Defense? What Defense? Hornets Struggling to Stop...Anyone
There are a lot of things wrong with the Charlotte Hornets this season. Injuries have ransacked the roster from Opening Night, making finding a rhythm almost impossible. Add on a quiet offseason with basically zero transactions, a coaching candidate backing out of the job after accepting the position, and a lack of quality veteran depth inside have attributed to the Hornets' current 11-29 record.
Lack of defense may be the biggest issue this season.
The Hornets rank near the bottom of every major defensive statistical category so far this season. Currently, the Hornets rank 29th in points allowed, 29th in rebounding, 30th in defensive rebounding, and 28th in assists. What does that mean? The Hornets aren't stopping anyone from scoring, they are allowing too many offensive rebounds in the paint and teams are passing the ball around with ease on the Hornets.
Why?
Veteran forward Cody Martin had this to say when asked about the defensive woes of the team this season:
“It’s stuff that we can control – transition, running back in transition, communication, physicality in the right areas, playing defense without fouling, stop putting guys on the line so early and getting in the bonus so early which contributes to a lot of easy points for them. It doesn’t really allow us to be that aggressive on the defensive end. It’s tough because we dig ourselves in a hole sometimes and it’s hard to get out of, especially against really good teams. In this league it’s hard to win every night, it doesn’t matter who you play, so it’s about paying attention to detail, focusing on things that we need to improve our game.”
One has to wonder "What If" when it comes to the Hornets' roster this season. Injuries to star PG LaMelo Ball, F Gordon Hayward, backup PG Dennis Smith Jr, and more recently to SF Kelly Oubre Jr, have disrupted any chemistry head coach Steve Clifford may have dreamed of having at this point of the season.
When asked recently if the injury bug had affected the Hornets' defense in particular, Clifford elaborated:
“For sure it can be part of it. There’s no way to know, obviously. Dennis (Smith Jr.) and Cody (Martin) are going to help us a lot. They’ve been sitting, and Cody, it’s the first game he’s really played. So you’ve got to give those guys minutes to play. Not to make excuses, but we lost a lot of offensive playmaking with Kelly (Oubre Jr.) and Gordon (Hayward) being out. … You have to figure it out. We have to hang in there right now. The beginning part of our schedule was difficult, this is the toughest part right here. We go eight of the next 10 on the road, and the two home games are Boston. … It’s good. It’s how you get better if you approach it the right way, and that’s what we need to do.”
Pretty hard to fix defensive issues while in the middle of a long road trip. However, the answer for the future may be in the youth on the roster.
Guys like young center Kai Jones have shown raw potential this season but in spurts. Rookie Mark Williams had a career night vs Oklahoma City a week ago with a 17-point performance but his work on the boards that night (13 rebounds, 4 offensive) plus his defense ( 2 blocks, 2 steals) gave a glimpse of what could be down the road.
With a defensive rock in the middle like Williams potentially, that could be the key to stopping the defensive woes for the Charlotte Hornets going into the future. But defense is mental more than anything. Until the Hornets' young roster buys into being a defensive team, they will continue to struggle on that end.
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