Weekly Hornets/Panthers news roundup!

Hello! I hope you’re having a nice day today, something new I will try to do each week is tried to go over news that isn't all that important in my opinion from the Charlotte Hornets and Carolina Panthers! Let’s start with the Charlotte Hornets, Wednesday the Hornets signed point guard Julyan Stone to an undisclosed contract. Stone appeared in 47 career NBA games (2 starts) over three seasons with Denver (2011-2013) and Toronto (2013-2014), average 1.3 points, 1.1 assists and 1 rebounds in seven minutes of play time. Julyan Stone played overseas in Italy last season, should be a good third point guard behind Kemba Walker and Michael Carter-Williams. Marvin Williams was named Charlotte best teammate, second year in a row that Marvin has taken home that honor. NBA 2K release their all-time Charlotte Hornets NBA roster, starters are 1) Kemba Walker 2) Eddie Jones 3) Glen Rice 4) Larry Johnson 5) Alonzo Mourning. The reserves are, Point Guards- Muggsy Bogues, Baron Davis and Raymond Felton; Shooting Guards- Dell Curry and Kendall Gill; Small Forwards- Stephen Jackson; Power Forwards- P.J. Brown and Kenny Gattison; Centers- Al Jefferson and Derrick Coleman. I do have to say where’s Gerald Wallace? He went from an expansion-draft castoff in Sacramento to an All-Star in Charlotte. He should be on this list. Coleman over Vlade Divac or Elden Campbell strikes me as odd. Coleman replaced Divac in 1999, and it was a clear downgrade. How could Felton make this group and David Wesley not? At worst, Wesley is the same statistically, and he had far more impact here. No Anthony Mason? No Jamal Mashburn? No Marvin Williams? I think it’s an easy argument each of those players was better in Charlotte than Brown or Gattison. I’m not saying P.J. and Gatt didn’t contribute, but they weren’t Mase, Mash or Marvin. Finally, the Hornets G-League team Greensboro Swarm released their schedule Thursday night ( http://greensboro.gleague.nba.com/schedule/ ) I went to a few games last year, was really fun and cheap, if you haven’t gone to a game yet and want to you should totally should!

            Now let’s talk about the Carolina Panthers news of the week! The Panthers went to Jacksonville Thursday night and defeated the Jaguars 24-23 in their third pre-season game. It was Cam Newton first game back since having shoulder surgery in March. The 2015 NFL MVP led the Panthers on a 10-play, 75-yard touchdown drive, capped off by a 9-yard scoring pass to Kelvin Benjamin over the middle on the first series of the game. Newton was 2-for-2 for 21 yards. Cam Newton and Panthers offense looked strong in the opening drive, while Cameron Artis-Payne had yet another great game (37 yards rushing and 2 touchdowns). The two big standouts were that second year pro Daryl Worley needs to improve because right now he’s the weak link in the secondary while Joe Webb might move ahead of Derek Anderson as the back quarterback with Anderson having a bad pre-season and Webb is not.

            If I missed anything tell me in the comment section below! Make sure to check back here next Friday for another weekly roundup for the Hornets and Panthers! Have a great day!

Four players that will determine if the Charlotte Hornets will have a successful season or not

With the NBA schedule coming out last night, I thought why not write something about the Charlotte Hornets! So I decided to go with four players that will determine if the Charlotte Hornets will have a successful season or not. Let's do this!
            1) Nicolas Batum

The first player I thought of when thinking of this is Nic Batum, skipping the EuroBasket 2017 with the French national team this summer in order to focus on his individual play with the Hornets. Saying in an interview “I really want to stay focused on my game, because I know I’ve got to be more of a scorer next year.” Even though he’s been the team’s second-leading scorer, behind Kemba Walker each of the past two seasons, but Batum has been too unselfish at times. Although Batum average a career-high 15.1 points per game past season, that mark was still near the bottom of the league in terms of secondary scoring options. Nic needs to be more aggressive on offense to be a better scorer; look for his own shot rather than deferring to teammates. He can still be an all-around playmaker and create shots for other players but he needs to get more shots up himself.

            2) Dwight Howard

Trading for him right before the draft, Dwight Howard is no longer in his prime, will he be able to produce near an all-star level or will he regress? The reunion with Steve Clifford should hopefully help his game. Looking at his last few stops, he’s had some chemistry issues. Be interesting to see how things go for Dwight in the queen city.

            3) Malik Monk

After missing the entire summer league due to an ankle injury. The 11^th overall pick, Charlotte might have gotten a steal with the best shooter in this year draft. Monk shot 39.7% from beyond the arc during his one year at Kentucky as he made 104 total threes’. If he’s able to shoot like that off the bench, then the Hornets bench will be greatly better than it was last season, with Cody Zeller, Frank Kaminsky, Jeremy Lamb and Michael Carter-Williams. Speaking up Carter-Williams…

            4) Michael Carter-Williams

The Charlotte Hornets signed Michael Carter-Williams to a one-year, $2.7 million deal this offseason, and should provide the Hornets the upgrade at backup point guard they sought after Ramon Sessions struggled in his second stint in Charlotte last season. The former first-round pick, averaged 6.6 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 2.9 assists in 18.8 minutes per game last season. He struggled a bit offensively, shooting 36.6 percent from the field and 23.4 percent from behind the 3-point line. But his real value came at the other end of the floor. Carter-Williams posted a 1.7 defensive box plus/minus, the best mark of his career. The stat measures the box score estimate of the defensive points per 100 possessions a player contributed above a league average player translated to an average team. So Carter-Williams was a better than average player on the defensive end of the floor. With his 6’7” wingspan, Carter-Williams has the ability to bother opposing point guards. The wingspan also helps the guard reach out into passing lanes and disrupt the flow of the offense. With his tall frame, Carter-Williams also has the ability to guard some of the biggest point guards in the league, something that Kemba Walker won’t be able to do. Carter-Williams’ defensive makes a much better fit with the second unit. With multiple scorers coming off the bench, including the likes Malik Monk, Jeremy Lamb, and Frank Kaminsky, the Hornets don’t need a scoring backup point guard, they need someone that will play well on the defensive end of the floor.

            That’s the four players who I believe will make the difference for the Hornets this season. Do you agree or disagree? Tell me in the comment section below! Also, sorry about not posting anything lately been busy with work and school. But I have a couple cool and new things I’m working on for this blog and possibly a YouTube channel(?) as well! Check back here Friday for a weekly update on the Hornets/Panthers. Have a great day!