Hornets.com Notebook: Scott Sees Litany of Offensive Concerns
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With the Hornets struggling to find their perimeter touch, head coach Byron Scott would like to see his players begin taking the ball to the basket, instead of settling for jump shots.
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November 29, 2006
During the club’s current four-game losing streak, the Hornets (8-7) have produced 83, 79, 73 and 77 points, an average of just 78 points per game. In that same quartet of games, New Orleans/Oklahoma City has not shot better than 41.6 percent.
For a team filled with several proven pro scorers, why are the Hornets struggling so much offensively, even after factoring in the absences of David West and Peja Stojakovic?
“Let me go through the list for you,” Hornets head coach Byron Scott explained at his Tuesday postgame press conference. “(We are) not setting good screens. Not getting good setups. Not running through the plays hard enough – in other words, not cutting hard enough (away from the ball). Settling for nothing but jump shots, instead of attacking the basket. If you do all those things, you’re going to struggle."
“The other thing is just being smarter. Because if you missed a few jump shots – at least back in my day – you’d (try to drive) and take the ball to the rim,” Scott continued, before adding sarcastically: “Maybe we were smarter in the 1980s? I don’t know… we only won a few championships (in Los Angeles with the Lakers).”
Outworked
Scott was displeased with what he deemed lackluster effort by the Hornets vs. Toronto, a 94-77 defeat that was arguably the most discouraging loss of the early season.
“Again, another team has come in and outworked us,” Scott described. “That’s more disappointing than a loss. You’re on a three-game losing streak, so you expect these guys to come out (and play hard). One thing we did last season was we showed our resiliency. We’re not showing that right now. We’re kind of hoping a team is going to give us a win, and feeling a little sorry for ourselves right now because we’re missing two of our key players.
“I can’t play for them. I can’t take shots. A lot of the onus has to be on them to come out prepared. Obviously (the coaches) have to prepare them, but they’ve got to come out and play hard. That’s what I told them at halftime, that (Toronto) was just playing harder than we were. We have to find a way to conjure up that energy to come out and play hard every single night. As far as body language, we look like we’re feeling sorry for ourselves. (But) nobody in this league is going to feel sorry for us.”
Elite? Not playing this way
Scott believes the Hornets’ four-game losing streak has demonstrated that his club is not ready to compete against the premier teams of the Western Conference. For the second straight game at the Ford Center, the Hornets were beaten by an opponent with a losing record (Minnesota, Toronto).
“A lot of things were written about our team, but I think we have to stop reading that stuff,” Scott said of the rampant praise the Hornets received this offseason after making several major roster moves. “This team is not in the upper echelon of the Western Conference – let’s get that straight right now. Especially playing this way. If we get can get back to playing as a scrappy team, then we can be pretty good. But if we don’t, we’ll struggle throughout the season.”
During the club’s current four-game losing streak, the Hornets (8-7) have produced 83, 79, 73 and 77 points, an average of just 78 points per game. In that same quartet of games, New Orleans/Oklahoma City has not shot better than 41.6 percent.
For a team filled with several proven pro scorers, why are the Hornets struggling so much offensively, even after factoring in the absences of David West and Peja Stojakovic?
“Let me go through the list for you,” Hornets head coach Byron Scott explained at his Tuesday postgame press conference. “(We are) not setting good screens. Not getting good setups. Not running through the plays hard enough – in other words, not cutting hard enough (away from the ball). Settling for nothing but jump shots, instead of attacking the basket. If you do all those things, you’re going to struggle."
“The other thing is just being smarter. Because if you missed a few jump shots – at least back in my day – you’d (try to drive) and take the ball to the rim,” Scott continued, before adding sarcastically: “Maybe we were smarter in the 1980s? I don’t know… we only won a few championships (in Los Angeles with the Lakers).”
Outworked
Scott was displeased with what he deemed lackluster effort by the Hornets vs. Toronto, a 94-77 defeat that was arguably the most discouraging loss of the early season.
“Again, another team has come in and outworked us,” Scott described. “That’s more disappointing than a loss. You’re on a three-game losing streak, so you expect these guys to come out (and play hard). One thing we did last season was we showed our resiliency. We’re not showing that right now. We’re kind of hoping a team is going to give us a win, and feeling a little sorry for ourselves right now because we’re missing two of our key players.
“I can’t play for them. I can’t take shots. A lot of the onus has to be on them to come out prepared. Obviously (the coaches) have to prepare them, but they’ve got to come out and play hard. That’s what I told them at halftime, that (Toronto) was just playing harder than we were. We have to find a way to conjure up that energy to come out and play hard every single night. As far as body language, we look like we’re feeling sorry for ourselves. (But) nobody in this league is going to feel sorry for us.”
Elite? Not playing this way
Scott believes the Hornets’ four-game losing streak has demonstrated that his club is not ready to compete against the premier teams of the Western Conference. For the second straight game at the Ford Center, the Hornets were beaten by an opponent with a losing record (Minnesota, Toronto).
“A lot of things were written about our team, but I think we have to stop reading that stuff,” Scott said of the rampant praise the Hornets received this offseason after making several major roster moves. “This team is not in the upper echelon of the Western Conference – let’s get that straight right now. Especially playing this way. If we get can get back to playing as a scrappy team, then we can be pretty good. But if we don’t, we’ll struggle throughout the season.”
