Game On: Hornets @ Bobcats


The Hornets head into tonight’s game battered and bruised, as Paul, West, and Belinelli all have ankle problems and Emeka’s knees are reportedly sore. The Hornets have been lucky to get through the season so far with limited injuries, but when you continue to have to play 40+ minutes a game due to an inadequate bench, eventually the injury bug is going to catch up. Both of the Hornets games this week have gone into overtime, and as a result, the starters have seen a significant spike in their minutes. Combine that with the fact that this is the second night of a back-to-back and the fact that Charlotte has been playing really well since Coach Silas took over and this game could get ugly.

All hope is not lost, however, as there as some reasons to be optimistic. First of all, the Hornets are playing much better on the road of late, winning 4 of their last five with the lone loss being to the Champs in a close contest. Secondly, the bench has shown some signs of life this week, with Thornton coming alive against the Magic and Jarrett Jack playing out of his mind last night in Houston. Quincy Pondexter has shown flashes here and there and there has even been a few Aaron Gray sightings.

Lastly, Charlotte is the kind of team that New Orleans matches up well against. The Hornets prefer to see another slow-paced, low-scoring team on the schedule. These two teams play the same game, and when the Hornets have trouble, it is because they are tricked into playing an uptempo game with a team that simply has more weapons than they do. That will not happen tonight. This game will come down to defense and execution, and even though the Hornets will be exhausted, they still have a chance of winning that type of game.

Match-ups

Point Guard: CP3 vs. DJ Augustin

Advantage: Hornets

Augustin is having his best season as a pro and he has only gotten better since Silas came in and encouraged the team to run more. Larry Brown is known for being tough on his PG’s, but Augustin definitely learned how to run an offense from the old coach and has been unstoppable since Brown left and the shackles were taken off. In Charlotte’s last five games (4 of which were wins), Augustin has averaged 19 points and nearly 9 assists per game, including a 22 and 12 performance against Derrick Rose in a win earlier this week.

The guy is playing well and he might be catching CP3 at the right time- on the second night of a road back-to-back with a sore ankle- but the fact is that CP3 is still CP3, so you have to say advantage Hornets. This will be an interesting matchup to watch, however, if for nothing else than to see DJ Augustin set the half court offense up with one of his patented spin moves where nobody is on him.

Shooting Guard: Willie Green vs. Stephen Jackson

Advantage: Bobcats

Unless the Bobcats can continue to make a playoff push, expect Jackson’s name to become the subject of numerous trade rumors this February. He is 32 and making nearly 9 million dollars on a team that is going nowhere and that is the standard bio for a guy who gets moved at the deadline for expiring contracts. Jackson will be this year’s Caron Butler and there will likely be numerous teams willing to scoop him up, including the team that got Butler last year- the Dallas Mavericks.

The Hornets are also likely to be on that list and tonight will be a good opportunity to see the guy first hand. Depending on what you look at in his game, you can talk yourself into him being a good fit and you can talk yourself into him being a bad fit. On the negative side, he is a volume shooter who needs plenty of touches to get his points and his percentages are subpar. On the plus size, he would give the Hornets tremendous size on the wings with Ariza, has a high IQ, and he gets to the line more often than our current crop of shooting guards.

Regardless, he wins this matchup tonight against either Willie Green or Belinelli.

Small Forward: Trevor Ariza vs. Gerald Wallace

Advantage: Bobcats

Another guy on the trading block, and the apple of Ryan Schwan’s eye, Gerald Wallace had ankle issues of his own this month and was forced to miss several games. He returned this week, looking like he never left, averaging a team high 41 MPG. Recently Wallace’s name has been connected to the Cleveland Cavaliers who refuse to just claim their title as league’s worst team and head into the lottery with 25% of the ping-pong balls. Instead, they want to add Wallace with Lebron’s exception and win 17 games instead of 12. Brilliant!

Perhaps Wallace can still land here, which gives us just another reason to watch. Wallace is athletic and talented on both ends of the court. He has games where he can seemingly get to the line at will depending on the matchup, so Ariza might have his hands full tonight. Ariza has been playing much better as of late, however, and I would not be surprised at all to see him win this individual matchup. Ariza has scored in double figures in each of the last five games and is shooting over 50% as well, which is a 14% increase over his season average. Monty called Trevor out and told him that he needed to focus on becoming more of a slasher than a shooter and Ariza has responded with a great start to 2011.

Power Forward: David West vs. Boris Diaw

Advantage: Hornets

West’s dunk last night got HornetsNation on its feet and propelled the Hornets to a great comeback win. While it is those big plays we will always remember, to me it is the little things that West is doing that is the difference between a 24-16 team and a 16-24 team. His defense is much improved and his decision making while double teamed is far better than in year’s past. I will venture to say that this has been one good byproduct of Chris Paul going down last year, because as West became the #1 guy, he saw far more double teams and learned how to adjust to them.

As for Diaw, he has been one of the few Charlotte players that has not seen a boost in his production since Silas took over for Larry Brown. He still fills out the stat sheet, but unfortunately for Charlotte he COMPLETELY fills it out- and that means plenty of missed shots and turnovers to go with the points, assists, and rebounds.

Center: Emeka Okafor vs. Naze Mohammad

Advantage: Hornets

Over the last two months, Okafor has been everything the Hornets were hoping he would be when they traded for him prior to last season. He has been a force on the glass and has finished rather well around the rim, as he continues to notch impressive double-doubles that lead to Hornets wins. Ideally, the free throw shooting would improve and Okafor would do a better job at protecting the paint- but let’s be happy with what we got.

On the other side, Mohammad is yet another guy I would love to steal from Charlotte, as he would be the perfect backup big for this Hornets team. He has the length and bulk to make an impact on the defensive end and he has a good low post and spot up game for a center. He gets about 18 minutes a game and gives the Bobcats 8 points, 5 boards, 1 block, and shoots over 50% from the field. Give him those same 18 minutes here and let Okafor go back down to his 30 MPG and you are looking at a 20 and 14 center combo that matches up favorably with anybody outside of LA and Boston in the playoffs.

Bench: Marcus Thornton, Jarrett Jack, Jason Smith, Q-Pon vs. Gerald Henderson, Tyrus Thomas, Shaun Livingston, Kwame Brown

Advantage: Even

Kwame might start for Nazr, but either way they both essentially get reserve minutes on this team as Charlotte often goes small with Diaw and Thomas playing at the 4 and the 5. Tyrus Thomas is the best reserve in this game, as he gives Charlotte 12, 6, and 2 (blocks) per game in just 22 minutes. Gerald Henderson is also someone we should watch out for as he has been a key part of Silas’s rotation since he took over. Larry Brown buried the young guy on the bench (surprise!), but Henderson has shown some potential under Silas- including a 19 point, 9 rebound performance on 8 of 11 shooting last week against Washington.

For the Hornets, Marcus Thornton will be the X Factor in this game. He only played 11 minutes last night and should be one of the only Hornets who will be fresh for this game. Something tells me that if New Orleans is to win this game, it will need a huge performance from Mr. Thornton, and something tells me that they will get it!

Other News and Notes:

– Charlotte comes into the game as 3.5 point favorites and the over/under is 183.5. To me, this game feels a lot like the second Milwaukee game, and I will predict it goes the same way. Take the Hornets and the under- Hornets 91 Bobcats 86.

– Bobcats have been good at home as of late- winning three straight and 9 out of their last 13.

– And now, time for everyone’s favorite game: Add the Caption!


108 responses to “Game On: Hornets @ Bobcats”

  1. At least people are finally starting to realize that Monty Williams will stop at nothing to keep MT5 on the bench and it’s not just some conspiracy theory.

    Did you see quotes from Marcus after the Orlando game?

    รขโ‚ฌล“Iรขโ‚ฌโ„ขve just been getting with the coaches one-on-one,รขโ‚ฌย Thornton said. รขโ‚ฌล“Just watching film. Working out before practice. Watching film. They teach me all kinds of things I need to know to prolong my career, and those guys have been great to me.รขโ‚ฌย

    รขโ‚ฌล“The last few weeks itรขโ‚ฌโ„ขs been kind of rough, but Iรขโ‚ฌโ„ขve been in the gym every morning before everybody, getting a couple shots up,รขโ‚ฌย Thornton said. รขโ‚ฌล“Iรขโ‚ฌหœd like to give a shout out to Fred Vinson because he told me this would be one of my breakout games and it was. He worked with me the last couple days. Itรขโ‚ฌโ„ขs good to have coaches like that.รขโ‚ฌย

    Sounds like a real classless headcase. Coming in first to practice? Working with coaches one-on-one? Watching tons of game film? WHO THE HECK DOES THIS GUY THINK HE IS? Get with the program buddy!

    Dear Monty,

    YOU SUCK

    Thanks,

    Eric

    To end on a positive note:

    รขโ‚ฌล“Theyรขโ‚ฌโ„ขre the best fans ever around here and at LSU,รขโ‚ฌย Thornton boated. รขโ‚ฌล“Those fans give me energy when Iรขโ‚ฌโ„ขm on the court. When Iรขโ‚ฌโ„ขm tired and I hear those fans cheering, that gave me an extra boost, and I appreciate them every day for that.รขโ‚ฌย

    • oh cmon! Monty is a good coach. He just has some kind of problems with the rotation (no minutes for gray in the second half for example).
      I hope he knows what he’s doing with marcus, maybe it’s some kind of strategy to make him work more and harder.. I don’t know, but there is the fact that he brought a mentality much needed to the team and more often lately did the right choises in game action expecially on the defensive end (CP3 guarding Gordon or Martin, 2 examples).
      He is smart and young, i bet that he can even become a better coach because he has the skill to get there.

  2. Caption:

    “What were they thinking putting Jeffries on D-West last night? *laughs*”

    “Oh, shit bro. Don’t remind me. That could be Gerald tonight. You know how he likes to make it onto Hornets’ posters.”

  3. I hope the HORNETS do well and win this game. After a overtime last night, I couldn’t imagine how tired they must be. Sometimes I’m confused with all the bashing and complaining from some of the fans. I mean, if we were a sub .500 team, I would totally understand and agree. I won’t pretend to be an expert, but I think Monty is doing a fair – good job as a rookie coach. I’m pretty sure the team’s overall stats have improved from the past two years. We all want our favorite players to get the opportunity to play and kill it every night. I’m a big MT5 fan, he’s my 2nd fav. player on the team. I guess I’m just more of Hornets’ fan and I lack to ability to understand complaints for a single player.

    Caption:
    “From these seats, I can see why people are laughing at us.”

  4. Luckily, Charlotte played (lost) in Boston last night so they’re traveling on a back-to-back as well which I hope helps even the playing field

  5. You still dismiss Gray as a side note.
    His few sightings are coaching decisions…not his.
    So, IF you are asking for a back up center for Oak, yet you never play Gray enough, it makes no sense.
    You don’t even list him as a bench when doing the comparison.

    Thank you, gray’s mom.

  6. Caption:
    “HAHAHAHA WOOOW what was that, Kwame? Don’t tell me that was your best Jordan impersonation!? You didn’t even make the dunk! Pfffffffft”

    Let’s Go Marcus!

  7. Stephen: So what did u do man?

    Gerald: what do u mean? i woke up, unwrapped the belt from around my neck, and got out of there.

    Stephen: Hey man, u better take it easy at the next one.

    Gerald: Hey man ur right, but those are bar-mitzvahs for u. But guess what?

    Stephen: What?

    Gerald: i got her number!!!! (nasty face)

    Stephen: POUND IT!!!!!!

  8. So… I got a few things to point out going into tonights game.

    1. This is in NO WAY whatsoever trying to portray Marcus Thornton in a negative light. But we are now 17-10 when Marcus plays less than 15 minutes, and 7-6 when Marcus plays 15 minutes a game or more.

    2. Whether any of you are surprised or not, I’m actually shocked that Marcus Thornton didn’t get more time last night. It was a night that he should have gotten minutes, but didn’t. I feel like Monty really gambled here. Because if we would have lost last night (which I feel we were really lucky to win), the media would have had a lot of leverage to attack Monty with in THAT CIRCUMSTANCE. Our starting shooting guard was out. Willie Green played TERRIBLY, and many of the guys were lacking serious energy out on the court. It seemed like a game Marcus SHOULD have been plugged in, especially when Monty says he “likes his scoring and energy off the bench”.

    3. We are playing the Charlotte Bobcats tonight. A team that has 2 VERY SPECIFIC individuals that would be of SIGNIFICANT INTEREST to our squad. We might be limited in being able to acquire these too because of our financial situation, and league ownership, but because of the expiring contracts we have, we COULD make a deal for the 2 goons you see in the picture above (Stephen Jackson and Gerald Wallace). Both are available. But for what price?

    (Jackson for Thornton, Banks, Anderson)
    (Wallace for Thornton, Banks, Anderson, Green)

    I am going to keep a VERY close eye on Marcus’ playing time tonight. If Monty brings Marcus off the bench before Jackk tonight, and plays Marcus for 25+ minutes, AND MARCUS PLAYS WELL, I’m going to have to wonder if Monty is trying to showcase Marcus to try to bait Charlotte into trading for him. If Marcus plays A LOT tonight, it will completely explain Monty’s rotation in the game prior. Basically, saving as much of Marcus’s energy for tonight as possible. If Monty plays Marcus less than 15 minutes tonight, then I have to believe there is more behind the scenes issues than is advertised between those two.

    Doghouse. Both Monty and Marcus are “saying all the right things” to the media. Neither of them are going to come out and say “this is why Marcus isn’t getting time” if there is an issue. IF there is an “issue” between them, what they are both telling the media is protocol to keep the media from causing drama.

    Lets see what happens tonight. I really think tonight can be very telling in regards to Marcus Thorntons future with this team.

    P.S. I really hope last night showed some of you what we lose with Marco out of the lineup. Willie and Trevor are good defenders, but guys like Martin, Ray Allen, Hamilton… Guys who run around the court a lot and use screens to get open… Green and Ariza don’t do well against those guys. Thats the element on defense that Marco really helps the team with. IM NOT SAYING HE’S BETTER THAN MARCUS. I’m saying he’s gotten a lot of flack some of the fans here, and I just want to point out he brings a lot more to the team than a guy like Willie Green does. And I don’t mean to bash Willie, because he’s a really good guy, and a great veteran to have. I’m just trying to show that Marco is an asset to this team.

    • I agree with everything you say, but here’s a stat to throw back to the Marcus minutes thing –

      The Hornets are 5 – 3 (includes @Indiana) when Marcus plays at least 20 minutes a game.

      The Hornets are 19-10 when Marcus plays. 7-6 when he has a DNP.

    • we are 6-1 when Marcus goes for 10 or more points. (4-1 against .500+ teams, 2-0 against .499- Teams)
      18-15 when he goes for 9 or less points. (7-9 against .500+ teams and 11-6 against .499- teams)

      So if Marcus produces we are dangerous against any team (but the lakers).

      I set the 10point mark randomly, if you want to use his average ppg (6.5):
      7 or more: 8-2 (4-1 vs500+ L, 4-1 vs499- the only loss against Philly when we scored 70)
      6 or less: 16-14 (7-9 vs500+, 9-5 vs499-)

  9. Hornet. Those last numbers don’t add up. We’re 24-16. Did you mean 17-10?

    I chose 15 minutes because that’s what Marcus averages.

    • No my bad I meant 5-6. We’re 19-10 when Marcus plays.

      I chose 20 minutes because prior to this year, there was only one game out of something like 38 games where Marcus got 20 minutes and didn’t get 10 points.

      I also chose 20 because that’s how much Willie Green gets a night, and those 20 minutes should be Marcus’.

      • The Hornets were 56-26 in 07-08 in games Marcus didn’t play and had the most successful postseason in franchise history, going 7-5.

        We can manipulate the numbers all day, but in reality we are talking about a MARGINAL difference long term. It is not like this is a title contender with Marcus and a one and done without him or vice-versa.

        It is a philosophy difference plain and simple- Monty is all about defense and fans are more prone to enjoy offense. Let us not forget that this was one of the worst defensive teams in the league last year with Marcus getting plenty of minutes and meanwhile the current squad has improved by nearly 10 PPG.

        10 PPG! That is crazy- go back and look at the history of the NBA and find me 20 teams that have improved their PPG allowed by 10 from one season to another.

        Monty is not the “idiot” that some are claiming and I would bet quite a bit of my own money that if Phil Jackson or Gregg Popovich were coach of the Hornets that their rotations would look pretty similar to Monty’s.

        Disagreeing with his philosophy is fine, but saying he is an idiot is absurd.

      • It is a marginal difference if it means the difference from a 4 seed and a 5th seed. Winning one round in the playoffs can go a long way in terms of how free agents view you and how Chris Paul feels about the future of the team.

        I just feel that Marcus is by far better than Willie Green and should be getting his minutes, while Willie be the one getting the occasional 5-10 minutes.

        I think the 10 ppg improvement is because of Monty, but I think we can say that Bower was a reason the PPG allowed was so high last year. We were always a top defensive team with Scott. Getting a defensive minded coach along with having possibly the best defensive PG back and one of the top man to man defenders replacing Peja’s “defense” is the reason we’re back to the top of the defensive rankings. Marcus not playing isn’t the reason.

        Monty is a great coach and I think he will end up being one of the elite coaches once he gets more experience , but I really wish we would play Marcus instead of Willie because our bench sucks right now. That’s all I’m saying.

      • @Michael U cant compare this team to the 07 -08 hornets at all. And u say we were 56-26 without marcus true, but that was because we had a MUCH better team back then

      • Also statistically, Marcus’ defense is better than Willie, along with his rebounding.

        Marcus’ Opponents’ PER at SG – 10.3
        Marcus’ Opponents’ PER at SF – 12.1

        Willie’s Opponents’ PER at SG – 12.5

        Marcus’ Rebounds per 36 – 6.8 RPG
        Willie’s Rebounds per 36 – 3.9 RPG

        And we all know about the offense. There is no reason at all as to why Willie should be getting 20 minutes a game when we have Thornton.

      • No I say Marco is the starter and Marcus is the 6th man and Willie is the guy we use when we go small. Marcus doesn’t need to start, he just needs to get minutes instead of Willie Green.

      • because that team was Great. Our team now still has some work to do. Plus we do not look like 56 wins right now

      • Aside from Chandler being an upgrade over Okafor, we have an upgrade at EVERY other position. Yet that team was GREAT?

        That team was good because they found their stride and everyone was healthy, and Chris Paul had one of the most special seasons this league has ever seen.

      • We had a very good bench. We had vets who knew their roles and young players and got even contribution from everyone. And like u said CP3 was having a very special season. Add that on to the fact we were able to score points unlike now and our bench is better than the bench we have now. And Marco is nowhere near wat Peja was in 07-08

      • 08 vs 11

        Chandler > Okafor
        West = West
        Peterson Belinelli
        Paul = Paul

        Ely < Gray
        Armstrong Green
        Pargo = Jack

        Wells < Thornton
        Wright ? Mbenga

        08
        Points per game: 100.9
        Points allowed: 95.6

        11
        Points per game: 94.33
        Points allowed: 92.48

        What we gave up in offense we make up in defense now. Reason being because even though Tyson Chandler did a good job defending the rim, we now do a better job defending the perimeter with Ariza, Marco, and Paul.

  10. Has anyone noticed that we have started the game the same way for the last 3 games. We score the first 4 or 6 points then the other team goes on a run that 2 better. Then we get back up by 4 and then the other team gets by us again and we call the time out.

      • in the past when atdhe didn’t work for me it was b/c i was using safari so i switched to firefox and it worked.

      • Thanks. I closed everything out and tried again and it started workin. Im offshore and we have to use this Ultrasurf nonsense to get past the blockers. Its trash. But at least I get to watch the second half. Let’s get it!

  11. Damn if Marcus made that open 3 i would’ve gone NUTS. But then he drove downcourt and attacked the rim and drew the foul the very next play. Marcus is playing like a BADASS.

  12. Our defense was really bad in the 1th quarter, but right now is OK, Marcus is playing nice, CP3 and DWest (what a dunk Mr.West, wow) too, Ariza is playing good D, we need to play with a little more energy and it’s a easy win…

  13. I love seeing the interaction between DWest and CP. You see the bond those 2 guys share after going to war together for so long. Sometimes it feels like CP is Wests much smaller younger brother. I don’t think West would EVER let anyone foul CP hard. I hear announcers say “they need to put CP on his back so he thinks twice about attacking”. I’d like to see ANYONE try that. DWest wil B***H slap them like he did to Dirks Nowitski. LoL.

  14. Anyone noticing all the late whistles in this one? Late whistles on both sides, especially with shooting fouls.

  15. The reffing has been pretty bad on both sides. I think we’re getting the better of the calls, but in general they’ve been bad. The two T’s were bad :\ Especially the DJ one.

      • that shot on the fastbreak by willie was atrocious, and ya i don’t know why they have pondexter playing the 2, at least have jack come in for willie if not marcus.

      • Pondexter is a SG. He’s been playing SF because we have NO ONE else big enough to play that position on the bench.

    • i thought ok, 6 minutes of Willie and Marcus is going to come back into the game. He played well, had some steals, took good shots, made the right passes.. Why on earth trevor didn’t shoot the three on that steal?

  16. these foul calls are REALLY REALLY late. The refs are clearly dictating their calls on whether or not the ball goes in. Like they are trying to keep the game close or something

    • it seems like the refs have been calling it that way back to the magic game, its really frustrating. its like the refs are lagging or something or they have something riding on the game, wouldn’t doubt it judging by the way stern handled the whole donaghy fiasco.

  17. I thought Monty was going to try to have a starter on the floor at least to begin the 4th qtr. I don’t see any out there.

  18. OT: this might sound insane but i think lebron is purposely missing these last couple games and the heat are tanking so that way it makes lebron look better in the MVP race. add in his comments about the MVP a couple weeks ago too and it sounds pretty ominous, that or i’m just a conspiracy nut who hates lebron. thoughts?

    • That is unrealistic from where I sit. You think the morons paying them will let him sit around in hopes he’ll get a gold star. Do you have better ways to spend $14.5m?

      • yes very unrealistic, and i actually don’t believe it buuuuut i believe lebron will go to any length to have his ego stroked through any means necessary. in any case do you think if lebron says he’s not ready to go that any miami personnel would doubt him? i’m pretty sure if lebron wanted the heat would trade dwayne wade so that way he wouldn’t have competition on the team for being the alpha male. anyway it was a stupid thing to bring up.

    • MVP isn’t decided til the end of the season. Still a long way to go, and I don’t think either Lebron nor Wade deserve that award. When you have a teammate of that caliber on your squad, it takes BOTH of those guys there for it to work. Wades gone, Lebron can’t win shit. Those 2 should never win that award as long as they play together.

      • What about all his titles in Cleveland?

        Oh, that’s right, he didn’t win any . . . Hr made damned sure he got his little gold star though.

        King for a day, fool for a lifetime.

        “What a day when you can look it in the face and hold your vomit!”

  19. going small now makes no sense, neither does willie on the floor. Put Gray in and put Marcus in!!!! Monty why you want to drive me mad?!?!

  20. god DAAAMNIT Monty you leave Jack in and take Marcus out WHY??? Jack is 1 for 6 and is not making up for it on the defensive end. Ridiculous.

  21. then you put in Green in place of Jack. Did I miss something? Marcus in for about 2 minutes, took a less-than-stellar shot, comes out for Jack, who is 1-for-7 something, and then Green comes back in for Jack, even tho Green has been awful and threw up an airball. Marcus on the other hand? Point per minute in the 2nd Q and gets thrown back in the doghouse because of it.

    • Marcus played 14 minutes total, scored 7. Ok game for him. Green was equivalent, Jack was worse tonight.

      I don’t see the problem.

      Nice win, and this is probably how the Hornets are going to win, even at their best. Such is slow, defensive basketball.

      • Agree with 42. We won. Can’t complain. We lose, then yea, fire away. But we won, and in the fashion Monty saw fit. 25-16.

    • seriously. it’s obvious they are either getting swayed by the players’ words or they have alterior motives.

  22. i like that mek doesn’t even get mad about getting elbowed in the face, he just gets up and pats tyrus like “my bad man, i should’ve moved my face”. LOL

  23. lol, this win was a lazy one. The two teams didn’t even run and once in the clutch the bobcats made Hara-kiri! Since we play teams like the bobcats Monty can do what he wants, but we need Marcus and a little more backup bigs on the floor against good teams.

  24. CP3, Oak, and West all played well – making me feel very good about my All Star votes. On the other hand, Aaron Gray’s zero points, zero blocks, turnover, and a foul, doesn’t help our starters hard work. He needs to go as soon as possible.

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