"Until we care besides how many points we score, we're not going to win" - Steve Clifford keeps it real on the Charlotte Hornets' struggles this season
Steve Clifford
© Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Charlotte Hornets have hit a serious slump this season, pushing them all the way down to the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings. They are on a six-game losing streak, and the roster and the coaching staff are left scratching their heads to find a solution to their problems.
Head coach Steve Clifford said some challenging words for his team: "Until we care about something besides how many points we score, we're not going to win much." They score just 110.3 points per game on 44.4% shooting which ranks them at 25th and 29th position in the league, respectively.
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Change is paramount.
Their power duo of Miles Bridges and LaMelo Ball was broken up early into the season as Ball suffered an injury, and Bridges was dropped from the roster because an active league investigation was directed at him for his off-the-court misbehavior. Terry Rozier stepped up as he is averaging 22.4 points per game this season, but Clifford fixated on the fact that by merely scoring points, they couldn't win games, for they all had to put their mind to other important aspects of the game.
A lack of leadership is observable, and camaraderie seems lost on the Hornets at this time of the season since they are officially the worst team in the NBA. Even Ball's return in last night's game couldn't turn the tide in the Hornets' favor. The team lacked defensive abilities, passing in the final third of their gameplays, and the ability to force turnovers against a mediocre Pitons squad.
The Hornets' field goal conversion rate was subpar, and their ability to get back to defense mainly infuriated coach Clifford and LaMelo Ball. These small things matter in a basketball game that seems to be edging away from Charlotte, but if they need to salvage anything out of this season, they must shift their focus on making the right plays on offense while putting more emphasis on playing harder defense which would potentially disrupt the opposing teams.
