rotation, how Nicolas Batum‘s return impacts the Charlotte Hornets and where the Greensboro Swarm rank in the G-League power rankings.
Hornets’ rookie could see fewer minutes (WFNZam.hosted.cx)
"Specifically, rookies Malik Monk and Dwayne Bacon totaled a combined 20 minutes. Over the first 12 games, those two combined to average nearly 46 minutes. via Charlotte Observer"
In an interview with WFNZ, Steve Clifford said that the team hasn’t functioned particularly well when young guys are on the floor. (9:55). He also added that more experienced players will see added playing time so that the team could win games kind of like what Cleveland is doing by playing LeBron James a lot of minutes. (11:50) Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer pointed out that Monk and Bacon already saw fewer minutes against the Cavs.
(8:12) – Coach Clifford did say that Malik would be the backup point guard for now as Michael Carter-Williams‘ conditioning is not up to par. He can only play four to four and a half minutes at a time. Once MCW does regain fitness, he should see more minutes. But for now, Cliff said that the team will run out a 10-man rotation. We’ll see if this trend of rookies getting fewer minutes continues going forward.
How Batum’s return impacts Charlotte (HashtagBasketball.com)
"Not a lot of players can do that, and he is also a capable defender. Batum returning to the starting lineup most importantly solidifies the rotation and puts everyone in their correct roles."
This article highlights how the 28-year old positively impacts the Hornets through his passing, scoring and defense. Nic is an extremely versatile and multi-faceted player who can change games in a number of different ways. That was evident during his first game back as he put up 16 points, six assists and five rebounds.
Batum is arguably Charlotte’s second best player so it’s easy to see why having him back should help the team win games. Having him back will also fix the rotation by sending Jeremy Lamb back to the bench in a sixth man role. That should help the bench scoring while also taking some pressure off of rookie Malik Monk.
Where Greensboro sits in G-League power rankings (2ways10days.com)
"If the Swarm are the home for Pelicans’ two-way players Jalen Jones and Charles Cooke all season long, then they could do some damage. If not, phew."
Next: The honeymoon stage is over for Howard and the Hornets
After the opening two weeks of the G-League season, Greensboro comes in at No. 19. They are 2-2 through four games and those two wins are thanks in large part to two players who aren’t even on their roster in Jones and Cooke (Pelicans’ two-way players). Other than that, Charlotte’s two-way players, Marcus Paige and Mangok Mathiang, have been somewhat underwhelming so far.