What James Borrego Had to Say About Saturday's Matchup vs Bucks

Charlotte Hornets head coach James Borrego met with the media prior to tonight's game.

On how they played against Milwaukee last time:

“I thought we played well in that game. Gave ourselves as shot to win it, had a shot there late to go up. I liked the ball movement, the spacing. You got to move the ball against these guys. Obviously, we shot it well in the first quarter, first half, so I think a lot of this will come down to our offense – running good offense, taking care of the ball. But overall, it’s an effort game against these guys. We tend to play hard, play aggressively against this group. So, we got to have our best effort out there tonight, that’s the number one thing. Our guys are locked in, they’re prepared. They know this team. It just comes down to great effort.”

On making the Bucks work defensively:

“I think it’s important. You can’t let Giannis just be a free safety out there. He is a heck of a defender. He’s got length, he’s got size. You can’t just let him roam out there. You got to make him try to move. We try to do that anyways, just in general. Try to move the defenses up and down the floor. We move it side to side, we don’t leave it in guys’ hands and play isolation basketball. We’re a movement team. I think we got to move Giannis around tonight. We’ve got to move (Bobby) Portis around tonight. Make (Khris) Middleton have to guard. So, it’s important. We just got to play with great effort, get to our spots, play in transition and move the ball. It will be critical that we move the ball tonight.”

On game planning for Khris Middleton:

“He can score at so many levels. Smart player. He’s a shot maker. So, even if you’re there on him, he can shoot over the top of you. He can play out of the pick-and-roll, he can play in the post. Obviously, he can make 3s as well. He’s a heck of a player. He scores in so many different ways. He plays with such confidence out there. They’re a great tandem – we’ll see a lot of two-man game between him and Giannis tonight. I just think overall they do a good job of moving him around. He’s in different spots. He can score in the midrange, in the post area and from the free-throw line. He made some big 3s last night, we know he can do that. He makes tough 3s too, it’s not like he’s making wide open 3s. We know he can do that, but he’s one of those shot makers that can score over the top of you. Heck of a player and he’s only gotten better every year.”

You can follow us for future coverage by liking us on Facebook & following us Twitter:

Facebook - All Hornets

Twitter - @SI_Hornets and Schuyler Callihan at @Callihan_.