Bringing Back the Buzz: Zo & '92-93 Hornets

[trekfan]

^Father/Son NBA teammates? Honestly surprised it hasn't happened yet (I can't remember if it's been done before in the NBA). Seth could develop under the tutelage of his father or his career could be crushed by having the old man around. Would be really interesting.

[studbucket]

In the last few games, the team has suffered 2 moderate injuries:

Taj Gibson is hurt for another 4-6 weeks, and since the team is in a decent position and Coach J was able to get another big man (more on that later), the team has decided to rest Gibson to wait for his back to heal.

Kendall Gill is out for about a month with a fractured hand. As one may have guessed, the injury occurred as the result of a monster tomahawk slam.

Given the Hornet’s shallow rotation, these injuries were motivation for Coach J to bolster his bench depth again. He would have loved to sign Romain Martin, Wallace Anrin, or Paul Noonan from free agency, but could only offer them minimum contract money. As such, the Hornets had to work the trade market.

He started off by dangling backup John Brown, hoping to be able to get a reasonable 8^th or 9^th man option. Fortunately for the Hornets, the Clippers were willing to part with Cole Aldrich and exchange a handful of first-round picks.

With Gill out, Coach J looked to his bench and myriad picks to swing another deal. This time he swapped first rounders with the Thunder and got Andre Roberson for Kevin Lynch, which is a huge upgrade. Roberson isn’t a great shooter, but as the last guard off the bench, being a decent defender is about all that Coach J can ask for right now.

With all these trades made, here’s the draft picks the Hornets currently have. There are no picks in 2018, but they have 2 first round picks each in 2016, 2017, and 2019. Given the number of moves that Coach J has made, we imagine that the team won’t be keeping those for long either.

[studbucket]

Quote: Originally Posted by trekfan

^Father/Son NBA teammates? Honestly surprised it hasn't happened yet (I can't remember if it's been done before in the NBA). Seth could develop under the tutelage of his father or his career could be crushed by having the old man around. Would be really interesting.

Definitely. Coming soon: details on the recent father-son matchup between the Warriors and Hornets.

[studbucket]

Recap at the Quarter Mark

We’re a quarter of the way into the season, and it can only be considered a runaway success so far for the young Hornets and first year head coach. Sitting at 14-6, in 2^nd place in the East, and on a 4 game winning streak, the city of Charlotte is embracing their Hornets and the young trio of Mourning, Johnson, and Gill have become national media darlings.

The team is obviously helped by a weak Eastern conference, but has also managed to win their last 3 games against the West and the numbers are proving that this isn’t just a fluke. Mourning and Johnson are sitting 6^th and 7^th in the league in PER, both with ratings above 25 and both are averaging double-doubles.

Notable Games

December 2 vs Golden State
In a matchup of father and son, the elder curry got the better of Steph. Not only did the Hornets win a (surprisingly) low-scoring game, but Dell’s 17 points on 6-13 shooting was a bit better than his son’s 17 points in 4-15 shooting.

December 7 vs Detroit
Larry Johnson set a career high with 25 rebounds and had another near triple-double as part of a dominant 35 point win against the Pistons.

Statistics & Awards
Highlights:

• Alonzo Mourning leads all rookies with 21.3 PPG and 12.1 RPG
• Larry Johnson is 7^th in the league in PPG, averaging 22.5
• ‘Zo is 8^th in the league in rebounds at 12.1 per game
• Grandmama is sitting 5^th in the East in Forward/Center all-star voting, and that ain’t just because of the commercials
• All 5 Hornets starters are averaging more than 10 points per game
• The 2 starting forwards, Kendall Gill and Johnson, are both averaging over 6 assists a game
• Kelly Olynyk has stepped up in Gibson’s absence, and even grabbed 15 rebounds in 21 minutes against the Pistons
• Larry Johnson has won Easter Conference Player of the Week twice, which is as many times as LeBron James.
• All 4 Hornets that get to the line at least 3 times a game are shooting over 80% from free throws (Curry, Gill, Johnson, Mourning)
• Alonzo Mourning has 18 double-doubles in 20 games, Larry Johnson has 17 (and 2 triple-doubles)

Lowlights:

• Starting point guard Avery Bradley is only averaging 3.3 assists/game
• The point guard rotation of Bradley and Sessions both have PERs of less than 10.
• Avery Bradley is shooting 22.7% from three

Jimmy Butler is the biggest injury in the league now, and won’t be back until the spring. Blake Griffin is on the mend, but still out another 2 months.

[trekfan]

Man, Zo and Johnson are dominating the league right now. If they can stay healthy going forward, you'll have a shot at top two seed in the East -- huge for avoiding the Cavs until the ECF.

[megarover]

Grandmama should be getting some serious MVP love soon with his play so far.

[studbucket]

Quote: Originally Posted by trekfan

Man, Zo and Johnson are dominating the league right now. If they can stay healthy going forward, you'll have a shot at top two seed in the East -- huge for avoiding the Cavs until the ECF.

Yeah, but I'm realizing the loss of Gill hurt more than expected. He's a great slasher, can hit any two, some threes, and plays good defense. It'll be nice to have him back.

Quote: Originally Posted by megarover

Grandmama should be getting some serious MVP love soon with his play so far.

Yeah, he's been a revelation. Too strong for SFs, too quick for PFs. It's pretty remarkable. He and Gill running the fast break with Dell Curry as the 3rd wheel has been awesome.

[studbucket]

Through 20 games, how are Coach J’s former player’s doing? 4 of the 7 players have been signed to rosters, and 3 of those 4 are on very strong teams, possible title contenders.

Joey Fletcher, PG, Knicks
Fletcher is currently hurt, but is also leading all rookies in assists (7.9 apg) and is averaging 10.4 PPG while starting at PG for the Knicks. When asked about Fletcher’s progress so far, Coach J praised his ability to come into a new team and settle right in as a distributor, but he did say he though Joey’s three-ball was struggling a bit as he adjusts to the new distance.

Hope Law, SG, Hawks
Just like his fellow classmate, Hope Law has spent some time injured. Despite the injury, it’s been a promising start to the season as he’s starting for the Hawks and shooting 42% from deep and 6 rebounds a game. As he settles into his game, he could prove to be far more potent than Kyle Korver has been for the Hawks.

Tommy Camper, C, Cavaliers
In his 3^rd season, Camper has broken into the Cavaliers starting lineup and is an adequate, if unspectacular, role player. Everyone can see his potential, but the athleticism hasn’t quite translated into stats yet as he averages 5 points, 7.4 boards, and 1.7 blocks per game. Coach J was reserved when asked about Camper, not willing to publicly comment on where the young center’s game was lacking.

Chief Bing, C, Rockets
Biding his time behind Dwight Howard, Bing has given the Rockets a great option for the future and the league’s tallest 6^th man. Coming off the bench, he’s still getting over 11 rebounds a game but is raw on the offensive end. Despite averaging 4 offensive rebounds a game, he’s only getting 5.1 points. When asked about Bing, Coach J praised his tenacity and chalked his lack of offensive production up to the team he’s on, stating “the Rockets don’t need buckets when they have James Harden.”

Wallace Anrin, SF, Free Agents
The 27 year-old is coming off of major foot surgery and looking for ~$6 million a year, both of which have kept him unsigned for the time being. Teams around the league are interested, but we won’t see any movement until he lowers his expectations.

Paul Noonan, SG, Free Agents
Paul Noonan is exactly the type of player Coach J wants to sign…except he can’t. In addition to the Hornets being above the cap, the 28 year-old, 6’7” sharpshooter is currently in rehabilitating his opiate addiction. Being a big star in Boise went to his head, and the 6^th year pro thought he was invincible and made some very poor decisions. When pushed for his thoughts on Noonan, Coach J only asked that “we keep him in our prayers, so that he may be healed.”

Romain Martin, SG, Free Agents
Yearning for more playtime, the undersized shooting guard from Eastern Illinois took a big payday from a Chinese team. However, after just 8 months he came back to the US, not being able to cope being so far from friends and family. He’s eager to fill a bench role in the NBA, but teams are wary of the impact he’ll have on the locker room.