As of Saturday, November 29th, the Charlotte Hornets have the 18th ranked offense in the NBA. Even though Charles Lee has had to manipulate his starting five from night-to-night because of injuries to his star players, Lee and his staff have the team as a whole clicking (relative to expectations) on that end of the floor.
A large portion of Lee’s offense is built around double drag or ’77’ actions that involve a ball handler receiving two screens above the break that can either be slipped, popped, or rolled out of by the screeners. There are a number of variations to those actions that make up the bread and butter of what the Hornets do on offense, but it’s the sets they sprinkle in a handful of times per game that keep defenses honest.
One of those, ‘Angle Pop Gut Zoom,’ feels like it has become a guaranteed bucket when the Hornets are in a pinch. Let’s break down the basics here.
Hornets – Angle Pop Gut Zoom – Ryan Kalkbrenner + Kon Knueppel
Kalkbrenner pops into space to open the middle third up for Zoom action to Kon – Jovic switches out, Kon glides by with a nifty in-and-out move pic.twitter.com/wtKbxkJsPD
— Brian Geisinger (@bgeis_bird) October 29, 2025Horns alignment
The set starts with a modified ‘Horns’ alignment.
Typically, when you see a team in a ‘Horns’ set, there is a ball handler at the top of the key, one player at each elbow (one of those being a big man), and one player in each corner to provide spacing.
Ideally, the two players in the corners are knockdown shooters that force their defenders to make a choice on any middle drives: help at the rim and leave a good shooter open in the most efficient spot on a basketball court, or stay glued to the shooter and leave the ball handler an open look at the rim?
Horns Alignment | https://hoopstudent.com/horns-offense/
Zoom action
‘Zoom’ is an offensive action that gets ran up at all levels of the game of basketball. A traditional ‘five-out’ action, Zoom involves an off-ball player receiving a down screen from a teammate that flows into them receiving a DHO (dribble hand-off) from a second player.
It is used to get a good shooter or handler the ball on the move to either take a three-point shot off the handoff, get downhill against a defense having to navigate screens, or make a pass to their DHO partner who either slipped or popped off the action.
Like Charlotte’s double-drag sets, there are innumerable ways to run ‘zoom’ concepts, and the specific way the Hornets’ weaponize it has become incredibly effective.
Breaking down the Hornets’ Zoom action
Charlotte Hornets – Angle Pop Gut Zoom – Kon Knueppel getting downhill
Kon beating different types of switches coming off the Zoom action, plus a mix of shoulder dips + ball fakes to get leverage and turn the turn for rim finishes pic.twitter.com/90zaUol9dk
— Brian Geisinger (@bgeis_bird) November 15, 2025
The tweet above from Brian Geisinger (a must follow for not only Hornets fans, but basketball fans in general) compiles a couple of clips of Kon Knueppel, the go-to player in these actions, getting downhill and finishing at the basket.
Fanduel Sports Network
The play starts in this modified Horns set with Moussa Diabate (the DHO hub) at one elbow, Kon (the player the action is being ran for) on the block, Miles Bridges and Sion James filling each corner, and LaMelo Ball as the primary ball handler.
Fanduel Sports Network
Moussa sets a screen for Ball and then pops out to receive a pass above the break, making him the hub that the ensuing action flows through.
Fanduel Sports Network
Kon slices through the paint and lifts above the three-point arc. On his way, he receives a sturdy ‘gut’ screen from LaMelo. A ‘gut screen’ is a pin down (where the screener is facing the baseline) that is set in the middle of the floor, near the restricted area. This is the main difference from the classic ‘zoom’ action detailed above that happens on the perimeter.
Fanduel Sports Network
Knueppel receives the ball from Diabate on the handoff, and this is where the optionality of the play really shines.
Upon the reception of the handoff, the ball handler has a number of choices.
1. In the first clip above, Kon reads the leverage of the defense, sees Moussa’s defender (Bobby Portis in this instince) on his heels, and attacks the paint for a relatively uncontested finish. This is what happens the majority of the time — Knueppel is adept at using subtle ball and head fakes to throw off the defenders timing which allows him to finish at the rim with his soft touch. This option eviscerates opposing defenses that are unwilling to help off of good shooters in the corners.
2. When the player receives the DHO, they notice the big man defending the action is in ‘drop coverage’ and not contesting at the level of the screen, so they pull up for a movement three, an option executed perfectly by Brandon Miller in Friday night’s win over the Bulls, seen below.
Zoom Action — Often used to get Kon or Miller to turn the corner, this time it ends with an above-the-break make from Brandon Miller. pic.twitter.com/N2qL5xrfmP
— Richie (@richierandall) November 29, 2025
3. The help defender does come to contest at the rim, leaving his man open in the short corner for a three-point look, seen below.
Zoom Action — Gets Brandon Miller momentum downhill, draws in the defender before kicking it out for a Bridges corner three-pointer. pic.twitter.com/HDtlyKlBdA
— Richie (@richierandall) November 27, 2025
There are so many counters Charlotte can work to in this base action; throwbacks to the original ball handler for open three-pointers and lobs or pocket passes to the DHO hub just to name a couple.
It’s a tidy set that the Hornets have found success with early in the season, and it will be interesting to track the wrinkles they continue to add to it as the scout gets out.
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