frankw

Much like the other local team here they should be at least marginally better but I think most people are tempering expectations. Right now the floor is a basketball team worth watching and rooting for. Anything else is merely a surprise bonus.

31 is a kick in the dick. But at the end of the day the onus is on the Panthers to prove they belong in a better class of conversation.

Those are basic throws you'd expect any mid round rookie QB to be making. I'm all for a certain degree of optimism but I'm not falling for photo ops or unearned hype this go around. Even when we get to camp it's going to be very important to temper expectations. Here's a video of a guy recapping camp last year before we got destroyed on the road the first 2 games of the season. Keep your head on a swivel folks.

Meh. Players respected and trusted Marty Hurney too. Turns out players love the guy that's lining their pockets. Who knew? All that matters is that we actually finally start developing talent.

They've kicked the fluff up a few notches for this one. But it's difficult not to buy in. Morgan and especially Canales are organizational figures that bring stability and respect. And they seem to be a really good match. But that doesn't guarantee everything will come together. If the team culture takes a few steps forward that will make a huge difference. But at the end of the day the offense and our 2023 first overall pick have to lead the way.

No disagreement about the state of the center position but Nurkic had no future here and Mark had one foot out the door before we tried and failed to trade him the first time. After he was basically a shell. And let's be honest. Even before the failed trade Mark was simply not motivated to get out onto the basketball court. We can blame the Hornets for plenty of mismanagement over the years but Mark Williams failure here is ultimately on him. While Ayton is talented and still relatively young if the word from Portland is true he was basically a more outwardly toxic version of Mark Williams. I mean does that sound like a good addition to our team that is trying to instill a better culture? The Lakers are going to find out for themselves. Let them be the guinea pig.

When you get beyond the speculation I think it's clear that the team is sending a message with all the moves they have made. They aren't going to wait around anymore. LaMelo will emerge as a true star or they will change gears.

Alright. I think the Charlotte Hornets are officially at capacity with the current number of white players on the roster. 20240912_221847_1.mp4

Social media age everyone wants to film first. As far as risk and NFL contract clauses go I get the need for the convo. Just one of those things. But at the end of the day Xavier is just a legitimately good person all around. Now let's see him ball out in his Panthers uni.

Could do better could do worse. I've seen some people very indignant over bringing him back and I can absolutely relate to the sentiment. But it's just in a backup role. He's also a good locker room presence and an effort player so for a 1 year rental in a year where we aren't going to do much it's fine. This is a development year. And there will be options if need be at the trade deadline. Besides at the end of the day we all knew a signing like this was around the corner after how drafting Mark Williams ended. He should have been our franchise center for the next several years. I don’t put that failure on the Hornets.

Been here since the Coliseum days. Hornets were the first pro team I ever rooted for. If they're ever going to get out of the gutter they have to establish a culture. They are trying to do that. I have no idea if it will be successful but it's a start.

I don’t think I'd go that far but there is definitely legitimate reason to ask how much he actually values winning and being great as a basketball player. He is very easily distracted with off the court stuff. This has been a public criticism of people like LeBron James with some of the newer generations of "stars". And it is 1000% valid and needed to be said. All I can say is I hope this is the year. If it is it will be apparent fairly early on. But I get the sense if the same themes continue as the upcoming season progresses the FO could look to move him before the trade deadline. It would suck for a multitude of reasons and I don't want to see it happen but if it did it would be on LaMelo and LaMelo alone because they've given him the keys and are finally putting pieces around him. If he wants to be a great basketball player and win he will be here and do what is necessary for the team to be successful. If not well....

I'd like to see better center depth but overall a great trade to say the least. Sexton also follows the clear value the FO is placing on culture. But he is on an expiring. Still gives us options going forward. I feel like there's another corresponding move or two in the future. I'm actually excited to see this new group together. At least the team is trying.

Let's keep it real here. That man did not look or sound like someone thrilled to be drafted to the Utah Jazz.

LT had 8 straight seasons of an average of 1100-1800 rushing yards and 126 touchdowns and missed one game in that timespan. If you want to quote me and strut around in your Christian McCaffrey PJ's by all means do your thing bud.

Agree to disagree.

From my what I have seen the overwhelming majority of people who are considering the notion a possibility don't really want to see it happen but are considering so for a number of reasons. Most importantly availability. Secondly even when he plays the last few seasons he has been red hot or ice cold. Then there is the subject of his defense which to say the least leaves a lot to be desired. Then there is the image of Ball inactive laughing it up on the sideline (while our team was getting the doors blown off) with previous busts who are now relegated to hanging on by a thread in the g league. I think we should be able to recognize with the team going out of their way to put a very strong emphasis on culture and leadership with the conclusion of this years draft that they expect LaMelo to lead the way this upcoming season and that begins with making significant strides and trending in a positive direction in the aforementioned aspects above. It just has to happen.

It's an interesting topic of conversation as sports evolves. I think ultimately it would lead to a number of small market franchises folding though. Especially in the NBA where there are so many bad teams that have been bad for years and years in some cases already. But as it stands I think athlete pay draft or no draft aside has reached a point where we can and should realistically ask should they make that much compared to the average person. Now college athletes is a different conversation but even that reaches a breaking point. But we could go down the rabbit hole on this even further into overall entertainment and talk about actors making absurd sums too. In the end I think in sports the powers that be won't allow these changes to even be considered because it opens the door for so many other variables. But who knows how long sports like football will realistically be around after people like us pass on. We're only just now learning about things like CTE which the league and the sport in general will only be able to run away from for so long. As far as the NBA goes my understanding is viewership has been steadily going down for a number of reasons but one crucial aspect is key players missing so many games. The NBA has to figure that out regardless. Especially when considering fans who pay to see these athletes compete in person. But hey I guess let's just try to appreciate what we've got while it still exists in this form eh?

Conceptually it's worth pondering if there are alternatives that could line up with current times. Alternatively on the flip side it opens a very real conversation about newer generations who are making in many cases drastically more money than previous generations of basketball football and baseball players being entitled. For me I'd say to even begin to entertain the notion of this then average pay should go down minimum 75% across the board. See how folks feel about the draft when they're only making WNBA money.

$41 million and can't even show up like every other rookie is and has been doing? Terrible look.

So far jokes aside I like the draft for us. I can understand being apprehensive but the hand wringing considering how comically bad our locker room has been just doesn't line up. Would you rather be drafting more guys like James Bouknight?

As someone who would have honestly preferred Bailey I think he is getting overhyped by people who are I'm just being honest here-acting like complete Stans. I've seen people acting like they're this kids momma going hard for him on social media. He made the choice to opt for the predraft path that he took and that hurt his stock. Regardless Kon and Ace will be connected for a bit but I can't fault the Hornets for not electing to add another possible malcontent to the locker room. This culture has to change. Whether this actually works is the question. But I'm glad we are trying. We'll see.

As others have said it's both. One creates the other. But it also takes time sometimes years. And there have been teams lately with new car smell coaching staffs that looked like they were putting it together quickly but things came crashing back down to Earth. Sustainability is the key. For that to happen the meddling of our owners has to stop and they cannot be tempted to return to their ways over any bump in the road either.