HOOPSAHOLIC

Will we ever seen the NBA team in Charlotte get over the hump? I mean, seriously! I know I may be asking a somewhat far-fetched question, since the Hornets aren't supposed to contend for a title or anything, but when will they be expected to win games as opposed to just brushing off every loss? Everytime it's: "oh, it's Charlotte, they're not supposed to be that good." Well when I take a gander at the team's roster, THEY SHOULD BE GOOD! It's time to forget the excuses, lace up the Jordans (because we know everyone on the team has them, MJ's the owner for crying out loud) and starting winning the games they're supposed to. 

The reason for my sudden panic: the Hornets handed the Lakers their first win of the season last night when LA won 107-92. Not only did the Hornets lose to what could be the worst team in basketball, but they let "Linsanity" shred them to pieces scoring 21 points. The Hornets are sitting at 3-4 at this juncture of the season, which truly isn't bad, but all three of their wins have come at home while three of their four losses are on the road. To make matters worse they play on the road again tonight (Monday) against the Trailblazers.

The Hornets rank only 21st in the NBA in points per game, and part of that problem has been the lack of scoring punch from newcomer Lance Stephenson. Charlotte was really hoping Stephenson would light up the scoreboard, but so far this season he's only averaged eight points per game. He did however have a game winning three-pointer in the Hornet's win against Charlotte, but everyone who's seen the highlight knows that it was a lucky bank-shot that sealed the deal. That brings me to my other point: two of the Hornets three wins have come off of game winning shots. Kemba Walker had to make a clutch Jumper to seal a comeback victory against Milwaukee opening night. They could just as easily be 1-6 through seven games this season. 

The Hornets have a roster filled with talent, therefore these starts should almost be inexcusable. They have all-star Al Jefferson, who truly can't be blamed for the team's struggles at all. He's averaging 23 points and seven rebounds this season. Then of course there's Stephenson, and Walker, both of whom should be shouldering more of the offensive load. Walker is averaging almost 16 points per game but only gets about five assists per night. He will need to find a way to get his teammates more involved if this Hornets team wants its offensive numbers to go up. Also, if you would've told me that Michael Kidd-Gilchrist would be averaging more points than Stephenson seven games in I would've told you to stop taking so many crazy pills. 

Luckily for the Hornets, the season is still extremely young. I'm not over-reacting with my post, I'm just wondering when this team will take that next step. In my preseason rankings I gave them some love so now they need to prove they're a team to be noticed in the East. The, "there's always next year," excuse is only going to work for so long in Charlotte before people start to demand more, because right now they should already be expecting it. -BC