Hornets COLLAPSE to Winless Pelicans | Miles Bridges & Tre Mann’s LATE MISTAKES | No LaMelo!
The Charlotte Hornets suffer their most painful loss of the season, collapsing in the final minute to the previously winless New Orleans Pelicans 116-112. We look at what went wrong, from Charles Lee’s questionable late-game sets to costly turnovers from Tre Mann and a bad shot by Miles Bridges.
This one stings. We’re here to talk through one of the most painful losses of the season, a 116-112 defeat where the Hornets collapsed against the previously winless New Orleans Pelicans. Charlotte was in control, holding a lead for much of the fourth quarter, but everything fell apart in the final minutes during a brutal 11-0 run by the Pelicans.
Fans are pointing fingers directly at coach Charles Lee, and we have to examine those final possessions. We question the offensive set designed for Kon Knueppel—a pick-and-pop three while up by two—and the lack of creativity when a bucket was essential.
However, the blame doesn’t stop with the coach. The players had an “embarrassment of mistakes.” We look at Miles Bridges’ rushed three-pointer with plenty of time left, Collin Sexton’s defensive struggles all night, and a pair of critical late turnovers by Tre Mann. Even Sion James had a costly inbound error reminiscent of his time at Duke.
While the rookies continue to be a bright spot, this game showed how much this team misses the stabilizing presence of LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller. This was a full-team loss, and we’re sorting through the wreckage.
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24 Comments
Miles was frustrated with that Sexton kon play with 40 seconds left you could see his body language. He was taking that shot 100% also he mightve been scared of the intentional foul
Bad Sexton games should be referred to as "Colin-oscopies"
It feels like this is the second time Lee pulled a player on a heater in the first quarter and sat them too long. It happened to Ball the other day and last night Kon was pulled around the 6 minute mark and he was blistering hot! Miles played the entire first quarter…. the rotations feel off at times.
can we get a update on Josh green and grant Williams.. cause we expecting a lot from these rookies
No more Miles bricks in the clutch pleeeease after last year I can’t take anymore 😩
When you're up two at end of a game like that, and you've got Sexton and Kon on the court, you attack the paint. Get fouled at least or kick it out for the three. Terrible play.
Top tier hoodies on this one, fellas!
We’re a young team. The Pelicans came out hungrier. We did not finish the game in a mature fashion.
Of course we were the ones to lose to them 1st 😅
Walker the Giga-Chad rational GOAT
Losing 5 of the prior 6 to the Pelicans should have motivated them to win this!
I like Coach, but come on now
It’s time to trade Lamelo. We pay him to sit on the bench. Even if we got a player with half his talent, it would be an improvement.
Don't forget the missed Goal Tending call against Miles when the game was tied. Even Dell and Eric missed it.
We could genuinely have almost any other coach on the planet & those fans will always call for his head after some Ls. He's not free from any blame at all but I don't know how someone wouldn't put most of that loss on vets making bad decisions down the stretch & players missing open looks
Great podcast Walker and Doug 👍🏻, it’s good that we’ve got a bit of a break before the next game, let’s hope we hear some positive news on Lamelo and maybe Grant Williams 👍🏻
On the SLOB: throw it HIGH to Kalk. He is tall. A chest pass was lazy.
It’s quite difficult after games like these to find the line between:
1. This team hasn’t won a lot and still has to learn how to do that consistently in tight contests
2. The hero ball stuff with poor shot choices in winning time has been a THEME at this point recently and is INFURIATING – really since Rozier left.
There’s nuance here, definitely. I think it’s important to remember we’re all frustrated because we can see they’re RIGHT THERE. SO much closer than they have been recently. We can all see that. But we can’t adjust our expectations to reflect a faster timeline that they aren’t capable of. Nuance!
BAD COACHING Decisions
Kalkbrenner – Double-Double( 10 points, 11 rebounds, 1 steal, 2 assist and 4 big blocks). I understand we lost to the winless Pelicans – but man, I think we found something in the late portion of the draft in RK11.
Doug and Walker – getting solid to right under good/great NBA players late is where those real good teams get built from. Look at OKC, Houston and Golden State( Draymond was a 2nd rounder). Joker was the 41st overall pick(no I am not saying that). Late round picks who are solid and better than expected – married with a superstar who holds others accountable as a peer and who wants to be great is how you build great NBA to good NBA squads.
Overall, the rookies have shown they are on track to be really good/solid to even perhaps star( Kon ) NBA players. And, we haven't even seen Liam McNeely explode yet; I think he's more than capable of doing it. Bummer losing to N.O. but – this young core is going to be great for the Hornets.
If Lamelo misses significant time the first half of the season he needs to go . Get what you can for him and draft the PG of the future next year . Can’t build around him .
In a world where the Coach gets the blame no matter what – I understand the Coach Lee criticism. I think many of you are 100% missing the fact the Hornets have been playing rookies in "Heavy Rotation"! Sexton and Bridges and PC are your veterans that are healthy now. Out of those vets; which ones are that peer that is going to hold his fellow player accountable for effort and focus.
The best teams – "are player led teams"! Be it the lead player is the best player or the player who is holding people accountable( think Draymond ). Leading by example or very vocal. A player led team – where accountability starts in the locker room is really missing.
Give Sion and Kon enough time and I think they have the will to win enough to "say something to teammates who are slacking"! I just don't see that personality on the roster! LaMelo isn't going to get on anybody's butt. Who will? Blame Coach Lee – but go look at most playoff teams and they pretty-much all have that alpha in the locker room.
Is it all on Lee? No he is not on the floor, but of what he could control his performance was very questionable.
From the start it appeared there was no plan offensively and most the time it was just iso ball with very little ball and player movement. Which just culminated with the terrible play at the end with Sexton and Kon.
As has also been mentioned his substitutions have been very suspect. Of the games I've watched recently he has benched the hot hand for extended time. Against Minnesota it was Miles and in this game it was Kon. Playing Liam in the 4th was a mistake, it looks like he needs some time in Greensboro. Not putting in Moose when Queen started cooking and not having him out there to switch everything when you need to stop the 3 as opposed to Kalk who everyone knows is in drop was a tactical error.
The players played terrible down the stretch but his job is to keep them focused and composed which they definitely were not.
Charles Lee doesn't understand that losses mean something for the long term culture. Yes, it's a play in team no matter what, but beyond this season, you have to have a win only culture. Not riding the hot hand, not having a winning first culture, and playing politics has a harmful long term effect. You got your guys, now prioritize.