Kemba Walker On His Future

[TheRed]

6 minutes ago, RIAnBOW said:

Dude, it's the single most important game of the year [EDIT: most important game in 3-years], the purported "fans" don't show up....and you're mad because said "fans" are being held accountable?  LOL.

Your "pack the house" assertion is false.  Last night was THE single most important game of the year and the place was empty.

Your "small market teams" assertion is false.  Oklahoma City, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Denver, Salt Lake City, Portland --- all small markets with teams that are thriving.  Stop making up excuses. 

A key tenet of the "small market" thesis is players don't want to be there....well I guarantee you NBA players don't aspire to move to Toronto yet there they are, #2 seed in the East with the 2nd most regular season wins of any NBA team this year.

While you already struck out with your first 3 misguided stabs, you finally did get a hit with your final statement, "bad front office decisions" are the death knell of this franchise.

If last night was any indication, next year, as well as the foreseeable future, will be a gigantic struggle for Mike Jordan and his inept troops.  Jordan has to be worried that the city has given up on this team.

 

The city hasn't given up on the team.

All of those small market teams you mentioned minus OKC because of KD/Westbrook has wallowed in mediocrity for their fair share of time in the past decade to get to where they are now just like the Hornets are now and the Bobcats before that.

The NBA has a glaring parity problem that has been building for years. Until that changes the same issues will loom large.

[RoaringRiot]

5 minutes ago, PanthersBigD said:

As someone whose job is to create fan experiences, what is your take on what's wrong with the Hornets? 

Oh man....I could rant on this for hours. 

Im pretty clam about the Panthers - good or bad. I constantly angry Tweet about the Hornets. The short version = this organization has made nothing but bad decisions since the Bobcats started. From day one - CSET, Calling then f-Ing Bob’s Cats. But it’s continued all the way to present day. I think our fan base would totally get behind a team again. But good lord man if this hasn’t been the worst run franchise of ANY sport then I need to hear which one is worse 

[TheRed]

4 minutes ago, RIAnBOW said:

Portland...playoffs 10 of the last 12 seasons.

Indianapolis...playoffs 8 of last 9 seasons, and 18 of last 23.

Milwaukee....playoffs 6 of last 10 seasons. 

Salt Lake City....playoffs 8 of last 13 seasons, including 6 playoffs series wins.

Denver....playoffs 11 of last 16 seasons. 

Oklahoma City....playoffs 9 of last 10 seasons.

If those records illustrate "wallowing in mediocrity" how do you describe the record the Bobcats/Hornets have posted?

The worst of those teams listed above has played 31 playoff games in last 10 years...Bobcats/Hornets have played a grand total of 15.

The Hornets don't suffer from a "parity problem", their problem is lack of intellectual horsepower in the executive suite.  Keep your eyes on Milwaukee, they were bought by new owners (very smart new owners) in 2014 and their hard work is starting to pay dividends....until the Hornets get a new owner they will wallow in something that doesn't even rise to the level of mediocre.

If last night was any indication the city just may have given up on this franchise...

You're equating merely making it into the playoffs and promptly exiting with actual success like ya know... winning a ring? In a league where currently only maybe 4 or 5 teams at best have a chance at actually winning a finals, that's pretty abysmal.

We aren't going to agree, that's fine. Thanks, bye.

[Shocker]

Hope he resigns,  starting to doubt it.

[BIGH2001]

6 minutes ago, RIAnBOW said:

First thing you need to understand is everyone needs to know their place in the world....and everyone doesn't get "a ring".  With a dummy owner our place in the world is squeak into the playoffs and lose in round 1. 

Second, are you at all familiar with the long-term track record of the Golden State Warriors?  From 1994 to 2005 they missed the playoffs 12 straight seasons.  Then they made it in 2006, then missed it another 5 straight....1 playoff appearance in 18 seasons.

For the heck of it let's open the viewfinder a bit more...  From 1977 to 2011 the Warriors made the playoffs 6 times in 35 years (a stretch that included 9-year & 12-year playoff droughts)....notable because this is the track Mike Jordan and his franchise are on (3 playoff appearances in 15 years).

Pay attention because here's the lesson....

....what changed for the Warriors?

A: Ownership.  Joe Lacob bought the team in the summer of 2010 and they were off to the races. 

You are seeing a similar story play out with the Bucks who were bought by smart new owners in in the spring of 2014.

"Lack of parity" and "small market" excuses are just that, excuses....it's a very simple situation, smart owners outperform dumb owners. 

James Dolan is a perfect example, largest "market" in the world, most attractive market in the world from players perspective, largest budget of any NBA team, Dolan one of the wealthiest owners personally --- dumb as a stump & Knicks have 3 first round exits in last 15 years.

Remember what Bill Parcells said..."you are what your record says you are"...our record says our owner is a big dummy, one of the biggest dummies in the league.

Which is why the panthers are in good hands with Tepper.  

How have the Lakers been since Jeannie Buss took over?

[amcoolio]

The sooner you guys realize that the Hornets are the Detroit Lions of the NBA, the better you will know why the Hornets struggle to keep fans engaged.

Charlotte is the only NBA team to never win a division and only one of a small handful to never make the conference finals. And as of right now, they have one of the bleakest futures in the NBA.

There is hope, Just 1 year ago Dallas had a very bleak future, and 2 years ago Brooklyn was in shambles.

The best path forward is to hit home runs in the draft. You don't need high lottery picks to do well in the draft. Giannis, Kawhi Lenoard, Donovan Mitchell, Damian Lillard, Paul George, and others were late lottery picks and a bunch of others were late 1st or 2nd round picks even like Rudy Gobert, Jimmy Butler, Middleton, etc.

[djp14]

2 hours ago, RIAnBOW said:

But you can fill the seat of a no-show. 

A close friend has had season tickets since day-1, good seats about 18 rows up near the baseline.  Often one of the Hornets people will come ask if he wants to move down to the say the 2nd row to fill the seats for a no-show, happened once when I was with him.

True. They do this on a regular basis. Don't know why they didn't do it last night. Looked bad, especially compared to the Raptors game.

 

[Shocker]

If Mike does not resign Kemba he deserves some serious ridicule for that.

That would horrible mismanagement. 

[carpanfan96]

2 hours ago, Shocker said:

If Mike does not resign Kemba he deserves some serious ridicule for that.

That would horrible mismanagement. 

Signing him would be mismanagement. Kemba is 29, he's a pg who relies on speed, quickness and his first step to be effective, signing him long term at that age when his legs and speed could go out any time is bad. It would be better to ride out the horrible contracts and give Mitch time to build the team through the draft. Hit the picks and you've turned around the team in 3-4 years. 

[Shocker]

1 hour ago, carpanfan96 said:

Signing him would be mismanagement. Kemba is 29, he's a pg who relies on speed, quickness and his first step to be effective, signing him long term at that age when his legs and speed could go out any time is bad. It would be better to ride out the horrible contracts and give Mitch time to build the team through the draft. Hit the picks and you've turned around the team in 3-4 years. 

Yeah, could not disagree more.

[carpanfan96]

1 hour ago, Shocker said:

Yeah, could not disagree more.

MJ agrees with you and that's why this Hornets team with him as owner will never be successful with that mindset. Soonest the team can get out and put pieces around Kemba would be 2020 and he would be 31 on the downswing of his career. 

[Proudiddy]

1 hour ago, carpanfan96 said:

MJ agrees with you and that's why this Hornets team with him as owner will never be successful with that mindset. Soonest the team can get out and put pieces around Kemba would be 2020 and he would be 31 on the downswing of his career. 

I have to respectfully disagree man.  I've went back and forth on it, but the last few weeks flipped my perspective on it again...  we have to keep Kemba.  No matter what, he is an asset.  Whether we keep him for the duration of his contract or trade him to a contender of his choice later, he needs to be re-signed.  He is an asset and needs to be retained.  

I had a discussion with a friend who is a Knicks fan recently, and we debated the merits of the Hornets continuing to idle on the brink of the lottery or just letting Kemba walk and tanking like the Sixers did for years...  he thought we were better off tanking.  I said the difference was the Sixers have had success and all-time greats - Dr. J, Moses, Chuck, AI...  and they were just a few years removed from the AI era and competitive positioning before they started tanking.  So, they went from several good runs into tanking.  We would be going from mediocrity to tanking.  There is no goodwill built up for fans to want to endure that here.  And how long was that process for the Sixers?  5 years?  I told my friend that people act like it was a success bc now they have Embiid and Simmons, but they also went further in the hole during the process from draft picks like Noel and Okafor.  Last time we were the worst team in the league, we got screwed out if the #1 pick and took MKG at 2, lol.  Similarly, the Sixers busted almost as often as they hit.  There are no guarantees, and tanking could lead to being in an even worse situation than we are in over the long-term.

My point being, it's all a gamble.  Utah turned their fortunes by hitting on Mitchell.  Denver with Jokic.  Blazers wouldn't be as good if not for the development of McCollum.  The Warriors drafted Klay AFTER we picked TWICE.  So, keep your strengths your strengths and add to it.  Keep Kemba, ride out the bad contracts or possibly find a way to get from underneath them earlier, continue to develop Bridges, Bacon, and Graham, and hit on our draft picks.  That's the way out of this without being absolutely miserable.

[Proudiddy]

Also, I find this encouraging.  Kemba's brother has responded to several fans on twitter and said things like "we'll be back," and "we'll get this turned around." But he's also said that it's completely up to Kemba.  This was my tweet and his response...  scratched out my handle from due to creepers, but if you have twitter it's easy to find lol.

[Shocker]

Kemba flat out said this is where he wants to be...can’t get more plain than that.