t96

Raptors blown out by Phoenix. Man this final stretch is gonna be crazy. Seeds 5-10 in the east are separated by 2.5 games… Hawks only team “hotter” than us, and I think they’re bound to come back down to earth with a pretty tough schedule to close out the season. We have some tough games too but ones that I think are very winnable, and still some very very easy games — which we have been winning consistently in 2026. Don’t think we’ve had a bad loss against a team we should beat since the Pacers in either very early January or late December

5 hours ago, Basbear said:

That's my biggest beef and dang if its not a huge deal. Besides a few other moves ie trading up for injured brooks.... I feel he has improved the overall team and they have gotten back on track. He was without a 1st and burns didn't want his offer, that's a rough start.... His first draft is looking very scary at this point, but enough with the issues.

If you look at each group, you see some young talent. He did "fix" the OL and he also improved the DL, both with depth. I don't think herniay or gut did both with depth. That trade for Michael Jackson is looking like the #2 all-timer trade behind Olsen. He got a future 2nd and stayed in the 2nd round, value-wise that was about as good as it gets. He's added solid players from the UDFA pool each year. The team just had too many issues and panthers do have fewer than he started, in past years Marty never built a bench/depth. 

Just the QB room, that Pickett signing feels to me like a death KO. I personally feel no hope is there and he had plenty of cheap talented options........Just to have this QB room for me, that's almost fired worthy....But important as it is, the other positions groups have improved and mostly young players are in the mix. I do not need to see if Lloyd will improve the team, I know he will. 

I feel Dan must use a draft pick, prefer before 6th round to draft some hope dealer in the QB room. Then roll will 3 QBs...

My general take on the state of the team not going too in depth is this:

Either Morgan or Canales (hard to say whether it’s the players or the system/coaching, and that goes for any team) has been responsible for considerable strides forward on D and a bit more productive offense, but it’s been a small sample size and we collapsed at the end of the year. I lean towards it being more Canales growing as a coach and building a culture of buy-in and getting the most out of players in the locker room. My reasoning for leaning there is that Morgan was part of the Fitterer stink and it’ll take him a while of sustained success in roster management to overcome that in my mind. Next year is a big year to see if that was a fluke or not. These big signings this offseason are exciting and sometimes teams can have amazing FA classes but more often than not those who spend big and “win the offseason” don’t show the results in the regular season. 
 

As far as QB goes, in a vacuum I’m completely fine with the Pickett signing, he’s ok value for a backup and a huge improvement over Dalton. If Bryce went down there isn’t a huge drop off there and if the rest of the team builds on last year they could win games with him under center. I’m not sure the ‘85 Bears could win games with current Dalton under center. But the O is just so damn limited with Bryce and Pickett does not push him at all, he’s purely a backup. So I agree we I’d love to see a QB with some upside drafted, a guy who could actually push Bryce if/when he struggles or doesn’t improve any further. He’s improved steadily the last 2 years but it has been from arguably worst in league history to still below average. I’m not convinced he can get any better than purely average at absolute best. I hope he can man but I just don’t see it happening. And the longer we keep penciling him as starter the less confidence I have in this staff. Even with our unexpected relative success as a team last year sometimes you do have to take another step back to take a step forward, and that could mean moving on from Bryce, and temporarily going with a slightly worse player like Pickett while aggressively trying to upgrade the position and taking dart throws in the draft/free agency on upside players. I know, there wasn’t much available this offseason outside of Willis, and this draft class seems to be poor at QB. But I’d have preferred we try something and if it didn’t work and we took a step back then just keep trying until something hits. Rolling with Bryce is just delaying the inevitable and living in purgatory. 
 

just my 2 cents, hope I’m proved wrong

I’m still far from convinced but there are some signs that thing could maybe possibly be changing/evolving for the better. Sticking with Bryce is still very telling though

lol Rockets tried their damndest to choke it away and they somehow pull it out on a buzzer beating put back. Let’s go. Jazz also making it a game with Philly as of now

wrong thrad

7 minutes ago, toldozer said:

I wonder if Steph regrets that contract extension. I would love him getting 20 minutes a game next year for the hornet's 

Ehh I doubt it I think he probably does want to just be a Warrior lifer and continue to contend with them and extend the dynasty/legacy there. I can absolutely see him coming here if the Warriors blow it up but I think he’s fine trying to run it back next year with a healthy Butler, etc. I think it’ll blow up in their faces and if so then he’s a UFA and could just sign here then if he wants and we’re truly contending

Magic loss was huge, a questionable out of bounds call with 4 seconds left led to a 3 pointer to win it for LA. Hawks pulled away big on the Warriors’ scrubs, no surprise. Rockets Heat is a tight one. We really need the Rockets to win it. Heat would have a tiebreaker over us but they have a hellish schedule coming up and I could see us finishing a game above them. We have tiebreaker over Hawks and Orlando. Philly TBD. 1.5 games out of 6-8 seeds as of now…

51 minutes ago, toldozer said:

Let's get 5 of the next six

Next 2, Brooklyn and Philly are must wins that we should have no problems winning. Other 2 are Knicks and Celtics in Charlotte, split those. I think that 5 of 6 is very doable. And probably will be necessary for our pursuit of a 6-8 seed. Hawks keep rolling sadly but at least Miami and Orlando finally slipping up after they both had long winning streaks like Atlanta. 76ers obviously in a free fall

fuging beautiful. Everyone on the team has been incredible and locked in tonight.

Lmao, dude is so damn washed can't believe a team out there gave up anything for him

20 minutes ago, OldhamA said:

Which is why QB is still our biggest need, as it has been for three years. 

3?? Lol, it's been our biggest need since 2019 when Cam's body officially fell apart.

Relatively even except for QB

6 minutes ago, uncfan888 said:

Man I hope moose is ok

Back on the bench.

I know Bam is out but this is still a big win, Miami has always given us trouble regardless of injuries so to get the monkey off the back is nice. Possible play-in matchup preview. LaMelo was as dominant as any NBA player can be pretty much. Also Kon impressed the hell out of me with his 3pt shot not falling and foul trouble he played an incredible game in every other area. And Coby showed how he was a huge upgrade on Sexton and why the team reportedly wants to keep him here longer term. 

Orlando lost and Philly should lose against Denver so a great night overall. Inching back into the 6-8 seed conversation hopefully. Thursday night is a huge game.

35 minutes ago, frankw said:

We need to defeat the Heat at home tonight. Tired of playing little brother to those fưcks.

If Bam is out I feel good. If not... well hopefully we can still whoop dat ass

Hawks with 10 straight wins is just blasphemous. 

Fine depth at that price

Our hope for 8 seed is passing Philly and Atlanta. Every game from here on out is critical frankly.

Considering the Raiders and Crosby’s disagreements about his health late last year and the Ravens’ history of being an extremely well run organization I lean towards the Ravens not being in the wrong here

Mad respect for his run in the middle of the season which was a big part we ultimately made the playoffs. Struggled down the stretch but he’s a solid back. Hope he does well, but I’m fine letting him walk.

He sucks and won’t push Bryce sadly but he’s also 3x the QB that current Dalton is so at least we’d have a chance in some games if Bryce went down. D should be great with these signings. Still think our upside is way too limited by the QB position though unfortunately. But I can see a winning season and more legit playoff berth this year

Any chatter on what veteran QB(s) we're looking at? Been kinda outta the loop this cycle but I saw something a few days ago that we had already decided to move on from Dalton as Young's backup. Hopefully we can get someone who actually pushes Bryce and adds pressure.

4 minutes ago, toldozer said:

Best case long term may be losing in the play in and getting gifted a top pick that the hornets definitely deserve. That said I'd rather them make the playoffs because these guys are talented enough to beat any team 4 out of 7

I don't disagree, I mean imagine adding a high lottery pick that we hit on to this group. But yeah I think this team can make a run and all the young guys need to get playoff experience sooner rather than later. The games are different and that experience will be important once we are finally ready to contend year in year out and view seasons as Championship or bust. 

Brutal last couple games AND pretty much all the teams that matter to our seeding are winning and playing incredibly well too. Things can change but it's seeming more and more likely we'll have quite a hill to climb in the play-in. Not sure we get a 7 or 8 seed. Schedule gets tougher for us too. My goal for the season at this point is finish with a winning record. If we can't win 2 road play-in games to make the real playoffs, so be it, I'll take a higher draft pick in a stacked draft. But hopefully we can get in the playoffs and get that experience. I just won't consider it a failure if we don't but have a winning record, maybe win a play-in game.

33 minutes ago, The Lobo said:

This is insane, they are playing so well I don’t know how to feel. Are they this legit or is this just a crazy hot streak? 

All signs point to legit. We’ve been way better than our record the last few years it’s just we’ve had brutal injury luck. Also I’ve watched nearly every game this year and 3 things have stood out to me even when healthy from early in the year to now:

1. Early on Lee had some brutal rotations and situational coaching but he’s improved a ton there. We lost some close ones early we should’ve won. Sure most our recent games have been blowouts but in close games we’ve improved a ton there.

2. Defense. Overall team defense has improved so much, it’s not just hot shooting winning games. This D is absolutely a real trend and sustainable. LaMelo in particular has gone from flat out bad defensively to above average. We have so much length we always should’ve been good defensively but it took time for guys to buy in and really hone in on it which they have.

3. Pretty much all our young guys have taken strides forward. Moose’s development as a passer has been insane, Miller is putting it all together to be an elite 3 tier scorer able to hit 3s, mid range and finish at the rim. LaMelo still some poor shot selection but has cut the turnovers considerably. Kon has been a great shooter all year but has steadily improved in other aspects of the game too. 
 

It has definitely been surprising how quickly it all came together out of nowhere but really none of it surprises me. We’ve been building towards this for years now.

Long shot but did anyone here attend the Mavs game and get the Kon Lego giveaway who would be willing to sell it?

Just now, carpanfan96 said:

Where's that guy who said this would be a reality check for the Hornets??? 

 

I mean I guess he wasn't wrong, reality check is that the Hornets are one of the 4 best teams in the league. 

Fixed