Nets at Hornets (11/18/15)

I missed the first half of this game (Mother in Law birthday dinner) but was able to enjoy the second half of the succulent contest. Some thoughts:

• Rebounding: We know that rebounding has been an issue in recent games. Somehow, the Hornets solved this trend at least momentarily. Brooklyn only managed 5 offensive rebounds, and the Hornets also won the overall rebounding battle by a margin of 49 to 37. Marvin Williams was a big time contributor with 4 offensive rebounds, and Jeremy Lin contributed 9 rebounds of his own.
• Shifting PF Position: For two games in a row, Cody Zeller has been plagued with foul trouble early in the first quarter, and Frank Kaminsky has been subbed in for long stretches. Yesterday, the Tank was not great on the offensive end, but tonight was a different story as Frank scored 11 points in 23 minutes. It seems to me that Cody has clearly regressed as an offensive player compared to last season, or at least has yet to find an offensive rhythm because of his stunted playing time. He absolutely gives more than Kaminsky in the defensive and rebounding aspects of the game, but the Hornets new offense looked good with Frank in there. I do wonder if this is the beginning of a valuable rookie season for the #9 overall pick.
• Lin: I love his physical style of play. He is excellent at using his body to score in the paint, and he is really the only Hornets player so far in this young season who is consistently scoring in the paint off the dribble. Batum has had some great cuts, but most of Lin’s scores are coming off of his own dribble penetration, either off of the S/R or simply off his own isolation creativity.
• Shooting 3’s: When the Hornets make 7 more threes than their opponent, that is usually going to be a winning formula. Excellent shooting by the home team tonight, using the extra points from distance to discover the equation for victory.

The Hornets keep figuring out a way to keep their overall record at .500, keeping the playoff hunt very much alive an 8th of the way through the season. This team continues to grow and learn each other’s strengths and weaknesses, and you can see Clifford experimenting with lineups and matchups as well. Allowing a team to learn and evolve while still winning some games is a pretty nice treat!