Can the Hornets claim a moral victory over the Clippers? PLUS: Is Cody Martin BACK back?
David Walker makes his weekly appearance to recap The Hornet’s eighth straight loss this time it comes against the Clippers then we play a little shoe you got at the end of the show today all on locked on Hornets you are locked on Hornets your daily Charlotte Hornets
Podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day in a minute cuz we Live it’s lockon Hornet part of the lockon podcast Network it’s your team every day thanks for making us your first to listen we are free and available anywhere you get your podcast and that includes YouTube this episode is brought to you by game time game time game time today’s episode brought to you
By game time which you can do is download the game time app create an account and use code locked on NBA for $20 off your first purchase that’s David Walker you can find him on Twitter davidb Walker and that’s Doug Branson you can find him on his substack every
Hornet box score.com you can also see him here on YouTube not only sporting a Hornets Christmas sweater but also sporting a mustach that is real clean shaving you’ve been real experimental with the facial hair here recently well as the losses pile up things get stranger okay you know I mean I’ve got a
Sickness stranger danger one one might say maybe that is that what that screams to you I do have an unmarked van that I haven’t used in a while no so uh yeah things are getting stranger eight straight losses and and the sickness is manifesting itself in a in a variety of
Ways including on to my face well they all right so Doug’s Doug’s face representative of the Hornet season the eighth straight loss that they suffered let’s get weird so yeah they suffered the loss against the Clippers you know we hopped on the mic right before we’re
About to record and you know the jokes are flying in right here’s just another day at the office with the Hornets you know I I didn’t feel angry at the Hornets last night Doug like I I know I don’t I don’t watch this game and think man it’s just the Hornets being the
Hornets here I mean this is on the road against a team that is starting to gel very well now you didn’t have Kawhi Leonard in this one he had been playing like an MVP candidate maybe you thought of that as an opportunity but you still have Paul George James Harden is just
Straight up James Harden again at least whatever he was was at his peak in Philadelphia if not going straight MVP campaign James Harden in Houston you also have Russell Westbrook coming off of the bench accepting that role more and he played well in this one too it it
Felt like defense was not atrocious I will take them holding LA to 113 points I do think that they got out on Shooters enough and Harden Paul George they hit some contested threes I thought this was the best passing game from the Hornets this year wow that that did not include
You got a top three you give me a top three passing games well I’ll tell you but you interrupted and so that’s a dollar I thought this was the best passing game I had seen all season long that did not include your best passer in lamelo and that didn’t involve Terry
Roier as much passing I know he played but we saw miles Bridges I think have some nice dishes I think Gordon Hayward actually did have some nice passes when he was playing so yeah like there were some things that I took away that were positives and even though they lost I
Didn’t expect to win this game anyway I I don’t advise anyone to get angry over the Hornets at this point there’s just no reason that’s like getting angry at like one of those three-legged dogs that they build like a Lego you know wheelchair for that that you know Sports
Them around robot style like you they they only deserve our pity at this point because you know they’re finally getting some healthy role players back Cody Martin we’ll talk about him in just a second but he’s just coming back ready to go I mean Mr fresh legs that’s a
Um he’s looking great but then they now they’re shuffling out starters left and right nobody can get into into a Groove and they can’t seem to sync up offensive excellence and defensive Excellence you know over the past two games against really Elite Western Conference competition they’ve showcased some of
The best defense that they’ve shown all season and yet they can’t hit a three to save their lives so like they just can’t put it all together David yeah I know and they really need those threes I mean that’s been their formula for Success it’s like it’s it’s like you know make
Every free throw and then hit a bunch of threes and Terry in particular was struggling last night nightmare yeah uh so so that was that was tough and you know um I forgot that Russell Westbrook was on the team for for the Clippers at one point last night just not not because he
Wasn’t playing well but I was like look you know the Hornets they don’t have their Superstar you’re basically going up against two and then you see Russ like just sprinting in Off the Bench and I’m like yeah this is is the deck stacked against these guys tonight so
It’s it’s going to be tough um West almost had a triple double he had four he had 14 Points 11 rebounds six assists two Steals and a block shot Off the Bench yeah yeah but look eight losses that’s nothing guys you got teams out
Here you know putting up 20 27 28 in a row come on eight that’s nothing that’s play yeah talk to me in another 20 games if they still haven’t gotten a victory and then I’ll really start to get angry the three-legged dog that is the Charlotte Hornets but right now I’m good
It’s still cute it’s not messing with the Pistons that’s an ugly dog right there right but you can tell just in the way that that Clifford seems to be operating after this games if he is any kind of manifestation of the rest of the team if
He’s eating the grief of the rest of his team and showcasing it in front of Ashley shamed then then these losses are starting to wear on the Hornets there aren’t there aren’t moral victories to hand out here these are these are both games against Denver and it’s not like
These games weren’t winnable and they weren’t getting blown out the the they had opportunities in the fourth quarter they begin this fourth quarter on an 11-2 run that seats them in the lead and then proceed to give up a 60 run to tie the game timeout after the timeout PJ
Washington I don’t know who he was throwing it to horrible turnover and the the uh the Clippers expand that 60 run after the timeout they expand it to 140 run and and that was all she wrote they they’re making mistakes down the stretch and yes you know there are excuses that
You can look to but I don’t think that’s what this team’s doing right now they’re not looking at the excuses they’re looking at hey there are chances to give us some kind of hope for the future once we get guys back now they’re starting to look at the standings and going I don’t
Know well yeah and and they might not be giving themselves excuses and that’s great I embrace that you should embrace that from your favorite team but the fact is this team has has limitations and they don’t want to admit them and nor do I want them to but they still
Have those limitations I mean I look at this box score and they have 31 assists remember when they were on that record pace and they averaged 28 assists per game a couple of years ago and that was the best of all time and the Hornets had
31 last night and Terry roier had seven of them but everybody else had to contribute in a way where they were cutting they were attacking I mean I thought Bryce Macwan came out firing in the first quarter and I think that’s his recipe for SU uccess in this league I
Mean he’s done such a great job getting to the foul line he that was what he did at Nebraska we saw a little bit of that last year first quarter he’s attacking and hitting tough shots hit one in the third I believe that was of the attacking mold and then you had PJ
Cutting miles Bridges doing the same thing but they didn’t hit threes as you mentioned I mean they were atrocious from behind the arc and the Clippers hit contested ones they shot 41% so I thought the game plan I didn’t watch this team and think anything about a
Lack of effort or really I mean a lack of execution of the play this was very much so fall in the cliche of maker Miss league and the Hornets missed a lot of shots from deep and that was the reason that they lost and the fact that they
Were even in this game against that team against a couple of Stars playing like all NBA guys right now like I I did take away a moral Victory knowing what the task at hand is here because I don’t expect them to win and so yes I have
Been conditioned to look for some of these moral victories I found a decent last decent amount last night to be honest with you I don’t want to be this but this is the team that we judge and so therefore that is the thing that I take away from this game yeah and and
And and of course they lost Gordon Hayward in the middle of this game that’s a new one that’s a new one we see losing losing guys that that were actually playing in actual games and then they just dis floor you even see a but I but I but I did think they they
Really missed him in that stretch in the fourth quarter when I thought the offense bogged down a good bit it was like a seven 17 17-2 run uh Doug that one that you were mentioning at one point and they just didn’t get a lot of great shots the Clippers you know kind
Of poured it on on the offensive end against them and they couldn’t find a way to to stop that and they went on that little stretch where it wasn’t pretty to watch but other than that they did have some things that you like to see well and real quickly at the
Beginning it’s them running Gordon Hayward all right so Gordon Hayward dribbles he can’t get past everyone but then he kicks out and then allows everybody else to get a beat on their man whereas if Bridges is attacking he’s looking to score Bryce McGowan’s looking to score even PJ was finishing his twos
Last night so that’s what you’re looking at and when Gordon goes down now you don’t have that initial playmaker where Terry you know that was happening at least in the first half and Terry was firing up some shots also that’s what you would expect from him yeah just it’s
It’s gonna be tough man with with did anyone see no one answered my question did anyone see Gordon Hayward leave I feel like the injury report at the end of this game needed to say Gordon Hayward raptured vanished I didn’t see him leave the bench he was just suddenly
Gone his uniform neatly folded uh on on his seat at the bench um top three passing games just by assist alone was the win in Atlanta to open the season 34 assists but they had 19 turnovers so don’t think you can call that the best passing game the loss to Brooklyn right
Before Halloween they had 33 assists in that game only nine turnovers and then coming in at third tied for third overall assist is this Clippers game with a Miami game and a Washington win on 1110 so those your top passing games yeah and this one this one looked great
Again and again this one is not with lamelo the Brooklyn game lamelo Atlanta game lamelo this one not having him and still finishing up there I just thought they were moving the ball like hell and that was one of the messages from Steve Clifford he was mad against the Nuggets
How they played ISO ball it this team kind of listened a as we talk about the message not getting through to this team one of the number one things Steve Clifford said after the Nuggets game was first half our passing was good second half we were entirely to based and ISO
Offense what happens here they move the ball a lot I that that’s a point for Steve as far as the the old message it just we don’t want to listen to it anymore that happens with every coach about to exit a franchise at least they picked it up here so Kudos Steve kud
They’re moving the ball like hell and Gordon Hayward went to heaven go ahead and take get getting s with it off of that is is Doug Branson all right let’s continue on uh Cody Martin Doug was giving him some praise should we give him some more coming up
Next on the lockdown Hornets podcast sleep on the Hornets just yet how has Cody Martin looked after a long wait in a couple of games back from an injury where he didn’t even play in a Year’s worth of time we’ll get to that in just a moment on lock on Hornets this episode is brought to you by eBay Motors our partners at eBay motors have teamed up with locked on Fantasy Basketball host Josh Lloyd to bring you some of the best fantasy picks each week all season long whether you’re prepping for a daily draft or scouting
The waiver wire every week we’re going to provide you players that are guaranteed to fit on your roster so let’s see who Josh has picked out for this I guarantee you it will not be Mark Williams he is so mad he is so it’s so if you don’t follow him on Twitter
Please go follow Josh Floyd on Twitter it’s so funny to see him be so mad about the Hornets making Mark Williams doubtful for the hundredth straight game what what’s funny is he said I I look my favorite team put out an injury report again he’s just fully leaning into it
And then Mark Williams has listed us out and I think he’s cursing now on Twitter like yes now onew tweets mean why are they not telling me that Mark Williams is just going to be out already why are they just not telling me that one of the
Players that he picked was Dante exom coming I think this is the second time that we’ve seen Dante exom Jason kid said that when healthy the Mavs are still planning on starting exm his shooting will regress but that role is enticing and also Isaiah hartenstein it appears Mitchell Robinson is out for the
Season hartenstein is the clear ad if he’s available I think that was a a long you know Crown Jewel for the Hornets and free agency as bad as that may sound but we just wanted some Center depth and hardenstein was a guy that we were all looking at uh with over 122 million
Parts for your number one ride or die you can now make sure your ride stays running smoothly brake kits LED headlights roof rack bumpers whatever your baby needs eBay Motors has it and with eBay guaranteed fit it’s guaranteed to fit your ride the first time every
Time or you get your money back plus at these prices you’re burning rubber you’re not burning cash keep your ride or die live at ebaymotors.com eBay guaranteed fit only available to us customers eligible items only exclusions apply Cody Martin coming up next all right Doug something we didn’t
Get to yesterday was the turn of Cody Martin after a long wait where just as Josh Lloyd is frustrated with the injury designation of Mark Williams we just had zero information on when Cody Martin was going to be available and also Josh was mad at that too we had plenty of tweets
About that as well with being angry about Cody Martin but we would hear from Steve Clifford I think the most candid he’s been about Cody’s injury has been in his like every week or every two weeks or so appearances with Kyle Bailey where he would tell you every time they
Try to ramp it up with him he just can’t go anymore and then he has a setback and so they’re careful with him he ramps it up he has a setback and that seems in line with what we saw last year so he gets injured within 30 seconds against
The Spurs in that opener then tries to come back plays seven games total doesn’t really have enough to go and here he is Doug where I I think he looks like a trying to get back in the swing of things after a Year’s off worth of time Cody
Martin should look I there was there was the one explosion play where he got the ball unexpectedly about the free throw line and didn’t have a big launching point but just was able to dunk it like in traffic and it’s not like he got a running start so there’s some of that
Explosion I thought if you will might be some fresh legs how do you think Cody Martin looks do yeah fresh legs two-way play the the chase down block that he had I mean he came out of nowhere and you can’t say that about a lot of guys
On this team oh they just came out of nowhere no the the the combination of athleticism and just running back hard is something that this team was was very short on pre Cody Martin coming back and a testament to him that he has looked so
In the groove So Fresh So In Shape he’s obviously and I think we knew this this wasn’t a surprise but he had been working very hard to get back there was no question about that we were I think a lot of Hornet’s fans were frustrated
That he wasn’t back but I don’t think a lot of maybe some Hornet’s fans were were questioning his kind of want to they were it was and that was probably unfair and that was probably unfair based on what we what we what was being reported which is that he really did
Want to get back and play it’s not like they gave him you know some massive world changing contract he’s not making a max deal right I mean he’s playing for his next deal well really he wasn’t playing for his next deal um that that was hurting him so Testament to him that
He stuck with it and and to the team for being patient and obviously we’ve got some games to go before we can really like have a sigh of relief that he’s okay that that we’re not going to see what what happened at the beginning of last season where he plays you know what
A couple of minutes and is out again but he’s made it two games and so you know they were patient with this this and if they can have him for the rest of the season that’s obviously going to benefit this team that needs his Services he’s a
He’s a good player he’s a rotation he’s a solid NBA rotation player which the Hornets desperately need yeah really at what point Doug last night did you say maybe they did keep the right twin okay good good question because a couple of people uh were tweeting about
That so when I said wrong twin here I never hold on hold you’re not even letting me start much less finish when I said wrong twin it wasn’t about Cody Martin’s skill set it was it was about his availability and really it was about what Caleb Martin was doing in Miami it
Was just the contrast of not having what I knew Cody could give this team and what I was seeing happening with Caleb Martin that’s all that was about really I know that I knew then that Cody Martin was a very skilled player and if he was
On the floor he could be an impact player for this team I mean he led the he nearly or did lead the team in three-point shooting for a season and and you know while I think we probably slightly overrate his defensive impact I mean he had a block shot and what two
Steals in this game he was all over the floor had four Ste ex five stocks man like you’re just coming back yeah yeah so I think we slightly overrate his ability to guard like Elite Talent one-on W but he you know he’s an effort player and he was showing it against he
Was showing it against the Clippers yeah he’s an effort player then and that almost feels like a slight or something but he’s he’s really good all around and uh the energy that he gives on like loose balls and and getting those steals it feels like it is um you know
Infectious to the whole rest of the team right like like that brings them up a level and and gives them an extra boost man and so it’s just it’s it’s refreshing to see Hornets fans are so um just gunshot about injuries at this point that it’s it’s it’s understandable
You know when they get frustrated but obviously I’m sure no one was more frustrated than Cody and his inability to get back on the floor but it’s it you can see it in in the team and just in the bounce that that he kind of gives to
The rest of the guys out there that it’s it’s a major boost to get him back and he does look good man I mean I’ll say that like when they’re bringing guys back as long as they can stay on the floor they look like they’re ready to go
Uh and he reminded me of his twin a little bit in those you know in that playoff run last last year because he looks he looks really good they they they just need the bodies man I mean look when you’re matching a Russell Westbrook sub with the ish Smith sub God
Bless it’s well the Thor sub I mean the Thor Thor’s getting the we’re getting less Thor maybe never again Thor he’s getting the dnp with Cody Martin back and why he getting the dnp is because they were losing now look there’s a variety of reasons why they’re losing
Games right now but they were losing games previously because they couldn’t count on one single player Off the Bench giving them eight to 10 points and that’s and that’s part of what Cody Martin represents you can count on him to do that and if need be he can start
And if need be uh he can play a little point guard he’s done that for this team honestly I would advocate for more Cody Martin at this point and more Nick Smith Jr and is Smith that’s what I think should happen oh yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah very
Excited to see Nick Smith come in there uh he gave some Cody Martin like energy uh in my opinion I mean you know he’s a rookie uh so I was watching him on defense waiting for him to just get completely lost or or or or you know
Spun around out there and he really didn’t uh but you know uh he’s he’s very um I know we’re talking about Cody Martin here but I saw a lot of Cody Martin in that Nick Smith Energy uh you know you know he’s he’s really trying hard he’s hitting a three every once in
A while and he feels like another connector and they need somebody out there who can be an inct player and a connector that the ultimate glue guy for them is Cody Martin but it feels like Nick Smith Jr also needs a few more minutes in my opinion it’s just nice to
See him out there what Nick Smith Jr I don’t know if you heard this but Nick Smith Jr was Consulting with Cody Mar on how to slide his feet to be a better Defender and I really do feel like if you’re Nick Smith Jor you’re right
You’re kind of right on the edge of that rotation a little bit of this is about politi and and to get that out there that hey hey coach look who look who I’m talking to hey hey I’m talking to the guy about sliding my feet on defense you
Like that right like I mean I think there’s a little bit of that going on and I think he’s smart for doing that um final thing on Cody Martin I’m excited to see Brandon Miller and Cody Martin play minutes together because I think so much of it has been Brandon being
Getting put on some of the harder assignments with the other Squad and so if you bring in Cody at the two Brandon at the three they play five minutes together before Brandon hit the deck in that first quarter but Cody Martin at the two Brandon at the three then you’re
Talking about PJ miles whoever the center is at that point that’s what I want to see and just how much that freeze Brandon up and offensively what I really like about both of those guys together they actually do something very similarly and that they’re both really good Cutters Brandon more so the sneaky
You’re not paying attention to me so I’m going to make you look like full kind of cut where Cody just is is making the right one where defense is not rotating back in time and he just makes a beine for it on the Baseline and is able to
Get some nice baskets that way I think he’s really good at that so the fact that you could have two lurkers in the corner and then just see if the defense isn’t paying attention or just beats you to the spot and remember they they did a nice job cutting last night that’s how
There were some assists that’s how there were some lobs there were a decent amount of dunks good Dunk game for the Hornets so i’ I’d like to see what Cody and Brandon can do together and then whoever’s your lead guard whoever fills out the rest of your front Court uh you
Had another thought on that before we Mo on the reason why they had a lot of assists it’s it’s really amazing that they had this many assists when they were shooting this poorly from three the paint they were cutting yeah well they were cutting but they were
Finishing at the rim and part of that I think is the the one guy that I also wanted to get to which was Bryce McGaw who was finishing in the lane through contact looking really atic and once again here we are Bryce mcallen’s getting the starting opportunity and
Raising his game and now what I’m what I would like Bryce to do is to filter back to the bench although with Cody Martin back I don’t know he might might filter Way Way Back Into the bench but I’d like to see some of that Off the Bench like
Take those opportunities and do it there too yeah because if lamelo comes back then is it Nick Smith Jr going I mean that’s that’s going to be tough fans aren’t going to be thrilled with Bryce getting the minutes over Nick Smith Jr that if you’re going with no they’re not
Hornets Hive Hornets hi Archy is that something Hornet keep going and Nick Smith Jr is certainly ahead of Bryce Mcall well this is the best two two guard play that the Hornets have had like two guard depth that they’ve had may maybe in franchise history they
Don’t have the best two they don’t have the best two guard in franchise history but just in terms of the number of guys they can count on at that position this is a a pretty crazy time in Hornet’s history with that position in particular crazy time crazy time
But that’s not that’s not again that’s not a that’s not a reflection of the Supreme level of talent that they currently possess it’s a reflection of the the the lack of talent they’ve had they featured at that position oh those many years trust me that’s not why David
And I were laughing we were we got the joke for sure we were not we were not that’s ridiculous they’ve had such an extensive history of two guards in the past that was yes we we get the joke very much so all right one more segment
To go coming up next on the the lock down hornets podcast on the Hornets just yet David’s here so we play some shoe you got and I think Doug is going to just embrace all of the hatred that David had for one player shoes it’s you know we’re only feeding the Beast here
But it’s GNA happen stay tuned to find out how Doug is fed in the last segment of lockdown Hornets this episode is brought to you by game time game time is the only ticketing app that gives you complete peace of mind with your purchase and you can see the view from your seat before you buy so you know exactly what to expect when you arrive all in prices
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This game it that’s what it felt like right they they lose but also it felt like people played well there there were some Hornets that actually played well here what’s another shout you want to give out Doug I want to go back to Nick Smith Jr and Shout out the because he
Hit the three in the fourth quarter and it made me think of a I think the Nick name that I’m going to land on with him if he keeps this up in the fourth quarter if he keeps throwing some exciting plays I’m going to go Nick at
Knight feel like that’s going to be what I land on we’re still workshopping it but Nick and Knight yeah you know especially on the west coast I mean giving me a reason to stay up boy these late tips are brutal but the shout out is not the three-point shot because we
Know he can do that we have some questions about the rest of his game and I think Clifford does as well and I think whether he can improve on those things when he gets opportunities the rest of the season will if if Clifford’s still the coach next season will
Determine you know his spot in the rotation for next year it was two possessions later really the next possession he goes down the floor next offensive possession I don’t know if you saw this he was begging he was wide open on the wing begging for the ball and
Terry Rosier said n Rook I gotta I got to get off the schne here it’s fourth quarter it’s Terry time and he dribble the ever loving bleep out of the ball did hit the floater to be fair uh but Nick was begging for the ball didn’t get frustrated next offensive possession
What does Nick do he fires a perfect pass right into the shooting pocket of Terry Rosier in the corner Terry does a little scary Shuffle hits the three-point shot um and and helps Propel the Hornets into a fourth quarter lead that they would give up but wow Nick
Smith Jr just doing some things again you want to see those improvements throughout the season to defense to passing to just knowing where to be on the floor executing play those are the kind of things that are probably showing up in practice as well and will lead to him eventually
Solidifying a rotation spot on this team um and didn’t foul James Harden on a three-point shot was was was guarding was giving good effort went up to challenge the shot stepped to the side didn’t foul him yeah yeah yeah James Hardon hit hit the three okay but uh but but but for a
Rookie it’s almost like you watch him and you can tell he’s going 110 miles an hour and it’s just like if not to not to say he needs to slow down or or or or not give all that 11% effort but like some of that smoothness to his game
Feels like it’s it’s coming uh but to your point like the passing is is getting there and if he can just kind of get get into a nice zone of of of of off of of playing maybe that comes with more minutes um it feels like he can be a
Decent contributor here last last shout for me whole team and maybe even a little bit more Nick Richards Too teams rebounding better two good basketball teams that played with Denver who has the best center in the league and Joel lmbi might have something to say about
That but we know what it is with joic and you also have the Clippers who are bigger at a lot of different positions maybe not I mean zubot is a good player but Nick Richards had nine and eight defensive rebounds like I’m to the point where I don’t care about the offensive
Rebounds anymore because I know he’s just really good at that how many defensive boards can you get to clean up the possession and get a stop and so nine and eight only outrebounded by the nuggets by one only outrebounded by the Clippers by three I I will I will lose
Rebounding battles if it’s by a combined four against two good teams it’s just it’s better than what we’ve seen we got to the 20s in total rebounds like we we’ve seen that before so right it’s it’s getting cleaned up a little bit here lately but and and I agree Nick
Richards has looked better defensive rebounding wise uh miles Bridges continues to rack up double digit rebounding games those are all important but the Hornets have not been losing the the rebounding battle at The Rim they’ve been losing the rebound battle these like mid to Long rebounds that guards
That every right Clifford talks about this all the time all five guys have to rebound it’s not about Nick Richards it’s not about Mark Williams it’s not about miles Bridges it’s about all five guys and what I’ve seen over the past couple of games is Terry Rosier in
Particular but I saw Cody Martin run down a few loose balls and Nick Smith Jr as well I I thought he was attacking those as well over the past couple of games so that’s what they need they need the guards to step up and go hunt they
Don’t need them running back and trying to get transition buckets and cherry pick they need those guys getting those long to Mid defensive rebounds the Hornets have been doing it finishing possessions that’s going to be key once they get healthy Bryce turned one into a transition opportunity last night early
On and so that was nice too to see a guard get aboard all right it’s time Doug why don’t you set the scene with what you wanted to do here well I just you know I always pay attention to David’s Twitter it’s uh one of my favorite um Twitter accounts uh still
Out there and so uh this one in particular this one in particular pequ my attention for for I think reasons that are going to be obvious to folks out there who have been paying attention to this show for a while so here’s the Tweet uh first I I’ll he it’s actually a
Retweet a quote tweet if you will Nick Paula on Twitter saying Devin Booker is in an Air Max 95 inspired book one tonight iBall emoji and then a quote from Devin book or you’ll see some familiar colorways that you might have seen in the past to which David quote
Tweeted deserves to hit no Shots tonight oh burn on Devin snooker David I don’t understand this at all because I don’t understand sneakers I just recently got another pair of my Jeff Bezos fives from Amazon $43.99 got them on a deal regular price $75 so I don’t understand anything about
Sneakers you have to explain this to me uh because I do love the Deon Booker hate h well yeah and don’t think I’m not fishing a little bit with these Devon Booker tweets just wondering who when I can yeah I know you’re watching out
There so yeah so so this is the uh the Devin Booker uh signature shoe here Walker I don’t know if you’ve been keeping up with these at all this year but what they try to do with the I think it’s the dbook one uh they’ve tried to
Make this shoe look like Devin Booker’s sweatpants which are dusty and cut off the bottom uh they’ve tried to make him like look plain you know it’s this it’s this constant Battle of we need a cool shoe on the court and then we want something we can wear to the club or or
Whatever you know we off the court and to me these are just way too plain and this is not an Air Max just because the colors of the Air Max 95 a classic shoe this doesn’t look like the Air Max 95 the airx 995 is like one of the most uh
Design-wise one of the most forward thinking still to this day shoes that we’ve ever seen and the dbook one is like the complete opposite of that so just slapping these colors on to me doesn’t make this a a a homage to that shoe but yeah he’s put out a ton of
Colorways in this one most of them just end up looking like a tear down I think Nate Jones on Twitter sets a tear down of an Air Force One which again is the plainest shoe out there and this wow what does that mean well just like just like a a um you
Know a tear down of of a a of a real signature shoe so like something that’s that’s that’s not exactly and you know what all of that means you know what all of that means it means that Devin Booker once again is trying to Snooker people first it was basketball fans pretending
Like he was you know a dominant all NBA guard that can win you playoff games can win you finals games just because he can put up 70 doesn’t mean that he’s all of a sudden Michael Jordan here he is snooker consumers with this shoe that
Was a that is really just a tear down of whatever David was saying there the air Air Force 95s is he shering shering is that what he’s doing Maybe not maybe not uh yeah you anytime I try to go there you think something sounds dirty I don’t
Want to well it’s it’s just word you know word Play It’s you got to be careful these days yeah that’s true that’s true all right do we want to dismount on the snooker and the the shooker is that what we want to dis I mean any final I mean look we didn’t
Mention PJ Washington I did mention that bad turnover but I think we should shout out the fact that he gives you 18 points seven of 10 Off the Bench in a game in which the Hornets really struggled to score and eight rebounds like if if PJ could give the Hornets not eight it
Doesn’t need to be 18 but man if he could give the team 13 to 15 points off the bench and eight rebounds really I’m looking at the eight rebounds cuz that tends to be three rebounds not eight rebounds if he could give you that every game this would be a different Hornets team
You could say that about a lot of guys if they could do X then this would be a different Hornets team but they paid PJ Washington I think in particular to give those kinds of performances and we haven’t necessarily seen those consistently well and the so the rebound
Thing whether they this is a different discussion but there’s so many times where if you pay attention to where PJ is he’s so much on the perimeter that he’s always working at a disadvantage unless he’s playing small ball five defensively and so he’s so many times on
The perimeter it’s just harder for get him to get I don’t think he’s a good board getter at all like I’m he’s not good at it but he’s also not put in position to go get those rebounds just because of the way they want to play
Offense and there are times where I mean how many times did you see PJ on the perimeter having to play pick and roll hedging and then trying to put a hand out on some of the three-point Shooters that’s just where he is and so that’s why I think it’s important for Nick
Richards and Mark Williams whenever he comes back sorry Josh whenever he comes back that’s why those guys have to gobble up all of the boards but I I’m with you Doug I thought I here’s what I want from PJ consistently because the shot I the shot’s not falling after he
Was on a tear at the beginning of the season it’s just not falling what did happen I mean I guess to be fair at the the first three games of the year PJ wasn’t hitting from three but he was still performing at a real efficient rate because he was finishing in the
Paint that was playing alongside lamelo ball no miles Bridges now miles comes back when we talk about guys roles switching so much PJ is the first guy you look at because he’s the one that can do it even if it’s not best suited for him so he’s often going to be put in
Way different situations and you’re asking him to do a ton of different things with all of the injuries that the Hornets have suffered and so it’s like I just I just want him to see a 50 game sample where this is your role you get to perfect it and that’s what your
Identity is going to be but can’t do it and that’s just because of all the injuries and so yeah good game from him last night and that’s why I I don’t I don’t leave this game you know angry at anybody thus is the three-legged dog example that’ll do it three-legged dog
Podcast today David Walker helping us out as he does every week you can find him on Twitter uh davidb Walker go check out Doug substack every Hornet boox score.com listen to me on WFNZ every weekday from 12: to 300 PM have a great rest of your day and we’ll be back with you
Tomorrow me
The Charlotte Hornets may have lost their 8th straight game, but do they get the moral victory? David Walker joins the show to partake in the surprising good vibes despite the loss to the Clippers. What positives did they take away? Also, how has Cody Martin looked in his long awaited return?
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10 Comments
How we feeling on mensah?
Did Cliff throw an insult at Mitch after the Clippers game when he said "you need 9 rotation players"?
Cody martin is back. Get his wind back and let him start PG slide Terry SG. Also Cody could run 6th man team instead ISH
Rather find out wsp with Frank & Mark seems more important.
Let Melo heal up not finna go through same episodes like ‘23
Bro what is with these ankle injuries, there’s no way any other team in the league have been through what the Hornets players have been through…idk if it’s needing a new training/medical staff or just incredibly unlucky (cursed)…😂🤯
Doug’s hair is looking darker. Maybe this losing streak is starting to get to him…
It made me sad that Brandon Miller couldn’t match up against Paul George. That photo is going to go on Brandon’s iPhone Lock Screen, you can bet your brother on it.
Hornets played well as a team, but were ice cold from 3. Can't fault their effort and sharing the ball
Happy holidays to you guys walker and Doug I hope you guys had a good 👍 Christmas 🎄 they almost beat the clips you still can see Charlotte has talent they just need to pick up that phone and make a nice trade cuz they going to continue to lose basketball 🏀 games until they make some moves I hope the organization do what's right ✅️ and bring in a veteran leader some time soon good 👍 luck to the hornets 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥
Trading Gordon Hayward 20 is the best decision right now i really believe that its really needed