Kelly Oubre Jr. calls for more communication from the Hornets | NBA

Among the first teams hard hit by the isolation of its major players, the Hornets are struggling to find a second wind and remain on eight losses in their last eleven games.

Today, there is only Cody Martin in solitary confinement, but Charlotte still took the water last night against Phoenix, leaving Arizona with a setback of 31 points in the gums (137-106) .

The first quarter in the viewfinder

The main problem has been identified: the first quarter, where Charlotte got her feet caught in the three defeats of her « road trip », collecting a total of 115 points for 59 registered. On average, LaMelo Ball’s teammates therefore started the second quarter with nearly 19 points in sight over the last three games. Against the Suns, they delivered their worst first quarter of the season, finding themselves behind 37 to 15.

The question seems sensitive, to read the response of James Borrego, annoyed to see this situation repeat itself and who asks his players to link words to deeds.

“At some level, there has to be some action behind it. We have talked enough about this, there is nothing more to say about it. It’s about acting. Either I have to do something at the level of the five of the team, or they find ways to respond better in the first quarter. We know, now we have to act, period ”, he said.

Don’t give up on criticism

Mainly used off the bench, Kelly Oubre Jr., for his part, pointed out the lack of communication but also of hardness between the players of a team which had been doing pretty well until then, with a flourishing collective.

“I think it boils down to that in the end: we like each other so much that sometimes we’re not going to pick on a brother when he’s not in it or when he makes a mistake. Because when you make a mistake, you already blame yourself. We have to find a solution, put our egos and our pride aside. I’m not saying that we have this thing, but I believe that we must move forward on it, make each other responsible, to be the best possible team ”.

Charlotte may be missing a defensive vocal leader, a player who will reframe everyone without necessarily taking tweezers, and whose group knows he is doing it for the good of the team. A taulier, a Marcus Smart, a Pat Beverley, a Draymond Green… We can also note this lack of character in away games. The Hornets have already lost 12 (out of 20). Only the Magic did worse in the entire NBA (15 losses out of 19).

Miles Bridges in any case insisted that this lack of communication was not the result of a bad atmosphere, even if the spirits can be roughed up during such a series. Kelly Oubre Jr. hopes for her part that the click will happen, also recalling that the group was still young, by age and common experience.

« We just need to be able to help each other, talk continuously about the situations in which we find ourselves », he added. “We are a young group, we are still learning. We rely on each other more than anything because neither of us is perfect. We all try to improve our game and our knowledge. We must therefore help each other and be able to hold each other accountable. It is the most important. To be able to make a remark, in a respectful way, to a player who makes a mistake, and to be able to take this criticism in a constructive way to keep moving forward, if we want to reach the next level ”.

Charlotte has two more big games to come before she completes her road trip, to Utah tonight and then to Denver.