It seemed like the Hornets had reached rock bottom. Losers of eight straight after an offseason full of hope and promise, things couldn’t get much worse. Then they lost to the Hawks, 105-75. They were down by as many as 44 points to a Hawks team that finished behind them in last season’s Eastern Conference standings.
Explaining the Charlotte Hornets’ terrible start
After making the playoffs in 2014 and an offseason of free agent moves, Charlotte was expected to have a big season. Instead, they’ve been one of the worst teams in the NBA.
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Now 4-14 with the third worst record in the East, if this isn’t the lowest of the low for the Hornets, they’re really in trouble. After winning just 21 games in 2012-13, Charlotte won 43 last season. Then, they made a splash in free agency by signing Lance Stephenson. This season was supposed to at least stay on par with last. Instead, the opposite has happened.
Nothing has clicked for the Hornets, especially in their current nine-game losing streak, where they’ve been outscored by an average of 21.8 points per game.
It’s ugly for Charlotte, and here’s why:
The Hornets are bad at defense again
One of the main reasons for the Hornets surprising 2013-14 campaign was the team defense. After a league-worst 108.9 defensive rating in 2013, first-year coach Steve Clifford oversaw a defense that improved it’s rating to 101.2, which ranked sixth in the league. This year, however, the defense is relapsing. They’re ranked 25th in the league with a rating of 106.0.
They’re bad at offense, too
The offense wasn’t stellar by any means last season, their 101.2 offensive efficiency ranked 24th in the league. This year is even worse, though. At 97.6, Charlotte is ranked 27th in the league, ahead of only Detroit, the Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook-less Thunder, and the lowly 76ers. They’re shooting just 31.8 percent from behind the arc compared to 35.1 percent last season. Kemba Walker’s numbers have dipped significantly compared to last year, he’s scoring just 14 points per game compared to 17.7 last year. He’s shooting 36 percent from the floor and 27 percent from three.
Lance Stephenson isn’t who the Hornets thought he was
It’s hard to place Charlotte’s struggles on one player, but Lance Stephenson’s play is nowhere near the level the Hornets expected. After luring him away from Indiana, Stephenson was expected to be make a big difference for the Hornets. Instead, he’s played at a much lower level while having more responsibility thrust upon him. Stephenson’s numbers weren’t eye-popping in Indiana last season at 13.8 points per game, 7.2 rebounds and 4.6 assists with a PER of 14.7, but this season has been a big step back. He’s averaging just 9.6 points, 7.7 rebounds and 5.4 assists with a PER of 10.5.
The Hornets’ coach thinks Stephenson is having a rough year because of the external expectations. “To be fair, one of the things that’s made it more difficult for him is that he came here and people proclaimed him as the next superstar,” Clifford told ESPN’s Michael Wallace. “He’s not a star. He’s a guy that has talent to become a star. To be a star in this league, you have to do it over years.”
For now, the Hornets don’t need Stephenson to be a superstar, but it would be nice if he played at the same level he was at last season.
Josh McRoberts is missed
McRoberts hasn’t gone into Miami and lit up the scoreboard for the Heat, but he’s certainly missed in Charlotte. Sure, he only put up 8.5 points and 4.8 rebounds per game for the Hornets, but as a front court mate to Al Jefferson, his 30 minutes per game were valuable. Team owner Michael Jordan said McRoberts kept the team organized on the court, calling him a connector. In his wake, Cody Zeller and Marvin Williams have split time, and neither have proven to be much of a difference maker.
Can the Hornets turn it around?
Thankfully for Charlotte, they play in the Eastern Conference. So, even at 4-14, they’re only four games out of the eighth playoff spot at this early point in the season. It seems very feasible they could make up those games as the season progresses if they can get even close to the level they played at last year. But how is that going to happen? Each player is playing at least slightly worse than last season: Al Jefferson is their only consistency, and even his rebounding is down from 10.8 last season to 7.5 per game this year.
Perhaps this is just a slump, but there are so many issues the Hornets need to tend to that a turnaround seems unlikely.
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