Observations From the Greensboro Swarm's First Playoff Win in Franchise History

For the first time in their 10-year franchise history, the Greensboro Swarm have won a game in the G-League Playoffs.

One can hope that the Swarm's triumph over the Maine Celtics is a harbinger of things to come for their parent squad, the Charlotte Hornets, but if nothing else, it is a continuation of the franchise's top-to-bottom facelift.

Since Gabe Plotkin and Rick Schnall purchased the Hornets from an ownership group led by Michael Jordan, the franchise has seen success ranging from the grassroots of the Summer League to the highest levels of the NBA, and the Swarm's first playoff victory is another notch in the belt of the new owners.

Two-way players PJ Hall and Tosan Evbuomwan and rostered Hornets Tidjane Salaün and Liam McNeeley suited up for the Swarm's first-round playoff game. Let's break down their performances from the win.

Liam McNeeley

McNeeley was the most impressive of the bunch. He controlled the game as the Swarm's primary offensive option on the wing, dicing up Celtics with physical, committed drives into the heart of their defense.

"I've been focusing on my physicality," said McNeeley after the game, "because in the NBA the physicality is just another step up. Doing it here and getting the reps is really important. The coaching staff has been great pushing me on that too."

Head coach DJ Bakker used McNeeley in various actions that the big-league Hornets run for Kon Knueppel and Brandon Miller, and the rookie from Connecticut was comfortable when asked to handle the ball in those double drag and zoom sets.

PJ Hall

Not far behind him in terms of two-way impact was PJ Hall. The Swarm leaned on Hall's versatility, asking him to operate in a number of fashions: as a play-finshing roller, a floor spacing big to punish Amari Williams' drop coverage, a hand-off hub in zoom actions, and even a pick-and-roll ball handler on one occasion.

Hall is undersized for a center, but his combination of effort and physicality make up for what he lacks in size. It's not the size of the dog in the fight, right?

Coach DJ Bakker had this to say about Hall after the win: "He had an incredible game. It's been consistent for the whole season, but for the last two months he's been playing like one of the best players in the whole league. Like you said he can shoot it, he can drive it, he can handle, he can pass, so our offense when he's on the floor is so much more versatile."

"We can run a lot of different actions, we can change our spacing, we can change who the handler is, we can change where he's at on the floor. I think the biggest thing is that we don't want to give the defense the same pattern or the same rhythm, so once he does something well we use it a little bit and we know we're going to go back to it."

Tosan Evbuomwan

Of the four Swarm with direct links to Charlotte, the Brit is the least likely to make an impact on the senior squad.

Nevertheless, Evboumwan is an intriguing prospect with NBA-ready athleticism, frame, and motor. When he gets downhill, Tosan is nothing short of a freight train that relishes contact and he showed the ability to finish through it against Maine. He has enough touch to survive at the G-League level (Evboumwan knocked down his only three-point attempt of the game), but that is an area of improvement as he continues his attempt to stick in the league.

An NBA scout called Tosan a jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none type prospect that doesn't have a singular defining skill that sets him apart from similar sized players, of which there are a dime a dozen. That felt like an apt analysis when watching him tonight.

Tidjane Salaün

It was a mixed bag for the 2024 first-round pick who was playing in his first game action since suffering a calf injury against the Mavericks on March 3rd.

Salaün was clearly rusty, struggling with his handle against an aggressive Celtics defense that stuck their hand in the cookie jar all night. Tidjane didn't let any early struggles dissuade him from attempting to get downhill, and even though he didn't find much success as a driver, it was encouraging to see him embrace contact after rehabbing an injury.

He was the most impactful on the glass, crashing the glass with reckless abandon, pulling down a game-high 11 boards. Outside of pulling down nine defensive boards, Salaün was quiet on defense as a whole which is a good thing for a prospect who has been a roller coaster on the end of the floor in his young career.

Other Notes From the Win

The Swarm experience is top notch. Greensboro's gym, the Novant Fieldhouse, offers an intimate viewing experience that creates a real home court advantage. Instead of playing in tarped off NBA arenas that feel echoy and sterile, the Swarm play in a 2500 seat gym with a real communal feel which I really enjoyed.

The congruency between the Hornets and the Swarm is evident. Greensboro's offense mirrors Charlotte's, making it abundantly clear why players like Salaün, Hall, McNeeley, and Antonio Reeves have found so much success with both clubs.

Jonas Aidoo, reserve center for the Swarm, is a heck of a shot blocker. The 23-year-old rookie didn't get selected in last year's NBA Draft, but I wouldn't be surprised if he received a call up after a strong 2026 Summer League performance.

Jalen Bridges and Amari Williams were two standouts for the Maine Celtics. I don't know what their future holds, but they both have the look of NBA players.

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