Charlotte Hornets roster not likely to change soon. Why team’s approach may have to
Over his first two seasons as Charlotte Hornets coach, James Borrego made peace with his players’ limitations.
Borrego stopped expecting to be great at both guarding the rim and guarding the 3-pointer. This wasn’t the San Antonio Spurs, where Borrego had been an assistant, full of experienced, versatile defenders. As Hornets coach, you had to choose which mattered more.
Borrego prioritized defending the lane. That’s worked for the most part this season, but not in this five losses-in-six games run.
The Orlando Magic — a team that doesn’t take or make 3s in abundance — hit 19 of 37 shots outside the arc Monday. That’s as big a reason as any why the Hornets lost 117-108.
Borrego was right after the game when he said that sometimes the other team just shoots great. Except that’s happened a lot lately. While the Hornets allow the seventh-lowest 3-point percentage this season (35.1%), they’ve hit an ugly patch recently: Their last five opponents have made 92 of 218 3s — a 42% clip.
Three times in those five games, an opponent has made 19 or more 3s. One game is luck. Two could be a coincidence. But five games giving up an average of 18 3s looks like a trend.
Solid defense overall
The Hornets have been good overall defensively this season when they don’t compromise guarding with a slew of live-ball turnovers. They are 10th in defensive efficiency, giving up 1.061 points per possession.
The challenge is offense. Gordon Hayward has been a great scorer, but after him it’s been up-and-down from Terry Rozier, Devonte Graham and P.J. Washington.
So it’s not just that they’re good on defense. They must be good defensively because they lack the firepower to win any other way.
Giving up all those 3s to the Magic, or 52% shooting to the Chicago Bulls last week, led to losses to peers in the East that they can’t afford in pursuit of the playoffs.
I asked Borrego how he strikes the balance between guarding the lane and not just conceding constant 3-point looks.
“The elite defenses can try to do both,” Borrego said. “Obviously, our No. 1 priority is protecting the paint. We’ve tried to do a little bit of both the last two seasons, and we’ve done neither well.
“We’ve got to do at least one thing well, and I think we’ve done a pretty good job of protecting the paint.”
To zone or not to zone
The Hornets took a hit in the season-opener when starting center Cody Zeller broke the ring finger on his left hand. That put him out a month, and he’s now recovering his rhythm playing off the bench.
Zeller isn’t a great defender, but he is 7-feet tall. With Zeller out, Borrego had to improvise, playing 6-foot-7 P.J. Washington at center more than he wanted. The small-ball lineup, combined with a 2-3 zone about a quarter of defensive possessions, threw some opponents off.
Unfortunately, scouting catches up to every team’s tendencies. Zones give up 3s. That doesn’t entirely explain all these opponent makes, but it’s a factor.
Borrego says he still values the zone as an option. He also said he needs to scrutinize this pattern of open 3s.
Since the roster doesn’t figure to change anytime soon, the tactics might have to.
