Doug Branson here, the host of the daily Locked On Hornets podcast, with your daily Locked On Hornets newsletter. Each day we bring you the biggest stories about the Hornets and the NBA, including the hottest links to other stories you need to read. Plus, Josh Lloyd delivers daily fantasy notes to crush your league.
Good News/Bad News: Hornets vs. Bucks Preview
Feb 27, 2024; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) passes the ball away from Charlotte Hornets guard Brandon Miller (24) in the first quarter at Fiserv Forum. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports|Benny Sieu/Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
When: Saturday, November 16, 3:00 PM ET
Where: Spectrum Center, Charlotte, NC
Watch: FDSN/WFNZ
Good News: • Rested and Ready: The Hornets have had three full days to rest and practice following their NBA Cup loss to Orlando.
• Reinforcements Approaching: Key frontcourt players Miles Bridges, Nick Richards, and Mark Williams are making progress in their recoveries.
• LaMelo Magic: LaMelo Ball continues to shine in crunch time, flirting with the first 40-point game of his career.
• Bucks’ Struggles: Milwaukee is off to a slow start and heavily reliant on their two superstars for success.
• Bench Boost: Moussa Diabate, a two-way contract steal, has been a defensive and rebounding force, thriving despite often being undersized at center.
Bad News: • Big Loss, Big Lessons: The Hornets’ blowout loss to Orlando exposed areas that needed significant improvement.
• Frontcourt Setbacks: Despite progress, Bridges, Richards, and Williams remain unavailable. Mark Williams is limited to individual work and hasn’t rejoined team activities yet.
• Offensive Dependency: The Hornets’ offense falters whenever LaMelo sits. His efforts to carry the team can lead to turnovers and inefficient possessions.
• Bucks’ Firepower: Milwaukee’s reliance on their stars means dealing with Giannis Antetokounmpo, fresh off a 59-point performance, and Damian Lillard.
• Bench Depth Issues: Tre Mann, the team’s primary bench scorer, is still hampered by back issues, limiting Charlotte’s second-unit firepower.
Final Thoughts:
The Hornets face a tough challenge against a Bucks team led by one of the league’s most dynamic duos. While LaMelo’s late-game heroics give Charlotte hope, they’ll need a collective effort to compete with Milwaukee’s star power.
I held off on writing about the apparent rash, or rise, of early-season athlete injuries because there’s always some recency bias involved when the subject comes up. Are there really more injuries this year than any other? Do we have the data to support it? Is there a new, underlying cause? Or are injuries due to the same compounding mix of bad luck and the NBA’s 82-game schedule running into a long postseason, running into the offseason, running back into a brand new long regular season and the erosion of bodies this eventually leads to?
A report early this week showed early-season injuries were up 35%, and indeed ESPN’s list of injuries, at a glance, looks like a ferocious Christmas tree, lit up in blazing reds and yellows. A handful of teams (the Grizzlies, Pelicans, Raptors) are cobbling together rosters game-to-game depending on who’s still healthy. TrueHoop’s Henry Abbott ran a draft of the injured list this week and each team reads like an All-Star squad on steroids, and when Abbott printed out the league’s official injury report it was 10 pages long.
Injuries are definitely up — but why?
The Paris Olympics proved extra playing time for a few top-tier stars, but most of them remain healthy. The early season schedule hasn’t served up any more back-to-backs to longer road game stretches, which tend to be more gruelling on athletes, than usual. However, when everything appears to be normal and the bodily price is anything but, perhaps it’s time to examine that “normal”.
The NBA’s current schedule of 82 games was adopted in 1967. Already, I’m sure your brain is picturing black and white basketball, that’s good. When you picture that grainy, glitchy footage, how fast is it going? The reality is that the game used to be a lot slower. Not just in its mechanics (think of an offensive passing sequence, the ball flipping from set of hands to hands at a speed that can be hard to follow), but the athleticism too. Bodies were moving slower. The game was still physical — the trope of players from the 80s and 90s complaining about the “softness” of current athletes is a trope for a reason — but full tilt sprinting, cutting, complex rotations, these weren’t the norm. Given that, the bodily mechanics were different. Guys weren’t stopping on a dime, pivoting hard, having to force their ligaments and muscles and bones into exacting motions with all sorts of volatile force behind them.
Katie Heindl is a credentialed NBA and WNBA writer, her bylines have appeared with The New York Times Magazine, SLAM, The Athletic, Yahoo Sports, Dime, Rolling Stone, among others. She writes the bestselling Substack, Basketball Feelings and is working on a book of the same name.
Home and Away
Draft Check out how Tidjane Salaun and other prospects stack up for the Hornets’ 2025 NBA Draft considerations. (Sports Illustrated)
Analysis Discover the three most disappointing Hornets players in the early 2024-25 NBA season. Who needs to step up? (Sports Illustrated)
Oklahoma City Thunder forward Chet Holmgren (7) holds his leg after a hard following a play against the Golden State Warriors during the first quarter at Paycom Center.|Photo by Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images
This week in the fantasy basketball world has been a rollercoaster of highs and lows. A major talking point has been Chet Holmgren’s unfortunate injury, which has fantasy managers scrambling for replacements as the Oklahoma City Thunder adjust with potential lineup changes. Keep an eye on players like Aaron Wiggins and Cason Wallace — who might see increased minutes — and consider them as temporary pickups in deeper leagues.
Don’t let these episodes pass you by — stay locked in with the latest Locked On Hornets podcasts.
Tidjane Salaun benched and Vasa Micic returns in latest Hornets rotation shakeups + New TV Deal, What it means for you Walker and Doug dissect the Hornets’ latest rotation dilemmas, focusing on rookie Tidjane Salaun’s fluctuating minutes and Charles Lee’s handling of injuries. The hosts break down how Salaun’s early starting role evolved back into a bench role and analyze whether putting him in the starting lineup was premature. They also review Vasa Micic’s recent reappearance and what it signals for the team’s depth. Finally, the Hornets’ new TV deal with Amazon Prime Video stirs up more fan confusion over how to access games. Tune in for a breakdown of what’s working and what’s not in the Hornets’ evolving lineup.
LaMelo Ball’s All-NBA Level Play Wasted In NBA Cup Rout By the Orlando Magic Doug dives into what went wrong in the Hornets’ matchup against the Magic, despite LaMelo Ball’s impressive 35-point outing. He explores why the offense struggles whenever LaMelo sits, and the team’s desperate need for reliable secondary playmakers. Brandon Miller and Josh Green’s recent offensive challenges are under the microscope, with analysis on how their scoring struggles contributed to the blowout. Plus, with a break before the next game, Doug discusses what the Hornets need to work on, from improving their shooting consistency to getting healthier for the tough games ahead.
Hornets Face Magic in NBA Cup Opener: Can LaMelo Ball Lead the Way Without Key Bigs? The Charlotte Hornets begin NBA Cup play against the Orlando Magic, with key players out for both teams, giving the Hornets a shot at victory. We also discuss LaMelo Ball’s impressive performance as he’s nominated again for Eastern Conference Player of the Week. What does this mean for his development? And could Charlotte’s effort rebounding edge push them past Orlando? Tune in to hear Doug and Walker break down the game strategy, the NBA Cup’s importance, and LaMelo’s standout shooting stats.
