Category: Game Previews

Welp, not too much to talk about in the preview when you’re playing a back to back against the same team, the Magic. The Hornets look to build on their win last night blah blah blah and it looks like Aaron Gordon and Bamba will miss their second straight game.  

I hope we see something different out of the defense tonight. The late closeouts on shooters are REALLY starting to make my eyes bleed. The only reason we were still in the game last night was because the Magic kind of suck, just like us right now. I am going try to count how many late closeouts the Hornets have tonight, I may have to bust out the abacas…

Now that the Hornets are back on track I think Terry Rozier is due to get going again, which he showed bursts of in last nights 4^th quarter. Terry was by far our best basketball player in the first handful of games this season, if we can combine that Terry with the current Gordon and some great energy off the bench, the playoffs start becoming a realistic probability again.

Charlotte Keys

Start off hot – Hornets have not won a 1^st quarter since beating the Knicks on January 11^th. Playing from ahead should be a priority against suckyish teams like the Magic. Hey Borrego if Devonte’ starts off hot as shit maybe don’t sub him out at the 6:30 mark in the first like usual, its ok to play the hot hand, no reason to try to outsmart yourself

M&M’s – Melo and Miles need to bring the same energy off the bench tonight as they did last night, even if they don’t meet the production (I’m going to call them M&M’s and you can’t stop me, I will be adding a photoshop at some point to the “Takes” section. We stand no chance if our bench comes out flat, see that 4 game skid for reference.

Stop Gary Allen – When TF are we going to stop letting role players take a dump on us?

Orlando Keys

Limit drives – Hornets smoked them on drives yesterday, some of the blow byes could have been limited with quicker feet, cough Fournier cough.

Turn mini runs into actual runs – If the Magic could have extended on of their mini runs last night the game would have been out of reach by the 4^th quarter.

Prop Bets HugoCLT’s Overall Record (6-1)

Terry Rozier OVER 17.5pts (-120)

Gordon Hayward OVER 3.5asts (-125)

LaMelo Ball OVER 5.5rebs (-105)

                The Bulls and Hornets first matchup of the season is tonight which marks Zach Lavine’s first return to Charlotte since he beat the shit out of the Hornets for 49pts on 13 three pointers last season. The Bulls are coming off a 2-game win streak, they have also not lost by more than 4 points since January 1^st.  The Hornets are coming off a 3-game losing streak and are looking to get back into the win column, which they have been able to do the last 5 out of 6 times against the bulls.

Charlotte Keys:

Perimeter Defense – need to rotate onto Lavine faster than usual, switches have been lagging lately.

Drive & Dish – need to improve passing off drives and slashes. Hornets have got into a bad habit of getting near the hoop and bulleting the hell out of the ball at Biz standing behind the backboard.

Shot Clock – Cannot let the shot clock force bad shots and turnovers like we have been. Not knowing the time and score is a frustrating weakness but should improve with experience.

Chicago Keys:

Zach Lavine

Prop Bets: HugoCLT’s Overall Record (0-0)

Devonte’ Graham OVER 14.5points (-130)

Coby White OVER 15.5points (-110)

Terry Rozier OVER 3.5assists (even)