Hornets coach Steve Clifford has seen enough.
Following a fourth straight game in which his team allowed 120 or more points, Clifford used his postgame press conference to rip the players' defensive effort. The Hornets fell to 7-21 on Wednesday with a 141-134 overtime home loss to the Pistons, which led to the rant by a frustrated Clifford.
The Hornets are 25th in the NBA with a 114.6 team defensive rating, and they're 29th with a minus-7.1 net rating. Clifford focused mostly on the defensive end in his comments.
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"Until we care about something besides how many points we score, we're not going to win much," he said, waving off questions as he sat down. "Can't play like that."
"Until we care about something besides how many points we score, we're not going to win much."
— Bally Sports: Hornets (@HornetsOnBally) December 15, 2022
Steve Clifford on tonight's OT loss to the Pistons.@Hornets | #LetsFly pic.twitter.com/fjjQR1tL06
Clifford wisely didn't name names, instead deciding to put the entire team on blast.
What's wrong with the Hornets' defense?
"Our offense was good, that's five of the last seven games we've been pretty good on offense," he continued. "We are playing no defense. Not one guy. There's not a bright spot. We don't run back on defense, we don't guard the ball, our pick-and-roll stuff — all stuff that was good (earlier in the season)."
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Clifford added that the Hornets have made things worse for themselves in recent weeks after some improvement.
"I think we were as high as, like, 12th or 13th in defense about 10 games ago. And we're right back to where we started, ground zero, where all we want to be is, 'Let's try to outscore the other team,' which doesn't work in the NBA," he said.
The Pistons had six players in double figures Wednesday, including three with 20 or more, and that was without Cade Cunningham, who is out for the season with a shin injury.
Clifford relayed what he told his players after the game.
"What I just told them: This is, either you build a game that will actually work at the end of the year when you play the important games, or you don't. That's it. That's what the NBA is all about," he said.
He reiterated "all we care about is scoring" and continued to say that mindset wouldn't work.
This is Clifford's first year back coaching the Hornets after a stint as Magic coach (he led Charlotte from 2013-18), and the frustration is evident. Charlotte has lost a play-in game each of the past two seasons, and the front office re-hired Clifford to try to get the team over the hump. So far, it isn't working.
Perhaps Clifford was trying to fire up his roster as its defensive struggles have become untenable. The Hornets' next game is against the Hawks on Friday. It will be interesting how the team responds.
