Charles Lee praises Hornets' energy, promising look from pair of rookies + more

Charlotte Hornets head coach Charles Lee recaps the preseason opener.

Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

The Charlotte Hornets fell to the New York Knicks at the buzzer on Sunday evening to open up preseason play. Following the game, head coach Charles Lee met with the media to discuss his initial thoughts.

Effort in energy from start to finish

“Really proud of the group. I thought we took another step today. It’s what we’ve been building  and it’s what we preach every day. I thought that the guys took full advantage of the  opportunity today. There were a couple moments where I thought the Knicks, give them credit,  offensively they did some things that compromised some of our defensive principles. We  watched some of it at halftime and I thought the guys came out of halftime with the right  amount of focus. Even in game, trying to adjust some things and our shift activity and being  open minded to guarding different players. … Just really proud of how we chipped away little  by little to keep ourselves in the game.”  

How the team played on the defensive end of the floor

“As you saw today, they’re so bought in. I thought there were a ton of multiple efforts. I thought  there were some plays that just having the discipline in transition to show your hands and allow  other guys to come over and block some shots. I thought our bigs did a great job – Nick  (Richards), Taj (Gibson), Moussa (Diabate) – coming over and blocking some shots, altering  some things. The guys that were in shift activity whenever (Jalen) Brunson was trying to get to  some pull up 2s, and I thought we also had some good corner activity and contests as well. A  really good all-around defensive game from our team.”  

How Tidjane Salaün and KJ Simpson performed in their debut

“Defense leading to offense – I love it. Nothing makes me happier. To see those two rookies  get a chance to play tonight in a close game and a game that we were up and we had to battle  back. You find yourself down and I thought that they just showed you their competitive  character and who they are. I challenged them in one timeout that we have to continue to play  the way that we play, play the way that we built the lead. I thought we just lost our identity for a  second there and we turned it over too many times. Defensively, we were just a little too soft  on the ball, our reds weren’t tight and they got a couple offensive rebounds. Just reminding  them of who we are, and they picked it up really quickly. KJ and Tidjane are going to have a  bright future and I think everyone got to see why tonight.” 

Tidjane Salaün settling in and hitting some shots

"He's got to simplify his game. It's a process of how much you are going to take on on a night-to-night basis, especially on the offensive end. When you are out there playing right now, you're going to be playing with LaMelo (Ball), Brandon (Miller), and Miles (Bridges), and some more veteran players. You have to have really good, consistent, efficient off-ball habits and I think that he kind of settled into that tonight and holding his spacing. He's had a tendency in camp sometimes to slash too much or clog the paint and he really trusted all the work that he's put in and he found himself some good catch-and-shoot opportunities. Outside of the competitiveness, you saw more of his fearlessness and that's why he's going to be a game-changer for this organization."

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