WEEKEND RECAP: Hornets defense dominates, offense fizzles. They need LaMelo Ball back ASAP

WEEKEND RECAP: Hornets defense dominates, offense fizzles. They need LaMelo Ball back ASAP

An interesting weekend to break down in Charlotte Hornets land they did get the win against the Portland Trailblazers last night two and one post All-Star break we’ll break it all down today 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 hornets part of the lock on podcast Network it’s your team every day thanks for making us your first listen we are free and available anywhere you get your pods and as always that includes YouTube this episode is

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Branson you can find his work on his substack every Hornets boox score.com we’ve been referencing old box scores recently too so make sure you go check out every Hornets box score.com and you can listen to me on WFNZ every weekday from 12: to 3 on Weston Walker 927 FM

We’ve been referencing old box scores doug because on this West Coast road trip this little mini one they have after the All-Star break they’re making history with a couple of these victories I I I got to tell you I don’t think I realiz ized how long it had been since

The Hornets beat Utah in Utah they did so right out of the All-Star break and that was for the first time since 2006 the box score was great the starting lineup was excellent they had Jermaine Jones in there they had Primos breik in there so that was fantastic and then

Something very similar takes place last night the Hornets get their first win against the Trailblazers in Portland for the first time since 2008 now this is a different Bobcats box score I know you can reveal some of the names there with 2008 but it’s the first time that

They’re able to get these wins and like I guess we’re creeping up on what 15 years you know more than 20 years you for in the Utah sake we’re almost there it’s crazy to see that they’re able to do this but they win 93 to 80 it’s insane because when they win from

Bobcats to Hornets it’s hard to remember but there were good years there was 2015 I thought about this too I thought the same thing it’s funny like it’s the first time the Hornets even though the Bob cats are the most clowned team understandably like I I get it

Understandably in NBA history but it’s like it’s the first time since the Bobcats were the team to accomplishment accomplish this you know all the way back in the 2000s well listen it’s difficult to travel out west so I mean it I guess it makes sense that the droughts were in

Portland and then Utah you’ve got some elevation issues there in Utah as well so you know I I guess it kind of makes sense uh but it is a perfect storm of things happening right now to exercise those demons you have the Hornets coming off the break they were coming in with

Momentum they’ve got new players they are playing uh at least with energy on the defensive end of the floor maybe not so much on the offensive end of the floor and then Utah uh got worse after the deadline and and they weren’t good to begin with and then you’ve got

Portland which is their seller dwelling and really like if you looked at the injury report uh pregame which then the Hornets would then match by by resting Seth Curry I mean these are two teams that were doing a little battle here for for some tanking I think and Portland

Won that battle but a perfect storm here for the Hornet to exercise some demons so it was it was fun to see ugly game to watch against Portland ugly game that wasn’t fun it was nice to get the win but it wasn’t fun to watch 93 to 80 as I

Mentioned the Hornets didn’t get over 25 points in any of these quarters but they were just a couple of points away every single time and Portland just to paint their pict picture how about three of 32 from the three-point line I they kept taking them they just kept taking them

And taking them and taking them and missing every single one near about 35% from the field just from the field straight up and 9% nine on 30 attempts from three-point range H fruit salad yummy yummy Doug this one was tough oh man yeah so shout outs to Mike Richmond

Our guy uh for locked on Blazers we know your pain like it’s not as if we’re definitely not making now right we get to make them it’s weird uh yeah it was bad and Anthony Simons was really their main offensive weapon certainly Jeremy Grant can score as well but he had a

Tough night too but Simons I mean well but credit to the Hornets defense because I think they came in with a game plan of like we’re going to double Simons a lot we’re going to take him away side pick and roll we’re not going to let him try to get middle of the

Floor and uh and it worked and it took him out of rhythm and I think he was like one of 14 for a while and he finished four of 21 from the field for only 10 points like if you hold that guy you know and and they’re missing you

Know scoot didn’t play in this game uh they they’ve got several injuries uh that they were dealing with uh sharp Shaden sharp wasn’t in this game either so you know you hold that guy to 10 points and you’re you’re you’re probably going to have a good time and I thought

First half defense was really great second half defense held on but overall sloppy game from the Hornets offensively bad turnovers all over the place Bridges turning it over uh Brandon Brandon Miller turning it over a lot yeah and the Saving Grace for them offensively was that you had this like Cody Martin

Especially in the third quarter Cody Martin connection with Nick Richards who was dominating Aiden inside and they were zoning up against Aiden so Aiden had a good game and it wasn’t really particularly Nick Richard’s fault that Aiden had a good game but but Nick Richards gave it back to him 21 points

10 rebounds in this one um he was second half was was excellent I think 17 points is that right seven 17 scored in the second half for he’s the only one that looked like he had any energy and like wanted to win the game I mean him and

Martin and I think meic those are sort of my three stars wasn’t Bridges wasn’t Miller I think it was those three guys who kind of stepped up and and got them kind of drugged them to this win had they played any other team Walker I mean I’m including the Wizards I’m including

The San Antonio Spurs who they lost to Detroit they they only it BYT of the and cff hit the on the head at the end of the game they’re they’re trying you know they’re sloppy they’re not doing the right things offensively they’re not moving the basketball but defensively they’re

Trying and that will you know against a team like Portland will help kind of get you kind of grit your teeth and and get you through the game what which which shows you even with Portland already being bad at full health and and they also are missing a couple of guys that’s

Something that is you should you should walk away with a victory this is one where I don’t even know what the line was on this game Doug but if if we’re talking injuries maybe with home court being there maybe Vegas is still dis disrespecting the Hornets at a level

That had them as underdogs I felt as a new looks Hornets fan I felt like they should win this game and they did but I think you’re right too man it’s weird like they they held Portland to 80 points and I think the defense was good but I think there were even problems

Defensively at a couple of different places especially in the second half I thought there were some of those issues but either way they’re still trying and I think they’re just maxing out at what they can do and they are dealing with some injuries themselves are the Hornets as you mentioned Seth Curry’s not

Playing and then of course Doug we just haven’t seen lamelo come back lamelo I I was hopeful at so once All-Star break was over they start with a backto back I thought okay it makes sense to not suit him up against Utah because you have Golden State the next night so maybe

What they do is they just play lamelo against Golden State you get the kind of fanfare Marquee matchup so whatever doesn’t play there then you wait a couple of days doesn’t play against Portland so I I’m not telling you that I’m really really worried but man like I

At least I made some I was able to find some Solace and okay well maybe he just comes back the second night of a back toback I expect him to come back at some point we’re still waiting a little bit and I I hope we don’t have any more many

More out designations for lamelo well will that some point come before they are fully fully fully out of the playin race because I just I just saw news come across my timeline that Trey young is going to be re-evaluated in four weeks and Atlanta sits right there on the on

The last playin spot and so you know the Hornets playing better four out of the last five or wins but it’s a tough schedule coming up they’ve still got games again they’ve got a game against the Bucks coming up they play Philadelphia and this stretch of games despite you know being somewhat rested

Coming off and and certainly tanned coming off of the uh Allstar break they they still are in a weird stretch of games where you’re not getting two nights off for a while and and that can be taxing especially when you factor in that they’ve had to go immediately out

West and and and play you know a tough team in Golden State and so they’re being challenged right now and everything that we talk about in terms of criticisms of the offense in terms of the decision making whether it be from from Bridges or Miller or Grant Williams

I thought had a tough game against Portland decision-making wise all this stuff really tangentially means one thing the Hornets need lamelo ball back in the lineup if they have a puncher chance at making this 20 out of 28 Miracle run that they’ve got to make to get into the play

End because they need his playmaking they need his shooting they need uh just his ability to take over in a fourth quarter and drag them offensively uh to a victory that’s what they need they need that star power all this there was some Whispers you know after they

Started off so well with the new crew they’re like oh well I don’t know if they even need lamelo anymore and that’s crazy like you need talent to win in the NBA and lamelo when he healthy is extremely talented they need him look two losses of bton and Curry look what

It’s done to the offense like this is still a team despite getting better after the trade deadline this is still a team with thin thin thin margins you cannot lose guys and you need lamelo back you absolutely need lamelo back that any anybody say it’s it’s one of

Those it happens all the time a star goes out wait you know does it does it actually help this team that they’re not relying so much on the star now everybody’s eating and maybe it makes them better when he’s out you see this with a bunch of different teams it’s not

True there it’s not true with lamelo they need lamelo back pretty badly offensively as well I’m just not as badly as before because you were relying on guys that had played 20 games ever in an NBA career and now you have meic who yeah hadn’t played a lot in the NBA but

We know what he did with Euro league and you have Trey Mann who at least has been in the league a couple of years and is talented enough so yeah may you didn’t need him as badly but you still need him badly like let’s not get it too Twisted

Here and hopefully lamelo comes back sooner rather than later maybe we finish up some of these thoughts on Portland and then we go to that Golden State game coming up next on the lock on Hornets podcast don’t go to sleep on the Hornets just yet B Golden State game lasted

Forever it was brutal it was stinky as well yes Doug is holding his nose for a good reason and the other reason that it lasted so long is because there was a little Kur fuffle at the end that prolonged this and so then we were watching not the game but the fight

Quote unquote we’ll talk about that in just a moment un locked on before we get to the Kur fuffle as I like to say Let’s uh talk about grammarly first this episode is brought to you by grammarly no matter what kind of work you do how you communicate is

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Grammarly.com SLP podcast that’s grammarly.com g r mm a r l y grammarly.com podcast easier said done go to grammarly.com more lock on Hornets ahead I just finishing up some Portland thoughts here recently don’t have too much to add I I will say like so all of the problems going back to not

Having lamelo I think that’s 85% of the problems right now I do think there’s one other thing that’s happening I think Mark Williams being out does have an impact too and I think what’s happening is that’s because of lack of big man depth and so Doug Grant Williams

I thought the first three games they played before the allar break I thought Grant defensively was good I thought he was again stop stopping those guys from getting any momentum down low and it was really tough to gain leverage on Grant because he is such a strong dude and

He’s not afraid to use his body whatsoever and that’s true even these next couple of games I do think though like it we are seeing somewhat of a similar problem even when PJ was in there you know the the rebounding is a different story but okay they were

Getting hurt defensively even when PJ was at the center position PJ has a longer wingspan and is taller and that’s something that I think would help contesting shots at The Rim Where gr is just giving you none of that either and I think that you’ve seen some of those

Deficiencies even still with the big man depth or lack thereof and so when Nick Richards balls out like Nick Richards was good last night and you’re right I thought he was one of the more energetic guys you still have this problem of when Nick Richards goes to the bench then

They’re a little susceptible down low whereas when Grant is hitting shots like he was what was it against Utah then who cares like if Grant goes six three-pointers then Utah is the one with the problem and they have to adapt to us not the other way around and so they get

The win against Portland but I do think the big man def you just need one other tall guy I because now it’s when Nick Richards needs a breather you can’t go anywhere remember Nathan Minah used to be kind of that but it’s still way better to play Grant Williams small ball

5 than it is Nathan Minah and so Mark playing himself that would be great but also having some big man depth and we don’t even know when Mark’s coming back we we’re getting close to that timeline Mitch cup gave us in post trade deadline media availability so that will be

Another thing to keep an eye on yeah I mean it’s it really all comes down to how often you have to play Grant Williams at that Center position like I think it’s super effective if you give it to teams in doses but if teams have

Time to adjust to it if teams have time to stretch Grant Williams out a little bit then that’s that’s where the problem comes look they had Portland had 22 offensive of rebounds in this game you typically lose those games that’s how bad Portland was offensively that they

Were able to the Hornets were able to overcome the fact that they gave up 22 offensive rebounds and and they had a ton of turnovers too like again you lose that game against any other team except this miserable Portland team and so yes I totally agree I would expect I think

If Mark Williams is going to miss the rest of the season and the Hornets stay you know flirting with that final play in spot or they they climb their way in I would expect the Hornets to play this uh balen guy that they got from Milwaukee uh because I just don’t think

You can sustain as much play at the center position as we’ve seen from Grant Williams and you’re you’re totally right if Grant Williams is hitting a bunch of three-point shots net rating wise offense to defense and all the rebounding stuff you just throw you throw that out the window uh but if he’s

Not hitting shots then it’s a problem which is the difference right because PJ was so inconsistent from three but Grant isn’t like Grant’s just pretty much a legitimate good three-point shooter and so you probably have something more reliable there offensively than you did with PJ and so that is the difference at

Least like you know on a night in Night Out basis what you’re going to get where the problem with PJ offensively was while he was finishing a lot better at The Rim the three-point ball after the first three years in the league just wasn’t as effective and so those are

Some people love making the grant PJ parallels like there there are some similarities but you have a lot more reliability on oh I I know what I’m getting offensively from Grant if if he can make threes great if not it’s going to get a little wonky and and a little

Troublesome so they’ need big man dep that’s what they need at the center position let’s go to Golden State man Golden State look terrible game um me 90 style Rock fight is what I called it they fight yeah there yes I I’m pretty sure I saw Jeff Van Gundy

Dragging somebody’s ankles there or holding on to him at some point so you we can go to some ugly basketball you know meic God bless him Eric Collins felt worse for meit than I’ve seen him feel in a while for a Hornets player because it had been back-to-back games

Where he just couldn’t buy a shot and golden state was no different he was four of 13 but two of seven from three-point range he got it going a little bit later either way they lose 97 to 84 not really the story the story is at the end of this

Game uh God what’s his name it’s it’s it’s Lester kones Lester konz konz thank you Lester konz decides to cut towards the basket at the end when it was already over there was a couple of seconds on the shot clock and he decides to go try to hit a bucket and Miles

Bridges takes Umbridge with it so Miles uh miles Umbridge miles Bridges um Bridges if you will miles on Bridges there we go go you found it you found it we did Miles um Bridges goes to known as and has a problem and gives him a little

Shove Doug and Lester was about it so he’s he’s about it going face to face with miles but then Grant Williams talk about all about the smoke runs in from you know way far out on the opposite end of the Court he runs in gets in his face

Konz calls him the b word like with the most emphasis on that b word I’ve ever seen just I mean you could read it from you know four miles away you could read his lips oh I know exactly what he said I don’t need a magnifying glass nothing

So all of that happens whatever Unwritten rules of basketball draymond’s comments we can get to those in a second I think people are missing the miles Bridges aspect of this everybody is discussing draymond’s comments on Grant Williams he’s a fake tough guy then saying Draymond doesn’t have any

Self-awareness all that can be true whatever right I thought watching miles was interesting here Doug because miles has a problem at first gives k as a little bit of a push he backs up he bucks up to him miles understanding the situation he starts to walk away and

Then so now right you have you have a group of people Brandon Miller’s in there Grant Williams you know a few Warriors players but where’s miles miles is not off in the distance miles away not miles away there you go buddy this is tough but we’re it they need to be

Said so he’s a couple of uh of steps away from the group and he’s talking to I think the official on the sideline or whatever to me like this is still real recognition on mil’s part understanding even if we’re post All-Star break even if we’re you know multiple games away from what’s happened

Off court and why I got suspended he knows he can’t do that stuff right now and I’m not even trying to give him credit I just think we see miles operate very differently in that situation pre felony domestic violence arrest remember we saw it in the playin game where he’s

Throwing a mouthpiece he gets ejected we’ve seen that miles before where we were already saying ah he’s he’s a little too hotheaded before like maybe we calm down a little bit that was even before he had the arrest happened you know a couple of offseasons ago I think

Miles Bridges is very different in that interaction than what we saw like usually and that was our first time seeing it good I guess I mean from a lot of different perspectives right because the Hornets can’t the right play I’m sorry I know I talked

Lot no it’s the right play I didn’t mean to say it’s just it’s it’s the right play for Miles I just thought that was interesting because usually we’ll see something different from him yeah yeah I mean hopefully you don’t and and now this wasn’t like a critical situation

For the Charlotte Hornets this the buzzer it already sounded you know I think his he will have more tests like this to to pass um in terms of his growth and maturity as a player as a leader on on this team and he is that you know despite everything that’s

Happened there’s no doubt about it he is a he is a leader on this team and so uh he has to act like it and I I mean I’ve got I’ll just give you kind of Rapid Fire my thoughts on this fight first of all KES first of all KES Bush League

Like you know go back to playing your couple minutes off the bench like that’s it’s Bush League don’t do that but also miles Bridges you know don’t let him score like I I will have the same opinion about this kind of thing every single time which is if you don’t want

The team to do something Bush League don’t allow them to do something Bush League like if if we just talk about this game in general the Hornets LA and I know look playe troubles didn’t get into the hotel till 3:00 a.m. uh second night of a back toback blah blah blah

Blah blah if you don’t have energy you don’t have energy okay and you showed it all game offensively you didn’t have you didn’t have the smoke so don’t have the smoke after not having the smoke pick one or the other that’s all I’m saying and then on the Grant Williams fake

Tough guy stuff well sir I’ll say this having a fake tough guy on this team would be a significant upgrade to what this team had before which is very real weak guys like they didn’t have any they didn’t have any tough guys fake or otherwise so having someone that will

Step up and defend other players and you want that off your bench by the way you want you don’t want that your star players doing that or getting into any kind of trouble but I love too Grant Williams first everyone in the NBA is a fake tough guy let me just say that

Right now they they make so much money that’s the that’s the they don’t want to lose money they don’t they they’re smart enough now to understand hey I’m going I would rather miss a game because I’m resting a hurt knee than miss a game because I’m injured and the biggest

Criticism for Draymond is that he doesn’t understand that that’re like hey your team needs you to play in games so please don’t miss games for something silly like putting another player in a headlock so Props to Grant Williams for going in there and saying hey if you if

You mess with us you know I’m going to get in your face and tell you about it okay okay and there will be the threat there is the threat of something happening but something didn’t happen and I think that’s important too because the Hornets can’t stand to miss anyone

Grant Williams Seth Curry davish patons all the way down the line maybe they can AFF uh uh you know afford to miss you know Bryce McGaw or JT Thor but that’s the extent of it like you you can’t miss any of these new guys well and and Draymond it’s like hey Draymond yeah

You’re calling him a fake tough guy you’re saying he’s a real nice dude and he’s a part of the Players Association he’s the vice president you know he can’t come out here acting like he’s all tough Draymond it’s called range and complexity of emotion like you can have

More than just be the grumpy dude constantly and try to fight people like you can do more than that believe it or not the human body the human brain it is capable of more emotions than just anger and aggression like that is something that is possible and I think when Grant

Williams sees that when he sees his teammates mixing it up then the nice guy does decide that you know what I’m going to defend my group it’s the classic that it’s kindness is mistaken for weakness and just because Grant Williams might be a nice dude off of the Court we know

That Grant Williams also is going to be here for defending his teammates it didn’t seem like he was as ready as anybody else was like I’m not saying that Grant Williams was ready to throw a punch but nobody threw any real P I guess konz did but like we’re talking

About miles or Grant Williams being ready for pretty much everything else that everybody else was right like he at least at very at the very least matched everyone’s energy and then Draymond is one miles can do can do no wrong in my book okay I get why you said it Michigan

State you share an agent okay what still that’s problematic and then you say Grant Williams is a fake tough guy all right just you know Draymond it’s called good judgment Draymond doesn’t understand that but it’s called good judgment oh man all right let’s move on

One more segment to go coming up next on the lockdown Hornets podcast don’t go to sleep on the Hornets just yet we’ll give you some of the finishing thoughts on Portland on Golden State what’s expected injuries all that good stuff we’ll finish up with some of the other content

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Lockon more lockon Hornets ahead okay Doug so the Hornets have been playing significantly better they’re playing like a real NBA team since they traded for all these guys but you mentioned how golden state was a rock fight that was hard to watch and then against Portland that one was hard to watch and

The only reason they they win that game is because of good defense but also Portland they got lucky with the three-point shot like Portland going three for over 30 is is pretty tough and you mentioned it too like it feels like they lose that game if it’s anybody but

The Trailblazers that they’re going against how haunted is the house still that Steve Clifford is coaching especially with lamelo not out there on the floor well you have some injuries again right I mean you have the Davis Burton’s hyperextension of the knee uh I don’t think that that’s like major

Serious uh but it has kept him out of two games now and then Seth Curry that felt like a maintenance hey it looks like poor ly they were already bad and now they they’ve got a couple of injuries a couple of guys that they were holding out so maybe we just get him

100% that’s what it seems like but it’s it is going to anytime anyone is injured on this team it’s going to scare fans and think that the house is still haunted so yes they are they are working to exercise demons like they did against Portland and Utah but there are still a

Few ghosts hanging around the house um and and the tension is still high and the margins are still thin and you know I think Walker when you look at the offensive struggles because defensive rating wise they’re the best they’re the best team defensively in the NBA since

The All-Star break number one and yet net rating wise they’re like hovering around the bottom of the top 10 because the offense has been lagging significantly behind the defense and I think it again it all goes back to lamelo’s absence but but even taking a

Finer look at it I think when the TR deadline players started to come into the lineup you saw Bridges and Brandon almost take a sigh and exhale of relief because they had been holding so much of the team’s responsibility offensively in their hands and it wasn’t going well it

Was resulting in turnovers it was resulting in one pass or one pick possessions and pull-ups contested pull-ups and and bad misses that then hurt your defense because you had to get into transition all the time and so they they started to seed a little bit of the responsibility to those other players

And it was guys like man and meic and Grant Williams who weren’t afraid to move the basketball around the floor now all of a sudden the ball zipping around four or five pass possessions defenses don’t know what to do they were catching teams off guard then they get into

Golden State and you had all of the difficulty with the second night of the back toback and the hotel and not getting in and such and such and such came out with bad energy they faced a little adversity got into that Rock fight couldn’t do anything offensively

And now you see the the followup in Portland is that you once again Bridges and Miller are taking more of that offensive playmaking responsibility and not exactly able to do positive things with it consistently enough to produce good offense you have Brandon Miller who for some reason is putting like so much

Mustard on these passes to Nick Richards I’m afraid like Nick Richards just going to come up with like a hole in his hand at one point where the basketball has just completely gone through his hand there was one in particularly hot one that he tried to deliver yeah hot

Salamis into Nick Richard it is crazy you have you have miles Bridges he gets a bad pass to Miles Bridges or not a great pass and he catches it sort of awkwardly in a position underneath the basket where his his back turns to the basket all he has to do is just dribble

It out there’s plenty of time there’s like 13 seconds left on the shot clock dribble it out one or two more passes get a better shot instead he just like quickly Chucks it up and then Portland takes that into transition and scores it’s decision making that is killing the

Hornets right now it’s not it’s not even shots on the offensive end it’s just such poor decision making and it’s happening at the top and I think that’s why you need lamelo back in there so that these guys don’t feel like it’s all on them to fix it well and and even so

Lamelo I think some people would criticize that they don’t like lamelo’s decision- making all that much it’s just that lamelo is so good with the ball in his hands out at the perimeter that he’s going to create something and that’s how he’s able to create something for

Everybody else that they don’t have to shoulder all that responsibility which is a big deal Brandon Miller even when he took over for that stretch that Lamela was out and he had the great January uh he he was he was very good so even when he has that crazy month it

Still feels like Brandon is better as that secondary ball handler that you don’t want to put him at the point guard all the time and that’s that’s even with him still being able to play point guard and a pinch for sure same thing with Miles Bridges we know that about miles

Like that’s not anything new so when lamelo comes back in man it’s just more talent and then when you’re when you’re injecting that kind of talent that was playing at a certainly All-Star level before he was hurt then it feels like everybody should be better right Brandon

Miller being fed in open spots same thing with miles we know the two-man game between Melo and miles is so good and Nick Richards being fed some lobs so yeah man I and and now what’s exciting is lamelo and meic out on the floor at the same time it’s going to be the

Electric Factory out there like that would be so fun to see the kind of crazy passes that’ll be rolling around so once lamelo it’s we want him back man we want him back and hopefully he can come back sooner rather than later don’t know exactly when that’s going to be yeah we

Should talk more extensively tomorrow when David’s on the show about this idea of starting Trey man only playing him 24 minutes he’s really like a bench starter and then not closing the game with him and instead Clifford goes to meic we should talk extensively about that but

Just to relate that to what we’re talking about here I think that’s happening less because of what Trey man is or isn’t contributing and more about Clifford needing someone out there that can make a good decision with the basketball in their hands and make good passes and and meic gives you more of

Those than man does and it’s also about him wanting to stick with Cody Martin in these closing lineups s because Clifford trusts Cody Martin more than any other player on this team to shut down the opposing team’s best player and look so far you cannot argue with the results

He’s done it to Trey young he did it to Simons um he he’s out there balling out and and look man is too man is has a crazy step back jumper every single game they go wow and he starts every game you know getting out of the passing lanes

And getting deflections there’s not I I can’t find much wrong with what man’s doing it’s that just a couple of players on the lineup are doing certain things better that than he is and and it’s forcing him out of the lineup I think when when lamelo comes back you could

Still make an argument for man starting um but but so much of their problems are because they don’t have enough playmaking on the floor yeah yeah that’s true all right we’ll see when lamelo can come back Mark Williams and Seth and Davis yeah you’re right the house still

A little haunted think just just a little bit just a little bit but hopefully they exercise those demons as they go on that’ll do it for lock on Hornets thanks for making us your first listen we’re free and available anywhere you get your podcast and that includes

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The way with us being on YouTube Doug people are starting to see our bright and smiley and shiny faces and so people are shouting us out which is my favorite and any time I’m at Hop fly I saw my guy Ben big shout out to Ben who watches the

Podcast and listens to us we really appreciate everybody’s support mentioned me I mean it’s fine about you but did he say anything about me okay great he did he did he made sure to say that Doug was the man and that he was you were his

Favorite and um I’m not lying about any of that so big shout out to Ben we really appreciate it uh YouTube wherever you get your pods and then of course make sure you check out lockdown NBA and the lockdown 247 stream on YouTube all of the great content that lockon podcast

Network has to offer have a great rest of your day we’ll be back with you tomorrow

What a wild weekend. Walker and Doug breakdown Charlotte’s victory over the Trailblazers in Portland for the first time since 2008. Despite the win, the guys realize Charlotte has reached its limit without LaMelo Ball. Finally, LOH transitions into the kerfuffle between Charlotte and Golden State at the end of Friday’s game.

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