1. Bad Takeaway #1: Inability To Play a Full Game
If you’ve read any of my posts, especially the ones where the Hornets have lost, my biggest complaint is that the Hornets have a difficult time playing an entire 48 minutes of basketball. This year the Hornets have been notorious for taking off quarters, usually only one quarter, but in the NBA, taking off a quarter usually translates to a loss.
Now of course there are exceptions to this rule. For instance, there could be a player that gets hot and brings the team back into contention. Think of Miles Bridges in their second game of the season, where we hit 3 three-pointers in a row to tie the game at 107-107. Unfortunately for the Hornets, the Thunder would drive the court and hit a mid-range jumper to beat the Hornets 109-107.
Even though the Hornets lost this game, my point still stands. There are occasions where a player sets fire and even wins the game after being down by so much. This is not common and this usually doesn’t translate to playoff appearances, something we Hornets’ fans are used to seeing.
It’s ok to lose a quarter by a point or three points, but where the Hornets struggle is that they allow teams to win a quarter by 15 to 20 points. In the NBA it’s not an easy task to come back from down that much, especially when you play playoff-caliber teams. In order to make it to the playoffs, the Hornets will need to right the ship here and learn how to play a full 48 minutes of their game!
The thing that is so frustrating about this, is that the Hornets can play very good basketball. In all 10 games thus far, the team has shown that they can play with the best teams in the league. They have played shut down defense against Trae Young, holding him to 7 points, and then they turn around and allow the 76ers to go on a 27-7 run to finish the half. They have shown at times that their offense is one of the top 10 in the league, and then they also go on cold streaks.
Like I’ve said, this type of stuff can be expected in a basketball game and throughout a season, but it shouldn’t happen with regularity. The Hornets need to address this problem if they want to have a chance of making the playoffs.