Charlotte’s (Potentially) Unprecedented Offensive Change
This preseason the Charlotte Hornets are doing something very different from Steve Clifford’s first two years at the helm: They’re shooting lots and lots of threes. The Hornets had some turnover on the roster when it comes to shooting skill, adding complementary players Frank Kaminksy, Jeremy Lamb, Nic Batum, and Jeremy Lin as outside threats . This, of course, is accompanied the addition by subtraction of the worst 3 point shooter of all time Lance Stephenson from the mix. However, with Al Jefferson still down low, an offensive revolution seemed unlikely. Thus far, that assumption is proving incorrect:
The @hornets are averaging 9.7 3FGM per game during preseason compared to 6.1 3FGM per game in 2014-15 regular season.
— Charlotte Hornets PR (@HornetsPR) October 20, 2015
Now, I am very aware that this is preseason basketball and only five games have been played, but for the sake of this article, let’s make the assumption that teams play a similar style of basketball in the preseason as they will in the regular season. If this trend held, how does this drastic increase in 3FGA (currently at 25.7 per game) from Charlotte compare with other season on season increases. To measure this, I looked at %3FGA (total 3FGA/ total FGA) going back to the 1996-1997 season. Using the preseason data, the Hornets have a %3FGA increase of 10.41%.[1. Interestingly, this does not lead the preseason. The George Karl led Sacramento Kings are at +11.28% compared to last year.]
The following shows the top ten increases and top ten decreases, defined as the difference in %3FGA from one year to another from 1996-1997 to 2014-15.
So, Charlotte’s increase has the potential to be unique, in that the top 10 all include a year with a shortened 3pt line, a coaching change, or the addition of a star player. This will be Clifford’s third season with the Hornets, and Nic Batum is hardly Steve Nash. [2. Even with the loss of MKG, this seems like a drastic game planning change.] Clifford’s apparent willingness to change his strategy is unprecedented given the steady circumstances. Looking at the Hornets offense last year, this could be a welcome change. [3. And it seems to be working]