It was with mild surprise that the Charlotte Hornets didn't play Hannes Steinbach in their season opener earlier this week, this after using the No. 14 overall NBA draft pick on the former University of Washington big man to bring him to North Carolina.
After all, why even select Steinbach if you're not going to put him on the floor?
Yet this is a pro basketball franchise with a long history of making bad decisions, of continually mismanaging the operation, as shown by its 17 losing seasons in 22 in franchise annals, including eight of the past 10.
Steinbach simply sat on the bench for the entirety of his first NBA game and watched as the Hornets used 10 players and opened with a 110-103 victory without him over the Brooklyn Nets on the road this past Wednesday night.
Two nights later, the 6-foot-11 German big man finally made his American pro basketball debut as his team came crashing back to earth by getting pummeled by the Quin Snyder-coached Atlanta Hawks 128-81 in the South's largest city.
Steinbach pulled 12 minutes, connected on 3 of 5 shots to finish with 6 points and grabbed 5 rebounds.
Surprised by his opening-night absence, analysts covering the team, including from the Sports Illustrated network, scrambled to offer their reasons for why Steinbach was ignored in the Hornets' season opener.
The suggestion was made that his inability to shoot the 3-pointer with a sufficient rate of accuracy was a roadblock to instant playing time.
Yet another team sleuth pointed to Steinbach's defensive limitations, where he's not a big shot blocker and rim protector, that led to his night off.
Trouble is, none of this is a new revelation concerning this European player. He's foremost a rebounder with footwork that enables him to score up close. He's got a mid-range shot. He's such a fundamentally sound player he's an effective player in his own right.
Evan Campos of Charlotte Hornets on SI wrote that in the preseason the team's coaching staff showed almost no interest in playing Steinbach at the power forward position, or the 4, for which he was drafted, or experimenting with lineups featuring a non-shooting big man such as Steinbach.
Again, then why draft him?
The beauty of Steinbach's game is he outworks you to death inside and he gets to the basket in more subtle ways than most guys up front.
It's a shame he may be wasted at times because the Hornets don't really know what they have.
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