Charlotte Hornets: Inside the worst NBA defense
When looking at the defensive Hornets numbers when challenging shots around the rim things get quite ugly. Stopping opponents from getting easy looks around the rim is probably the biggest issue with the system right now. As of today, Charlotte’s opponents are shooting a league-high 63% on shots taken inside the 6 feet range. They are also allowing other teams to shoot near the rim a very good amount of times every game: almost 1/3 shots allowed by the Hornets’ defense comes from close to the basket.
That’s surely not the receipt for a good defense but the Hornets do not have the personnel to solve this problem easily. In the whole team, there is not a true rim protector that could work as an anchor and this is the main reason why James Borrego is pushing toward a full-switching defensive scheme.
The rim protection problem is very correlated to another huge hole in this Hornets team: perimeter defense. Great defensive teams are the ones that can stay in front of the ball as much as possible and Charlotte right now is not very effective at not getting smoked in 1v1 simple situations. Looking at the starting lineup is very easy to understand that the Hornets are missing some good defenders out there near the three-point line: this could be a very important point of emphasis when judging the Ball-Rozier backcourt in the years ahead.
Fans thought that adding Kelly Oubre to the group would help in improving this defensive aspect, but as of today, his impact is not being felt as he seems quite loaded on the offensive side of the court. His effort level has not been there yet, but he surely has all the tools to help the team improve. The one steady presence has been Cody Martin, always thriving to stay near the opponents when guarding the point of attack but the third-year player has some clear limitations in terms of quickness and footwork when screen navigating.
As the team cannot stop penetrations near the three-point range is easy to understand where the clear open looks are coming from. These two problems are very correlated and it does not appear that easy to solve both of them in the short term.
Surely playing long and athletic wings as Jalen McDaniels and the newcomer JT Thor instead of physically limited players like Ish Smith helped in getting some success the past weeks but that is not the key to solving the whole problem. It is also important to note that a full healthy Hornets team (which has not been the case the last weeks) would surely be a little bit better than 30th in the league, but not much more than that.