The Charlotte Hornets had a very positive and surprising start to their season, however, they are starting to fall back into preseason win count expectations.
The Charlotte Hornets started this season fast and fun. They jumped out to a 12-16 start after their first 28 games!
Although it was fun to watch, many of us fans speculated that it was unsustainable; taking into account the schedule played and their schedule for the upcoming months.
The dynamic of the team, the players and the system we figured would stay put. It somewhat did.
The one thing that has changed consistently on a night-to-night basis is the rotation. Head Coach James Borrego has yet to find a group of guys to stick with as his 10-man rotation every night. This isn’t exactly a bad thing.
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If this were an aspiring championship roster then yes, this would be a huge problem. This, however, is the exact opposite. This is a rebuilding team that is looking to see exactly what they have in each young player.
Now, this may be a point where you ask yourself, “Well if that’s the case then why is Nicolas Batum getting minutes over Cody Martin on some nights?”. I believe that has to do with Borrego’s desire to win games now, showing his inexperience, because he is on a rebuilding team but prioritizing winning.
He believes that Nic Batum is a more “win-now” player and is more ready to compete on both ends of the floor. Whether you agree with him or not is a different discussion, but that is why I believe he elects to go with Nic on some nights.
My point in saying this is because the Hornets have gone 3-12 since their hot start to the season. People are upset when they lose to bad teams or with their horrible defense and I share those same frustrations as well, but this season was always meant to go this way.
This season’s goals were only a few — be as competitive as you can, figure out who is worth keeping long term, and get a top draft pick to add to the young core.
Winning was not a priority this year; if it was then the Hornets front office would’ve traded for more help defensively already.
Although I do not advise tanking, I do advise playing Devonte’ Graham and the rest of the young starters fewer minutes. Win as many games as you have the opportunity to but, winning games should not be more important than developing Cody Martin or giving more burn to Malik Monk to really see what you have in these guys moving forward.
I hate losing. It is in my nature to be competitive in sports and I want to win as much as possible. I have hated seeing my team lose over the past few years when we really wanted to make the playoffs.
This year, the losses should not hurt like they used to. The best move going forward is to plan for the future years to come. Those years would be greatly improved by adding top talent from this summers draft.
Let’s take a deep breath and understand that this should be the plan for the year. Lose now to win later! I want out of mediocrity, you should too.