The Charlotte Hornets win 4 straight! Miles Bridges 26 point 14 rebounds. Grant Williams 24 points.

The Charlotte Hornets win 4 straight! Miles Bridges 26 point 14 rebounds. Grant Williams 24 points.

The Charlotte Hornets picked up right where they left off pre-all-star break they win again it’s their fourth consecutive Victory David Walker makes his weekly appearance to talk all about it today on locked on Hornets you are locked on hornets part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day in

The minute CU we live it’s lockon hornets part of the lockon podcast Network it’s your team every day thanks for making us your first listen we’re free and available anywhere you get your podcast this episode is brought to you by LinkedIn jobs LinkedIn jobs helps you find the

Qualified candidates you want to talk to but faster post your job for free at linkedin.com lockon uh lockon NBA that’s linkedin.com lockon NBA to post your job for free terms and conditions apply there’s Doug Branson as always you can find his work on his substack every Hornets boox

Score.com wearing the draft hat if you watch us on YouTube you can see Doug repping the hats as always and there’s David and his beanie making his weekly appearance you can follow him up like in Indiana you really are yeah you’re coming straight back from naptown baby it’s David Walker on the lockdown

Hornets podcast you can follow him on Twitter at David B Walker and of course I’m Walker mail you can listen to me on wfnc every weekday from 12: to 300 p.m. all right the Hornets just aren’t going to lose again that’s the joke everybody keeps rolling with Eric Collins signed

Off last night by saying you know Dell a smart man I really respect really smart about basketball said the Hornets just may never lose again and I’m beginning to think that’s going to be true they beat the Utah Jazz it’s their fourth straight Victory they won this game 115

To 107 David will start with you as the guest but not really what did you notice about the Charlotte Hornets fourth victory in a row with these new with this new group of guys like for me it I felt like they didn’t even play as well

As they had the first three games and they still won like they they’re just fundamentally better right like it’s hard to describe they’re a much better basketball team and it didn’t feel like they had gave their best performance Grant Williams was shooting the lights out and but even Brandon Miller wasn’t

Amazing yet they still found a way to get a win on the road this is not what we were watching pre- Allstar break yeah and they got outrebounded by a good margin you know I think that was something they were looking out for uh against the Utah Jazz but they made up

For it in other areas you know they forced I think 19 turnovers they of course they outshot the Jazz by a wide margin from the three-point line which which I think which will do it yeah yeah that will help a lot so so if they want to keep the winning streak going it

Would help to keep shooting 50% from three and having Grant Williams make like six of them or whatever uh but yeah I mean that was one of my takeaways too was like usually if they they get killed on the boards or if they are um down big

In some stat like they don’t have any other way to make it up like everything else has to be perfect um now they found other ways to like I said uh offset that with their defense and their turnovers and their shooting but yeah I mean it

Helps when you’ve got guys that can get out there and make impact on the game and that’s what they did to the trade deadline they got a a couple more guys they can trust to go out there and do it and you’re seeing that like you know people that haven’t watched them prior

To the all-star break watched that jazz game and said wait a second this is not the horns team that I had been used to not watching this is a different horns team with new players uh where did they come from they got several from the Thunder that’s a good way to do things

Um but but they’re seeing it they made moves to the deadline to get adults and players that can play in the NBA we’ve harped on that and against a team like the Jazz who you know the Jazz are kind of of an odd situation I was seeing some

Dis ronold Jazz fans come across the timeline uh reacting to quotes like that about the Hornets doing good things and the Jazz didn’t do much of anything uh stood Pat had a bunch of rookies had a bunch of young guys out there who did perform for him um but you know the

Hornets were found a way to win uh Doug was was e talking about you or was he talking about himself was was he stealing from you again saying that a very smart man who knows basketball says they’re never gonna use again I me oh no

It sounds a lot like me I’ll just say that you I don’t know I don’t know if he was referencing or me or not you know I think it’s safe to assume he was uh so let’s just do that it is safe to assume what did you notice from this game Doug

Well the the bad third quarter returned right they they got outscored 38 to 29 in that third quarter and it looked like you know this Hornets team was up against the ropes Vegas had them you know as a 10-point dog and it was like

Oh is this going to to be the end but the important thing is they scored 28 points in that third quarter two weeks ago that would have been a 38-4 margin and it would have been all she wrote Because the Hornets wouldn’t have even even if it were 38 to 29 a

Couple of weeks ago the Hornets wouldn’t have had the Firepower to come back in that fourth quarter but they had that and a lot of that thanks to Grant Williams who scored 24 points off the bench and I think six total made threes Bridges uh was dominant at the end of

That fourth quarter uh sealing the game away bulldozing past marinin and then he had the so pullup long two over John Collins that helped seal the game it was just little stuff everywhere it was Trey man deflections in the first half it was uh meic really just commanding the floor

In that backup point guard position moving defenses driving kicking um everybody was deflecting in this game defense absolutely won them this game and three-point shooting the same things that we’ve been seeing over and over from the Hornets in these fourth uh quarters then Brandon Miller who had a I

Would say one of his lesser efficient shooting nights was able to secure a defensive an important defensive rebound he ripped it away from John Collins and that was an important defensive rebound because those are the little plays that the Hornets have traditionally let slip away and let teams get back into games

They did not allow it to happen and the Hornets win it’s it’s a beautiful thing to watch right now Vegas is going to learn okay I think they’ve got the Hornets as a 13-point we missing out on this North Carolina lawmakers you’re screwing us right now

All this money we could be making by the time they get this thing in in you know pass they may have caught up to the Hornets but yeah Brandon Miller dude how about when he ripped not only ripped that ball away from John Collins who I

Think was arguing with the ref on a drive he ripped the ball away from a jazz defender in the lane and was able to put it up for a bucket too I mean I think he heard you guys bad mouthing him after the All-Star Weekend uh and just went to

Come show some extra fight man he’s looking he’s looking ready to go please more keep listening keep listening Brandon so yeah there were yeah there were two right like I when Doug was mentioning the defensive play from Brandon Miller I I actually thought he was pretty good defensively in this game

There there was a there was a highlight in the first half where he’s fighting through a bunch of off-ball screens God I forget who he was on but I it was it might have been Colin ston like borderline face guarding him but then it was the lob that he deflects away so

Like he’s having to pay attention to this different action over here where they’re trying to free up Colin they can’t do it and then there’s a cut towards the basket um like on Baseline and Brandon recognizes it and able to block that lob away and he wasn’t even

Supposed to be there right like he just goes out and kind of in a rogue position and and makes that uh and makes that play I thought he was good defensively as you mentioned and the whole team right like we can focus on that end the deflections you mentioned Doug I thought

Team defense looks way different right now now so guys will still get beat off Ball but the difference is other people are helping once that happens and so I think that’s the point it Steve Clifford mentioned it a million times in the first half of the season if you can’t

Keep the ball in front of you then it’s going to get you in trouble and they do better at that but they’re still not they still don’t have Dennis Smith Jr out there like it’s Cody Martin and then it’s going to be tough to keep the ball

In front of them this this is who they are but now you have a bunch of smart Defenders that can make up and just know the best possible thing they can do if the basketball gets past that first line of defense and that’s where you I think

That’s where you see the deflections the guys just know where to be in the passing lanes and then guys are coming over to help and they’re flying around like team defense is fun well as as fun as defense can be right because everybody’s flying all around and then you’re getting stops you’re getting

Deflections it’s like yes yes this is a great great job they’re doing and Steve Clifford seems like feels the same way there is a mass there’s big old difference there on the other end of the court go ahead you can you can see it help is help is faster help is more

Reliable these uh Closeouts are right on target that that you’re not seeing guys just fly by offensive players and you’re not what you saw more previously were short Closeouts that were just not effective at all but guys are moving on a rope right now I mean you can see

Multiple people reacting I I’ll point out one other guy meic is really good especially in transition of communicating okay you’re going you’re going down I’m staying up it’s again it’s little things that you’re seeing that you go I didn’t notice that before they added Grant Williams meit man and

Curry just communication is happening and Bron’s too oh my God nine points yeah I know we’re talking about defense but nine points in under seven minutes I hope that hyper extension that he suffered on the left knee on that final three I hope that’s not a big deal

Because when you can get nine points from a guy and only play him seven minutes that is an absolute that’s Game Genie that is a cheat code I know I mean it’s just amazing to look over there right now and during the game when you know you know the first couple breaks in

The lineup are coming and you and they and they scan over to the scores table and it’s Seth Curry it’s Williams it’s even bton once you get down to Bon’s like you know these guys have been there they have had play they have had minutes in the NBA right like it’s not

And you could kind of see it in the starters and in the guys on the floor like they know that you know it’s not just going to completely fall off a cliff when when they go to the bench right there’s going to be there’s going to be some reinforcements coming in I

Mean Seth hit a couple of just absolute knockdown M elbow jumpers last night the king of the not just last night he has been the king of that little elbow jumper and they were big I mean a lot of their shots were big last night especially when they got down by seven

Had to fight their way back but yeah it’s just a completely different uh team right now I mean it really is it’s amazing what you can do when you just shake up that roster a little bit add a few new fresh legs that’s the other

Thing to keep in mind like Trey man and meic I don’t think they were playing a whole lot they were not you know in OKC they’re coming in on the last what 27 games here they’re gonna have a lot in the tank to give to this team so they

Can go full boore well and and last thing for me like yes it it is amazing because we’ve seen so much bad basketball from this team but also you could understand if somebody just explained it to you in basic terms hey they have an eight-man Nan rotation

Including bans and five of them are new over 50% of your rotation are new basketball players okay you’re right that probably does dramatically change your product that you put out there on the court if over 50% of your rotation is completely new and over 50% of your

Rotation are guys that will be in the NBA next year getting a look getting some run wherever and everybody else’s g-league or cut yeah probably will change dramatically and now you have Steve Clifford working with some players that deserve to be in the league right here right now and you’ve got a

Four-game winning streak with a different look group it’s great it’s fantastic all right let’s move on let’s continue to talk about the good I I don’t want to stop it let’s just continue I’ve got I’ve got more in the tank I’ve got much more to talk about on

This game all right you heard the man let’s get to it coming up next on the lockdown Hornets podcast don’t go to sleep on the Hornets just yet Doug of course has plenty more in the tank he will share with you on the other side coming up in just a moment

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Started today at stitchfix.com locked-on that’s stitchfix.com lockon stitchfix.com lockon more lock down hornets ahead all right Doug take us wherever you want to go we did the deflections the defense team defense we’re appraising that end of the floor should we go with Grant Williams going for six three-pointers because he was on fire

Last night from Deep you want to start there well it’s funny because he also had zero rebounds so I thought this was a very interesting game because you’ve been you know you’ve been on off with him and rebounding but look when you’re going to hit six threes you can afford

To not have a single Rebound in my mind that the zero rebound while like maybe interesting to look back on if it continues that is not the story of Grant Williams Performance the story is him continuing to just be like even some of the shots that he missed they were

Halfway down and then just rimmed out like he was on point last night in Utah yeah but David David if you’re locked in defensively and you’re locked in defensively and you’re hitting threes that’s going to cover a lot of sins right yeah and he’s may maybe he didn’t

Corral any rebounds but he’s throwing that body around uh you know underneath there and it’s it’s I feel like it’s it is helping them collectively get a few rebounds here and there so like even if he didn’t get credited with any last night he’s still a big he’s still taking

Up some space inside there especially on the defensive end where they did get you know they got slaughtered on the boards but he he’s making uh himself known out there and I cannot wait to see the Draymond Grant Williams something’s going down tonight I can I can feel it

Line up versus line up I know I know he’s I mean but the six three-pointers now you guys have hinted at it like it’s some point he’s not gonna hit six three-pointers right at some point I’m ready to believe anything may I don’t know he was challenged def he was challenged

Defensively in this game I thought I thought we we stretched the bounds of Grant Williams at the five in this game I thought so too right I mean there was the one play where like he was running back into transition and instead of fully closing out he just like clapped his

Hands which is a an interesting defensive strategy it doesn’t work at all doesn’t help is not useful at all but it is an interesting defensive strategy to just clap your hands no I thought like so yeah I I didn’t want to focus on the rebounding too but I I actually thought he was

Right he’s physical the the defensive thing I’ll give him credit for is because he’s shorter because he is a wide human being and he uses that body it’s really hard for a walker Kesler or a John Collins when they get the ball in the post to move them and so they don’t

So he stalls out postup possessions that’s great I thought he was pretty terrible rebounding last night like I do think that’s true I think Walker Kessler I think the size I think John Collins was just jumping over him like athleticism and length they’re going to

Be able to get the boards and I thought okay like look he he had been good he had been throwing his body around boxing dudes out I thought last night he was terrible but offensively when you hit 63s yeah you’re going to take double digits and he’s on point so I think

Offensively you can clear a lot of those mistakes by trading the offensive rebound that goes for two points on Second Chance opportunities okay I’ll just go down the other end and shoot a three and hit it and that’s what happened with Grant coming off of the

Bench so he’s a big deal like and in contrast meic couldn’t buy a shot just couldn’t do it you know eight dimes that that’s his game uh zero field goals the three-pointers were open he couldn’t connect on them but at least he was dishing at a high level and finished

This game for this team I think that’s what we should talk about David is that uh that Clifford went with meic and Martin over man and Martin to close out an important game that was closed down the stretch what do you think about that about Clifford going with meic and

Martin over man and Martin to close yeah I mean to me you know they had enough scoring go going with Bridges and and Grant Williams right and so he could afford to put a little bit of a a more mature maybe a more a defensive oriented uh lineup out there with with

Martin especially but also just probably felt pretty comfortable with having meit out there not that man has like played bad but we didn’t necessarily need to see the Hornets Speed the game up at that point especially in the last two minutes right they were just really trying to control things and keep things

Um as as set as they could so you know I mean it’s a nice option for him to have dude I mean it has been ish Smith right it has been uh pick your player Nick Smith Jr uh closing out these games so I think it’s interesting I think it’s a

Good option to have I think you know had they been down a little bit more maybe you or or had it been close or you know um had they needed to get a couple buckets maybe you see a Trey man but I still think Clifford’s probably feeling

That out I mean it’ll be interesting to see what happens of course once lamelo comes back because is going to have a couple different ways he can go uh to shake that lineup up but it’s nice to have meas out there man I mean he can control it he really finds guys he’s

Just got you know we’ve talked a lot about he’s a rookie he’s a rookie but like look he’s he’s been playing a lot of basketball I mean you know he knows how to control things I think so much a part of what good passing is is good

Timing and I think me’s timing is impeccable and what happens is when he when he sees somebody open in the corner he’s going to make you more open by then dribbling into the paint and trying to suck that defense in even more so I mean the corner three is wide open you could

Hit it it’d be a good you know fine enough pass right like that’d be a solid read nobody’s going to complain about it or he could just make that guy more open by drawing the defense in and then kicking out to him to where you don’t

Have anybody within 10 feet of you I think that happens a lot I think on Fast Break opportunities I was thinking about the difference between lamelo and miles in transition compared to meic in Miles because in one of those first fast break opportunities in the first half lamelo’s

Just thrown a lob up to miles for him to slam at home and it’s more exciting and they still connect but meic isn’t quite sure that that’s going to be there and so he continues to dribble and dribble and dribble and then he gets right under

The basket and then he just hits miles Bridges underneath and then miles still ends up with an easy dunk it’s just going to come to you in a very different way like I he just he knows how to get these guys eyes open he knows what the

Bet he’s just calculating all the time what do I need to do to create a better shot for these guys and you saw that on display even without him being able to hit a shot whatsoever and and let’s not take that for granted right because it’s

Been four games and he’s had to figure stuff out with players from the Hornets players that used to play on the Mavericks I mean you’ve been combining three different teams and they’ve won four straight and meic is able to process all of that information and get accustomed to these players with very

Little practice time and in only four games I mean that is something um that that I think you you have to appreciate and and I think going with meic was about distribution as David was saying as try to get others involved but also I

Think it’s a it was a little B bit about size as well uh I thought you know seon and George were getting the best of of man at times on drives he was deflecting he was getting past def deflections but Walker you felt the same way too that

You know man was struggling a little bit was some of those size matchups at that that Utah provides at the guard position so I think it was a little bit about defense as well yeah I think man struggled to stay in front of guys in this one but it doesn’t mean he’s not

Trying it’s just it felt like we were giving man a lot more credit in those first three games because okay this is a little unexpected Trey man’s not known for his defense we felt like he played pretty well I I didn’t see this game and

More so in the first half to be fair I don’t know if I saw second half stay in front of ston though that’s what I said that’s what I said it was a tough match up man it it is and and Colin only had three field goals in this game and so

It’s not like he was going crazy had that mini run where he was feeling himself but Keon George was excellent too and so it just felt like you know and and the thing is while Colin seon is a tough matchup man like the NBA is so

Talented there are a lot of Colin sex out there in this league so every game you’re going to have a really good point guard so it’s going to be tough that’s what starting is about for sure yeah and so deflections are are big but I I you

Know Trey man was good like his shot making was great too and so it it was all fine this what makes difficult on Clifford right because you’re right Walker whoever is going to play beside lamelo is going to take the tougher defensive matchup so you’ve got to be sure that

That guy whether it’s man or Martin can handle that matchup and we’ve seen Clifford go with Martin on Trey young to help shut him down and that’s why I think is look those step back threes that Trey man hit in the first half were wow moments and I wrote in every horn

Box score like this guy is playing like he wants to stay in the starting lineup and he’s making comments to Rod Boon about how he can play alongside uh lamelo ball when the reality is it’s going to be you know it’s going to be Brandon Miller long term playing the

Shooting guard position in my opinion but you know for whatever the short term is it’s it’s either gonna be Martin or man I think the advantage still goes to Martin because he has the the size and the ability to take that tougher matchup and and win it more than he’s going to

Lose it last thing because I want to focus on All-Star takes from David in the third segment plus we got to get to shoe you got we got to get all the shoe takes you you mentioned miles Bridges we should shed a little more light on him

In the fourth quarter because he had 10 points in that stretch he he took over and that’s what you want from somebody that has the consistency here he he’s got the staying power Brandon Miller’s first year is this year you have five new guys after the deadline Terry roier

PJ who would take over at times lamelo they’re either injured or off the team so it should be miles time it should be and Miles showed up and and went on the the 10 points that he scored made three made three tough step backs and then even in the fourth quarter the Hornets

Went on that 140 run and that was from the 1037 to 516 Mark they went on that 14 run excuse me and then they pulled aead 102 to 94 and then miles went to work to close it out when they were you know starting to battle back in fourth

Got a little lucky on what was clearly a moving screen by the way from Colin ston so you know so be it but Lor Mar hit the three it was the right call just felt like that fourth quarter Doug you kind of mentioned them bouncing back um miles

Bridges being as dominant as he was and then the whole team showing up when it mattered it’s different we we’re not used to seeing that thing the miles thing is fascinating to me because with each game like that obviously where he makes a big impact and where he comes up you know in

The clutch and and does win a game along with Grant Williams it I just like before the All-Star break uh first part of the season I was pretty convinced he was not going to be around past maybe the trade deadline or maybe certainly this offseason but like I mean I think

There’s going to be some thinking going on with this I mean how do you look at the play on the court of what he’s done and what he’s bringing you know you could shake off uh the beginning of the season a lot to rust and you know maybe

He’s rounding in form if that’s the guy he’s going to be moving forward you know they’re going to have a lot to think about as far as how they handle that relationship after uh this year is over especially if it ends you know in the next 27 games if they get lamelo back

Out there I don’t know man I I I don’t know which way how it shakes out uh how it shakes out after this but he’s certainly making a case that he’s a valuable piece of this of this build yeah miles looks way better offensively and I think it’s two reasons one is that

There’s so much more space on the floor to not only for him to drive but also that that like ISO shot that he hit over Collins like you you can ISO because there’s there’s going to be a tough decision for a defense to throw a double

Or or shade a guy his way he’s just going to have a lot more room to operate but the second one that we haven’t really talked about a lot is the fact that he’s doing a lot less Distributing himself he’s he’s doing a lot less passing and and he was turning the ball

Over a ton prior to the deadline because he was being asked to do things that Miles Bridges the player profile that is Miles Bridges should not be asked to do and when you’re turning the ball over I think that does have like a a psychological or confidence effect like

Ah man I messed up and now now you’re in your own head thinking about that while you’re trying to do other things okay clear the decks you don’t have to do that anymore because you have meic you have man you have other players who can

Who can take care of that and let miles do what he does which is bulldoze over Markin for an important two-point shot to help you win a game great win for the Hornets last night four in a row baby it’s a new look and it’s fantastic let’s move on let’s

Get to these Allstar takes coming up next on the lockdown Hornets podcast don’t go to sleep on the Hornets just yet just like we do every year we go to David Walker for the official All-Star preview and Allstar recap he’s here for a reason folks he’s also going to give

You a shoe you got with lamelo releasing a new shoe won’t want to miss that either it’s coming up next lockdown Hornets this episode is brought to you by eBay Motors our partners at eBay motors have teamed up with lockon fantasy basketball host Josh Lloyd to bring you some of the

Best fantasy picks each week there better be a hornet in here I’m just going to stop you right now there better be a hornet in here right now or I’m going to lose it there is you will not be losing it I will continue whether you’re prepping for a daily draft or

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Have been a hornet at the trade deadline with Patrick Williams still out Tory Craig hurting his knee dmu’s minutes and his floor game has improved significantly that’s cool got keante George just played against Keon George that’s that was my guy uh no well here’s another one scoot Henderson he’s kind of

Your guy a little bit little bit was I was kind of like 50-50 on him I think yeah no it it could have gone either way but he is the starting point guard for the rest of the season and then we get to Trey man yeah man there we go now

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Apply one more segment to go locked on Hornets all right David this is your time to shine baby we do this every single year we did it pre All-Star break what did David Walker think about what we saw during the All-Star break Saturday night a little bit different

Than what we saw on Sunday with the All-Star Game what are your thoughts yeah um you know uh and we’ve had a lot of All-Star discussion this week right I mean uh this is something the players asked for you know they asked for a longer break and they got it uh they’ve

Asked for a lot of stuff this is a players league so if we’re just talking strictly about Sunday night uh you know I think everybody has a hand and what that has become um I I think it’s clear that the players are not taking it as

Seriously as um a lot of people would like them to or make it a fun game and listen it is the All-Star game like people are getting worked up over this because there hadn’t been basketball since last night and and something to talk about but I I think it goes a

Little bit deeper than that I mean you look at some of the skills competition stuff on Saturday night you got Scotty Barnes throwing a over the head halfcourt shot and that was when I really knew that man they do not care at all and that’s a skills competition you

Had Anthony Edwards talking about shooting with his left hand and that was a little disappointing uh for me because I’m a big uh Ant-Man fan and I thought he might be the guy that go out there and you know yeah try and get in somebody’s face but if he’s already

Joking about stuff before it happens like what are we doing LeBron what we doing with those Jordan comparisons right I mean people are a little too quick with those MJ comparisons with Antman ma mentality Mamba mentality guys is that the ma mentality we’re looking at anything’s a competition right I mean

LeBron didn’t even show up until Sunday and then he left at halftime basically uh you know so I think a lot of that has got to fall on him but it’s it’s uh you know the salaries and and and the money uh is different than it was back in the

Day right like these guys don’t need to make an impa on allar to add to their bottom line anymore um so there’s a lot of different discussions going on about it I still enjoy the event I I think Sunday made Saturday probably look a little better than it was um they got to

Figure something out with the skills competition I thought the Steph Sabrina stuff was pretty cool was really cool that was that was really fun um to see them both kind of perform on on a big stage and the Three-Point Contest is is going to be continue to be the Marquee

Thing I think because you have Allstars in it hello you have guys that are trying to win it you have names in that competition that works a lot um I do have to give a little tip of the hat to M mclung you know I

Mean you you you you poo poo him a little bit because you know he’s not in the NBA and he’s in the NBA dunk contest uh but he did give us a jolt of energy for two years in a row and I think that was cool no matter how horrible the

Judges are I think from that standpoint I really do think and I I can’t remember who gave me this idea or who put it out there but like maybe they should just do the dunks right and then rank them get a rid of this 58 or 48 47 like they clearly don’t know

What any of these numbers are just rank the best Nots what are these numbers yeah round by round and do it that way that might be a little bit because Doug you always say who what are we judging we don’t know what do these numbers mean they mean nothing the people who are

Calling it are like that look like a good dunk or that didn’t look like a good that is like the extent of the analysis that we get no like oh well he went you know this many degrees watch any kind of Olympic event like a snowboarding event and you’re going to

Hear words and language that has been developed over time and you’re not going to know what any of it means but you know you know what it means it means that there’s been some thought into what is good and what is not good and when you’re listening even if you don’t know

What it means you’re confident that someone knows what it means and so that gives you confidence that what you’re seeing is actually good or actually bad and that I think is is pretty critical for people who are watching to get some enjoyment out of it you got

To know what you’re watching and and whether it’s good or bad and you got to trust that they know and there’s just no trust it’s just we’re all winging it out there yeah and that goes to the skills competition I mean I actually turned that on a little late and I was like

What is happening what is the scoring bad it’s very bad uh I actually kind of I like it but like they keep changing it no one knows what they’re watching no one knows how this is being scored people are moving around all the time just give us like a pinpoint passing

Competition or something give us a a a long range uh contest where people have to shoot jumpers hello they’re shooting jumpers in the game from half court and and some people are making them and they get their MVP uh but do something like that but it’s not going to go away I

Don’t think it’s the Super Bowl of uh you know it’s corporate Super Bowl it’s it’s the Super Bowl for the NBA it’s the weekend there’s too much involved now for them to say ah we’re not going to do it I mean people are still watching too

Like I know the so like the up this time but people are still watching and so yeah that’s true for now but as long as that for now still exists they’re going to keep making it and so you’re going to have to try to figure out how to make it

Better but my last thing before we get to shoe you got like the skills challenge it feels like it should be fun obstacle course timed one run through give it your all done let’s move on these guys could not care less like I understand the All-Star game not I mean

Yes it’s terrible I want it to be fixed I want them to compete at some place better than zero which is what’s happening right now but the skills challenge I mean you’ve got a minute to go out there and compete at 100% go ahead and compete at 100% but we’re

Going leftand like this should be fun the idea of a basketball obstacle course should be fun but you’re talking about giving us one minute worth your time and they just are like no this is stupid let’s just move on Scotty Barnes hate to harp on you my man first time Allstar on

The allstar team in the skills competition and he’s basically I mean half jogging you know I mean the effort was just not there and like I get I mean there’s an overall feeling of not wanting to look dumb like to be cool and I get that that is pervasive across the

League now and in the entire weekend but it’s a little disheartening to hear that like Larry Bird and Dr J went into the locker room beforehand and were like God you know give us something and then they immediately just said ah nah we’re not going to do that bleep those guys who

Are they I’m sure half of them were like who are those guys um okay so let’s go to Sho you got here I think I saw that guy on the documentary the Jordan doc he was he was talking to Michael Jordan I think didn’t he curse that MJ get let’s get get this

Guy out of here um all right what what do you have what do you have with lamelo dropping a new shoe David how you like it I don’t know when lamelo’s coming back but know he’s dropping a new shoe today uh it might be right now it’s

Probably right now as we just dropped uh the blue Hive version of his lamelo third iteration of lamelo I kind of like this one guys the the blue they say it’s blue it looks really teal uh but I think it’ll work with the Hornets uniforms it’s a mostly black upper with little

You know scratches of uh blue in there I I like them guys I mean they look comfortable I’d love to see lamelo wearing them in a game even even better you know what I mean yeah but uh but they’re dropping today guys so we got to keep the folks updated new shoes for

Lamelo coming out I like them you guys have seen the picture of them right or no yeah no I like them too I think they look good so yeah we’ll see um I just hope they support his ankles that’s all I mean he I don’t know how much brand

Can take another ankle injury I mean people are being really hard on these Pumas right now so yeah true but it is good it is good that he keeps dropping shoes because there is incentive for him to like he’s got to get back he’s got to play like let’s go

You can’t be you can’t sit and sell shoes it’s all about the brand too you know go ahead and sell those things man so if it’s all about the brand go out there sell it it’d be great to see you play and we’ll see exactly how he is

Mixed in with some of these new players that the Hornets have that are allowing them to win games four game winning streak heading into the weekend heading in tonight where they’ll tonight baby yeah 13-point dogs against Golden State so we’ll see we’ll recap that game on Monday and everything else taking place

Over the weekend thanks for making us your first listed make sure you go check out every Hornet spox score.com you can find Doug Branson’s work there also on his Twitter page Doug Branson lo you can follow David on Twitter at davidb Walker and me at Walker mail listen to me on

WFNZ every weekday from 12:00 to 300 PM 927 FM on West and Walker have a great weekend we’ll be back with you on Monday B

Who are these Hornets? David Walker joins the show to recap the Hornets’ 4 game win streak and how the new additions continue to help overall. Can Grant Williams continue to shoot at this level? What did we make of Vasilije Micic being in the closing lineup? Finally, the guys get to David’s All-Star takes.

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