For the Charlotte Hornets, there’s more than renewed buzz surrounding the team. And with a new coaching staff and a new face running the team, there’s new hope that the Hornets of old have changed for the better.
The summer of change continues for the Charlotte Hornets as the team prepares for Training Camp away from Spectrum Arena for the first time in its short history. For first-year head coach James Borrego and staff, the first year in Buzz City hopes to be a more productive one for fans than in recent years.
And with an assortment of new and returning players, a greater focus was emphasized on developing, as well as maximizing player skills. Additionally, Coach Borrego has also begun planting the seeds of a faster offense.
As seen in the 2018 NBA Summer League, the younger Hornets executed a semi-efficient offense that benefitted the developing squad for the duration of play. Quick decisions with the basketball led to an increased amount of possessions and opportunities, which carried the team on a 3-2 Summer League finish.
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One could believe that if it had not been for the increased tempo coupled with the starting backcourt injuries of Devonte’ Graham and Malik Monk (additionally the absence of Willy Hernangomez) that the Hornet’s close second-round defeat at the hands of the Toronto Raptors could’ve had a more pleasant outcome. Regardless, the team performed admirably, and for the coaching staff, the first phase of installing the team’s new style of play looks to be a success.
The next phase will occur in late September when both the rookies and veterans arrive at the University of North Carolina for training camp at Chapel Hill. There, the players will begin instituting the new philosophies of Coach Borrego’s faster-paced offense.
The team, in theory, looks to be more of a fit for this system than one in which negates its greatest asset in speed and almost cancels out a primary player’s ability to distribute the ball. Truthfully, the new system seems to positively affect the entire squad, minus possibly the aged Tony Parker, and each player has multiple reasons why the faster pace should benefit their individual skills.
Still, the course of action for Borrego and staff would be to get a better understanding of each player, find a way to better meld the skills of each player, install the faster-paced offense and then find a lineup that best fits his coaching philosophies.
The Hornets should be healthy for the most part when returning to camp for the next phase as well. After the injury scares to Graham and Monk, both players look to cautiously return to the team ready to compete and acclimate themselves more to the NBA game.
With Monk’s thumb reportedly not fractured as previously believed, Graham’s knee not requiring surgery, and Parker’s torn quadriceps healed, the team has no other injuries or ailments slowing any player from training.
The final phase in instituting the new system will occur with the new NBA season when the live action will lead to further tweaks to the game plan for the former San Antonio Spurs assistant. The fine-tuning of what does or doesn’t work and the chemistry between players will define the kind of success the team will have offensively.
Still, one thing is apparent, the new philosophies bring a struggling Hornets team into more modern times. The only thing to be decided now is which players that the Hornets possess are best fit to lead the team in the modern play.