It's Too Early to Count the Hornets Out
It has not been an ideal start to the 2023-24 season for the Charlotte Hornets as the injury bug continues to follow this team around for a second consecutive year. Terry Rozier missed nine games with a groin injury, Frank Ntilikina fractured his tibia in the preseason, Cody Martin is still rehabbing, and LaMelo Ball is out...again.
The Hornets sit at 6-12 heading into Wednesday night's road contest against the Chicago Bulls and although it feels like they've dug themselves a major hole, it's not one that can't climb out of.
Miles Bridges showing no rust whatsoever after a year away from the game is a great sign as is the marked improvement (no pun intended) on the offensive end by Mark Williams. Not to mention, the Hornets appeared to have made the right choice by selecting Brandon Miller with the No. 2 overall pick - the kid is already stud and is still finding his footing in the NBA.
The one thing this team needs more than anything is health.
Getting LaMelo Ball back is huge, obviously. This team can only go so far and be so competitive without him. He carried the offense for the better part of three weeks prior to his latest ankle injury where he averaged nearly 30 points per game. According to the team, there is no timetable for a return but multiple reports have surfaced stating that it doesn't appear to be something that will be a long-term ordeal. If he returns relatively soon, Charlotte will be just fine.
That's the uncontrollable though.
What the Hornets can place their focus on is the defensive end of the floor where they have been atrocious through 18 games. Clifford reached his tipping point following the loss on Saturday to Minnesota and went into a five-minute or so rant about the effort on defense. However, he did state he is fully confident that it's fixable and believes it will happen.
"If we get to that, we're going to have a chance to take off here and have a really good year," said Clifford. "If we don't ... you're not winning in this league. That's one thing I do know."
Unless you are Washington or Detroit, there's no reason any fanbase in the Eastern Conference should be panicking in early December. There's a lot of basketball left to be played and as things stand right now, the Hornets are just three games back of the Play-In Tournament.
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