Same Old Story: The Hornets Struggle in the Fourth Quarter, Lose at Home to the Wizards

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Published: March 15, 2012

After trailing for most of the game against the Wizards, the Hornets tied it up in the 4th quarter. The team then proceeded to lose 99-89. The Hornets now have the second worst record in the league.

A Haiku (or two) for you:

Team stuggles in 4th

Second worst record is ours

We want ping pong balls

And

Six straight empty trips

No moves made at trade deadline

No fun for the fans

It was over when: The Hornets had six straight empty offensive possessions in a row late in the 4th quarter. That turned a 1 point lead into a 12 point deficit. 

It was really over when: The 4th quarter started. With how the season has gone, should we have expected any other result to play out?

Hornets’ MVP: Gustvo Ayon. He finished with 16 points and 9 rebounds. He was working hard on offense to get open and looked like he had some nice chemistry going with the rest of the team.

X-factor: The Wizards’ defensive rebounding. Coming into the game they were the second worst team in the league only grabbing 69.52% of their opponent’s misses. Tonight they were at 77%.

The Hans Gruber (of Die Hard fame) Villain of the Game Award:

I could give this to John Wall, but I expected him to have a good game so I can’t really be mad about it. Roger Mason, however, is a different story. This is a guy who is averaging 3.6 points per game. Tonight, he lit up the Hornets for 19 points and shot 4 of 6 from deep. So congrats on your prestigious award, Roger.

Washington Wizards 99 FinalRecap | Box Score 89 New Orleans Hornets

Five Things We Saw

  1. John Wall is fast. Like really, really fast. Jack, Vasquez and Belinelli all attempted to guard him and it didn’t work out for any of them. At one point he was literally dribbling in circles around the team. In the first half, Wall put up 18 points and almost all of it game from him driving to the basket.
  2. The Hornets struggled to control the pace tonight and allowed the Wizards to score 27 fast break points. Again, John Wall is really fast.
  3. Pre-game, Monty said he planned on giving Lance Thomas more minutes. After tonight’s performance he might want to reconsider. Thomas was constantly out worked on rebounds and has trouble finishing his shots inside. He does get to the line reasonably well, though.
  4. After a great showing last night against the Lakers, the Arena looked pretty empty. However, those that did come to the game were into it and loud the entire time.
  5. Roger Mason almost outscored the entire Hornets team in the 4th quarter. He had 14 to the Hornets 16. Really sums of the season, doesn’t it.

Other trade deadline notes:

-In his pre-game press conference, Monty said he usually talks to Dell Demps if a trade is close to being finalized. He also said all the trade chatter ended around noon for the team.

-As I posted earlier, it does not look like Chris Kaman will be bought out. Demps implied that there team will strongly consider bringing him back next year.

If you have your own Hornets Haiku, please share it in the recap or send it to me on twitter @nolajake.

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