By Sam Perley, hornets.com
To be competitive in the NBA, having a deep, versatile bench is absolutely imperative. Fortunately for the Hornets, early indications this year suggest they could have one of the league’s best backup squads.
Early on in the 2015-16 NBA campaign, a major factor in the Hornets hot start has been the depth and capabilities of their reserves. Right now, the Hornets are averaging 40.4 bench points per game – good for fourth-best amongst all teams in the NBA. Last season, Charlotte ranked tied for 17th in the league in this category with just 32.2 points.
Much of the credit can go to new Hornets arrivals Jeremy Lamb and Jeremy Lin, who going into Charlotte’s game against Boston on Dec. 12, were combining for the most bench points for any pair of teammates in the entire Eastern Conference amongst qualified players. Together Lamb and Lin are averaging 22.7 points off the bench for the Hornets, nearly three more points than the second-ranked pairing of Indiana’s Rodney Stuckey and Jordan Hill (19.8).
Bench depth is also imperative when the injury bug bites the team. The Hornets began the preseason losing star defender, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, with a season-ending shoulder injury. Enter P.J. Hairston into the starting lineup. Although Hairston is posting modest offensive statistics, he has vastly improved his defensive game according to teammate, Nicolas Batum. Batum mentioned Hairston amongst Charlotte’s leaders on defense after the team’s 99-81 home win over Miami on Dec. 9:
“P.J. did a great job on [Miami’s Dwyane] Wade. Nobody talks about [Hairston] very often,” Batum said of Hairstob after the team’s 99-81 home win on Dec. 9 over Miami. “What he’s doing right now for us since the beginning of the season [in terms of] guarding the premier offensive player on every [opposing] team, he’s been doing a good job.”
With center Al Jefferson also sidelined, Cody Zeller has been called into the starting lineup, posting averages of 12.0 points on 53.7 percent shooting, 4.6 rebounds and 1.8 assists over his last five games. Zeller also scored consecutive season highs against Chicago on Dec. 5 (17 points) and against Detroit on Dec. 7 (20 points) during this five-game stretch.
“[Cody’s] everywhere doing every single thing for us. He does a lot of small things as well- things that won’t show up on the stat sheet,” Kemba Walker said of Zeller after Charlotte’s win over Miami. “He’s been unbelievable. He’s rebounding, making the short jump shots for us, blocking shots, defending, running the floor. He’s out there reeking havoc.”
After falling into an early double-digit deficit on the road against Memphis on Dec. 11, the Hornets bench helped bail the team out on its way to impressive 123-99 win. After Charlotte’s bench outscored its Memphis counterpart, 59-37, Batum credited the Hornets reserves as a key part of the victory.
“You couldn’t do any worse then we [the starters] were doing. We were playing very bad. Maybe the worst start of the season so far,” said Batum. “The bench did a great job. Guys like Jeremy Lin, Jeremy Lamb, Frank [Kaminsky], Spencer [Hawes] all did a great job to put us back in the game.”
While superstars certainly play a vital role in the pecking order of the NBA hierarchy, rotational players, especially ones coming off the bench, can be just as an importance piece of a championship-contending team, particularly when determining matchups within a seven-game playoff series.
A shining example of this theory took place in last season’s NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers. With injuries to stars Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love limiting Cleveland’s options, the Cavaliers were forced to heavily rely on LeBron James. Despite an impressive individually effort from James, the task at hand was impossible even for arguably the league’s best player to accomplish as many of the Cavaliers’ reserves were unable to effectively matchup against the opposing Warriors.
On the other hand, Golden State benched starting center, Andrew Bogut, beginning in Game 4 and inserted a backup small forward in Andre Iguodala. A starter for his entire NBA career up until last season, Iguodala was often commended during the regular season for his willingness to take on a secondary role, something that is not always easy to accept for a long-time first- teamer. Iguodala, who defensively contributed largely to James’ late-series shooting woes, was a major reason Golden State would go on to be crowned NBA Champions, garnering Finals MVP honors after posting averages of 16.3 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.0 assists.
While the NBA’s top stars might get the majority of the spotlight, it’s safe to say that having a quality bench is one of the most important factors in determining a team’s success over the duration of the regular and postseason. As of now, it looks like the Hornets bench might just be one of the better reserve units in the NBA, an element that will hopefully pay massive long-term dividends as the year continues to unfold.
Key Matchup vs. Magic: Nicolas Batum vs. Evan Fournier
Charlotte’s Nicolas Batum will have a tricky matchup at hand when he leads the Hornets into a Wednesday road showdown against the much-improved Evan Fournier and the Orlando Magic… With a career-high 17.0 points this season, Batum continues to impress in his debut season with the Hornets… Charlotte’s star shooting guard is also posting averages of 6.7 rebounds and 4.7 assists, which are ranked first and tied-for-third, respectively, in the NBA amongst shooting guards… Batum will look to keep his strong start to the season going as he squares off against fellow French National Team member, Evan Fournier, in Orlando … One of the more underrated shooting guards in the NBA, Fournier is averaging career-highs across the board in points (14.6), rebounds (3.3), assists (2.2) and steals (1.2) in his fourth NBA season… Another strong all-around performance by Batum against his fellow Frenchman Fournier could be a major factor in whether the Hornets can notch their third-consecutive road win down in Orlando.
Key Matchup vs. Raptors: Kemba Walker vs. Kyle Lowry
Kemba Walker and the Hornets will head back to Charlotte on Thursday night where a showdown between All-Star Kyle Lowry and the Toronto Raptors awaits… Leading the team with a career-high 18.0 points, Walker has vastly improved his shooting efficiency this season from the field (45.2 percent) and three-point range (39.6), both of which are also career highs by considerable margins… Walker will have a tough task at hand trying to slow down the speedy, dynamic Kyle Lowry, who is currently ranked fifth in the NBA in scoring amongst point guards with a career-high 21.3 points… Besides the scoring, Lowry is shooting a career-best 40.9 percent from three-point range while also averaging a career-high 4.9 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 2.35 steals, the latter of which is also a career high and currently ranked second in the NBA amongst all players… With two of Toronto’s four leading scorers likely sidelined with injury (Jonas Valanciunas and DeMarre Carroll), Walker’s defensive effectiveness on a busy Lowry will be key if the Hornets are looking to knock off the Atlantic Division-leading Raptors on Thursday night in Charlotte.
