Buzz City Beat: Malik Monk talks about adjusting to NBA life, Dwight Howard fined
Welcome to Buzz City Beat, a daily roundup of the latest news and stories from around the web about the Charlotte Hornets.
Kemba Walker suffered a bruised left shoulder versus the Spurs but shouldn’t miss any time due to the injury. In this edition of Buzz City Beat, we look at an interview where Malik Monk talked about adjusting to life in the NBA, Dwight Howard being fined and Gregg Popovich said that the scheduling was unfair to the Charlotte Hornets in their game.
Malik Monk makes smooth transition (AmicoHoops.net)
"“You gotta prep yourself the same as you start. You always gotta be ready,” Monk told Amico Hoops. “When my name’s called, I need to be ready. You never know when that time will come, especially when you’re a rookie too. I’m on a pretty decent team, pretty good. Just getting everybody healthy back. I just gotta be prepared.”"
Even though Malik has fallen out of the rotation, he’s shown glimpses of offensive brilliance for Charlotte. He’s slowly but surely making his transition to the league. Like most rookies, he is going through some early struggles. Still, the rookie has the right mindset and is attacking his first year in the NBA with patience and preparation.
Monk also mentioned that his college coach at Kentucky, John Calipari, does a great job of getting his players ready for the NBA. He also said that he’s “just gotta get used to the system.” We’ll see if this approach leads to more minutes for Malik this season because it’s unclear when/if Steve Clifford will put him back into the rotation.
Dwight Howard fined for obscene gesture… again (SportingNews.com)
"Charlotte Hornets center Dwight Howard has been fined $35,000 for making an obscene gesture on the playing court. The incident occurred with 4:25 remaining in the 2nd quarter of the Hornets’ 100-99 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday, Nov. 24 at Quicken Loans Arena."
Here is why Dwight was fined $35k. He made this gesture towards a fan. That’s not a good look for the big man or the team. Kemba Walker ($4,000) and Frank Kaminsky ($4,000) are the only other Hornets’ who have been fined this season but those were for technical fouls. Dwight has also been fined $8,000 for picking up technicals. This is the second time Howard has been fined for making an obscene gesture this season.
The previous time came against the Minnesota Timberwolves on November 5th when he made a “crotch chop” gesture in the direction of a T-Wolves’ fan. He was fined $25k for that incident. That’s now two fines in one month for D12. It will be interesting to see if this becomes a trend or if he puts an end to this. The only other player to be fined for an “obscene gesture” this season was Phoenix Suns’ rookie Josh Jackson.
Gregg Popovich talks about win vs Hornets (USAtoday.com)
"“That was a very difficult trip for the Hornets,” Popovich said. “It’s like, basically unfair. Coming back after being in Cleveland, getting back that late and then having to play a seven o’clock game, that’s a very difficult turnaround. All of us hate that particular deal. We all have to go through it, but we caught a break tonight.”"
Next: Two unlikely heroes have carried the Greensboro Swarm
It was a tough back to back for Charlotte. The matchup against San Antonio was their third game in four nights and their sixth game in nine days. The NBA made a concerted effort to limit stretches like these as well as back to backs. Luckily, the Hornets will get three days off before taking on the Toronto Raptors.