Nothing fancy here, just a little rundown of the Hornets overall stats this year. The most important thing to look at right now is the 12 wins because as we all know, making the playoffs comes first. Even though the team is currently third in the conference, and only a game out of first, they are also just four and a half games ahead of the ninth seeded Suns.

Another stat to look at is the seven wins in seven games played New Orleans. The Hornets were the last team to lose a game in the regular season, and they will also be the last team to lose a game at home. Considering they have only averaged 14,467 fans (24th in the league), which is only 84.7 percent of capacity (18th in the league), the best may be yet to come in the Big Easy.

But let’s get to the real stats. You know, the ones that let us know what is going right and what is going wrong.

Rebounding (hoopdata.com)

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So as you can see, the Hornets have thus far been below average, but better than expected. The reason for their success isn’t any new addition, or an old face, but rather the emphasis placed by coach Williams on staying home and securing the rebound before heading to the races. Last year we were witness to one of the more fun fast breaks in the league, and as a result the team often gave up easy offensive rebounds to the opposition because players were leaking out too fast. It’s always nice when the numbers back up what you assume from watching.

Shooting

The team has taken a lot more jumpers this year, and when they have gone inside it’s been at a more efficient rate than last year. On defense they are doing a better job of keeping opponents of out of the paint , and making it harder for them to put the ball in the basket when they do get there. Overall, Monty and the new guys have helped knock over five points off the team’s eFG% allowed.

Here are some more numbers about three point and free throw shooting.

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Holding the other team to only 32.5% is pretty impressive, but over the course of the year it’s going to be hard to keep up. The Hornets have been doing a much better job rotating this year and have consequently allowed less wide open looks, but it remains to be seen how big the improvement really is and how much of it can be attributed only looking at a limited sample size. My guess is that the defense will wind up being statistically ranked a little lower than it is now, but much higher an anyone expected coming into the season.

Other Stuff

• The Bees give it away on only 12.6 percent of their possessions, good for second in the league. Their opponents turn it over on 14.8 percent. The difference of 2.2 percent is the second best in the league.
• The Hornets offensive efficiency (points per 100 possessions) is 104.6, while their defensive efficiency is 97.6 (third best in the league). The difference of seven is sixth best in the league.

One thing to note about turnovers is that it appears that the Hornets are about 2/3rds as likely to commit a bad pass that leads to a turnover compared to their opposition, and only about 3/4ths as likely to commit a ball handling turnover. There apparently are some benefits to having this Chris Paul fellow running the point all the time.

As far as blocks go, I’m shocked that the Hornets have had so many more than their opposition. Shocked.

Anything that strikes you as odd?