Welcome to the Hornets Havevecast, presented by Charlotte I ear Nosen Throat Associates, the official I ear nosen Throatcare provider of the Charlotte Hornets. Here's your host, Sam Farber.

Welcome to the Hornets Havevecast, presented by Charlotte I ear Nosen Throat Associates, the official I ear nosen Throatcare provider of the Charlotte Hornets. Here's your host, Sam Farber.

Welcome to another edition of the Hornets Time Cast, your Hornets podcast with all the notes, quotes in daily buzz around your favorite NBA team. I'm Sam Farber and it is a pleasure and a privileged to have you with us here once again on the Hornet's Side Cast, brought to you by Santa Charlotte I ear Nose and Throat Associates, the official I ear nos and thrill care provider of the Charlotte Hornets. We are gonna get you ready for the Hornets m l K Day game they're taking on the Dallas Mavericks a daylight d light noon tip off time and a reminder in case you've forgotten, first five thousand fans through the doors will get a one of a kind, well I guess five thousand of a kind Brandon Miller bobblehead that will be given out again to the first five thousand fans who make it into that contest.

Welcome to another edition of the Hornets Time Cast, your Hornets podcast with all the notes, quotes in daily buzz around your favorite NBA team. I'm Sam Farber and it is a pleasure and a privileged to have you with us here once again on the Hornet's Side Cast, brought to you by Santa Charlotte I ear Nose and Throat Associates, the official I ear nos and thrill care provider of the Charlotte Hornets. We are gonna get you ready for the Hornets m l K Day game they're taking on the Dallas Mavericks a daylight d light noon tip off time and a reminder in case you've forgotten, first five thousand fans through the doors will get a one of a kind, well I guess five thousand of a kind Brandon Miller bobblehead that will be given out again to the first five thousand fans who make it into that contest.

We'll talk about the up coming game.

We'll talk about the up coming game.

We're also going to talk about a couple of pieces of news that came across the wires regarding the Charlotte Hornets, and we're going to talk about the All Star vote, as this is the last podcast that we plan on recording at least while All Star voting is still open. Helping me on all of these topics. He's my producer on the Hornets Radio Networkcause what was the producer of this fine podcast?

We're also going to talk about a couple of pieces of news that came across the wires regarding the Charlotte Hornets, and we're going to talk about the All Star vote, as this is the last podcast that we plan on recording at least while All Star voting is still open. Helping me on all of these topics. He's my producer on the Hornets Radio Networkcause what was the producer of this fine podcast?

Rob Longo? Here with me once again.

Rob Longo? Here with me once again.

Rob, I'm sure you are the most thankful of anyone to not have any more West Coast tip times, at least not for a little while.

Rob, I'm sure you are the most thankful of anyone to not have any more West Coast tip times, at least not for a little while.

And your reward is we're tipping off at noon on Monday. Yeah.

And your reward is we're tipping off at noon on Monday. Yeah.

Talk about a shock to my equilibrium, I guess, because my body's not going to know whether I should be up early or staying up late. It's one way or the others. So it's going to be an interesting one to try to get ready for tomorrow. But happy to do it, nonetheless, excited to have that afternoon tip time at the Hive, and just happy to see the Hornets back in person. It's been a little bit over almost two weeks since we saw the Hornets here at the Hive. It's going to be thirteen days to be exact, so looking forward to having a home game finally.

Talk about a shock to my equilibrium, I guess, because my body's not going to know whether I should be up early or staying up late. It's one way or the others. So it's going to be an interesting one to try to get ready for tomorrow. But happy to do it, nonetheless, excited to have that afternoon tip time at the Hive, and just happy to see the Hornets back in person. It's been a little bit over almost two weeks since we saw the Hornets here at the Hive. It's going to be thirteen days to be exact, so looking forward to having a home game finally.

Now, for those fans who are tuned into this on Monday or just wanted the game preview, that's segment three. So we feel like we give you a lot of great content day in and day out here on the HHC. But if you're looking specifically for the game preview for Hornets versus Mavericks, feel free to skip on over to segment three. We're going to start things off though with the All Star vote. We had the latest batch come out a few days ago. Eastern Conference Guards continue to be led by LaMelo Ball, who's got a roughly one third of a million vote lead over the next guy, Donovan Mitchell, and he is solidly in the top two. I don't think there's any risk of him falling out of those spots. A reminder, fifty percent of the vote for the starter for the All Star Game goes to the fans. The other portions broken up between media members as well as the players themselves, so a huge portion here belongs to you the fans, and the fans thus far are speaking loud and clear that LaMelo Ball is a serving and be the desired player that they want in the All Star Game as a starter here out in San Francisco for twenty twenty five.

Now, for those fans who are tuned into this on Monday or just wanted the game preview, that's segment three. So we feel like we give you a lot of great content day in and day out here on the HHC. But if you're looking specifically for the game preview for Hornets versus Mavericks, feel free to skip on over to segment three. We're going to start things off though with the All Star vote. We had the latest batch come out a few days ago. Eastern Conference Guards continue to be led by LaMelo Ball, who's got a roughly one third of a million vote lead over the next guy, Donovan Mitchell, and he is solidly in the top two. I don't think there's any risk of him falling out of those spots. A reminder, fifty percent of the vote for the starter for the All Star Game goes to the fans. The other portions broken up between media members as well as the players themselves, so a huge portion here belongs to you the fans, and the fans thus far are speaking loud and clear that LaMelo Ball is a serving and be the desired player that they want in the All Star Game as a starter here out in San Francisco for twenty twenty five.

Yeah, I mean this is great. It's awesome to see that the fans are having their say in this and that LaMelo continues to lead and his lead continues to kind of be consistent for the most part, from the first returns that we saw a couple weeks ago to the second returns. That gap even wided over a guy like Donovan Mitchell too. So super excited to see that LaMelo continues to lead the league and the All Star voting in terms of the guards in the Eastern Conference. But it just kind of goes to show you that the people that pay attention to the NBA, they know what they're talking about. Because I think that Will Polaccia got me a little route up on the podcast the other day when we were talking about LaMelo. After that, I want to say it was the Utah game about how there are some people out there that might not think that LaMelo's numbers are worthy of being an All Star nominee, or that just because of the team's record, he shouldn't be on the All Star team, and obviously everybody in Charlotte knows that couldn't be further from the truth because we see what he has on the game, night in and night out. And I think that's the biggest thing too, is there's one thing where you look at the numbers and you look at the team's record, and you say, well, if you eliminate the team's record, then they shouldn't be an All Star and have all these other stipulations, and it's just silly talk if you're asking me to be honest. I mean, All Star is an All Star, it's an individual accolade. And LaMelo Ball is an All Star. He's already been an All Star once in his career. He's more than likely on his way to do it again this season, hopefully because of the way the fan voting has gone. And I think that the discourse is finally starting to maybe turn a little bit here because well, the one thing is the team is starting to win a little bit more here too. LaMelo is fully healthy and ready to go, and everybody else on the team is also healthy in helping him put up some pretty good numbers too. Because as much as it's an individual accolade. It's also kind of a team effort thing too, because without LaMelo's teammates, he wouldn't be able to put up assist numbers and shooting numbers and those sorts of things. So it's a culmination a little bit. But at the same time, it's just great in general to see LaMelo still leading in the voting category from a fan perspective.

Yeah, I mean this is great. It's awesome to see that the fans are having their say in this and that LaMelo continues to lead and his lead continues to kind of be consistent for the most part, from the first returns that we saw a couple weeks ago to the second returns. That gap even wided over a guy like Donovan Mitchell too. So super excited to see that LaMelo continues to lead the league and the All Star voting in terms of the guards in the Eastern Conference. But it just kind of goes to show you that the people that pay attention to the NBA, they know what they're talking about. Because I think that Will Polaccia got me a little route up on the podcast the other day when we were talking about LaMelo. After that, I want to say it was the Utah game about how there are some people out there that might not think that LaMelo's numbers are worthy of being an All Star nominee, or that just because of the team's record, he shouldn't be on the All Star team, and obviously everybody in Charlotte knows that couldn't be further from the truth because we see what he has on the game, night in and night out. And I think that's the biggest thing too, is there's one thing where you look at the numbers and you look at the team's record, and you say, well, if you eliminate the team's record, then they shouldn't be an All Star and have all these other stipulations, and it's just silly talk if you're asking me to be honest. I mean, All Star is an All Star, it's an individual accolade. And LaMelo Ball is an All Star. He's already been an All Star once in his career. He's more than likely on his way to do it again this season, hopefully because of the way the fan voting has gone. And I think that the discourse is finally starting to maybe turn a little bit here because well, the one thing is the team is starting to win a little bit more here too. LaMelo is fully healthy and ready to go, and everybody else on the team is also healthy in helping him put up some pretty good numbers too. Because as much as it's an individual accolade. It's also kind of a team effort thing too, because without LaMelo's teammates, he wouldn't be able to put up assist numbers and shooting numbers and those sorts of things. So it's a culmination a little bit. But at the same time, it's just great in general to see LaMelo still leading in the voting category from a fan perspective.

Now, before I make this next statement, I want to be clear I am not necessarily making the same argument that Willie p did. They got you all hot and bothered before, So to just keep that in mind as I let people know that I think the biggest reason to continue to vote for LaMelo is perhaps well, first off, it's that you want to see him in the All Star Game, and that's really the message that's being delivered right now from the fans. But furthermore, he probably needs it more than some of the other guys because the general consensus is that at least the media vote and likely the player vote will more than likely lean towards Donovan Mitchell, Dame Lillard, and Jalen Brunson. Donovan Mitchell, of course, the power behind the team with the best record in the Eastern Conference in a team that's off to at times in historic start here for the season. Dame Lillard, who has been a perennial All Star and has really bolstered a huge turnaround for the Milwaukee Bucks from a really sloppy start to now a solid spot in the top four in the Eastern Conference. And then Jalen Brunson, who has been outstanding for the New York Knicks all season. The biggest reason why again I think LaMelo Ball is a player who should be in the All Star Game. The statistics, I mean what he's doing, averaging twenty nine and a half points per game, just a hair under thirty points per game. He is top five in scoring in the NBA. And those other guys I'm mentioning, yes, they're doing things to help power their teams to exponentially better records, but Donovan Mitchell is not even in the top twenty in the NBA in scoring, Dame Lillard is in the top fifteen, Jalen Brunson in the top ten, LaMelo Ball is sitting there at number four as of the recording of this podcast. And then on the assist side of things, you might think to yourself, well, you know LaMelo Ball puts up good numbers, but you know, Mitchell and Lillard and Brunson as the powers of their offense clearly have to be better in that statistical category that LaMelo is. Actually they're not Lamello right now is the recording of this podcast sits in eighth place and assist per game at seven and a half per night, a spot ahead of Jalen Brunson and fully clear of Dame Lillard and Donovan Mitchell. So I think the numbers do certainly support LaMelo getting this All Star bid. And one last time, this is the last chance you have to vote, or at least this last podcast where we're baking here before the vote is finalized. Things will wrap up on the twentieth, after the Hornets game against Dallas eleven fifty nine pm Eastern. It's the fans' final opportunity to vote for the NBA All Star Game starters. You can do so via the NBA App and NBA dot Com with your nbaid. The starters will be revealed on Thursday, the twenty third, reserves one week later on the thirtieth. I'm very confident that LaMelo Ball will be an All Star one way or another. But it would be really a lot of fun. It would support what the fans are asking for if he's named a starter. But again, while I think there are other avenues like not finishing first, might not be the end of the world for Donvan Mitchell or Jalen Brunson or Dame Lillard's chances of being an All Star starter, I think it it would certainly hurt LaMelo Balls chances. So keep voting for him, keep him in the top spot, send him well over that two million vote threshold, and keep him in line to hopefully be a starter for the All Star Game.

Now, before I make this next statement, I want to be clear I am not necessarily making the same argument that Willie p did. They got you all hot and bothered before, So to just keep that in mind as I let people know that I think the biggest reason to continue to vote for LaMelo is perhaps well, first off, it's that you want to see him in the All Star Game, and that's really the message that's being delivered right now from the fans. But furthermore, he probably needs it more than some of the other guys because the general consensus is that at least the media vote and likely the player vote will more than likely lean towards Donovan Mitchell, Dame Lillard, and Jalen Brunson. Donovan Mitchell, of course, the power behind the team with the best record in the Eastern Conference in a team that's off to at times in historic start here for the season. Dame Lillard, who has been a perennial All Star and has really bolstered a huge turnaround for the Milwaukee Bucks from a really sloppy start to now a solid spot in the top four in the Eastern Conference. And then Jalen Brunson, who has been outstanding for the New York Knicks all season. The biggest reason why again I think LaMelo Ball is a player who should be in the All Star Game. The statistics, I mean what he's doing, averaging twenty nine and a half points per game, just a hair under thirty points per game. He is top five in scoring in the NBA. And those other guys I'm mentioning, yes, they're doing things to help power their teams to exponentially better records, but Donovan Mitchell is not even in the top twenty in the NBA in scoring, Dame Lillard is in the top fifteen, Jalen Brunson in the top ten, LaMelo Ball is sitting there at number four as of the recording of this podcast. And then on the assist side of things, you might think to yourself, well, you know LaMelo Ball puts up good numbers, but you know, Mitchell and Lillard and Brunson as the powers of their offense clearly have to be better in that statistical category that LaMelo is. Actually they're not Lamello right now is the recording of this podcast sits in eighth place and assist per game at seven and a half per night, a spot ahead of Jalen Brunson and fully clear of Dame Lillard and Donovan Mitchell. So I think the numbers do certainly support LaMelo getting this All Star bid. And one last time, this is the last chance you have to vote, or at least this last podcast where we're baking here before the vote is finalized. Things will wrap up on the twentieth, after the Hornets game against Dallas eleven fifty nine pm Eastern. It's the fans' final opportunity to vote for the NBA All Star Game starters. You can do so via the NBA App and NBA dot Com with your nbaid. The starters will be revealed on Thursday, the twenty third, reserves one week later on the thirtieth. I'm very confident that LaMelo Ball will be an All Star one way or another. But it would be really a lot of fun. It would support what the fans are asking for if he's named a starter. But again, while I think there are other avenues like not finishing first, might not be the end of the world for Donvan Mitchell or Jalen Brunson or Dame Lillard's chances of being an All Star starter, I think it it would certainly hurt LaMelo Balls chances. So keep voting for him, keep him in the top spot, send him well over that two million vote threshold, and keep him in line to hopefully be a starter for the All Star Game.

Yeah, that's a good statement. I think that makes sense in terms of where he stacks up against the other guards in the Eastern Conference. And again, this all goes back to a conversation I think you had it with Kyle Bailey on a pregame show not that long ago. Is if you don't want the fans opinion, then don't have it count for fifty percent of the All Star voting. I mean, it's just that simple. So if you want the fans to have a say, then change a format. But right now, this is what the format is. Fifty percent of the vote goes to the fans, the twenty five percent goes to the players, and the other twenty five percent goes to the media and the coaches as well. So again, it is what it is in terms of the format. But hey, this is what the league wants, and this is what the league is going to get. This is what the people want. This is democracy at work, and hopefully LaMelo is at the head of it all. Whenever the tallies are tallied up here in a couple of days.

Yeah, that's a good statement. I think that makes sense in terms of where he stacks up against the other guards in the Eastern Conference. And again, this all goes back to a conversation I think you had it with Kyle Bailey on a pregame show not that long ago. Is if you don't want the fans opinion, then don't have it count for fifty percent of the All Star voting. I mean, it's just that simple. So if you want the fans to have a say, then change a format. But right now, this is what the format is. Fifty percent of the vote goes to the fans, the twenty five percent goes to the players, and the other twenty five percent goes to the media and the coaches as well. So again, it is what it is in terms of the format. But hey, this is what the league wants, and this is what the league is going to get. This is what the people want. This is democracy at work, and hopefully LaMelo is at the head of it all. Whenever the tallies are tallied up here in a couple of days.

And one last thing on this, It's not like he's one of these guys who's in some of these lists, who is not playing enough games to qualify for All NBA honors later on this season.

And one last thing on this, It's not like he's one of these guys who's in some of these lists, who is not playing enough games to qualify for All NBA honors later on this season.

Like he's fully in line for all of it.

Like he's fully in line for all of it.

He is on the league leader board, he's playing enough games to qualify for stats leadership. He is still eligible to be an All NBA selection. You can't say that about some of the guys who are on other lists, none of the other guys that are on the particular Eastern Conference guardless. But you know, guys like Palo Banco or Luka Doncic, they're not doubt of consideration for All NBA honors and are still extremely popular and thus getting votes. But I think there's a stronger argument to be made that, oh, their fan vote is purely the fans like them. There isn't the statistical substance, at least not strong of it, to support their candidacy this year over some other candidates. We'll see how it works out again. Vote LaMelo. Go to NBA dot Com or the NBA app and make your voice heard. Final podcast before things closed down for the voting from you the fans. Coming up next, a couple of big pieces of news across the wires concerning the Charlotte Hornets. We'll talk about them both next here on the Hornets Time Cast. Sam Farbar, Rob Longo here with you on the HHC The Hornets Time Cast, brought to you by Santa Rob. A couple of really big, significant pieces of news came across the wires in the last forty eight to seventy two hours, depending on when you're listening to this podcast. One of them you touched on post game after the victory over the Chicago Bulls with Willie P. Will Palacik, host of Hornet's Postgame on our flagship station ninety two point seven Sports Radio WFNZ, and that was Brandon Miller suffering a torn ligament in.

He is on the league leader board, he's playing enough games to qualify for stats leadership. He is still eligible to be an All NBA selection. You can't say that about some of the guys who are on other lists, none of the other guys that are on the particular Eastern Conference guardless. But you know, guys like Palo Banco or Luka Doncic, they're not doubt of consideration for All NBA honors and are still extremely popular and thus getting votes. But I think there's a stronger argument to be made that, oh, their fan vote is purely the fans like them. There isn't the statistical substance, at least not strong of it, to support their candidacy this year over some other candidates. We'll see how it works out again. Vote LaMelo. Go to NBA dot Com or the NBA app and make your voice heard. Final podcast before things closed down for the voting from you the fans. Coming up next, a couple of big pieces of news across the wires concerning the Charlotte Hornets. We'll talk about them both next here on the Hornets Time Cast. Sam Farbar, Rob Longo here with you on the HHC The Hornets Time Cast, brought to you by Santa Rob. A couple of really big, significant pieces of news came across the wires in the last forty eight to seventy two hours, depending on when you're listening to this podcast. One of them you touched on post game after the victory over the Chicago Bulls with Willie P. Will Palacik, host of Hornet's Postgame on our flagship station ninety two point seven Sports Radio WFNZ, and that was Brandon Miller suffering a torn ligament in.

His right risk.

His right risk.

Kudos to you for figuring out the pronunciation on this one. I looked it up and I practiced it, and now we're, you know, twelve minutes into this podcast, and I've forgotten it already.

Kudos to you for figuring out the pronunciation on this one. I looked it up and I practiced it, and now we're, you know, twelve minutes into this podcast, and I've forgotten it already.

So I'll let you handle it if you.

So I'll let you handle it if you.

Wish, But just want to dig a little deeper here on this news. First off, there's a lot of unknown with it. We don't know the extent of the tear, and so it's not a good place to be to try and speculate on it, so we're not going to. But there is a reality here, and we want to be honest with the fans. The word tear and ligament are not good. And the fact that he has been listed as out indefinitely means at minimum he's not playing against Dallas, and indefinitely tends to mean that it's going to be you know, weeks versus hours or days that he is going to miss here for this injury. But as always, we look for the silver linings here and a couple of things. One as badly as we wanted to get a fifteen or twenty game sample size with this core four together, Hey, we got four and it looked pretty good. Now that's not enough to really make huge long term decisions off of with a ton of confidence, but it's better than the alternative, which could have been nothing. And so I think Brandon Miller is kind of the one that's maybe the most reliable for what he's asked to do.

Wish, But just want to dig a little deeper here on this news. First off, there's a lot of unknown with it. We don't know the extent of the tear, and so it's not a good place to be to try and speculate on it, so we're not going to. But there is a reality here, and we want to be honest with the fans. The word tear and ligament are not good. And the fact that he has been listed as out indefinitely means at minimum he's not playing against Dallas, and indefinitely tends to mean that it's going to be you know, weeks versus hours or days that he is going to miss here for this injury. But as always, we look for the silver linings here and a couple of things. One as badly as we wanted to get a fifteen or twenty game sample size with this core four together, Hey, we got four and it looked pretty good. Now that's not enough to really make huge long term decisions off of with a ton of confidence, but it's better than the alternative, which could have been nothing. And so I think Brandon Miller is kind of the one that's maybe the most reliable for what he's asked to do.

He is an elite shooter.

He is an elite shooter.

He's already one of the best in the history of the NBA in terms of the time that he's played the game. First one hundred and one games, he's made the second most threes of any player in NBA history, Shy, I have only Duncan Robinson, and Brandon Miller's done it while being a far more dynamic overall scorer compared to the person who currently leads that spot. And then really the combo that you most want to get a feel for is LaMelo Ball and Mark Williams, and those two are thriving right now. So not that it's a good thing to assume, but there is a general feeling that I have and I think a lot of people around have that whenever Brandon Miller is able to return, whether it's in you know, weeks, whatever the timeline is, he can fit in pretty seamlessly doing what he has done the first one hundred and one games of his NBA career and just grow the offensive output as well as defensive abilities of this team. So you guys talked about it in depth. I just wanted to add some thoughts there. Again, we don't have any further update on this injury. I would expect we'll get some kind of idea of what indefinite might mean in the next few days or week or two, but for now, indefinite is the timeline and Brandon Miller out with that torn ligament in his right wrist.

He's already one of the best in the history of the NBA in terms of the time that he's played the game. First one hundred and one games, he's made the second most threes of any player in NBA history, Shy, I have only Duncan Robinson, and Brandon Miller's done it while being a far more dynamic overall scorer compared to the person who currently leads that spot. And then really the combo that you most want to get a feel for is LaMelo Ball and Mark Williams, and those two are thriving right now. So not that it's a good thing to assume, but there is a general feeling that I have and I think a lot of people around have that whenever Brandon Miller is able to return, whether it's in you know, weeks, whatever the timeline is, he can fit in pretty seamlessly doing what he has done the first one hundred and one games of his NBA career and just grow the offensive output as well as defensive abilities of this team. So you guys talked about it in depth. I just wanted to add some thoughts there. Again, we don't have any further update on this injury. I would expect we'll get some kind of idea of what indefinite might mean in the next few days or week or two, but for now, indefinite is the timeline and Brandon Miller out with that torn ligament in his right wrist.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, first off, the pronunciation of the ligament is scaffold looted, so we can get that out of the way. It did take me quite some time to figure out how to say that. There was a lot of slowing it down on the Google pronunciation. But at the same time too, when you take a look at the injury, you touched on it perfectly. It's just so hard to tell because again, it's a ligament, it's a tear. It's a very odd injury where you have to kind of figure out what the best course of action is. I'm sure he's getting several different opinions. This is gonna take some time to figure things out, So it definitely is definitely the right verbiage to use here as far as the timeline goes, So just to get that out of the way. And again, it just kind of sucks because he was having such a good season. He was averaging over twenty points per game. It's a huge blow from Brandon personally, just because it just feels like he hasn't really been able to get off the ground here this year. He had a couple of other injuries throughout the season. He had that gluten strain the start off the year, he had a couple of ankle sprays in there, just got beat up this season. It feels like a little bit too and just unfortunate that again we aren't able to see these core four players to have a longer evaluation period. Four games is great, but fifteen or sixteen or twenty or thirty or the rest of the season would have been a lot better. So those are definitely the negatives out of it. The positives, though, I know there's not a whole lot of positives whenever one of your best players goes down, but I mean, this is this is an opportunity to see some evaluation from some other guys. And we touched on that on the podcast the other day with Willie p and I about guys that can step up. Seth Curry's at Grizzle Vet. He's able to to go in there. Nicksonth Junior in his first start able to pick up a win. I thought he looked really good in his first start in an NBA uniform with the fifteen points there. So there's abilities to do it by committee a little bit. And that's not to say that Jeff Peterson and Charles Lee and all the other decision makers in the front office are gonna throw up their hands and say, oh, well, we only got four games with this group. We don't know what's gonna happen, and we're just gonna move on and go from there. People are constantly getting evaluated day in and day out in the NBA one through fifteen. I guess eighteen now with three two way deals, but every single person is getting evaluated on a daily basis, and just because it might not be your night to get called upon doesn't mean that you can't stay ready. So again, it's kind of a next man up mentality. This team has had to do that for the last two and a half years now, unfortunately, But you still have pieces here like LaMelo Ball, Miles Bridges, Mark Williams, all of those guys can definitely have an impact on the game, and moving forward, they're gonna have to have to pick up the slack a little bit more. But there's other pieces that are gonna be able to be evaluated here for the long term future here for the Hornets as well.

Well, first off, the pronunciation of the ligament is scaffold looted, so we can get that out of the way. It did take me quite some time to figure out how to say that. There was a lot of slowing it down on the Google pronunciation. But at the same time too, when you take a look at the injury, you touched on it perfectly. It's just so hard to tell because again, it's a ligament, it's a tear. It's a very odd injury where you have to kind of figure out what the best course of action is. I'm sure he's getting several different opinions. This is gonna take some time to figure things out, So it definitely is definitely the right verbiage to use here as far as the timeline goes, So just to get that out of the way. And again, it just kind of sucks because he was having such a good season. He was averaging over twenty points per game. It's a huge blow from Brandon personally, just because it just feels like he hasn't really been able to get off the ground here this year. He had a couple of other injuries throughout the season. He had that gluten strain the start off the year, he had a couple of ankle sprays in there, just got beat up this season. It feels like a little bit too and just unfortunate that again we aren't able to see these core four players to have a longer evaluation period. Four games is great, but fifteen or sixteen or twenty or thirty or the rest of the season would have been a lot better. So those are definitely the negatives out of it. The positives, though, I know there's not a whole lot of positives whenever one of your best players goes down, but I mean, this is this is an opportunity to see some evaluation from some other guys. And we touched on that on the podcast the other day with Willie p and I about guys that can step up. Seth Curry's at Grizzle Vet. He's able to to go in there. Nicksonth Junior in his first start able to pick up a win. I thought he looked really good in his first start in an NBA uniform with the fifteen points there. So there's abilities to do it by committee a little bit. And that's not to say that Jeff Peterson and Charles Lee and all the other decision makers in the front office are gonna throw up their hands and say, oh, well, we only got four games with this group. We don't know what's gonna happen, and we're just gonna move on and go from there. People are constantly getting evaluated day in and day out in the NBA one through fifteen. I guess eighteen now with three two way deals, but every single person is getting evaluated on a daily basis, and just because it might not be your night to get called upon doesn't mean that you can't stay ready. So again, it's kind of a next man up mentality. This team has had to do that for the last two and a half years now, unfortunately, But you still have pieces here like LaMelo Ball, Miles Bridges, Mark Williams, all of those guys can definitely have an impact on the game, and moving forward, they're gonna have to have to pick up the slack a little bit more. But there's other pieces that are gonna be able to be evaluated here for the long term future here for the Hornets as well.

One last stat on on this one, and it's a direct comparison Brandon Miller to LaMelo Ball through the first two seasons at least so far. Again, we don't know if there's gonna be more of a timeline given on Brandon Miller, but even if this is a worst case scenario thing and we don't see him again this year, just to put in context, LaMelo Ball, partially due to COVID and an injury, had a truncated first two seasons worth of sample size, and obviously we saw him become an All Star, one of the youngest in the history of the game, and put up tremendous numbers. But Brandon Miller's compare very favorably Lamello in his first two seasons, appeared in one hundred and twenty six games, making one hundred and six starts, for Brandon Miller one hundred and one games, ninety five starts, so very similar numbers there. Three pointers on a per game basis, LaMelo Ball made two and a half a night with a thirty seven point eight percent three point percentage, Brandon Miller two point nine, a little closer to three per night, thirty six point six percent from beyond the r and then the you know, raw scoring stats for LaMelo Ball in his first two seasons eighteen point three points per game and for Brandon Miller, believe it or not, it is eighteen point three points per game. So they're identical in that vein. Both of them are exceptional players, exceptional talents. We're going to keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best here with Brandon Miller, but already we've seen a lot from him. We know what he's capable of, and the ceiling very very high continuously here for Brandon Miller. The other piece of news we wanted to talk about this came across on Saturday, and we don't know how long term this is really going to be for so perhaps by the time you're hearing this podcast, he's already back on the normal roster. But the Hornets of a sign forward t Jhan Salon to the Greensboro Swarm of the NBA G League. And to me, this could be a real shot in the arm for his confidence and his usage rate. You know, his role with Charlotte right now is not one where he's being asked to handle the ball a whole heck of a lot, not one where he is a primary target most of the time he's on the floor with the Greensboro Swarm, he instantly becomes both of those things. And for a young player, the youngest player out of the draft, one of the youngest in the NBA, reps are so so so important just to build on his personal skill set. So whether he is with the Greensboro Swarm for Monday's game upcoming, or for a couple of weeks or a couple of days, whatever it is, any time he gets there on the floor, getting those game reps are going to be invaluable for his long term development. So I'm sure a lot of people saw the news that he had been assigned to the Greensboro Swarm and there's a certain connotation, probably from people's baseball experience, on what it means to quote unquote be sent to the minor leagues. But I think for a player in t Jan Salon's position, this is an instant positive and it is not uncommon for really young players, even ones who have a role with the big club, i e. kJ Simpson, when there's an opportunity to get that person down to the G league and get them more reps, you take advantage of it. So there's a lot of different ways this can be read, but I think they're all positive, really positive for t Jon Salon.

One last stat on on this one, and it's a direct comparison Brandon Miller to LaMelo Ball through the first two seasons at least so far. Again, we don't know if there's gonna be more of a timeline given on Brandon Miller, but even if this is a worst case scenario thing and we don't see him again this year, just to put in context, LaMelo Ball, partially due to COVID and an injury, had a truncated first two seasons worth of sample size, and obviously we saw him become an All Star, one of the youngest in the history of the game, and put up tremendous numbers. But Brandon Miller's compare very favorably Lamello in his first two seasons, appeared in one hundred and twenty six games, making one hundred and six starts, for Brandon Miller one hundred and one games, ninety five starts, so very similar numbers there. Three pointers on a per game basis, LaMelo Ball made two and a half a night with a thirty seven point eight percent three point percentage, Brandon Miller two point nine, a little closer to three per night, thirty six point six percent from beyond the r and then the you know, raw scoring stats for LaMelo Ball in his first two seasons eighteen point three points per game and for Brandon Miller, believe it or not, it is eighteen point three points per game. So they're identical in that vein. Both of them are exceptional players, exceptional talents. We're going to keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best here with Brandon Miller, but already we've seen a lot from him. We know what he's capable of, and the ceiling very very high continuously here for Brandon Miller. The other piece of news we wanted to talk about this came across on Saturday, and we don't know how long term this is really going to be for so perhaps by the time you're hearing this podcast, he's already back on the normal roster. But the Hornets of a sign forward t Jhan Salon to the Greensboro Swarm of the NBA G League. And to me, this could be a real shot in the arm for his confidence and his usage rate. You know, his role with Charlotte right now is not one where he's being asked to handle the ball a whole heck of a lot, not one where he is a primary target most of the time he's on the floor with the Greensboro Swarm, he instantly becomes both of those things. And for a young player, the youngest player out of the draft, one of the youngest in the NBA, reps are so so so important just to build on his personal skill set. So whether he is with the Greensboro Swarm for Monday's game upcoming, or for a couple of weeks or a couple of days, whatever it is, any time he gets there on the floor, getting those game reps are going to be invaluable for his long term development. So I'm sure a lot of people saw the news that he had been assigned to the Greensboro Swarm and there's a certain connotation, probably from people's baseball experience, on what it means to quote unquote be sent to the minor leagues. But I think for a player in t Jan Salon's position, this is an instant positive and it is not uncommon for really young players, even ones who have a role with the big club, i e. kJ Simpson, when there's an opportunity to get that person down to the G league and get them more reps, you take advantage of it. So there's a lot of different ways this can be read, but I think they're all positive, really positive for t Jon Salon.

They definitely are. I mean, I think if you go back and you look at when T John was drafted, I think the idea around the situation to begin with was that he was going to play the majority of his minutes this season in Greensboro at the Gen League level just because he needed a little extra run just turned nineteen whenever he was drafted, So I mean, I think this was kind of the expectation going into it. But unfortunately, the injuries to the Hornets roster kind of derailed that plan, I think, and a lot of his experience has come at the big league level, And I'm not saying that's a bad thing, but I think that sometimes you got to walk a little bit before you can run. And I'm not saying that Tjon did anything wrong here at the NBA level either, but it was just kind of the idea that he was going to get nurtured, for lack of a better term, in the G League a little bit before he was able to make that leap into the NBA level. And this is something that can maybe follow the path of Mark Williams and other players before him that got some seasoning down in the G League and then they came back up and they were ready to go. Nick mc junior was a great example of that earlier this year where he went down there, worked on a couple of things, had some big games, and now he's back into rotation and heck, he even started the last game as well. So this is an opportunity for Tijon to get a little bit more extended run, get a little bit more focused practice wise, maybe get a little bit more attention to details and practice from some of the guys like DJ Baker and the rest of the Greensborough staff down there as well. And kJ Simpson ISAA long. They've done a good job there, going back and forth here over the last couple of weeks in the last couple months of the season and making sure that they're honing in on their craft as well. Mussa Diabotte had that extended running Greensboro not that long ago, also before the Nick Richards trade. So again, it's not an indictment on anything that Tjon did wrong or any of these other players did wrong. It's just a way to get better, because the only way you're going to get better is game reps and practice time and that sort of stuff, and you don't get a whole lot of that at the NBA level when you're playing three and four nights and you maybe are the twelfth guy in the rotation or something like that, and your numbers not called upon every single night. So this is an opportunity for T John to get better and the rest of those guys get better. And I know that they'll have the right mindset because they have that high mentality that Charles Lee always talks about and Nicks vir Junior talked about it the other day about just trying to stay ready and making sure they have the right mindset when you go down to Greensborough. Just go in, get your work, punch the clock, punch out and pull. The hard work will eventually pay off sooner rather than later. Nicks VI Junior is a great example of that as well.

They definitely are. I mean, I think if you go back and you look at when T John was drafted, I think the idea around the situation to begin with was that he was going to play the majority of his minutes this season in Greensboro at the Gen League level just because he needed a little extra run just turned nineteen whenever he was drafted, So I mean, I think this was kind of the expectation going into it. But unfortunately, the injuries to the Hornets roster kind of derailed that plan, I think, and a lot of his experience has come at the big league level, And I'm not saying that's a bad thing, but I think that sometimes you got to walk a little bit before you can run. And I'm not saying that Tjon did anything wrong here at the NBA level either, but it was just kind of the idea that he was going to get nurtured, for lack of a better term, in the G League a little bit before he was able to make that leap into the NBA level. And this is something that can maybe follow the path of Mark Williams and other players before him that got some seasoning down in the G League and then they came back up and they were ready to go. Nick mc junior was a great example of that earlier this year where he went down there, worked on a couple of things, had some big games, and now he's back into rotation and heck, he even started the last game as well. So this is an opportunity for Tijon to get a little bit more extended run, get a little bit more focused practice wise, maybe get a little bit more attention to details and practice from some of the guys like DJ Baker and the rest of the Greensborough staff down there as well. And kJ Simpson ISAA long. They've done a good job there, going back and forth here over the last couple of weeks in the last couple months of the season and making sure that they're honing in on their craft as well. Mussa Diabotte had that extended running Greensboro not that long ago, also before the Nick Richards trade. So again, it's not an indictment on anything that Tjon did wrong or any of these other players did wrong. It's just a way to get better, because the only way you're going to get better is game reps and practice time and that sort of stuff, and you don't get a whole lot of that at the NBA level when you're playing three and four nights and you maybe are the twelfth guy in the rotation or something like that, and your numbers not called upon every single night. So this is an opportunity for T John to get better and the rest of those guys get better. And I know that they'll have the right mindset because they have that high mentality that Charles Lee always talks about and Nicks vir Junior talked about it the other day about just trying to stay ready and making sure they have the right mindset when you go down to Greensborough. Just go in, get your work, punch the clock, punch out and pull. The hard work will eventually pay off sooner rather than later. Nicks VI Junior is a great example of that as well.

It wouldn't shock me at all if we did see T John Salon on the list of available players for Monday's game against the Dallas Mavericks, perhaps today's game, depending on when you're listening to this podcast. So for all that being said, he might still be out there. But just again, the news came out on Saturday that he had been assigned to the Greensboro's form. Didn't appear in their overtime game against the Denver affiliate the Gold which was a very entertaining contest. Great performances from kJ Simpson and Isaiah Wong in that one.

It wouldn't shock me at all if we did see T John Salon on the list of available players for Monday's game against the Dallas Mavericks, perhaps today's game, depending on when you're listening to this podcast. So for all that being said, he might still be out there. But just again, the news came out on Saturday that he had been assigned to the Greensboro's form. Didn't appear in their overtime game against the Denver affiliate the Gold which was a very entertaining contest. Great performances from kJ Simpson and Isaiah Wong in that one.

But we'll see.

But we'll see.

Hopefully T John Salon gets some runs in with Greensboro and put up some impressive numbers, build on his skill set, his confidence, and put all of that into play for the big club. Could again happen here on Monday, or perhaps today against the Dallas Mavericks. We'll have our game preview for Hornets versus MAVs. The MLK Day contest. Next here on the Hornets Podcast, Sam Farber and Rob Longo here with you on the HHC the Hornets taking on the Dallas Mavericks at daylight d light noon tip off for MLK Day at Spectrum Center, and it's time to do our game preview before we get to the particulars on it. The Rob Hornets playing very well right now, even with the disappointing news that Brandon Miller is going to be out indefinitely. Charlotte was running on a bit of a hot streak here. They had won three of their last four games, two in a row, currently ten and so it's not a great record, and there's still a sizeable gap between themselves and a postseason position. The six games separate them and a play in tournament spot, but nonetheless playing better basketball. The Dallas Mavericks, they're twenty three to nineteen, got to win over Oklahoma City, who was on night two of back to back coming off that impressive performance against the Cleveland Cavaliers. But they got to play them without Shay Gilgess Alexander, which is a little bit of a different matchup when you're taking on the Oklahoma City Thunder Prior to that, though they had been struggling, they lost three in a row and eight of their previous ten games to that w over the Oklahoma City Thunder, and a lot of it coming without Lukadoncich, who's been out since Christmas with an injury and is not expected to be in the lineup anytime soon, so he should be out for this one again today. One last note before we get to game preview. It's Brandon Miller Bobblehead Day. Unfortunate he won't be on the floor for it, but still first five thousand fans through the door get a bobblehead celebrating the first team All Rookie selection Brandon Miller. All right, time for players to watch Revelt teams as well as the stat to watch Rob LOANNGO.

Hopefully T John Salon gets some runs in with Greensboro and put up some impressive numbers, build on his skill set, his confidence, and put all of that into play for the big club. Could again happen here on Monday, or perhaps today against the Dallas Mavericks. We'll have our game preview for Hornets versus MAVs. The MLK Day contest. Next here on the Hornets Podcast, Sam Farber and Rob Longo here with you on the HHC the Hornets taking on the Dallas Mavericks at daylight d light noon tip off for MLK Day at Spectrum Center, and it's time to do our game preview before we get to the particulars on it. The Rob Hornets playing very well right now, even with the disappointing news that Brandon Miller is going to be out indefinitely. Charlotte was running on a bit of a hot streak here. They had won three of their last four games, two in a row, currently ten and so it's not a great record, and there's still a sizeable gap between themselves and a postseason position. The six games separate them and a play in tournament spot, but nonetheless playing better basketball. The Dallas Mavericks, they're twenty three to nineteen, got to win over Oklahoma City, who was on night two of back to back coming off that impressive performance against the Cleveland Cavaliers. But they got to play them without Shay Gilgess Alexander, which is a little bit of a different matchup when you're taking on the Oklahoma City Thunder Prior to that, though they had been struggling, they lost three in a row and eight of their previous ten games to that w over the Oklahoma City Thunder, and a lot of it coming without Lukadoncich, who's been out since Christmas with an injury and is not expected to be in the lineup anytime soon, so he should be out for this one again today. One last note before we get to game preview. It's Brandon Miller Bobblehead Day. Unfortunate he won't be on the floor for it, but still first five thousand fans through the door get a bobblehead celebrating the first team All Rookie selection Brandon Miller. All right, time for players to watch Revelt teams as well as the stat to watch Rob LOANNGO.

Where would you like to begin.

Where would you like to begin.

Let's go ahead and switch it up a little bit. Let's go with a statistic to watch. The number I'm gonna look at today is points in the paint. I guess tomorrow if you're listening to this on Sunday, but I'm gonna look at points in the paint for this game against the Mavericks because the Hornets have done a really good job scoring in the paint the last couple of games, and I think a big reason of that is the pick and roll game of Mark Williams and LaMelo Ball. Mark has been dominant in his last three games as well, just on a tear, and I don't think that the game on Friday was any different. Sixty four points in the paint in that win against Chicago get a one to twenty five to one twenty three thriller out into Windy City, definitely a season high when it comes to that, Hornets just keep breaking their season high. They had a season high the other night against Utah and then they were able to reset that mark against Chicago as well. So the points in the paint have been very, very good here for the Hornets as of late. When you look at the Dallas team on the other side, they have some size, but it's touch and go right now because of all the injuries they have. Derek Lively has not played the last couple of games. Daniel Gafford was their big acquisition at the trade deadline last year along with PJ Washington, so Gafford is only playing twenty twenty five minutes, so they have to go a little bit smaller there when they get to that second unit. So depending on how the rotations work out. I know that the Hornets don't have a second seven footer now because of the trade with Nick Richards, but Musa Deabate has done a really good job on the offensive glass as well. But I think that the way that Mark Williams has played here as of late is going to be a benefit for the Hornets to dominate the points in a paint because when you look at that Oklahoma City Dallas game the other day, those teams combined for fifty eight points in a paint the Hornet's head, what did I say, sixty two or sixty four alone the other day against Chicago's So I think this is an opportunity for the Hornets to get downhill and really establish that paint presence, which maybe opens up the three ball a little bit here later on in the game.

Let's go ahead and switch it up a little bit. Let's go with a statistic to watch. The number I'm gonna look at today is points in the paint. I guess tomorrow if you're listening to this on Sunday, but I'm gonna look at points in the paint for this game against the Mavericks because the Hornets have done a really good job scoring in the paint the last couple of games, and I think a big reason of that is the pick and roll game of Mark Williams and LaMelo Ball. Mark has been dominant in his last three games as well, just on a tear, and I don't think that the game on Friday was any different. Sixty four points in the paint in that win against Chicago get a one to twenty five to one twenty three thriller out into Windy City, definitely a season high when it comes to that, Hornets just keep breaking their season high. They had a season high the other night against Utah and then they were able to reset that mark against Chicago as well. So the points in the paint have been very, very good here for the Hornets as of late. When you look at the Dallas team on the other side, they have some size, but it's touch and go right now because of all the injuries they have. Derek Lively has not played the last couple of games. Daniel Gafford was their big acquisition at the trade deadline last year along with PJ Washington, so Gafford is only playing twenty twenty five minutes, so they have to go a little bit smaller there when they get to that second unit. So depending on how the rotations work out. I know that the Hornets don't have a second seven footer now because of the trade with Nick Richards, but Musa Deabate has done a really good job on the offensive glass as well. But I think that the way that Mark Williams has played here as of late is going to be a benefit for the Hornets to dominate the points in a paint because when you look at that Oklahoma City Dallas game the other day, those teams combined for fifty eight points in a paint the Hornet's head, what did I say, sixty two or sixty four alone the other day against Chicago's So I think this is an opportunity for the Hornets to get downhill and really establish that paint presence, which maybe opens up the three ball a little bit here later on in the game.

We're looking in the same general vicinity. I'm using a slightly different angle on it. I'm going to go with rebounding as my stat to watch for this one. You're right to mention that you know, Dallas, for all the strengths they have, injuries have depleted some of them and the center spot is one of them lively, they're a young star center has not been playing as of Lake Gafford is very very good, but the depth overall is not exactly the same when you don't have that second guy. Right to mention, Charlotte doesn't really either with the Nick Richards being up, but Mussa Diabate brings his own sizable skill set to the table, and Mark Williams has been on an absolute tear overall.

We're looking in the same general vicinity. I'm using a slightly different angle on it. I'm going to go with rebounding as my stat to watch for this one. You're right to mention that you know, Dallas, for all the strengths they have, injuries have depleted some of them and the center spot is one of them lively, they're a young star center has not been playing as of Lake Gafford is very very good, but the depth overall is not exactly the same when you don't have that second guy. Right to mention, Charlotte doesn't really either with the Nick Richards being up, but Mussa Diabate brings his own sizable skill set to the table, and Mark Williams has been on an absolute tear overall.

Though Dallas is a.

Though Dallas is a.

Slightly below average rebounding team, they're right around average in everything. They don't really have a weakness, but this is a strength for the Charlotte Hornets. They've been in the top twenty percent of the NBA basically all season in offensive rebounding percentage, and they're currently number one in second chance points. That's not a bad stat for Dallas, but it's a really good one for Charlotte and as well as the Mavericks have played over the entirety of the season. Again, not necessarily the last eleven games, but the entirety of the season. This is an area where Charlotte has been the better team, so I think certainly would help them to have less offensive rebounds available. But whether it's collecting their own misses or making sure that the Mavericks don't get second looks at the Cup, I think rebounding is going to be really key here for the Hornets. Next up, Hornet to watch your Maverick.

Slightly below average rebounding team, they're right around average in everything. They don't really have a weakness, but this is a strength for the Charlotte Hornets. They've been in the top twenty percent of the NBA basically all season in offensive rebounding percentage, and they're currently number one in second chance points. That's not a bad stat for Dallas, but it's a really good one for Charlotte and as well as the Mavericks have played over the entirety of the season. Again, not necessarily the last eleven games, but the entirety of the season. This is an area where Charlotte has been the better team, so I think certainly would help them to have less offensive rebounds available. But whether it's collecting their own misses or making sure that the Mavericks don't get second looks at the Cup, I think rebounding is going to be really key here for the Hornets. Next up, Hornet to watch your Maverick.

To watch, We'll go ahead and roll into a Hornets player to watch. I'm going to go ahead and take Mark Williams for all the reasons I just said, Plus his last three games have been very very good. Go back a couple of games ago, the second game against Phoenix twenty four points, sixteen rebounds, out in Utah thirty one points, career high thirteen rebounds, and then Friday against Chicago in a very good center in Nikolovucevich nineteen points, nineteen rebounds. Mark Williams continues to be on a tear. This is what we expected from Mark whenever he was drafted. Now that he's fully healthy and fully incorporated with LaMelo ball, we're starting to see you the reason why he was selected so high in the NBA draft and why the Hornets had so much faith in him. So definitely, Mark Williams had as an opportunity to go up against the guy like Daniel Gafford in this one and hopefully dominate as well.

To watch, We'll go ahead and roll into a Hornets player to watch. I'm going to go ahead and take Mark Williams for all the reasons I just said, Plus his last three games have been very very good. Go back a couple of games ago, the second game against Phoenix twenty four points, sixteen rebounds, out in Utah thirty one points, career high thirteen rebounds, and then Friday against Chicago in a very good center in Nikolovucevich nineteen points, nineteen rebounds. Mark Williams continues to be on a tear. This is what we expected from Mark whenever he was drafted. Now that he's fully healthy and fully incorporated with LaMelo ball, we're starting to see you the reason why he was selected so high in the NBA draft and why the Hornets had so much faith in him. So definitely, Mark Williams had as an opportunity to go up against the guy like Daniel Gafford in this one and hopefully dominate as well.

Glad you took him.

Glad you took him.

If you hadn't, I would have picked him up there because he has been playing spectacular basketball here, particularly over his last three games, all of which have been enormous double doubles. I'm gonna go with LaMelo Ball as my player to watch. While some of the shooting percent just are a little bit down. He hasn't shot thirty three percent or better from three in a couple of weeks now, quite frankly, but his overall production continues to be really, really strong. He has had four straight games of twenty five points or more, including going for twenty six the other day in the win in Chicago, and with him not shooting the three so well, I think it's really telling how good of a player in a complete of an offensive game he really has. Because there are some guys who if you take away their fastball, if you take away their ability to get to the bucket, or you take away their three point shot, or take away their ability to get to the line, they just don't put up the numbers. LaMelo Ball is known as a guy who likes to let it fly from three. It's not going down as often as he would like, I'm sure over this last two week span, but he keeps on scoring the basketball, so he is just undeniably a great offensive weapon. His assist numbers have also been really good over the last couple of nights. On average, just a hair under ten rebounds per game over the course of that last road trip. So I'm looking at LaMelo Ball as my hornet to watch. Last, but not least, we need a Maverick to watch.

If you hadn't, I would have picked him up there because he has been playing spectacular basketball here, particularly over his last three games, all of which have been enormous double doubles. I'm gonna go with LaMelo Ball as my player to watch. While some of the shooting percent just are a little bit down. He hasn't shot thirty three percent or better from three in a couple of weeks now, quite frankly, but his overall production continues to be really, really strong. He has had four straight games of twenty five points or more, including going for twenty six the other day in the win in Chicago, and with him not shooting the three so well, I think it's really telling how good of a player in a complete of an offensive game he really has. Because there are some guys who if you take away their fastball, if you take away their ability to get to the bucket, or you take away their three point shot, or take away their ability to get to the line, they just don't put up the numbers. LaMelo Ball is known as a guy who likes to let it fly from three. It's not going down as often as he would like, I'm sure over this last two week span, but he keeps on scoring the basketball, so he is just undeniably a great offensive weapon. His assist numbers have also been really good over the last couple of nights. On average, just a hair under ten rebounds per game over the course of that last road trip. So I'm looking at LaMelo Ball as my hornet to watch. Last, but not least, we need a Maverick to watch.

I'm going to look to our old friend PJ. Washington. It's not quite a homecoming for him. He did play one time here last season after the trade at the trade deadline. Didn't have a great game, only scored one singular point in that contest. With this year playing at a much better clip, He's averaging a little bit over thirteen points per game. Had a pretty decent game the other night against Oklahoma City where he finished with sixteen points. He was six of eight from the field, two for four from three, had seven rebounds five assists. He's going to be leaned on upon a little bit more here with Luca Danchits out here the last couple of games and Derek Lively in the front court, so a little bit of a swing position here for PJ to have an opportunity to make some noise in his old stopping grounds.

I'm going to look to our old friend PJ. Washington. It's not quite a homecoming for him. He did play one time here last season after the trade at the trade deadline. Didn't have a great game, only scored one singular point in that contest. With this year playing at a much better clip, He's averaging a little bit over thirteen points per game. Had a pretty decent game the other night against Oklahoma City where he finished with sixteen points. He was six of eight from the field, two for four from three, had seven rebounds five assists. He's going to be leaned on upon a little bit more here with Luca Danchits out here the last couple of games and Derek Lively in the front court, so a little bit of a swing position here for PJ to have an opportunity to make some noise in his old stopping grounds.

I like the pick and PJ definitely a high quality player, and you know, he's got a little bit more opportunity in front of him with the injury to Luka Doncic. We'll see how he's able to do with it, quite frankly, but he still does have a star running mate alongside him in a multiple time All Star in Kyrie Irving, and that's going to be my maverick to watch for this one.

I like the pick and PJ definitely a high quality player, and you know, he's got a little bit more opportunity in front of him with the injury to Luka Doncic. We'll see how he's able to do with it, quite frankly, but he still does have a star running mate alongside him in a multiple time All Star in Kyrie Irving, and that's going to be my maverick to watch for this one.

Kyrie.

Kyrie.

Whatever you might think about him, he is a bona fide star and as he goes so tend to go the Dallas Mavericks if you look over the course of the season when he is, you know, a big positive in the plus minus, which he's very much capable of doing because you know, like Mark Williams has done in the last couple of weeks where he's dominated his matchup, his plus minus has been enormous even if the game has been tighter. Same can be true for Kyrie Irving. He has those kinds of advantages over the opposition when he has been a plus nine or better in the plus minus has happened fourteen times this season. The team is thirteen and one, So this is kind of a roundabout way of pointing at LaMelo Ball as well and saying, hey, you got to keep your matchup close as well or else this probably isn't going to go very well for the Hornets. But nonetheless, you know, when he is a plus nine or better, they're thirteen and one. On the flip side of that, if he is a minus three or worse, which has only happened ten times, but if he's a minus three or worse in the plus minus, it's almost unwinnable for the Mavericks. They are just one and nine in that subset of contests. However it shakes out, we'll have you covered on the Hornets Radio Network, and on Tuesday we'll have another episode of the HC with a recap of our MLK Daylight d Light with the Hornets taking on the Dallas Mavericks. Rob Blongo, thanks as always for joining me here on the AHHC.

Whatever you might think about him, he is a bona fide star and as he goes so tend to go the Dallas Mavericks if you look over the course of the season when he is, you know, a big positive in the plus minus, which he's very much capable of doing because you know, like Mark Williams has done in the last couple of weeks where he's dominated his matchup, his plus minus has been enormous even if the game has been tighter. Same can be true for Kyrie Irving. He has those kinds of advantages over the opposition when he has been a plus nine or better in the plus minus has happened fourteen times this season. The team is thirteen and one, So this is kind of a roundabout way of pointing at LaMelo Ball as well and saying, hey, you got to keep your matchup close as well or else this probably isn't going to go very well for the Hornets. But nonetheless, you know, when he is a plus nine or better, they're thirteen and one. On the flip side of that, if he is a minus three or worse, which has only happened ten times, but if he's a minus three or worse in the plus minus, it's almost unwinnable for the Mavericks. They are just one and nine in that subset of contests. However it shakes out, we'll have you covered on the Hornets Radio Network, and on Tuesday we'll have another episode of the HC with a recap of our MLK Daylight d Light with the Hornets taking on the Dallas Mavericks. Rob Blongo, thanks as always for joining me here on the AHHC.

Thanks Sam. Looking forward to the game on Monday.

Thanks Sam. Looking forward to the game on Monday.

Can't wait for it. Can't wait to talk to all of you on the Hornets Radio Network. Till next time, for Rob Blongo. I'm Sam Farbers saying it's been a pleasure and a privilege having you along. We'll talk to you next time right here on the Hornets Podcast.

Can't wait for it. Can't wait to talk to all of you on the Hornets Radio Network. Till next time, for Rob Blongo. I'm Sam Farbers saying it's been a pleasure and a privilege having you along. We'll talk to you next time right here on the Hornets Podcast.

Thank you for listening to The Hornets Podcast, brought to you by Santa, the official i ere nosen throadcare provider of the Charlotte Hornets. For more coverage, visit Hornets dot com.

Thank you for listening to The Hornets Podcast, brought to you by Santa, the official i ere nosen throadcare provider of the Charlotte Hornets. For more coverage, visit Hornets dot com.