Charlotte Hornets coach Steve Clifford explains Noah Vonleh’s lack of minutes

The question Charlotte Hornets fans ask me most: “Why isn’t Noah Vonleh playing more?”

Rookie Vonleh was the ninth overall pick in June’s draft. He’s a power forward, which means he’s playing behind Cody Zeller, Marvin Williams and sometimes Jason Maxiell.

Entering Saturday’s home game against the Orlando Magic, Vonleh had played a total of 32 minutes this season over four games (most recently the last seven minutes of a blowout loss in Oklahoma City Friday).

Vonleh had surgery in early September to repair a sports hernia. That cost him the voluntary workouts, where the basics of the Hornets’ system were taught, plus almost all of the preseason.

I asked Hornets coach Steve Clifford to offer specifics why he doesn’t play Vonleh in anything but mop-up minutes right now.

“It’s the speed of the game: to play consistent, regular minutes you have to have a comfort level with how the NBA game is played,” Clifford said. “Unfortunately once the season starts you only have certain stretches of the year where you can practice a lot.

“He’s a 19-year-old who missed all of September, when the foundation was put in, and all of October and is now playing catch-up.

“The thing that gives him a chance is he’s very gifted and a great worker. But it would be tough for anybody” to catch up quickly after missing his rookie preseason.

This story was originally published December 27, 2014 at 7:12 PM with the headline "Charlotte Hornets coach Steve Clifford explains Noah Vonleh’s lack of minutes."