Its unfair to compare Melo’s classic effort in bringing Hornets back from 18-down to the Houston Rockets to what some-many see as a career-defining return as starter game for Young. Hold those trade offers a while longer, but yeah, its nut-crunching time.
One Game Doesn’t Equal a Season
There was nothing but joy in Charlotte after LaMelo’s first game fireworks return to the court, looking like the whiplash weapon that a past-present face of the franchise should play like. By all accounts, there’s a new sheriff in town mentality with the new owners, Charles Lee’s hiring as a Celtics-trained coach, and Brandon Miller’s time has arrived as well. Go Bugs, and that new kid, Tidjane Salaun too!
There have been major overhauls in Hornets since 1987 inaugural season; I covered the HUGE ’96-’97 changes with Dave Cowens as coach and a bevy of top end players, including Anthony Mason after a 6th Man of Year production for Knicks, the Kobe Bryant for Lakers center Vlade Divac swap, 6’8″ Glen Rice swooping in from wing-and-ones at 28 ppg, that other Curry was shooting treys back then…7′ Matt Geiger on the glass, and taking Cowens no more cha-cha drives to the hole on defense philosophy to heart.
2015-16 was the Lin-sanity year during Steve Clifford’s first tour. He’s the winningest coach in the franchise’s history, leading the team to 244 wins and 574 games coached. 2016 was Hornets last playoff year, a Game 7 loss to Miami Heat.
FYI- Mason was a slightly smaller individual in real life than his picture on a downtown building. If anyone ever asks, yes, he (and Barkley) were the reason NBA changed how they slowed play to a crawl, backing defenders down with controlled dribbles and muscled in layups.
That Cowens year is still one of my best sports predictions, but even my 52-30 wasn’t as good as their actual 54-28. Hornets sold out every game for first eight years, leading the league in attendance, and Charlotte became a legitimate place on the map with a professional team.
Then, thirty seasons ago, came NFL football, two Super Bowl appearances (2004, 2016), and damn! if #MrTeppers$ didn’t gain a mess of a team since Super Bowl 50 with Cam (Feb. 2016).
Fast forward to the hoo-ha! about Carolina Panthers maneuvers to select Heisman-winner Young at a premium price (OMG! DJ Moore to Bears!), a fact Panthers re-regretted after DJM’s two TD catches in recent meeting, along with the disaster of Rhule and Reich experiments.
A supposed jewel of athletic achievement in a slight, unimposing frame, Young was put through the wringer – 62 sacks worth in 2023 – and then toasted steadily for two games in 2024 before Head Coach Dave Canales put pretty good #2 QB Andy Dalton at the controls, leaving Young in learning vs. contributor-savior role.
So now we’re Here, 2024.
There’s not a huge body of evidence – that 2-15 for Young, but yes, Smith and Mayfield for Canales – that indicates either coach or player can resurrect the franchise short term, which makes it an elementally different equation from 81 more games for Hornets and LaMelo.
YES – As Melo’s noted, a full, hopefully*healthy* season is going to be difference maker in how things are viewed in Charlotte. That mobile, 7′ center Mark Washington, productive when he’s on the floor for Hornets, starts 2024 season injured is – well, just sayin’.
At a recently turned 37, Dalton wasn’t intended to be a solution beyond a short term future. Last year he also had a 300 yd, multi-TD game in relief, and yes, three solid scoring drives (26/37 for 316 yards/3 TDs, no turnovers) vs. ATL weren’t enough when defense surrendered 38. Those receivers Dalton has done decently with, the running attack Canales said would be a staple, with Chuba Hubbard and maybe, some week soon? Jonathan Brooks – there are still buttons to be pushed.
Expectations, 11 good passes for at least one TD (like Melo?)
Last week was a 40-7 pounding by Commanders, so what are expectations against Denver, team-wise and for Bryce Young? Will we determine that Canales has indeed done some QB Whispering with Bryce during this period? What weapons will be utilized better than ‘before’? Will he still get blitzed *about*every*play*?
If its a 34-24 loss like v. Bengals, must a No Moral Victories thing be invoked, or can Young earn an extra special little silver star for hitting Ja’Tavian Sanders with a red zone TD strike? 200 yards with less than a couple dozen dump off completions?
Making Leggette gallop around in his Dollar Bill pony act again would ring a bell for many.
LaMelo Ball already has an All Star appearance, and with all possible sorrows for injuries in Charlotte, his bro Alfonzo had it seriously worse, getting on the court for first time in over 1,000 days for Chicago recently. People come back from injuries all the time, Young got a well-deserved by any metrics break (bless his heart) on the bench after two games of deer-in-the-headlights type play before Dalton took the controls.
THAT is what Charlotte Panther fans don’t want to see again.
Turnovers have fed the Broncos defensive rep so far, running on their front is a great time to renew what has been solid contributions by Chuba Hubbard and a somehow renewed O-line. Below acceptable tackling prowess has been a critical factor lacking on Panthers defense, and you can’t really scheme that away.
Wooten is coming back from injury? Does linebacker Trevin Wallace get more chances to chew on MLB position? Is the sturdy and counted on (104 starts, over 6,500 consecutive snaps on offense) Taylor Moton good this week? Panthers will definitely need a center who has it buckled up tight with Austin Corbett gone.
Is there an apples-apples line we can follow Sunday, one that makes LaMelo’s P34-A11-R8 basketball stat line and that scrawny-looking kid from Alabama’s production a legitimate discussion of efforts? A simple W, and less than an ambulance full of injured would be good be a good starting point.
When our NFL and NBA sports teams haven’t produced anything memorable in a while – okay, the local Checkers won the Calder Cup (Triple A hockey) last year, and Teppers other futbol team, Charlotte FC, opened a playoff series in Orlando Friday night – its a looong way to anything like playoffs from any Day One NBA success. If all the crossed fingers about Melo’s good health (ankle supports? sounds like a fine idea) somehow fail, people can forgive a couple years of lesser production due to injury, right?
Well, are we talking about Christian McCaffrey as injury prone again as reason he left Charlotte? Hmmm… Super-popular guy, All-American image, that rare NFL 1000-1000 rushing and receiving year, then married a former Miss Universe if you can believe it.
People expect him to be great again when (although ‘if’ has surfaced) he’s back. The game after Panthers traded him, he caught a TD, rushed for TD, and *threw* for a TD. I defend him always, still expect he’ll hoist a trophy before Panthers, but no, LaMelo and CMC aren’t linked like that.
Comparison shopping?
Comparing Sunday and a Hopefully Better Result than Before situation? Young can’t do an awful lot about Panthers defense giving up NFL worst 33.8 ppg, and with an Over/Under of only 41.5, it doesn’t seem the bookies are expecting an awful lot from Panthers and Young. It wouldn’t be worst thing to run it a whole lot of times, show that commitment Canales talked about, THEN pass a couple, and MAKE SURE THEY GET TDs.
Panther receivers were upgraded, Chuba Hubbard is still gaining credible yardage, and those resources worked for Dalton, so use Leggett and Diontae Johnson like producers they should be.
This is truly a time for Young to step into his big boy pants. Feed the Panthers O-line running game, and somehow make Broncos pay for loading the box and blitzing – that was a BIG negative in Bryce’s first two games, wincingly bad to watch. Broncos have a superior secondary defense (5th) and #3 in scoring defense (15.1ppg), receivers will HAVE TO get separation, and dammit, lets see Brooks.
LaMelo was Rookie of the Year ’21, an All Star in ’22, but frequent injuries to his 6’7″, maybe 185 body, have made questioning his max $$$ extension ($260MM) as a potential drag on club – extended bench time in civilian clothes does bring up that knock.
People knocked the $21.9M signing bonus McCaffrey got, and the $92M debacle with Watson in Cleveland now going down is, just maybe, karmic. At least so far, Charlotte fans are more concerned about Panthers having given away too much for too little results for Bryce, and who really cares about Mr. Watson?
Bryce QB v.2.0 will be out there today, but the +10.5 pts. Panthers offer is a proposition bet that’s nowhere near tempting enough for me.
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