This post is part of a series I'm trying to make regarding the Hornets offseason. The main post with more info here.
I was going to wait to post the 3rd part of the series until the 2nd round of the playoffs, but with the woj bomb, breaking out that Hornet's coach Borrego got fired, let's talk about what may have led to the decision and what's important to consider for the new hire.
Borrego's time
The Positives:
Player development. Since his arrival, it's safe to say that our draft picks (except Carey and Richards) all made noticeable improvements. Graham, Martin, McDaniels, Bridges and Washington are all cases of a healthy player development program. As we addressed in part 1, Bouknight and Jones lack of minutes were disappointed, but not necessarily a bad move considering Borrego's track record of giving the player one year in the g-league. Of all the young players, the only case that was mishandled was the PJ Washington situation until the trade deadline.
Building a bond. As a small-market team, you not only want to develop talent but make them create a bond with the city and everyone in the organization to make it possible to keep the players around when they reach their peaks. Lamelo and Borrego seemed to have a great connection, both spending time together during the off-season.
Disclaimer: A lot of reports have emphasized the win improvements over the last 2 years, but that goes more into 'expected' than 'positive'. It was when Hayward was signed, that the team got an all-around wing player that gave us consistency. Also, the ongoing player growth and Lamelo's arrival made a part of the team fighting for play-in in the last two years. Before that, the record was of your classic rebuilding Hornets team.
+++
The Negatives:
Horrible defense. Although they improved on that side of the ball following the All-Star break, they finished 22nd in defensive rating and there were too many frustrating outings to close the season. The players seemed always rushing to make a stop as a result of a lack of discipline, confidence and trust in the system around them. Even though not having the best defensive players, not being engaged and disciplined on that end of the floor was a clear indication that Borrego was also a major part of the team's biggest weakness.
Unrefined rotations. Borrego was a guy that stuck with rotation no matter the cost. The team could be on a losing streak, he still would stick to the same players and minutes in the game. Things also didn't change enough depending on the matchup. The further he would go was to switch between lineups with a traditional C or a small lineup to close the game with PJ as the center.
Humiliating losses. Not only on the last 2 play-in games but there were also multiple examples throughout the season where the Hornets would be out of the game by the second quarter. 144 points in consecutive games to Philadelphia and Miami as they were chasing a higher play-in seed proved also were major letdowns considering the Hornets finished with the exact same record as Atlanta, but lost the tiebreaker, and were within a game of 7th place.
What to expect now?
With the last two frustrating play-in losses and an impatient owner, it's hard to imagine that the Hornets will take an approach towards taking a step back, instead, it's realistic to think we'll try to be more on the win-now mode the next season. Saying that it's key that the next coach will not only try to repair some of the team's main weaknesses in regards to being more competitive but also keep a positive approach towards internal development.
One thing that I also haven't seen been enough mentioned is that we still have to figure out if Mitch is going to extend his deal or not, and honestly I'd like to see that solved before the coaching hire. We can be in a situation with a new GM in the next offseason and he'd licked his lips to fire the one-year coach to bring in his own guy.
Checklist for hiring process:
Improve the FO as a whole and solve the GM situation long-term. Make a firm decision if the team will make win-now moves or keep their 2 frps and a deep list of young players urging for minutes.
Ability to improve team defense with a system where players are more disciplined.
Good with adapting rotations within the flow of the game and matchup based (not stick with the same rotation for 10 games just for the sake of it).
Someone that plans to improve the half-court offense around Ball and Bridges, and that have a good view on how to use the other main young players.
Keep people throughout the org that worked well on internal player growth during the last 4 seasons.
Choose someone that will make sense with the off-season moves that the FO is planning to make. Don't hire a guy that needs a good big man and keep Plumlee as the starter. Don't hire a guy that overplays veterans and keep both first-round picks.
Do the decision as quick as possible. The less open spots there are, the more likely there's that a good candidate will be available for the challenge.
I don't plan to point out possible candidates right now, might possibly do this if some of the guys being approached by the FO get leaked like it did with the Kings. I was more in favor of a Borrego fire but it's hard to trust the FO and MJ as a whole. The most trusteable guy, Mitch, may not be around for too long so he may not put too much effort into making his word listened accross the board.
What are some of the names you guys know that would be great coaches (either vets or new ones)? There's a lot of assistants that maybe people that follow their team closer will have a stronger opinion about how good those guys can be as HCs. What are your opinion on Borrego and did you expect this decision by the Hornets? How much of the things going wrong was his fault in your opinion?