Game On: Hornets @ Spurs

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Published: December 5, 2010

Before I get to the game, I wanted to address one thing.  For those of you who aren’t aware, there are rumors flying hot and heavy that the NBA could be purchasing the Hornets from George Shinn at any moment.  Yeah, the NBA, not Chouest or some other buyer.  Crazy, eh?

Questions, questions, questions.  Are there really so few people who want to buy the Hornets or is Shinn not pushing to find them?  If it’s the former, that begs the question - are the financials are that bad?  Why, Why couldn’t we have had Chouest in charge – it was so damn promising!  Is George that eager to get out? He’s not going to get top dollar selling to the NBA.  

Of course the NBA says that if it buys the Hornets, it wants to keep them in New Orleans and will look for a buyer who will do so – but the attendance issue is suddenly vital.  If we don’t hit it, then look for buyers with a completely different agenda to materialize.

As a result, I worry about a Sonics-Thunder Clay Bennett-style takeover of the Hornets.  I also worry just as much about this:  If a new owner comes in, it pretty likely he’d bring with him a brand new set of front office personnel. 

Sigh.  Monty Williams and Dell Demps deserve so much more than to be a caretaker front office.

There’s just so much unknown, it makes my stomach tight.  And not in a “The Situation” sort of way.

Matchup: Hornets(13-6) @ Spurs(16-3)

Off Efficiency: Hornets 103.3(17th), Spurs 109.0(3rd)
Def Efficiency: Hornets 98.7(4th), Spurs 100.7(7th)

Of course, there is also a rematch tonight against the League-Leading San Antonio Spurs.

These two teams faced each other last week, with the Hornets roaring out to a big lead.  Then the Spurs flipped the script, and the Hornets were crushed in the second half,  eventually losing the game in a blowout. 

There were several things for Monty and the guys to work on to prevent a repeat performance.  In that game the Hornets were out-rebounded by the Spurs and let them get into the paint for 52 easy points, while the Spurs killed CP3’s pick and roll attack, limiting the Hornets to only 9 points on 10 posessions.  The Hornets will need to find new angles to initiate that play if they hope to keep an effective balanced attack.

I’m not going to do a full positional analysis this time.  The same players will be on the floor as last week, particularly Manu Ginobili who should be on the top of everyone’s MVP vote this year.  I’d have a hard time picking between him and CP3, and I’m an unabashed CP3 fan.

Injuries:

Hornets:  West should be back.
Spurs:  None of consequence.

Let’s hope the Hornets come out hard in this one – and execute their offense better – than the last game.  Talk the game up in the comments!

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