The Hornets’ center situation is not in a good spot right now. They have some nice-ish talent at the guard and forward spots, but their centers? Eh, I guess Cody Zeller is alright. And Bismack Biyombo is having a career year which means he’s scoring two points per 36 instead of 0.5 points per 36. But those are two guys who would easily get beaten out for minutes by a more competent big man.
So there’s gotta be a reason why Willy Hernangomez is not beating them out for minutes. At all. In fact, they’re beating him out so soundly that Hernangomez is a perpetual DNP-CD. Why? Why can’t a guy who seemingly has a bunch of scoring ability get any minutes on the pound-for-pound least talented roster in the league?
In investigating the issue, I have come to the conclusion that Hernangomez is a horrible defender who causes any lineup he joins to implode. However, that’s not a good enough reason for me. I don’t care about defense. If players have extreme defensive shortcomings that make them unplayable, I don’t care about that. Hernangomez might give up points nonstop to any center who has a pulse, but he also can put up points nonstop on anybody who’s defending him. So it’s even. His offensive arsenal counters the fact that he doesn’t have the physical tools to defend a pick and roll in any fashion whatsoever. His gross-looking neckbeard is probably his most fearsome attribute when it comes to preventing players from scoring.
If only there was a hashtag we could all collectively use that somehow combined the concept of “freedom” or “freeing” with Hernangomez’s first name. Then we would be able to enact real change.