Diving in on the Hornets' Biggest Problem

It's no secret that rebounding has to become more of a priority for Charlotte.

One of the biggest problems the Charlotte Hornets had a year ago still exists today - rebounding the basketball. Charlotte traded for Montrezl Harrell at the deadline last year, which helped improve the numbers some but he's more known as a finisher around the basket than he is a rebounder.

This offseason, the Hornets didn't do much to address the issue as the only move they made in the frontcourt was selecting Mark Williams in the first round of the 2022 NBA Draft. The problem with that is Williams is a project. He's not ready for serious NBA minutes quite yet, so to bank on Nick Richards and Kai Jones to help Mason Plumlee improve those rebounding numbers is quite the ask. 

Richards has played much better than anticipated and at times, has looked like the best big the Hornets have. Jones, although he plays the five some, is more of a four in my eyes. He doesn't have the size and strength to go up against the likes of Joel Embiid, Bam Adebayo, and so on. 

When you look at the box score at the end of the game, rebounding may not seem like a big problem. But sometimes the numbers lie and in this case, they do. It's situational rebounding that has haunted this team the most. End of half, end of game, failing to box out on free throws, you name it. And last night it reared its ugly head once again.

“We’ve got to get that rebound (at the end)," head coach Steve Clifford said. "It’s the second game this year, you make one play and they’ve got to foul, we’re up two. That’s the biggest play. I mean, the beginning of the fourth, yeah, that was a problem, but they’re going to make a run. They’re going to come back with their guys, so the game’s going to get close. But you’ve got to get the rebound. Same thing. The biggest difference in the game is rebounding. That’s it. Physicality, rebounding, finishing possessions, that’s it. We’re -10 on second-chance points. The biggest possession of the game, the ball’s right there, I think, without watching the film, we got two hands on it, and they take it away. That’s the game. … You’ve got to hit somebody. It’s our biggest problem. The nights where we’re physical, we’re fine. The nights where we’re not physical, it doesn’t work. We’ve got to hit people. That’s it. That’s it. We need guys to be overachievers for their career on the defensive glass, and right now, it’s like one or two of them, that’s it. Like tonight, the effort was really good, the offense was really good. They got 25 second chance points, you’re not going to win. I mean, they’ve got two All-Stars. They’ve got a guy who’s played at an MVP level before. You can’t give those guys 25 second chance points and win. Not a team like that. You can’t do it. You can talk about it, whatever, you’ll find out who wants to win. That’s what it’s all about. You’ve got to make that play. That play has to be made. That’s the second game. The same thing happened in Cleveland. One block out in Cleveland, the game’s over. We don’t block out. Same thing tonight. It’s as simple as that. That’s it, it’s the rebounding game.”

What's most frustrating for Clifford is the lack of focus on the glass. The "want to" is not there consistently enough. How many times do you see guys bailing out to get a head start going the other way instead of attacking the boards? It happens way too often.

“That’s one of our biggest problems. It’s been discussed from day one," said Clifford. "Leak outs, leaking out, trying to get a layup at the other end of the floor instead of staying and helping us get the ball. 100 percent. It’s one of the biggest problems, 100 percent.” 

Because of the eagerness to get going the other way, it's allowed opposing teams to create and convert second chance opportunities at an alarming rate. Charlotte is allowing an average of 16.5 second chance points per game, ranking 30th in the NBA. If that holds through the rest of the season, it would be the worst average since the 2008-09 season when the Golden State Warriors allowed an average of 17.1 second chance points per game. 

"We just have to stop doing it, it starts in your mind," Kelly Oubre said of the team's thirst to leak out. "The only reason that guys leak out in this league is to go get easy points on the other end or to play fastbreak basketball. Our team is obviously struggling to get defensive rebounds and we have to stay in the paint until we secure possession and then sprint down the floor. It's just one of those things that you have to switch in your mind that you want to rebound, you have to want the possession, you have to want the ball and go secure it. No one is just going to give it to you."

With LaMelo Ball, Gordon Hayward, Dennis Smith Jr., and Cody Martin out due to injury, the margin for error is razor thin for this team and that was evident in the loss to the Clippers. To win games without those guys, you have to place an emphasis on attention to detail and play with max effort in all phases of the game. One missed rebound, one poor blockout, one low-percentage pass on an alley-oop attempt - all that stuff starts to add up and when you don't have the offensive firepower to make up for it, you aren't going to get the results you want.

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