Game On: Clippers @ Hornets

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Published: February 23, 2011

Matchup: Clippers (21-36) @ Hornets(33-25)

Off Efficiency: Clippers 102.4 (22nd), Hornets 103.5(18th)
Def Efficiency: Clippers 107.3 (23rd), Hornets 100.9 (7th)

Pace: Clippers 94.9 (14th) , Hornets 91.0 (29th)

After Blake Griffin won the dunk contest by jumping over a tiny car, he’s admitted that he’s tired. That’s good news for Hornets fans, because last time the Bees matched up with Blake and the Clippers, things didn’t work out so well.

Combine Blake’s exhaustion with tonight’s game being in New Orleans, a place where the Clippers haven’t been able to scrape out a win in over four years, and it looks like a prime night for the Hornets to break out of their most recent slump. They have lost nine of their last eleven games, including seven of the last eight, and before the recent departure of Western Conference talent, it appeared they were on the verge of slipping out of the top eight all together.

Certainly now that Denver and Utah have been weakened, the threat of missing the postseason isn’t quite what it once was, but at the same time this is the same team which John Hollinger’s magic formula predicted had a 99.5 percent chance of making the postseason only a month ago. Today the likelihood sits at 90.4 percent. That’s still high, but not quite a certainty.

Certainly the addition of Carl Landry will help this year, even if it means that Buckets won’t be around anymore. I feel the pain of Hornets fans who considered them a favorite (I am one), but at the same time I’m not going to lose sight of the significance of adding a guy as good as Landry.

First off, just looking at his value over who he replaces, the improvement is astounding. Although his production is down this year, likely as a result of not having a defined role in Sac-town, his PER the three years prior has been 21.4, 17.7, and 19.0. Compare those numbers to Aaron Gray (one season above 15 ever), Jason Smith (10.8 lifetime), and the rest of the bunch, and you will start to see how much of an impact Landry will make on the team.

I firmly believe that Buckets is a better player than Jack or Green, but I can saw without a doubt in my mind that the improvement in the frount court that Landry brings will more than make up for the slight decrease in production we are likely to see from the backup shooting guard spot. Need I remind anyone what happens when Smith, Mbenga, Anderson, or Gray takes the court?

Injuries- Okafor remains questionable, but all signs point to him not playing.

DONT FORGET ABOUT THE LIVE CHAT TOMORROW LEADING UP TO THE TRADE DEADLINE.

Also, a lot has been going on lately. Make sure you read or listen to all of the newest stuff that we’ve posted-

Redfish Talk with Demps

Farewell Marcus

Podcast #20

The Scouting Report on Landry

And congrats to Davey, who will be attending tonight’s game for free courtesy of StubHub, affter being randomly chosen from those who wrote on the forum post for Best Marcus Thornton Memory. Just because the contest is over doesn’t mean you can’t still share.

Notes from the Arena

  • The game is at 8:30 CT tonight on ESPN
  • I (Joe) will be on the Daily Dime Chat throughout the game, so if you want to come and talk Thornton and Landry, that would be a good time.

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