Moussa Diabaté deserves a chance to start at center for the Charlotte Hornets

The Charlotte Hornets have a first quarter problem.

A consistent theme in the Hornets' abysmal eight game losing streak is that they continuously gets blitzed in their first 12 minutes on the floor. Charlotte's -15.7 first quarter net rating for the season is far and away the worst in the league, and it has only gotten worse since the All-Star break.

In their nine post-All-Star contests, the Hornets' first quarter net rating is a ludicrous -31.8, a whopping 4.8 points worst than the 29th ranked New Orleans Pelicans.

Again: The Charlotte Hornets have a first quarter problem.

It's time for Moussa Diabaté to get some burn as the starting center of the Charlotte Hornets as a last ditch attempt at fixing their first quarter woes.

Making the case for Moussa Diabaté

Charlotte Hornets forward Moussa Diabate (14) controls the ball against Brooklyn Nets center Nic Claxton (33) — Brad Penner-Imagn Images

It's far too early to say that the Mark Williams experiment is a failure, but the scientific process is reaching its limits. The Hornets struggle mightily when Williams is patrolling the paint. For the season, Charlotte is a net negative on both offense and defense when Williams is on the floor, and the eye test matches the statistics.

Williams' struggles with guarding in space and affecting shots at the rim from the weak side have zapped his ceiling as a defensive centerpiece while his inability to create his own shot on offense has turned him into nothing more than a supersized roll threat.

Moussa Diabaté just offers a bit more than Williams right now.

The Frenchman flips the game on its head whenever he gets a chance to play. Moussa was a plus/minus anamoly in the early season, but as his role has stabilized and his minutes have stayed consistent, he's proven to be more than just a one-hit-wonder.

When Diabaté plays, Charlotte is 6.8 points better than the average team per 100 possessions. They dominate the offensive glass with the Moose in the lineup, pulling in 9.7% of their misses, a 99th percentile number in basketball.

Moussa's relentless energy on the boards, weak side rim protection, and developing confidence on offense are all impressive traits worth building around. In the limited hours between Charlotte trading Mark Williams and welcoming him back, the Hornets committed financially to Diabaté when they converted his two-way contract to a standard three-year NBA deal.

The return of Mark Williams made things awkward, but the original trade makes it clear that Charlotte isn't committed to building their center rotation around the former first-round pick. In a lost season where evaluation is everything, it's time to load up Diabate's plate with everything he can handle. The product on the floor will look better, and most importantly, he's earned the chance.

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