The horrible start by the Charlotte Hornets was only magnified last night in the 30 point blowout loss to the Atlanta Hawks. The Hornets were lead in scoring by a rookie off the bench in P.J. Hairston and their marquee free agent signing, Lance Stephenson, only had 6 points 3 assists and 3 rebounds.
Stephenson’s struggles though can be remedied from help of other guys who last year had fantastic years in Kemba Walker, Al Jefferson and Gerald Henderson. This season though, it seems like there’s a serious problem in Charlotte. Last years surprise playoff team may have made a move that they weren’t expecting.
Bill Reiter of Fox Sports reported the following.
Was told a few weeks ago Lance Stephenson, not Paul George or anyone else, impacted Hibbert so negatively last season. Looking accurate.
— Bill Reiter (@foxsportsreiter) November 27, 2014
Also told me that, from the start, folks in Charlotte started to realize in Lance they'd bitten off more than they'd planned on chewing.
— Bill Reiter (@foxsportsreiter) November 27, 2014
Watching the games, you can just see it. There is something very, very wrong with the Hornets and something going very, very right with Indiana Pacers big man, Roy Hibbert.
When healthy, Hibbert has put up very good numbers. It may be in part due to the departure of Stephenson, who may have been a guy who hindered him or due to the losses of just about all of the starting lineup. Either way, when Hibbert is on the floor, he’s doing great thing for the Pacers this season. He’s averaging a career highs with 13.1 points per game and 2.8 blocks per game to go along with 7.8 rebounds per game. Performing at an All-Star level.
Stephenson cashed in over the summer with his 3 year, $27 million dollar deal and was recruited by Michael Jordan himself to join his Hornets. He was the one big splash that the Hornets made and they looked to make the most of it with their roster that mixes veteran leaders like Al Jefferson, Gerald Henderson and Marvin Williams along with some youth in Kemba Walker, Cody Zeller and Lance Stephenson.
The load on Lance though may have been way too much for him too chew, and the expectations for him may have been too high. He’s shooting career lows in percentages at 36.7% from the field and 18.7% from three. Atrocious. Especially for a guy who averages 33.2 minutes per game and 9.6 points per game.
Even Hornets head coach, Steve Clifford, is saying that Lance Stephenson is not quite yet a star.
“To be fair, one of the things that’s made it more difficult for him is that he came here and people proclaimed him as the next superstar,” Clifford said Wednesday. “He’s not a star. He’s a guy that has talent to become a star. To be a star in this league, you have to do it over years.”
And according to ESPN’s Stephen A Smith, his head may have gotten too full before the season started and he might be doing too much.
Something really, really bad is happening in Charlotte and I don’t think that anyone in Buzz City is willing to wait around for it to figure itself out.
Image via: USA Today
