Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball (1) controls the ball as he is defended by Minnesota Timberwolves guard Terrence Shannon Jr. (00) during the first half at the Spectrum Center. Sam Sharpe USA TODAY NETWORK
Speeding toward the completion of another unflattering season that will extend the NBA’s longest playoff drought, it’s not quite time for the Charlotte Hornets to clock out just yet.
Quite the opposite, in fact.
“I think there’s just a continued emphasis on maintaining our competitive edge, seizing the moment, seizing the opportunity,” coach Charles Lee said, “understanding that what our record is should not dictate or motivate what your approach is that day. If you are really focused on daily improvement, there are still challenges.”
Especially with the Hornets.
Things are never easy and that certainly was the case again during Wednesday night’s 125-110 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves at Spectrum Center.
Although the Hornets offered more resistance than they have of late during a losing streak that’s now at eight games —highlighting their struggles since that spirited victory in Los Angeles immediately following the All-Star break and the nixed trade with the Lakers — inquiring minds are beginning to wonder if Charlotte is offering enough resistance to the opposition.
“I think it would be very easy to sometimes lay down when you are in the position that you are, but we are obsessed with daily improvement,” Lee said. “Part of daily improvement is going into every game and facing a different type of opponent, different strategy, different coverages, different matchups, and adjusting and adapting. And they’ve done a really good job of doing that.
“If we can limit some of these long stretches where we go into a lull …”
At some point, though, tangible results would be beneficial. The Hornets, who’ve utilized 31 different starting lineups and and are losers of 11 of their 12 games, haven’t had much — if anything — to feel good about lately.
“Yeah, you’ve got to keep trying, but you’ve got to find a way over the hump,” Mark Willams said. “Trying is cool, but it’s what you’ve got to do for the whole game. Obviously, when you are fighting to come back every time, it’s tough to get back in the win column when you are down to start instead of starting with the right intensity, I guess.”
Is it because of what could be going on above the shoulders of many of the Hornets, knowing their chance to end the franchise’s nearly decade-long postseason drought is slimmer than avoiding a traffic jam on the Brookshire Freeway during rush hour?
“Less about not being mentally engaged,” Lee said. “I think that sometimes it’s just being sped up, trying to make a home run type of play instead of just us hitting a single. We can do a better job of not letting the other team’s pressure bother us. We’ve seen two on the ball versus Melo and we’ve even seen a bunch of it throughout the year.
“And there’s been pockets when we’ve been really good and really poised, taking our back dribble and hitting the seam or passing ahead and letting that guy then hit the guy who’s then rolling. So, we have the tools. I think sometimes we’ve just got to be a little more poised, be willing to hit more singles and just use all the elements that we have.”
Charlotte Hornets forward Miles Bridges (0) controls the ball as Minnesota Timberwolves guard Jaylen Clark (22) defends during the second half at the Spectrum Center. Sam Sharpe USA TODAY NETWORK
Essentially, Lee’s message revolves around simplifying things and being efficient. That goes for everyone, from LaMelo Ball on down to the two-way players.
“Just using Melo for an example,” Lee said, going over a scenario, “‘You had six turnovers last night. Now tonight can we be more sharper, more poised and we take that down and cut it in half?’ So, trying to find individual goals for each guy to just keep tightening up their game.”
During a timeout midway through the first quarter against the Timberwolves, Lee specifically had some instructions for Ball, pointing down to the opposite end of the floor, noting something that happened a few sequences earlier.
He gave Ball a hand slap for encouragement, looking to reinforce the teaching moment and ensure the Hornets’ star was on board with what Lee wanted from him on both sides of the floor. It was a microcosm of a season that’s featured its share of instructional sessions from Lee.
“You are always supposed to listen to coach,” Miles Bridges said. “He won two championships. It’s staying coachable. That’s what we’ve got to do, is stay coachable because the season is not over. It’s not over. A lot of people think it’s over and we’ve still got games.
“We’ve got to go out and play. But yeah, we’ve just got to be coachable. We’ve got to do a better job of being coachable.”
Expect there to be many more individual tests ahead over the coming weeks. How each player performs will go a long way in helping determine their strengths and weaknesses, providing Lee and the staff with pertinent information that will be used when reconfiguring the roster this offseason.
Lee has made it clear to the players he’ll be conducting some key experimentation.
“‘X’ player, I want to put you on more of the primary ball-handlers on the other team, I want to see how you are just continuing to build and grow as a defensive-minded player,’” Lee said. “So, I think that everyone has their individual challenges that we will try to implement and try to talk to throughout the game that I think is going to help them, but also continue to finish the season.
“But the competitive instincts have to stay there.”
For the entire 48 minutes, too. Frequent lapses shouldn’t be happening at this level.
“There’s a couple of possessions (on Monday against Golden State) where we just sit there and do the buddy-buddy NBA thing,” Lee said. “And we just tell the two guys next to us, ‘I’m not going to crash.’ So, there’s all these opportunities to just keep competing, and that’s what I really want to find. Opportunities to just keep pushing guys.”
Instructional guidelines come in a variety of methods, with video being at the forefront of those educational experiences and chatty sitdowns.
“Definitely film,” Lee said. “It’s something we did (Wednesday) at shootaround. We talked about it, watched it. During their individual sessions, the assistant coaches do a phenomenal job of showing them film, but also doing a defensive drill or doing a free throw box out to simulate it, because I think we need both — the visual, and also walk through it and also feel it on the court also.”
Anything to keep the rest of the 2024-25 campaign from turning into a recurring nightmare.
“We’ve got to play with pride — we’re in the NBA,” Bridges said. “We are blessed to be in the NBA. That’s my mindset coming into a game. I’m blessed to be here in the NBA, so I want to go out and give 100% and I try to give that to the other guys.
“Just going out and playing with pride. Being on a losing streak sucks for everybody. If we can get a win next game against the best team in the league (Cleveland), that will probably turn us up.”
The Charlotte Observer
Roderick Boone joined the Observer in September 2021 to cover the Charlotte Hornets and NBA. In his more than two decades of writing about the world of sports, he’s chronicled everything from high school rodeo to a major league baseball no-hitter to the Super Bowl to the Finals. The Long Island native has deep North Carolina roots and enjoys watching “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air” endlessly. Support my work with a digital subscription