The Hornets are young and ‘reckless.’ Fixing one key stat can help make them competitive
James Borrego wants his team playing fast, but the Hornets’ live-ball turnovers have gotten out of control.
With players as new as Charlotte has — new as teammates, and in some cases, new to the NBA — it’s inevitable there was going to be a rise in turnovers this season when playing at a higher pace. However, Borrego has two areas of special focus the last 25 games this season: Trimming live-ball turnovers (change of possession that doesn’t involve a stoppage of play) and improving the rebounding.
Rebounds might be a lost cause until there is some personnel help in the offseason; the Hornets are last in the NBA in defensive rebound percentage, key to limiting opponent points.
But trimming live-ball turnovers — the ones that lead directly to easy opponent baskets — is addressable. The Hornets average the seventh-most live-ball turnovers (or opponent steals) in the NBA at 8.1 per game. The Cleveland Cavaliers commit the most at 9.2.
Point guard Devonte Graham used the word “reckless” to describe some of the turnovers this season.
Borrego sees a pattern: Players getting overly aggressive on the fast-break, trying to create easy scoring opportunities but instead creating points on the opposite end.
“A lot of (turnovers) are coming in transition — sort of a freelance; breakaway plays in transition where there’s not consistent spacing out there. We’re having to make reads on the fly with pace,” Borrego, Charlotte’s second-year coach, said.
“The spirit is right: We’re trying to play fast, we’re trying to get out in the open court, we’re trying to make the right play. A few times we’re fumbling the ball or we’re hitting guys at the wrong time.”
Through Friday, the Hornets had given up the fourth-most points in the NBA off live-ball turnovers this season (592), according to the website pbpstats.com.
Correctable errors
Borrego knew in the preseason turnovers would be an issue for this team. In four of the first five regular-season games, the Hornets committed 19 or more.
The situation has improved: The Hornets now commit the 17th-most turnovers at 14.8 per game, 2 1/2 more per game than the prior season.
But it’s the nature of these turnovers, taking wild risks that lead directly to an opponent fast break, that gives up six or eight points per game the Hornets can’t afford with such a small margin for error.
“We’re young, and kind of reckless, sometimes,” Graham said.
It’s a tough balance to strike because Borrego wants to speed pace when possible and exploit the ability to score in transition. The Hornets are last in the NBA in points-per-game — they need every easy basket.
“You’ve got to try and pick-and-choose the risk you take,” Graham added. “Against some (defenders) some passes are better than other passes. At the end of the day, we’ve just got to take better care of the ball and not give the other team easy points.”
Reality of youth
The path the Hornets set this season of shaking up the rotation and leaning heavily toward youth figured to make this team error-prone. Three of four starters — Graham, Miles Bridges and rookie P.J. Washington — had one or fewer NBA seasons in September. Another starter, Terry Rozier, was new to the Hornets and in a new role, having started just 30 games in four seasons with the Boston Celtics.
The most experienced starter, seventh-season center Cody Zeller, said it takes time to assess that risks that were acceptable at even the highest levels of college basketball aren’t good choices in the NBA. A pass that is a little little late or a little imprecise is picked off by longer, more athletic, more savvy NBA defenders.
“The games are completely different. The college game is very fast but for a lot of these guys, myself included, you could get away with a lot of stuff because you’re bigger and more athletic,” Zeller said.
“In this league, there is so much length, so much experience, that if you’re not on it, not crisp, you can have a lot of turnovers.”
