The legendary Indiana Hoosiers head coach Bob Knight once said, “Good basketball always starts with good defense.” Well, the Charlotte Hornets have certainly forgotten that saying — their defense has more holes in it than the Swiss cheese at your local deli.
Unfortunately, the Hornets faithful are no strangers to watching bad defenses. Charlotte is a regular name in the basement of NBA defensive efficiency. But this year, it feels as if the team’s defensive struggles are completely holding them back.
Reasons For Concern
Through the first five games of the season, the Hornets are allowing 124.2 ppg to their opponents. That is on track for a bottom-five defense in the NBA.
The Hornets have not necessarily been playing against elite offenses either. The Orlando Magic came into their matchup with the Hornets as the 27th-ranked offense and dropped 123 points. The Heat, playing without their leading scorer, Norman Powell, scored 144 points against the Hornets. That is currently the second-most points scored in regulation by an NBA team this year.
Charlotte coach Charles Lee has not been impressed at all with his defense, saying after the game versus Miami, “… we’ve got to defend a lot better. 144 isn’t going to cut it.”
Basketball is a game of runs, and the Hornets seem to struggle with giving up untimely ones to their opponents. For example, they gave up two huge runs to Miami on Tuesday: A 19-3 run in the second quarter and a 21-7 run again in the third. During those runs, the Hornets appeared to be unfocused, regularly losing shooters and allowing the Heat to easily get out in transition.
Plays like this are an example of the Hornets’ uninspiring defense and are certain to have Coach Lee pulling his hair out on the sideline.
The Heat game was not the only time when a big run cost the Hornets. Against the 76ers, the Hornets also suffered a defensive breakdown that ultimately cost them the game. A 20-5 run in the last five minutes of the fourth quarter powered the 76ers to a narrow victory.
Minimizing big runs from their opponents needs to be an important focus for the Hornets going forward. There is nothing that sucks the energy out of a team more than giving up a big run. The Hornets just need to keep playing their brand of offense, get stops on defense, and the wins will follow.
Hope for the Future
The good news for Hornets fans is that the offense has been firing on all cylinders, keeping the team in every game. LaMelo Ball is red hot, once again looking like an All-Star caliber player. He seems to be recording or flirting with a triple-double every time he steps on the court!
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Incredible performances like this are why people will pay to come see LaMelo and the Hornets. If he continues to contribute like this on offense, the fans will probably look past his occasional lackadaisical defending.
Another bright spot in the offense has been the rookies, especially Kon Knueppel and Ryan Kalkbrenner. Both are already proving their worth and are a large part of why this offense is excelling.
Kalkbrenner has been the preferred starter to Diabate and is averaging 11 ppg as well as shooting an unbelievable 90% from the field. He is currently leading the NBA in field goal percentage and is proving to be a valuable asset even as a rookie.
Then there is sharpshooting Kon Knueppel, whose offensive prowess and three-point shooting have stolen the show through the first week of play. The first-year player out of Duke will look to keep contributing to the team and possibly work his way into contention for Rookie of the Year. Kneuppel certainly had his “welcome to the NBA” moment on Wednesday. He only scored five points, but every rookie has games like that, and he will most definitely find a way to bounce back.
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Despite the struggles on defense, the Hornets are still showing signs of promise for the future. Coach Lee will be emphasizing defense in practice, and hopefully, the results will begin to show in the next few games.
For now, the Hornets remain a team with an extremely high upside and a talented core of players. An improved defense could certainly turn out to be the key to unlocking this franchise’s potential and possibly take Buzz City back to the playoffs for the first time since 2016.
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