Mark Williams calls out Hornets 'lapses' amid offensive struggles

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The Charlotte Hornets fell to the Minnesota Timberwolves 125-110.

The Hornets’ offense struggled to stay consistent on that end of the floor. Credit goes out to Minnesota for making it tough for Charlotte to settle into any sets they wanted to. Jaden McDaniels, Anthony Edwards, and the rest of the group contested well without fouling. Hornets’ center Mark Williams appeared to have the answers to Charlotte’s offensive struggles.

Mark Williams on what happened to the Hornets’ offense

Williams believes that the offensive struggles were connected to the defensive side of the ball.

“I think it’s kind of a snowball effect,” Williams said. “You miss a couple shots, defensively you start to relax, have some lapses on defense, and then next possession on offense, you try to get it back. Next thing you know, it’s a run for them. I think for us, it’s just making sure we continue to move the ball, trust the pass, take the right shots, and defensively, staying solid the whole time.”

Turnovers also hurt the Hornets as well. They had 13 of them compared to the T-Wolves five. Most of Charlotte’s came in transition plays when they were just moving too fast with the ball up the floor and forcing errant passes. When you’re not able to attempt a shot at all on possession, that could eat away at a team throughout the course of the game.

Charles Lee needs the Hornets sustain a higher level of play

Charles Lee highlighted communication, along with other issues within the Hornets’ offense.

“Sometimes I do think it’s our lack of conversion on offense. I think for young players, and just for this team in general, I think we get focused a little bit too much on just the offensive side of the ball, so we let the missed layup or the transition turnover heavily affect us too much, and then it hurts our defensive side of the ball,” Lee said. “We’ve just got to continue to stick with it. The team continues to fight, but I think we have to continue to fight on every possession and not have these long lulls during a game.”

Consistency is going to be key as the season winds down for the Hornets. They’re not playing for a playoff spot in April, but growth for a young franchise is important, no matter what their record is. For coach Lee, he wants to see his guys pick it up on defense and flow back into their offense naturally. Getting stops could create good looks on the other end. Defensive first teams are some of the best teams in the league.

Minnesota hit 21 3-pointers to Charlotte’s 12. That ended up being the difference in what could have been a more competitive game. It doesn’t get any easier for the Hornets. They host the Cleveland Cavaliers Friday, who is currently sitting at the top of the Eastern Conference.

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