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How to fix the Charlotte Hornets

By Giovanni Spillman

CHARLOTTE, NC- MAY 11: James Borrego speaks to the media after being hired as Head Coach of the Charlotte Hornets during a press conference in Charlotte, North Carolina on May 11, 2018 at the Spectrum Center. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Kent Smith/NBAE via Getty Images)
CHARLOTTE, NC- MAY 11: James Borrego speaks to the media after being hired as Head Coach of the Charlotte Hornets during a press conference in Charlotte, North Carolina on May 11, 2018 at the Spectrum Center. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Kent Smith/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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The Charlotte Hornets have a variety of issues, but one of them is very simple to fix. This must be addressed if the team wants any future success.

In recent years, the Charlotte Hornets has had an issue when it comes to perimeter shooting. It seems that the efficiency of shooting beyond the arc has not come in favor of the team as of late. The Hornets keep picking up players who can shoot threes, but it is a matter of getting those players open to get the shots. One of the key problems in their perimeter shooting lies in their starting lineup.

Why Perimeter Shooting?

Shooting far from the perimeter has become the new trend in the NBA. If a team cannot shoot the three ball, then they will more than likely not win the games. You can look all over the NBA, and see that the game has changed from the “grind the ball inside” mentality to the “shooting” one. The most significant forms of proof for this, are just the numbers in threes that teams will attempt per game.

As of the 2017-2018 season, Charlotte was ranked 21st in the NBA when it came to threes attempted per game. In this season, they only attempted 27.2 threes per game. This is low, compared to those teams that attempted about thirty per game. The Hornets have not been taking enough threes per game, and it does not help when you are not defending shooting from the perimeter very well.

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On another note, the Hornets were efficient in shooting threes, as they ranked 8th in the NBA with 36.9%. For a team that is not shooting enough of them per game, this is a good number for a team that did not make the playoffs.

The other thing that hurt the team was the fact that they only averaged ten made threes per game, and this put them at the rank of 19 in the NBA. It is hard to be a playoff team when the team is not making enough threes per game.

The Problem and How to Fix it

While the Hornets have been struggling with their perimeter shooting, it is almost effortless to point out the reason behind it. The issue is the inconsistency and inability to shoot from the perimeter by Michael Kidd-Gilchrist.

With Kidd-Gilchrist not being able to shoot from the perimeter, this limits what the offense of the team can do. It is as if the Hornets are playing five on four with the opposing team. Other teams know that Kidd-Gilchrist cannot shoot from their, so they play loosely off him and stay close to the paint.

This causes Dwight Howard to get double teamed more often in the paint and limits what he can sometimes do on offense.  It also makes it more difficult for Kemba Walker to drive the lain and go in for a layup. When the starting lineup is on the court, teams automatically know that we only have three players who can shoot consistent from the perimeter.

If we look at the 2015-2016 season for the team, we can see that the Hornets made the playoffs, and did not have Kidd-Gilchrist for the whole year. This was because the Hornets had Nicolas Batum starting in place of MKG. In this season, the Hornets were ranked 4th in the NBA with 29.4 threes attempted per game.

They were also ranked fourth in threes made per game.  Of course, this was before the league started to focus on threes more, but the Hornets still were able to find much success in their perimeter shooting in that season.

Next: Dwight Howard 2017-18 season grade

It is essential that the team addresses this issue, and finds a person who can be the starting small-forward and can shoot consistently from the perimeter. It would better if Kidd-Gilchrist came off the bench with his energy and defensive intensity. With the upcoming draft, there are a lot of potential players who could possibly start at this position.

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