Predicting which Hornets will IMPROVE or REGRESS | OKC Thunder Preseason Preview!
With the first preseason game against the Oklahoma City Thunder right around the corner, we are taking a look at the roster and predicting who will perform better and who might perform worse this upcoming season. After a 19-win campaign where nearly every key player was offensively inefficient, there is massive room for improvement across the board. We explore how players like LaMelo Ball and Collin Sexton could become more impactful by trading a bit of their elite offensive production for much-needed defensive improvement, and why Miles Bridges’ “blue-collar” contributions are so valuable to this team. We also identify players like the injured Grant Williams and Josh Green, along with rookie Tidjane Salaun, who could face challenges this year.
Blue Collar Stat Tweet: https://x.com/dlee4three/status/1974246457063391737
XRAPM: https://xrapm.com
Weblink to Watch Hornets/Thunder preseason: https://www.nba.com/hornets/news/hornets-vs-thunder-livestream-10-05-5pm
Next, we lay out the most pressing questions that need answers during this preseason campaign. What will Tidjane Salaun’s role be? What will the guard and center rotations look like? And most importantly, will the team show a true commitment to playing with the fast pace they’ve been talking about all offseason? Finally, we give a full preview of Sunday’s game against the defending champion Thunder, including where to watch and what to look for in the Hornets’ first game action of the year
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12 Comments
What's up Doug? 29:15
We need “Who Wore It Best” !!!!
I think we are really going to miss josh okogie. I’ve never had “fun” watching someone play defense, other than josh. He did SOMETHING every defensive play
Fwiw, Liam is the 7th youngest player in the NBA while TJ is now 8th youngest.
I just wanna see us in the playoffs
I think Sexton is going to have a great impact on this team. It’s all about health with these guys. If Ball, Miller and Mann play together in 70% or more of games then we will be much much better.
Lets go Evan!
I really feel like our defense isn't gonna be that bad melo can play defense n sexton is going to guard the pg if he starts plus kon is a dawg sion James and we just added a 7'1 center that no one knows about but he's a beast n I'm not talking about Ryan I really see us at least the 6th seed
Considering sexton is the most effecient player on the team by far naturally it makes sense for him to take on more scoring . It’ll open things up
And make the game easier for Melo to play better defense . I don’t think Melo should be the primary scorer considering his inefficiency . If he isn’t it’ll allow him to play better defense. The most effecient player should be the leading scorer. Sextons defense is better than the numbers show he’s just been on a terrible Jazz team who didn’t use his properly
Great podcast Doug 🙌🏻, I really enjoyed the Miles Bridges segment you talked about as the eye test reveals he plays hard on the defensive end. The box score doesn’t always show the intangibles and all the blue collar stats like you mentioned 🏀. Looking forward to see which players stand out this pre season like you said there’s a question mark over Tidjuane, hopefully he can show some improvement 🙌🏻, let’s go Hornets 😃
it's so simple:
Ball, Sexton, Kon, McNeely, Bmill. forget the center role. center's can't shoot.
Starting 5 getting demolished by OKC 2nd and 3rd stringers is wild