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On Wednesday, the Charlotte Hornets and head coach Steve Clifford agreed to a three-year contract extension according to ESPN. This extension comes in the midst of a surprising 8-6 start for the Hornets, despite several notable injuries. Charlotte’s head coach is well-deserving of this new contract, as he has found a way to adapt his team to the new style of the NBA.
In many ways, Clifford had been seen as an old-school coach. Before this season, the Hornets ranked 21st and 22nd in pace in Clifford’s two previous seasons, respectively. Right now, Charlotte sits at 17th, with an average of 98.9 possessions per game. Clifford’s calling card has always been defense, which fits this label as an old-school coach as well.
However, Clifford has nurtured his squad into a different type of team this year. Unlike a head coach like Byron Scott, who is stuck in the 1980s, Clifford has transformed his team into something much more similar to the successful teams of today’s era.
This season, 31.2 percent of the Hornets’ field goal attempts are coming from behind the arc, ranking sixth in the league in this category according to NBA.com/Stats. This is a significant change from previous years, when Charlotte ranked 27th and 24th in this category.
With this change, the Hornets are shooting the mid-range jumper at a much lower rate than the team had been shooting over the previous two seasons as well. Consequently, Charlotte has shot up the league’s offensive efficiency rankings, despite playing the 12th-most difficult schedule so far this year. Currently, the Hornets are scoring 105.5 per 100 possessions, the fourth-best mark in the league. This is a massive jump for Clifford’s team, which had ranked 24th and 28th in his previous two seasons at the helm.
Of course, some of this development has to be attributed to Nicolas Batum, whose addition has made the Hornets a much deadlier three-point shooting team. Batum is off to a hot start this season, shooting 5.5 three-pointers per 36 minutes at 42.7 percent. Now, with Clifford leading the way and Batum having a career-year, Charlotte has become more than respectable.
Ultimately, few will talk about Clifford’s ability to adapt his team to the ever-evolving landscape of the league. However, this is a rare commodity, and it should be treated like one. The current state of NBA head coaching is marked by polarizing debates over the analytics movement and stubborn coaches more willing to lose “their way” than win a different way. Despite this, Clifford has adapted his philosophy and his team, and this commendable development has earned him three more years in Charlotte.
Nicholas Sciria is a writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @Nick_Sciria, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
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