"Damn Youngblood, is that You?"

Hornets Opening Night vs. Brooklyn Nets

This Substack has been dormant for too long; I find it unacceptable. I’m going to attempt to do some more for a far longer sustained period of time this season. The plan was for me to revive this in the preseason. Unfortunately, college basketball media days got in the way. So we’re doing it live! The audio recaps are coming back…eventually. But for tonight, we’ll dive into what I loved and what I didn’t love about the Hornets’ home opener against the Brooklyn Nets. Obviously, in a blowout of a tanking Nets team, there’s going to be loads more to love than not.

• Thing I Loved - Miles Bridges as the tone-setter:

At the outset, you could tell the nerves had kicked in and the team was afflicted with the butterflies. So what does the vet do, go to the bucket and get fouled to start the scoring for the Bugs, and then two possessions later, goes back to the line for two more free throws. Bridges had a blink-and-you’d-have-missed-it 18 points and 11 rebounds on the night filling the gaps, improving defensively despite his physical limitations at the 4. IF this Miles Bridges is here to stay, things might be interesting.

• Thing I DIDN’T Love- The inability to defend without fouling

It’s not going to show up in the box score because of the way the game ended, but the fouling was bad through three quarters of this game. Rookie Kon Knueppel’s inability to stay on the court because of foul trouble showed up and he was not alone. Brandon Miller had issues staying on the court early in the game as well, Ryan Kalkbrenner (more on him later) struggled in that regard as well. If not for the fact that the Brooklyn Nets front office appears wholly uninterested in giving Jordi Fernandez enough pieces to conjure a 25-win season, this might’ve been a tighter game where that foul trouble would’ve matter. But a reason it didn’t matter was…

• Thing I Loved - The Hornets appear to have real depth

Nine players hit double figures in this game. ‘Nuff said. Team president Jeff Peterson had a vision to remake this roster after the disaster that was last year. Enter Collin Sexton, who truly is a bull in a china shop when it comes to getting into the paint. Within two Hornets offensive possessions, Sexton got to the line. He finished 6 of 7 from the charity stripe (without playing in the 4th quarter). Add in what appears to be a healthy Tre Mann, and the Hornets truly have something cooking in the back court, no matter who’s there.

• Thing I Loved - The Hornets choosing not to play with their food

Regardless of how you feel about this year’s iteration of the Brooklyn Nets, this is the Charlotte Hornets we’re talking about AND it’s the NBA. A 20-point lead could be down to two in no time. Despite that, the lead never dropped below 14. This was an incredibly professional win that Hornets fans have been on the other side of multiple times over the last few seasons. Every time Brooklyn would cut into the lead, there’d be a spurt from Brandon, or Sexton, or Moussa Diabate that would balloon the lead back up to 18 or 19. Because it’s game one, I hesitate to call this an increased mental focus or an attitude shift. BUT it could be the start of something, which brings me to my last point….

• Thing I Loved - The Youth was SERVING

Kon Knueppel, Sion James, Ryan Kalkbrenner, and Tidjane Salaun each had a stretch in this game where they made winning plays. Let’s start with Knueppel, who, if not for foul trouble, finishes with a higher point total. He was the skeleton key to make sure everything stayed connected on offense. The stat sheet says he only had one assist but there were plenty of times where he was the pass away from the pass. 33 assists on 48 made shots is a beautiful recipe for a win for the team in teal and Kon had a lot to do with that tonight.

Sion James coming in and bringing the ruckus like Wu-Tang in ‘92 is a necessary skill for a team that lacked grit and acted a little too cool for school at times last season. I didn’t forsee him getting 1st Quarter minutes, but when you look at the lineup combos that Charles Lee threw out there, he didn’t look out of place (competition none withstanding) . I still think the Lu Dort comps are a bridge too far, but I can see the vision and am excited to have a rugged wing defender on this team.

Straight up, I was wrong about Ryan Kalkbrenner in July. I thought the lack of foot speed would be an issue, and we’d see him be food on the pick and roll. The fact that he’s holding his pivot in a decent manner in Game One is a surprise (the amount of rebound not secured is a problem). The refs cheated him out of two clean blocks tonight and the finishing against NBA bigs appears VERY REAL. However, the real test for him is on Saturday vs. Philly. I hope he’s up for it.

And Tidjane, man, you could make a case he effectively shut the door on this game in the 4th quarter. His rebounding has improved, and it’s clear the coaching staff is simplifying what they’re asking him to do for now in terms of offensive reads he’s having to make. But I’m not gonna lie, all of this looked dicey in the preseason. To the point where I was wondering if he was on the first bus to Greensboro once Grant Williams gets healthy. Again, it’s Game One. But for tonight, the answer’s no.

Regardless, tonight was a professional win. We learned a little bit about this team. We’ll learn more Saturday vs. the Sixers in Philly. Primarily about how much this team has changed in terms of attention to detail on defense and rebounding, and limiting the paint points. It’ll be an intriguing matchup for sure,

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