In fact, the 31-year-old Jefferson has grown to accept his new role as the Hornets prepare for a first-round playoff rematch with Miami, which swept Charlotte two years ago. Acknowledging that it is a players’ league and they ultimately swing series and title runs, the importance of in-game coaching might get huge in the bout against the Miami Heat. “And I’ve got a good relationship being in the backcourt with him”, says Batum. The fulfillment of a head coach’s vision requires work over a longer period of time and a team’s record in a particular year isn’t necessarily indicative of his success or failure. But his momentum was carrying him out of bounds, so he threw the ball into the corner for a Daniels’ 3-pointer.
Advertisement
The Charlotte Hornets are in place that no one expected when the season first began.
There are massive number of similarities shared between these two organizations as each squad reinvented itself over the course of the 2015-16 National Basketball Association regular season.
He was already prepped for the Celtics, having played them on Monday.
With the improvement of certain players and addition of others certainly acknowledged, Steve Clifford also deserves a bravo for this regular season.
“He gives me the ball and doesn’t just take the ball to do his thing”.
ABOUT THE HORNETS (48-34): Walker is at his best when Nicolas Batum is alongside in the backcourt, and Batum plans to be ready for Game 1 despite missing Wednesday’s finale with a sprained left ankle.
When Miami was at its worst defensively this season is when they didn’t get out to shooters quick enough and allowed teams to get wide open looks.
Jefferson, a former third-team All-NBA center, has become a backup to Cody Zeller now, but lately he has been playing like a starter. While Johnson is often portrayed as a one-dimensional talent, Wade believes it’s harder to score against him than most people realize. Wade is responsible for all three rings the Heat won and it will take a lot for Lee and the rest of the team to stop him.
Meanwhile, Hassan Whiteside has been back in the starting lineup for three straight games for the first time since January, which creates a bit of a dilemma for the coaching staff. It would be reasonable to try and realign as much of Al Jefferson’s minutes as you can with Whiteside’s.
Walker’s ability to drive and attack leads to the next key for Miami against the Hornets. “If you are more anxious about yourself than the team, you may make the playoffs but you aren’t going to get far”. “They’ve had some injuries, losing a star player in (Chris) Bosh and they’ve made some moves.”[Post-up scoring is] what [Miami] is going to do”, said Clifford following the team’s home win over Orlando on April 13.
Bosh has missed every game since the All-Star break with a reported blood clot scare.
Advertisement
Charlotte averaged 29.4 3-point attempts per game this season, which was fourth-most in the league. “It’s two teams very confident in their games and feel that they can win whether it’s on the road or at home”. In the 2013-14 season, they went 8-12 when he wasn’t on the court. The Heat ranked 25th out of 30 teams in pace this season. The series doesn’t have the same appeal as some of the others in the first round do when it comes to superstar players or exciting story lines, but it does figure to be one of the most exciting and closest matchups of the round.
