5 Stings – Miller’s Shot Diet Changes, Pump Fake Sorcery, Non-LaMelo Minutes Offense

A collection of observations about the Charlotte Hornets over the past two weeks.

In this week’s “5 Stings,” I discuss why my panic meter is 1/100 on Brandon Miller, Grant Williams’ pump fake wizardry, Josh Green’s offensive uncertainty, and a fun Salaun stat to track this season.

Grant Williams isn’t quick or athletic and doesn’t have a particularly quick release on his jump shot, but he gets to his spots and creates space thanks to his killer pump fake. He made the 76ers scramble everywhere as they shut out hard only to give up side step 3s or drives to put them in rotation.

Josh Green was not brought to Charlotte for his offensive firepower. However, we have officially flirted with the Maginot Line in terms of him hurting the team through his offensive struggles. There has been a marked improvement over the last two games, but before that it was a struggle.

This clip is just one example of Green’s strange decisions made on offense. He’s shooting 52% from three, but spurns this open shot for a wildly contested layup. Green needs to be more confident, especially with Mann/Bridges out. You’re not in Dallas anymore, you can shoot the ball!

Tidjane Salaun stands 6’10” with a 7’2″ wingspan, but I suspect he can finish the season with more draws than blocked shots. In the first part of the clip, you can see Salaun’s natural tendency to defend the basket by stepping into the court, instead of trying to meet players in the air to block their shots. In the second half, 6-foot-tall Pritchard scores over Salaun, even though he’s in position to contest the shot.

Overall, his unique style is effective – he limits opponents to just 36% shooting at the rim. But this approach also risks leaving Salaun’s man open, as he found out in the Magic game giving up an open corner 3 to Isaac. To reach his full potential as a versatile defender, he must develop better timing and confidence to leave his feet to contest shots around the basket.

With LaMelo Ball on the court, Charlotte has a slightly below average offensive rating of 113.6 (48th percentile). Without him, it drops to 103.9 (6th percentile), making it one of the worst offenses in the NBA. To put that into perspective, the non-LaMelo minutes last season had a rating of 109. Yikes!

Head coach Charles Lee has obviously been without key players for most of the season. However, it shouldn’t be to bad. Outside of brief flashes, Brandon Miller has yet to find his groove. He has shown the potential to carry teams’ offense last year, Lee needs to get him more involved in the offense in the minutes off the ball.

My colleague Matt Alquiza already this week covered some areas of how Miller has had to adjust his game. Takes more threes, fewer layups. However, we can go a little more in depth really begin to understand what is behind his disappointing start.

According to Synergy, Miller’s offensive role has changed significantly. His spot-up rate has dropped from 25% last season to 16%, while his shot attempts off screens have jumped from 8% to 17%. These adjustments have changed the type of threes he takes – 60% fewer from the corner and more on the break. Why has Lee implemented these changes? It is a calculated trade-off: risk vs. reward. While these looks are lower percentage, they are harder to defend and more sustainable within the flow of a game. It’s a step away from a traditional “role player” style, though it takes time to adjust.

NBA.com’s advanced shooting data also shows that Miller is in a classic shooting slump, especially on “Very Open” attempts. I’m confident that his shooting will return and that the short-term struggles will pay off in the end.

23-24: Tighten 2-4 feet 23.2% (0.8 attempts)
24-25: Tighten 2-4 feet 14.3% (1.6 Attempts)

23-24: Open 4-6 feet 34.3% (2.5 Attempts)
24-25: Open 4-6 feet 40.5% (4.1 Trial)

23-24: Very open 6+ft 44.3% (3.0 Attempts)
24-25: Very open 6+ft 26.5% (3.8 Attempts)

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Charles Lee credits LaMelo Ball’s fearlessness as the engine of his fourth quarter brilliance