3 Hornets who need a monster second half to save their job

Steve Clifford

Perhaps the man with the most to prove down the stretch is the head coach, Steve Clifford. Fair or not, Cliff’s record has been pretty abysmal and he’s seen a change in ownership and the front office. So in other words, the writing may already be on the wall.

But Cliff is a well-respected veteran head coach who knows the game and the league. Now that the team is somewhat intact he has the opportunity to go out and lead, and show that he is the right guy to lead this group of kids into the future.

An impressive finish to the season that sets the tone for the future, and starts the process of building a culture in Charlotte would go a long way towards Clifford keeping the job. If he can get these players to buy in - and maybe even endorse him publicly or privately - there’s a case to be made that he’s the best person for the job.

Of course, the owners will be hiring a new GM and President of Basketball Operations shortly, and those hires generally want to bring in their own coaching staff to work with. So it’s possible that Clifford is already a lame duck and there’s nothing he can do to keep the job.

But with his stature and pedigree, I’d like to think that he at least gets a fair chance to prove himself worthy of the job over the last few months of the season.