Matchup: Hornets(27-16) @ Hawks(28-15)
Off Efficiency: Hornets 102.6(19th), Hawks 105.2(12th)
Def Efficiency: Hornets 99.6(4th), Hawks 102.2(10th)
As always, thanks to Dariusz Ejkiewicz for the gameday banner!
As the furor over Stephon Marb – er – Derrick Rose and his high-scoring game in Chicago grows more intense, the eastern conference has reached a tipping point. With Miami, Chicago, and Boston to focus on, there isn’t much time to for the national media to concentrate on anyone else. Sure, Orlando gets a look here and there because of their aggressive trades and Dwight Howard, but the other good eastern team, the Hawks, goes completely overlooked.
It doesn’t help they don’t have an actual superstar. It also doesn’t help that there isn’t anything in Atlanta a sportswriter can sink his teeth into and write about. They don’t have a stellar defense, ranking 10th in the league. They don’t have a stellar offense, ranking 12th in the league. What do you write? Hawks Slightly Better Than Average At Everything! Imagine the web traffic that would generate.
Still, the Hawks remain a very good team with some remarkable talent. They retain edges over the opposition at effective field goal percentage, free throw rates, and turnovers.
Their only weakness is on the offensive boards, and that has to do with their shot selection. Atlanta takes the third most long two-point shots in the league. Happily for them, they make the second highest percentage of those shots, but standing that far from the basket makes it hard to rebound – so there’s little wing or guard support on the glass.
That gives Okafor and West an opportunity to make an impact in this game by crashing the glass and keeping Atlanta one and done on their posessions.
Injuries:
Hornets: None
Hawks: Marvin Williams is struggling with a back injury, but returned to practice yesterday. I expect he will play.
Positional Analysis
PG: Mike Bibby v Chris Paul
Advantage: Hornets
Even with a bad wheel, Chris Paul versus Mike Bibby is like a Gray Warden facing a Hurlock. Or Commander Shepherd facing a Geth. Or Revan facing an assault droid. Is that enough Bioware references? Anyone else intensely excited for Dragon Age 2?
SG: Joe Johnson v Marco Belinelli
Advantage: Hawks
Joe Johnson will play most of the game, and will get turns checking and scoring on every member of the Hornets three-headed shooting guard stable. Johnson has been having an extremely ineffective year shooting the ball, but he’s still an effective all around player, and I doubt this position will swing the Hornets way. Marco should help him keep up his ineffective scoring, but I wonder which Marco we’ll get tonight. 1-6 Marco, or 4-7 Marco?
SF: Marvin Williams v Trevor Ariza
Advantage: Even
Williams had a good game against the Hornets in December, displaying surprising versatility in scoring in the post, on the break, and from deep. I have a hard time imagining him repeating that performance, particularly with a balky back. Trevor, of course, had a bad offensive game last game. I’d like to say that means he’ll probably have a good one this game, but that would assume any sort of offensive consistency from Ariza. I can’t do that. It is still nice that we can always expect stellar defense from Ariza, though. In past years, our wings wouldn’t even give us that on a bad shooting nights.
PF: Josh Smith v David West
Advantage: Even
This matchup swings entirely on which Josh Smith shows up. Smith is a better defender than West. His offense, however, swings wildly from highly effective to extremely terrible, and is entirely based on whether Smith is attacking the basket or shooting jumpshots. Last game Smith took lots of terrible long jumpshots and hit none of them. If he’s taking long shots tonight, this matchup swings strongly in Fluffy’s favor.
C: Al Horford v Emeka Okafor
Advantage: Hawks
Al Horford has declined some from an extremely strong opening month of the season, but he’s still a load in the paint. He does just about everything well, scoring efficiently, rebounding, passing, and rarely turning over the ball. He even blocks a shot here and there. Okafor’s been playing well over the last month, but I struggle with the idea he’ll be able to outplay Horford in the end.
Bench
Jamal Crawford, Josh Powell, Zaza Pachulia, Maurice Evans, Damien Wilkins VS
Jarrett Jack, Marcus Thornton, Willie Green, Jason Smith, Quincy Pondexter, Aaron Gray
Advantage: Hawks
The Hawks have a dependable scorer off the bench in Jamal Crawford, a decent backup big in Pachulia, and some nice defenders scattered through the rest of the bench. The Hornets are hoping that either Jack or Thornton will be able to match Crawfords attack, because if that’s the case, this advantage for the Hawks is limited.
Enjoy the game!
Oh, and who gets to attack me first for comparing Marbury to Rose?
181 responses to “Game On: Hornets @ Atlanta”
Go get em Hornets- Mike Bibby is as useless as tits on a bull- CP3 will dominate and run the whole game
I think it’s more of a bad shooting year for Ariza.
What’s amazing is that even with a disadvantage in almost all positional analysis, CP himself can still win games. Not saying we’ve already won, but he has decimated entire teams within one quarter’s time. Hopefully he doesn’t have to put in a cheat-code tonight, but I don’t think everybody realizes just how good he is. We love you, lil guy.
From what I hear both Horford and Williams may be out. Especially Horford because he’s expected to miss the next two games.
http://www.nba.com/2011/news/01/20/horford-injury.ap/index.html?ls=iref:nbahpt2
“The Hawks could open with Evans at small forward and Jason Collins at center against New Orleans. Drew said he expects more minutes from Zaza Pachulia and Josh Powell on the front line.”
Pure matchup wise, I take Ariza, West, and Okafor over their Hawks counterparts. In a vacuum Horford might be better than Okafor but head to head I take Okafor, as he dominated Al last time. Same with Ariza and West. Hawks have the advantage at SG and on the bench, and also have home court in this game, but PG, SF, PF, C and Coach all favor Hornets IMO.
was just about to say i think okafor has the advantage. Horford plays soft, his D is lackin big time and Okafors been beasting. Horfords a pain to guard cuz hes got decent post moves and can hit a consistent mid, but i think okafor will get the best of him.
This is a bad matchup tonight. Got the mighty Spurs tomorrow in a game thats WAY more important than this one. Also, ATL is very athletic and deep, and typically, athletic teams are way more aggressive at home. I expect to see Josh Smith go right at David West to try and get him and/or Okafor in foul trouble. If that happens, this one could get ugly.
DJ Rob Nice and Honeybees at Hornets Watch Party tonight at Bruno’s on Maple St.
the one at Fox and Hound last week was a blast. Hope they do one there again soon.
nice i might do that!
Maybe our starting 2 guard can be more productive this time.
he was pretty consistent last game, but was on the court for only 16 min.
I hope we can get this win. I really hope we do. And I also heard Horford and Williams were out for not just tonight but the next game too.
I’d talk about Dragon Age 2, Ryan, but then I’d have to admit excitement about a character named _____. which is thematically inappropriate today. Nonetheless, I’m stoked about THIS game, and hope both teams bring their best.
But why are you worried about people attacking you on the Rose-Marbury reference? I mean, its not like they have pretty much the same game and can expect the same lack of post-season success, right?
I think he’s trying to pick fights like he tries with Mr. McNamara. Such a troublemaker . . .
dragon age 2 all day,lol geaux Hornets
I would absolutely love for the Hornets to have a 7 game win streak heading into the Spurs game. Then, the Hornets might actually get some respect when our win streak snaps theirs (that is, if the Spurs take out the Knicks tonight).
Also, we’re knocking on the door to the 3rd seed. Gotta keep the W’s coming!
The reason MT5 isn’t getting more playing time: “Williams has said Thornton needs to keep working on the details of the game plan, particularly on the defensive end”.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5ju2wquVXJ8NJMzygGTs_58XzSy9Q?docId=5711706
Whoever said people don’t realise how good CP3 is, your right. He is criminally slept on this year. Saying that, who ever said NOH have an advantage at SF/PF/C is wrong, at best, you combine those 3 and it’s a wash.
7 in a Row Tonight!!..Hornets All Day Bitches!!
Sean Kelly just tweeted that Trevor Ariza and Aaron Gray are out tonight with injuries. Pondexter figures to get the start.
Seriously??? I hope Ariza is not too hurt. If it’s just a day-to-day injury then I’m happy to see Pondexter get his first start.
Oh no!!!!!!!!
Maybe we’ll get to see some Mbenga tonight now that Gray is out! -crosses fingers-
It’s a pretty even match-up, should be a fun one to watch.
Marbury and Rose are as similar as a Timberpup to a BULL. Rose has lead his team without Boozer and Noah for stretches on end, whilst being #1 in the Central Division and top 5 PER. For these reasons and more, he is an MVP candidate, where as stat-related point guards have not been able to lead their healthy squads in the same way.
As for your game references, or whatever, I have a PS3 so quite frankly you sound esoteric. As for the Hawks, Josh Powell, Etan Thomas, and Maurice Evans are all unrestricted free agents this summer. Would you anyone like to add them to a Hornets stimulus package?
really like ethan thomas and mo evans
Who would you prefer? Boozer and Noah or West and Okafor?
And let’s not forget the Central Divison absolutely SUCKS right now so while it’s nice to be on top of that division, it’s not like the Central Division is the SW Divison right now.
I meant the rest of the Central Division outside of the Bulls sucks. The SW Division is a wild and crazy division. Even the Northwest Div is crazy!
Gee, just looking at it, if you took away 10 of the Bulls’ wins they’d still be sitting on top of that Central Division. Goodness.
Are we talking about Rose or are we talking about Bulls vs. Hornets?
Both I guess. They kind of go hand in hand.
My bad. I mean Rose and Bulls go hand in hand.
Sorry, but if you’ve been looking for a Marbury comparison, look no further than Jarrett Jack. They are almost the exact same player from the exact same college wearing the exact same number at Tech. Marbury was the reason that I liked watching Wake and G-Tech with Jack and CP there. They looked like 2 little Marbury clones. One blossomed into an enormously better player. One is about on Marbury level still. Now we have the clones on the same team. All we need is Steph for the collection! I’m kidding. As much as I liked watching Starbury back in the day. He is not a winner or a team player and is slightly crazy. And by slightly I mean a lot of crazy.
Oh God please no. Please don’t let the injuries kick in on us. Get well soon Ariza and Gray!!
In a chat on ESPN yesterday it was mentioned that Peja should go to Dallas because of their lack of SF’s because of Caron Butler being out and I said what about the Hornets? How many SF’s do we have on the roster outside of Ariza and Pondexter? And now that one is due to sit out tonight…..
Guard Joe Johnson and please DO NOT let Jamal Crawford go off.
Like to see CP/Marco/Marcus for once when Q-Pon goes out.
Quincy starting thats what im talking bout WOOO!
Let’s Get it Q!!
GEAUX ROOKIE!! LOL!
that “PASS” by Q-Pon looked like a shot to me
Come on West. Let’s go man.
AWW come on now west
Lazy turnover David. Come on now.
Did any Hornets hit the strip club last night?
I mean really. How much contact was CP supposed to take on that one before they blew the effin whistle??!!!
quincy IS GOOD.
third in and out.. are they using fake rims?
Treys Waiter!!
Can’t be leaving Joe Johnson out there alone like that. Luckily he missed those two.
it looks like the Hawks have a worse time with attendance than us…unless ppl in atlanta prefer the upper level for the games.
They do. The media doesn’t care though because they don’t have an attendance benchmark in their lease and no one is wanting them to move out of Atlanta.
We have higher average attendance than them so far this year.
Through 22 games, we are averaging 14,200, which is just over 83% of a sellout.
Through 20 games (not including tonight), they are averaging 14,137, which is just under 76% of a sellout.
They are a large, 4 sports market. Atlanta has essentially the same record as us, had a hot start like us, though not as hot. They are the 9th largest metro area at about 6 million people, far outpacing us. Hmmm . . . so what else do we have in common . . . hmmm . . . oh, football towns with good teams . . .
Mbenga!!
Not a bad effort by Mbenga there
Agreed.
Very pleasing.
good job by dj!!!!
No starters on the floor to begin the 2nd qtr?
Our Defense Is a Beautiful thing to Watch
And yet the Hawks have Joe Johnson on the floor.
Good job Willie Green.
instead of that useless Js, jack, let mt5 atack the rim.
Great Sequence by J Smith
LOL @ Collins hugging Smith like that and allowing him a 3pt play.
Not complaining, Jason Smith getting the call after pushing Johnson to the ground
So the Hawks have 2 of their main stars on the floor and the Hornets have none?
That ain’t no clear path foul. You’d better not.
I thought the fouled player had to get the ball in the back court.
And suprisingly the Hornets still have the lead. Albeit small, but the lead nonetheless.
Of course they’d call it a clear path. SUCKS.
clear path???? that’s ridicoulous!
Bad Call on the Clear path…..
They’re all over West and no whistle.
Don’t get Knocked out Collins
Somebody better tell Collins he don’t want none of West. SOMEBODY TELL EM!!!!! LOL!
Neither one of them needed a tech for that. They hand out techs too damn easily now. That’s why people say this league is soft.
God Shamgod says CP3 is the best dribbler.
Whatever happened to Shammy?
I don’t know. Might be in China or somewhere.
LMAO
We talkin God or Godzilla HAHAhahaHAHAHhah!!!
LMAO JCS! You are too crazy! LOL!!!!
BELINELLI!
What You Talkin Bout Willie!!
Dude! Love It!
Let’s put our feet on their throats Hornets! Don’t let up.
Mo Evans deserves a Child Please!!
LOL!!!
I Fuckin Love Mike Malone
I’ve said it before, I don’t think any pg in the league garners as much defensive attention as Chris Paul does.
Great defense that half!
Chris Paul getting to the line at will
From John Hollinger- “With CP at line just now, a group of Hawks fans started chanting “Marvin’s better!!” … Better at what? Yahtzee? 49-34 Hornets at half “
LOL @ Yahtzee
LOL! From John Hollinger’s twitter page.
With CP at line just now, a group of Hawks fans started chanting “Marvin’s better!!” … Better at what? Yahtzee? 49-34 Hornets at half
half a minute ago via web
Oops, I’m a little behind Joe Gerrity.
It’s Rubbish when people mention anyone outside of DWill(just b/c of the head2head matchup)..Even though it’s clear CP is better than him And every other Pg on the Planet
D Will might not even make the All-Star game this year. Guards will be Kobme, CP3, and Gino.
They’ll put him in it. He’s having a pretty good season and they’ll put him in it even if they’re only trying to prove to themselves that he’s ‘as good as’ CP3. LOL! They’ll put him in it along with the 3 you mentioned. And then some might try to make a case for Westbrook. I think those are the only guards in the WC to get mention.
$tern will put him in if he likes. The voting is all effed up since _____ got involved.
no they’ll put nash before willims
Joe Gerrity, that group know they’d ship Marvin’s arse out of there in a hot second if it meant they could get Chris Paul. LOL!
The Soap Opera begins . . . Where’s Victor Newman?!?!
ROFLMAO 42!!!
Y&R one of your stories, Queen?
Q-pon!!!!
Ok Hornets. Keep doing what you’re doing. Still a whole half left to play. Please don’t let up.
We Need You Dwest Dont Knock Him Out
Ironically, our best free throw shooter is the only one that has missed a free throw tonight.
Most people so misuse “irony.” You nailed it.
Loving it, Queen.
Berger can take a note of this too!
Boy Collins is asking for an ass whooping TONIGHT!!!! Are you kidding me?
Adios Collins
Not a basketball play at all by Collins. He knows he and his twin are bums so he’s mad about it. LOL.
18 ft Assassin
I’m hoping we can keep this energy and lead up and get the starters some good rest for tomorrow!
West=Beast.
Their becomes a point when the hawks have to starting thinking maybe J. Smith will never turn that corner.
They done pissed West off. LOL!!
this defense is good. keep it up.
DWest is So Underrated..This Man just Gets it Done
*Italy Flags*
Now I won’t be satisfied till the Hornets embarass this team.
LOL belinelli shooting from new orleans… he misses home
Heat check by Bellinelli
Marcoooo!!!!
West even running out on guys at the 3pt line lol
That’s a sight to see right? LOL!
Belinelly needs to always shoot from 3ft beyond the 3pt line, he’s made them all this season!
Ok, thats enough Monty, now time to rest those starters for San Antonio
He Scores when he’s in the Mood
time to give paul and dwest some rest for tomorrow game
I’m missing stuff. When the hell did the Hornets get up by 30??!! LMAO.
Come on Mbenga with the moving screen! LOL at CP talking to him.
Give em some points Ref it’s getting ugly
That was a good block by Mbenga what the hell was the whistle for?
Mo Evans is really trying to ride Paul.
Wow Jordan Crawford.
OK Hornets. Now lets’ take the crowd back out of it.
Take us Home Thornton
haha Jack with the half court shot after the buzzer
Let’s let the back-ups ride this one home. Find my boy, Buckets!
stellar quarter for the hawks…lol
That was CP3’s only turnover. Damn.
Ok. Lets give the starters some rest, Hell even call Marcus Banks, he could use some minutes. LOL.
Wait for it. Wait for it.
The Hornets have 21 free throws to the Hawks 9 because they’re owned by the league. 😕
LOL!
Screw a Nail Biter I’ll take this Any Day
Me too. When’s the last time the Hornets blew out a team? The Jazz?
Larry Drew is ready to go home.
I almost don’t know what to do, it almost doesn’t feel like a hornets game since it’s not going down to the wire…
This is nice. I just hope we don’t look like an AAU team tomorrow night.
I got a feelin…that tonights going to be a good night…
SMITTY!!!!
JASON SMITH!!!!!!
J Smith with the throwdown!!!! LOL
Mr. Smith with the NBA JAM!!!
Mbenga said Show me The Money
MBENGA!!!!
Loving every second of this.
God I hope the Hornets will be ready for the Spurs like this tomorrow. The refs will probably not even let the Hornets play defense tomorrow.
i only wish we were doing this to denver or the jazz preferably in the playoffs
Yeah, or San Antone.
GREAT news utah is losing to Boston in the 4th :>:>:>
god, in the first half atlanta could’t make a shot, but in the second, the defense was GREAT. we’re kicking their asses LOL
What lineup do you finish this with? I say put MT5 at the point so Anderson and Smith can play the wings and jack up threes… lol what a fun game
Yikez! DJ almost broke the back board!!
Does it make me a Monster that I want them to lose by 50
no you are not the exact same thing just went though my head
LOL I’ve been kinda hoping we double them up…. so if so I’m a monster too then
Nope lol
RESPECT US
Andersen!!
aka NEO
LOL Pondexter! First thing the guy says in post game interview “it was a tough game”. LMAO.
F&*(ing stupid rookie!
Easy, Seantonio . . . just kidding!
NOLA UP
a-town down
Utah losing by 20
UMMM OKAY? *rubs eyes* Did this just happen??? I came from a trip and saw the score. I thought the computer system was having an error lol. This is awesome!!! Great to see the starters getting some rest for tomorrow while the Spurs have their hands full with the Knicks hehe.
I wish this had happened in Denver.
Surely the funniest play in the game was Mbenga botching Thornton’s alley-oop pass, Thornton yelling at him “Oh come on DJ!” then the Hawks STILL allowing Mbenja the time to gather it in and kick it out to Jack for an Uncontested 3.
That was a great game, and without Trevor.
This picture of D West makes me laugh way too much, I can’t look at it again. http://espn.go.com/nba/photos?gameId=310121001&photoId=1075107
Oh please please please, can we have that pic on the banner? LOL