The Hornets need to move on from James Borrego if they want to make the leap to a consistent playoff team.

[Eazy-E]

We need a coach who can take this team to the next level. JB is great for development but he’s about run his course here. I don’t think there is much left he can do to help improve Ball and Bridges’s game. The whole “freestyle it” offensive and defensive strategy isn’t going to work in the playoffs when you play a 7 game series against the same team.

We need to bring in a coach who can implement a real NBA offensive and defensive scheme and give this team an Identity. It’s one of the main reasons Mike D’Antoni never won a Championship with the Suns or Rockets even though those teams were loaded with talent. That style of basketball kills you defensively and in the final minutes when trying to close out close games.

A great example is the Michael Jordan Bulls. Doug Collins didn’t run an actual offensive scheme. The offense was basically give the ball to MJ and have the team play around him. At one point Collins even decided to make MJ the point guard. They made the playoffs and MJ put up crazy numbers but they couldn’t break that barrier and get over the hump. (Make it to the Finals) The Bulls brought in Phil Jackson and he implemented the triangle offense and emphasized a man to man pressure defense and the full court press. He changed the identity of those Jordan lead Bulls teams and lead them to 6 championships.

Even with Jordan averaging over 30 ppg, those Collins lead Bulls teams never made it to the NBA finals. If the Hornets want to make that jump to a consistent playoff team with this core we are going to need a new coach to help get us there.

Edited February 24, 2022 by Eazy-E

[Shocker]

James needs to Borre “go”

[jayboogieman]

JB just got an extension at the beginning of the season. Unless he really ticks off MJ and Mitch, or loses the team, he's going no where.

[Shocker]

In all seriousness I agree with your post for the most part.  I think Borrego is very average as a coach.  We are terrible defensively and I just don’t see him making a difference right now.  Feels like he is very stubborn about playing the young guys and now he is talking down to them during games?  We need a bigtime coach hired very soon.

Edited February 25, 2022 by Shocker

[Eazy-E]

42 minutes ago, Shocker said:

James needs to Borre “go”

I have no problem with JB but he clearly has reached his peak with this team. It’s looking like back to back play in tournament years. 

Borrego need to go to a team like the Knicks. Have no idea why the hired a coach like Thibodeau when their roster is full of young players. They need someone with patience who is willing to coach through the growing pains and help develop their roster, not bench guys after a mistake or just flat refuse to play them.

Borrego is currently stuck somewhere in the middle and it’s hurting the team. Certain players are allowed the freedom to learn as they go. Others are glued to the bench during a time when the team is struggling and dealing with injuries. We have two young centers who could possibly help and contribute when center is clearly our weakest position. Borrego doesn’t like to work with anything outside of his gameplan and rotation even when it is clearly not working. The worst part is I honestly couldn’t tell you what his gameplan is on a nightly basis. It normally seems like Hayward is the coach on game days and when he’s out of the lineup this team looks completely lost.

This is exactly like when Ron Rivera held on to Cam Newton and Luke Keuchley’s coattails for dear life. When those two guys missed time the Panthers were one of the worst teams in football.

[Eazy-E]

14 minutes ago, jayboogieman said:

JB just got an extension at the beginning of the season. Unless he really ticks off MJ and Mitch, or loses the team, he's going no where.

I’m sure Mitch and MJ did not expect Miles and Lamelo to make such huge leaps in their development this offseason. I know I sure as hell didn’t. Both of them have blown my expectations of them out of the water.

[NCTHFL0567]

11 hours ago, Eazy-E said:

I’m sure Mitch and MJ did not expect Miles and Lamelo to make such huge leaps in their development this offseason. I know I sure as hell didn’t. Both of them have blown my expectations of them out of the water.

Completely agree on Miles. Disagree on LaMelo. 

He's only scoring 5 points more per game than last year in 4 more minutes. But his FG% is down, 3 point % is up by a single point. His Rebounds are up, Assists are up, but his turnovers are also up. That's fine and dandy but I thought he would be averaging 23-24 ppg at this point. He still doesn't take games over scoring wise when it's needed, and Terry which has been dreadful lately is still the main guy at the end of games. Not good. I'm hoping his 3rd year jump is up to at least 25 PPG. 20 PPG isn't what this team needs, especially since LaMelo still couldn't give a hot steaming poo on defense. 

[Eazy-E]

4 hours ago, NCTHFL0567 said:

Completely agree on Miles. Disagree on LaMelo. 

He's only scoring 5 points more per game than last year in 4 more minutes. But his FG% is down, 3 point % is up by a single point. His Rebounds are up, Assists are up, but his turnovers are also up. That's fine and dandy but I thought he would be averaging 23-24 ppg at this point. He still doesn't take games over scoring wise when it's needed, and Terry which has been dreadful lately is still the main guy at the end of games. Not good. I'm hoping his 3rd year jump is up to at least 25 PPG. 20 PPG isn't what this team needs, especially since LaMelo still couldn't give a hot steaming poo on defense. 

Sorry, should have specified with Lamelo that I didn’t expect him to be this good when we drafted him. I thought he could become something special with a few years of development. Instead in basically a little over a year, since last season was shortened due to Covid, we have an All Star and the MIP. Would never have imagined this if you asked me back before the 2020 draft.

[Eazy-E]

4 hours ago, NCTHFL0567 said:

Completely agree on Miles. Disagree on LaMelo. 

He's only scoring 5 points more per game than last year in 4 more minutes. But his FG% is down, 3 point % is up by a single point. His Rebounds are up, Assists are up, but his turnovers are also up. That's fine and dandy but I thought he would be averaging 23-24 ppg at this point. He still doesn't take games over scoring wise when it's needed, and Terry which has been dreadful lately is still the main guy at the end of games. Not good. I'm hoping his 3rd year jump is up to at least 25 PPG. 20 PPG isn't what this team needs, especially since LaMelo still couldn't give a hot steaming poo on defense. 

This is exactly why I made this thread. A lot of what you just said I feel is true because of our head coach. We need Borrego to actually coach on game days. Especially when Hayward is out. Having our gamelan consist of just going out there and playing unorganized, run and gun basketball, while our defense suffers because we don’t crash the boards or rotate properly because guys are trying to initiate fast breaks and just straight up have tired legs is killing us. We need structure and guys to be held accountable. Right now Borrego’s rotation is set in stone. Doesn’t matter what the match up is or if guys are having an off night, Borrego does not stray away from it. Even with injuries, he barely gives any of our young guys on the bench minutes when our main guys clearly need a rest. We need at minimum a 10 man rotation, probably a 12 man on some nights. Past few weeks we’ve been running an 8 man and our guys look exhausted. We’re also blowing games with sometimes double digit leads into the 4th quarter. 

I think the only time I notice this team run offensive sets are right after a time out or when Gordon is playing and he brings the ball up the floor. You can’t consistently win basketball games like that.

[NCTHFL0567]

On 2/25/2022 at 3:36 PM, Eazy-E said:

This is exactly why I made this thread. A lot of what you just said I feel is true because of our head coach. We need Borrego to actually coach on game days. Especially when Hayward is out. Having our gamelan consist of just going out there and playing unorganized, run and gun basketball, while our defense suffers because we don’t crash the boards or rotate properly because guys are trying to initiate fast breaks and just straight up have tired legs is killing us. We need structure and guys to be held accountable. Right now Borrego’s rotation is set in stone. Doesn’t matter what the match up is or if guys are having an off night, Borrego does not stray away from it. Even with injuries, he barely gives any of our young guys on the bench minutes when our main guys clearly need a rest. We need at minimum a 10 man rotation, probably a 12 man on some nights. Past few weeks we’ve been running an 8 man and our guys look exhausted. We’re also blowing games with sometimes double digit leads into the 4th quarter. 

I think the only time I notice this team run offensive sets are right after a time out or when Gordon is playing and he brings the ball up the floor. You can’t consistently win basketball games like that.

His lack of playing young guys, defense, and lastly and most importantly inconsistency. See beating the living hell out of the Raptors and now loss to the Pistons for example. I hate that poo. You should not have any business losing to the fuging Pistons if you just beat the Raptors. 

[frankw]

11 hours ago, NCTHFL0567 said:

His lack of playing young guys, defense, and lastly and most importantly inconsistency. See beating the living hell out of the Raptors and now loss to the Pistons for example. I hate that poo. You should not have any business losing to the fuging Pistons if you just beat the Raptors. 

Going on four years now and he's still talking about effort. The team is an inconsistent mess and the buck stops with him. 125-146 record and this man still has ardent supporters like he's a coaching legend. The mediocrity within this fanbase is tiresome.

[OldNorthPowell]

9 hours ago, frankw said:

Going on four years now and he's still talking about effort. The team is an inconsistent mess and the buck stops with him. 125-146 record and this man still has ardent supporters like he's a coaching legend. The mediocrity within this fanbase is tiresome.

He has slowly lost my trust. The team has hit a plateau. I am not sure if he is the coach to get us to the playoffs. He seems to be a developmental coach. Watching this team is getting tiresome.

[frankw]

1 hour ago, OldNorthPowell said:

He has slowly lost my trust. The team has hit a plateau. I am not sure if he is the coach to get us to the playoffs. He seems to be a developmental coach. Watching this team is getting tiresome.

Agreed. But the developmental angle we used to be able to count as a positive isn't so much anymore. He has effectively alienated Bouknight who is now playing in the G league instead of getting needed reps in what is now looking more and more like another lost season which we will have nothing to show for. Very disappointing.

[OldNorthPowell]

39 minutes ago, frankw said:

Agreed. But the developmental angle we used to be able to count as a positive isn't so much anymore. He has effectively alienated Bouknight who is now playing in the G league instead of getting needed reps in what is now looking more and more like another lost season which we will have nothing to show for. Very disappointing.

Yeah this is the classic falling apart that has plagued us each year for a while now. We have to get serious about winning. Go hire a known name. Go spend the money to win MJ.