Charlotte Hornets could address rim-protection in the offseason
Heading into this year’s offseason, fans can expect the Charlotte Hornets to possibly address one of their biggest needs.
As the NBA continues to wait for confirmation on where they can resume the regular season, the Charlotte Hornets have already been addressing some key issues. According to Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer, Coach James Borrego plans to address rim-protection.
On Tuesday, Coach Borrego talked to the media via conference call. Borrego told the media that the Hornets must address the team’s rim-protection. He also said that “In my system, we can never have enough shooting.”
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Bonnell also tweeted that Coach Borrego said the Hornets reached a different level in their last eight games before the season was suspended. Borrego said the team was playing “toe-to-toe” with any team. Recently the team beat the Houston Rockets, Miami Heat, and came close beating the Milwaukee Bucks).
Regarding the team’s frontcourt defense, Coach Borrego recognizes the concern that many fans have. With Borrego’s remark about the shooting, could he plan on pushing the team to target a defensive stretch-five?
Throughout the season, the Hornets have struggled in many areas on defense. One of their major issues has been their inability to grab rebounds on defense. The Hornets are currently the 28th ranked team in defensive rebounds per game with 31.8.
So far this season, the Hornets’ best rebounder has been Cody Zeller, who’s averaging a career-high in rebounds per game with 7.1, while also averaging 4.3 defensive rebounds per game.
To add to the rebounding issue, the Hornets have also allowed teams to score easily in the paint. The team is currently the 23rd ranked team in the league in paint points allowed per game with 50.5.
In just 65 games this season, the Hornets allowed teams to average 109.6 points per game against them. If Charlotte is allowing 50.5 points per game in the paint, then that’s about half the number of points being scored on them.
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Since Coach Borrego is pushing the Hornets to improve the team’s rim-protection, the team may finally solve this lingering issue. Fans should learn more about the NBA’s plan for the season in May.