Ariza Rejected Late as Hornets Lose to the Lowly Bobcats

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Published: March 12, 2012

The Hornets lost a heart-breaker to the Bobcats after Trevor Ariza was unable to convert a last second dunk over Bismack Biyombo. Al-Farouq Aminu played well late in the loss.

It was over when- The Hornets predictably fell apart at the end of the third quarter, giving up a 12-2 run to the Kemba Walker fueled Bobcats. They trailed 61-55 heading into the fourth. They then scored three points in the first five minutes of the fourth, giving up ten over that time frame. The deficit was 13 with seven minutes to go in the game by the time the Hornets finally ended a 20-3 run with back to back baskets by Farouq and Kaman.

The Hornets got back into it when- Farouq, Kaman and Jack hit unanswered shots for the Hornets to cut the lead to just 6 with four minutes to play. Then Farouq had a sweet drive followed by a reverse layup that cut it to just 4. BOOM! It helped that Charlotte went seven straight possessions without a bucket over that same time period.

Seriously, it was over when–  Ariza was fouled with 5.2 to go. Farouq inbounded to Ariza who had a path. HE WENT UP FOR THE THUNDEROUS GAME TYING SLAM… and was rejected by Biyombo. Cue sobbing.

That was… “anticlimactic”:  In a matchup between two less than stellar teams, the story of the night was supposed to be the first NBA game in which two Mexican-born players faced off. Unfortunately, Eduardo Najera was scratched before the game.

That was… “false”: The Hornets announced attendance at 15,254. Clearly there weren’t anywhere near that many people at the game, even though attendance wound up being much better than I expected.

MVP: Bismack Biyombo’s game-winning block sealed his fate as MVP, but his extremely efficient 12 points on 7 shots, 7 rebounds, 4 blocks, and zero turnovers was probably enough by itself.

X-factor: With 5.2 seconds left Trevor Ariza got the ball down 2. He had a clear path to the basket and chose to take it. The only problem is that Bismack Biyombo had other plans. He stuffed Ariza, sealing the deal for Charlotte.

Tweet of the Day: TickTock6–“Whatever. We are going to win the lottery on THIS BALL. From this game. I feel it.”

Charlotte Bobcats 73 FinalRecap | Box Score 71 New Orleans Hornets
Trevor Ariza, SF 36 MIN | 5-11 FG | 3-4 FT | 9 REB | 2 AST | 14 PTS | +8I was really happy with Ariza play and hustle all the way up to and including when he was stuffed by Biyombo. He was really disappointed after the game. The first thing I thought after that play was “Damn, Ariza is going to put that on himself when it really wasn’t his fault”.
Gustavo Ayon, PF 26 MIN | 1-6 FG | 0-0 FT | 4 REB | 1 AST | 2 PTS | -3Gustavo didn’t really do all that much tonight. He had a bunch of steals, but something didn’t seem right. I guess it was just one of those nights where hustle doesn’t equate to numbers.
Chris Kaman, C 41 MIN | 6-19 FG | 0-0 FT | 16 REB | 3 AST | 12 PTS | +36-19 doesn’t impress me, even if you do grab 16 rebounds in 41 minutes. There were a lot of missed shots…
Jarrett Jack, PG 33 MIN | 7-12 FG | 0-0 FT | 4 REB | 9 AST | 15 PTS | +5Jack was his normal self most of the first three quarters, but really let things get away from the Hornets at the end of the third. I know he’s not supposed to be the guy who keeps things running smoothly and from getting out of hand, but he is. He needs to take control when that stuff happens. He had a chance to redeem himself late in the fourth, and nearly did. He hit a nice layup and then made a floater, but it was called off due to an offensive foul. Blah. He corralled the rebound after a missed Charlotte three, and the ball went to him first on the inbound with 10.8 to go. He gave it to Ariza, who was fouled. Jack didn’t touch it the rest of the way, so it’s hard to blame him for the loss in the closing seconds.The 6 turnovers and that offensive foul hurt his grade in my book.
Marco Belinelli, SG 26 MIN | 4-15 FG | 1-1 FT | 0 REB | 0 AST | 12 PTS | +1Marco was hitting from long range early tonight, connecting on three of his first six. It’s fortunate he hit those because he was worthless elsewhere. It’s hard to win games when your shooter is ice freaking cold. 1-9 from two point land is awful, especially when you only finish 3-8 from three-land. Elsewhere on the floor he was a zero-machine, managing to not pick up a single block, assist, rebound or steal. Weak. Freaking. Sauce.
Lance Thomas, F 15 MIN | 1-2 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 1 AST | 2 PTS | -13Thomas gave some decent minutes in the first half, and was active on both ends to no avail. The team really struggled when (not because) he was out there. Monty sat him the rest of the game.
Greivis Vasquez, PG 20 MIN | 2-3 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 5 AST | 4 PTS | +2Greivis was very quiet early on. He played just eight minutes in the first three quarter, scoring 4 points and gathering two assists. In the second he was a little more active, seeing some time with Jack, but he remained quiet.
Jeff Foote, C 3 MIN | 0-1 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 0 AST | 0 PTS | 0It was a quiet night for Foote, who did nothing of note in his three minutes of action.
Al-Farouq Aminu, SF 26 MIN | 3-6 FG | 2-2 FT | 1 REB | 0 AST | 8 PTS | -1Aminu showes some signs of offensive life in the first half, attacking the rim for a thunderous slam, and nearly putting back an offensive board in the same way. In the second half he had two huge plays for the Hornets late in the fourth, one a short jumper that ended the 20-3 run for the Bobcats, and the second a nice drive and reverse layup that cut the deficit to four. LOVE THE AGGRESSION. He continued his solid play, hitting another jumper and nearly willing his way to an offensive rebound and fallaway that he had no business even getting to on the next possession. His play gave me goosebumps late in the game, and the fact that Monty trusts him to inbound the last pass of the game speaks volumes to me.
Xavier Henry, SG 14 MIN | 1-3 FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 2 AST | 2 PTS | -12I talked to Henry before the game and let him know that he’s arguably the most aggressive wingman in the game (in terms of FTA/FGA and and-one percentage) He was happy to hear it. Unfortunately, I probably jinxed him. Although he was looking to attack, he never really found any success doing it. Either way, it wasn’t a bad game by any means. It just wasn’t good.

Five Things We Saw

  1. The Hornets did a halftime show similar to Fear Factor, and somehow the guy with jorts managed to lose. Color me confused.By the way– I’ve had most of those treats they were eating (not the bowl of worms), and they really are quite delicious. Check out the Insectarium sometime for some free bug-snacks.
  2. The Hornets held the Bobcats to 35 points in the first half despite allowing them to shoot 48 percent from the floor.
  3. There were 50 some odd Connecticut fans rooting for Kemba Walker in the lower bowl who gave the Bee-Zanies a run for their money on a few occasions.
  4. Monty seemed legitimately happy with the final play. He expressed that Trevor made a nice move, and that Bismack just made a great block.
  5. The Hornets have a home practice tomorrow for the first time in something like three weeks. Also, don’t forget our live audio chat tomorrow! It’s our first one ever, as far as I know.

 

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