Hornets’ health is betraying them again. Should there be concern it keeps happening?
In keeping with the holiday theme, just days after giving fans a gift that had barely been used, the Charlotte Hornets probably could’ve benefited from a receipt.
Perhaps they can still get a little store credit.
With so many pieces missing, something is surely required for Hornets fans to feel any sort of positivity from a situation that changes seemingly by the hour.
Remember when Charlotte finally reached full strength 12 days ago, bringing the quartet of LaMelo Ball, Miles Bridges, Brandon Miller and Mark Williams together for the first time in nearly a calendar year, only to see Miller go down with a sprained ankle in the fourth quarter?
Well, it’s happened only once again since and good health was an issue for them again Saturday night. Ball, Miller and Cody Martin sat out the Hornets’ 106-94 loss to Oklahoma City at Spectrum Center, leaving Charlotte shorthanded against a team expected to contend for the Western Conference title.
The absence of the Hornets’ two-headed tandem of Ball and Miller made it awfully difficult to keep pace with the Thunder, sending Charlotte to its seventh straight defeat. The Hornets (7-24) have won only once in 16 outings since Nov. 23. That’s how rough of a patch they’re in.
“Obviously, right now we are in a little bit of a slump,” Williams said. “I think for us we’ve almost got to remember the feeling of winning again. Just the joy that brings, the vibes. And just continuing to get that back. I think right now we almost, like, forgot. We are always just fighting. We’re playing hard; it’s not like we aren’t playing hard.
“There’s flashes of good things we’re doing. I think it’s just getting over that hump for us is going to be the biggest thing. We can do it. I know we can do it. Every day in practice and obviously games, we are doing everything we can to be the best versions of ourselves. Eventually that’s going to turn the corner and it will.”
Currently, however, the path feels like it mirrors the length of the John Belk Freeway. Continuity with the Hornets falls right in line with finding a parking space at the mall during the latter weeks of December: It’s nearly impossible and nothing short of a holiday miracle.
“The message is that we’ve got to be obsessed with daily improvement,” coach Charles Lee said. “I think some adversity is (evident) in life and in basketball, and it’s going to happen. So, we just have to be prepared to handle it the best that we possibly can. And I think that the mindset that we come to work with every day, the mindset for every game, the competitiveness, the togetherness is just important to withstand.
“Everyone’s journey is different. There’s no quit in this team and there’s a ton of fight, which is what I love. Because that’s what it’s going to take. Nobody’s going to feel sorry for us. Life doesn’t feel sorry for you. The world keeps spinning, and so you’ve got to figure out how do I just kind of reset and refocus and come with the right attitude to try to make a change? And a lot of that has got to be your actions.”
If nothing else, the lack of on-court time is hurting the Hornets as they attempt to assess what they have moving forward. Without actually seeing how certain lineup combinations fare, and testing out particular schemes drawn up back in the summer and early fall before the season even began, truly analyzing the roster becomes a chore.
Especially for a first-year coach who’s trying to build and establish a culture.
“I think reps are important,” Lee said. “You can’t simulate or just talk through what we should do as a group. You’ve got to be able to go on the court and do it. The more practice days you have, days that you can actually have all five guys available and playing a game, it just really helps.
“It helps you gather some data. I think you’ve got to go through some things. You’ve got to be able to communicate during some tough times and you’ve got to be able to communicate when things are going well and tell the guy what you see. That’s when the chemistry and the cohesion are kind of built, and we haven’t had a lot of reps to be able to do that whether it be practice or games. I do think in some of the small sample size, we’ve seen some great things.”
The key is to witness it a little more, though.
“It’s difficult — obviously we’ve had more injuries than we’ve wanted,” Josh Green said. “But at the end of the day, I feel like that’s also the NBA. There’s always injuries and for us to be successful, it doesn’t take three guys. The whole team needs to be ready to play. Yeah, it’s very unfortunate we haven’t had our starting group. I think maybe one game we’ve had them.
“But we become a better team when we can win without them. And when we get them back, we become an even better team. That’s the way I look at it. Injuries suck, but there’s nothing you can do about it. They need to make sure their bodies are right. And we back them and know they’ll be ready when they’re ready.”
Why no LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller, Cody Martin?
Listed as questionable heading into the game, LaMelo Ball (left ankle soreness/right wrist soreness) and Brandon Miller (left ankle soreness) ended up being spectators against the Thunder, and they were joined by Cody Martin (left knee soreness), who was added to the injury report about five hours before tipoff.
So, why exactly were the Hornets down two starters and without a key reserve? Lee said it resulted from Thursday night’s loss and carried over once the team arrived back home and prepared for its game against the Thunder.
“I just think some of their nicks and bruises from that Washington game, they weren’t as comfortable that we were hoping they were going to be,” Lee said. “And I think those nicks and bruises were just not in a good place to be able to go out and play tonight.
“We will continue to work with them, and treat them and figure out what the game plan is going forward.”
Tre Mann update
A familiar face made the rounds on the court before the game, making sure to check in with some former acquaintances he had been with this time a year ago.
It was Tre Mann, who’s missed the last 16 games with disc irritation in his lower back. Mann got in a little individual workout prior to the Hornets’ matchup against Oklahoma City, the team he spent the first two-plus seasons of his career with before getting traded to the Hornets in February.
Apparently, Mann is feeling better and progressing. He’s slowly increasing the intensity of his individual sessions and the team expects an update on his re-evaluation at some point early next week leading into the new year.
“I think that he’s made some positive steps,” Lee said. “I was joking with him (Friday). It looked like he had a little more pep in his step, and so I was glad to see that. I think as i was impersonating how he was walking the last couple of days with a sore back, I ended up with a sore back right afterward. So, karma is tough.
“But I think that he’s definitely making some good strides.”
Someone who saw Mann up close with the Thunder is pleased the 23-year-old seems to have found a home with the Hornets quickly.
“I’m really happy for him, first of all,” Oklahoma City coach Mark Daigneault said. “I was so impressed with a young player that’s on his rookie contract that was here whose role declined over time, and his investment in the team didn’t decline with it, and I think that’s a very uncommon quality and it speaks to how team-oriented he was and how high character he is as a person.
“I think as a result of that, you will not hear anybody in our organization have a bad word to say about him. In fact, we’re rooting for him, and when he was really rolling early in the season, it was fun to watch, and I was really happy for him. I’m hoping he gets back healthy as soon as possible because he deserves all the success he gets.”
