Shooting must improve, but Lance Stephenson a rebounding machine for Hornets
The NBA season is just over two weeks old, and still new enough for teams to hold off on sounding any sort of emergency alarms if key new players haven’t totally learned to fit in just yet. The Charlotte Hornets are off to a 3-5 start, not quite what they hoped for — but again, it’s very early. New Hornet Lance Stephenson has been shooting bricks, but scoring aside he’s racking up assists, and doing monster things on the glass. Here’s the Charlotte Observer reporting:
The way Lance Stephenson has been rebounding the ball this early NBA season, you’d think he’s trying to make up for something.
Oh, wait. He is.
“I’m just trying to get boards,” Stephenson said at morning shootaround in Portland, Ore., Tuesday. “My offensive game is not coming. I’m working on that, learning how to score in this offensive system.”
Stephenson is shooting just 33 percent from the field in the Hornets’ 3-5 start, but you can’t argue with his contribution on the boards. He’s averaging 10.9 rebounds, 10th-best in the NBA.
His 14 rebounds against the Trail Blazers tied a career high. At 6-foot-5 he is the only guard among the top 19 rebounders in the league – all the others are either centers or power forwards.