Game On: Hornets @ Bobcats

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Published: April 16, 2012

The Hornets travel to Charlotte to take on the sad-sack Bobcats.

When you are a fan of a team that is going to win barely a quarter of their games, it’s not often you get a chance to sneer at another teams lack of talent.  Still, this Charlotte team is sneer-worthy.  If the Bobcats don’t win another game this season, they will post the worst winning percentage in NBA history, and if they win one more, they will just barely beat the 1972-73 Sixers who went 9-73.  What is worse – their point differential is a full point worse than that Sixers team, as they lose games by an average of 13.4 points per game, while the Sixers lost by an average of 12.1.  Only the 1992-93 Dallas Mavericks had a worse point differential, losing by an average of 15.2 points per game en route to winning 11 games.

So we get to see some historical badness tonight.

Doesn’t mean the Hornets are going to win. Remember, the Hornets managed to lose to them earlier this year, and McNamara thinks the Hornets will lose to them again tonight after their defeat of Memphis.  It could happen again.  So, to prevent that, I give you the Keys to Victory:

  • No easy baskets.  Amidst a sea of incompetence, the Bobcats are decent at one thing:  limiting turnovers and forcing a decent number themselves.  The Hornets, as I’ve said in the past, get punished in transition, so in order to crush Charlotte, they need to match the Bobcats’ ability to limit turnovers and not give up easy transition points to a team that struggles so mightily.
  • Control the boards.  Charlotte has no rebounders worthy of the name, and it shows in the fact they post the second worst rebound rate in the entire league.  The Hornets, on the other hand, are a solid rebounding team and should be able to control the glass on both ends of the floor.
  • Give them the 20-footer.  It’s the dumbest shot in basketball, and unsurprisingly the Bobcats take the shot 28 times per game, which is 4 more per game than anyone else in the league.  Oh, and of course, they suck at making it, hitting it 36.6% of the time.  If they want that shot, let them have it.

Enjoy the game!

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