The team tentatively known as the New Orleans Hornets beat yet another Western Conference playoff contender. Tom and Gayle Benson were in attendance and introduced as the new Hornets owners in the first quarter.
It was over when- Up 9 with about 5 minutes to go, Marco Belinelli finally hit a three pointer to bump the lead to 12. That would prove to be enough.
MVP: Carl Landry (16 points on 10 shots, 11 boards, 26 minutes) and Eric Gordon (18 points on 9 shots) provided the offense to an otherwise sub-par Hornets offense.
Defining Moment: Tom and Gayle Benson were introduced as the new owners of the Hornets in the first quarter. They received a loud round of applause from the smallish crowd. “We’ll fix it”, Benson remarked in regard to attendance.
LVP: Mike Conley was unable to get the Memphis offense rolling. The team shot just 35.7 percent, and Conley personally was 1-8 with just three assists in 29 minutes.
That was…potentially serious: Marc Gasol took a hard shot with about seven minutes left in the third quarter. He was helped to the bench by teammates, and went to the locker room after missing a free throw.
Tweet of the Day:@GarlandGillen: We talked to #Saints and #Hornets Owner Tom Benson, said he was disappointed at the attendance tonight. Said “We’ll fix it”.
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Jason Smith, PF 27 MIN | 7-13 FG | 0-0 FT | 10 REB | 4 AST | 14 PTS | +22Jason wasn’t particularly at his best tonight, but when the guy supposed to be your fourth big man is putting up quality numbers on an off night against quality opposition, you know he’s come a long way. His passing tonight was what I was most impressed by. He can still improve in that regard, which means we might not have seen the best that he has to offer yet. |  |
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Al-Farouq Aminu, SF 29 MIN | 4-9 FG | 4-4 FT | 7 REB | 2 AST | 12 PTS | +18Aminu had a couple of awful possessions, throwing it so hard off the backbard it didn’t even touch rim, and then tossing one of the top of the backboard shortly after. Aside from that he really played a pretty solid game on both ends. He had a couple nice defensive plays and really didn’t do anything particularly dumb on that end all night. A few balls didn’t bounce his way, but I won’t fault him for that. One of his dunks, a put-back, was particularly impressive | |
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Chris Kaman, C 20 MIN | 1-2 FG | 2-2 FT | 3 REB | 0 AST | 4 PTS | +6Chris played a very limited role tonight, but still managed to turn it over three times. I’ve been more impressed, but he wasn’t bad I wouldn’t say. |  |
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Greivis Vasquez, PG 37 MIN | 2-10 FG | 2-2 FT | 1 REB | 9 AST | 8 PTS | +19Greivis didn’t have his shot working tonight, but 9 assist versus 3 steals isn’t too shabby. He struggled a few times when pressed, but overall did a good job of advancing the rock and running the offense. | |
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Eric Gordon, SG 28 MIN | 5-9 FG | 8-8 FT | 0 REB | 2 AST | 18 PTS | +17Gordon continued to refuse to grab rebounds (0 in his last 87), but we all know he’s a scorer, and that’s what he did tonight. While the Hornets didn’t need much from him late, he got the buckets that kept them rolling throughout, when most of the team (and the Grizz) was struggling. It’s hard to complain about an efficient night like that, even if he did little else on offense. |  |
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Carl Landry, PF 26 MIN | 6-10 FG | 4-4 FT | 11 REB | 0 AST | 16 PTS | 0Landry had a really efficient night all around, but I was particularly impressed with his defense on Z-BO, who finished with just two points. He was all over the boards, and finished well. All in in all it was one of Landry’s best performances of the year. Maybe he really does want to be here now? |  |
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Marco Belinelli, SG 22 MIN | 2-9 FG | 1-1 FT | 0 REB | 3 AST | 6 PTS | +3Beli couldn’t buy a bucket early on, but I’m never going to yell at him for taking open threes. That’s what he needs to do, and I’m glad that he isn’t afraid to shoot just because he’s missed a few. I’ve seen that from him too often this year. |  |
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Lance Thomas, F 1 MIN | 0-0 FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 0 AST | 0 PTS | -2Thomas saw about one minute at the end of the game, and played perfectly |  |
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Jerome Dyson, G 12 MIN | 1-2 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 2 AST | 2 PTS | -8Jerome had a strong drive early in the fourth, extending the Hornets lead to 10. He wound up playing the first six minutes of the fourth quarter. The worst moment was am unforced travelling violation. The best was a hustle play the likes of which you seem to only see from NBA rookies fighting for a spot in the league. | |
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Gustavo Ayon, PF 16 MIN | 2-4 FG | 0-0 FT | 4 REB | 0 AST | 4 PTS | -4Again Ayon saw limited minutes and did nothing unexpected on the court. I really think that he’ll come into next year more physically prepared for the rigors of the NBA schedule and competition. | |
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Xavier Henry, SG 22 MIN | 2-5 FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 0 AST | 4 PTS | -6Took a very nice charge on the defensive end in the first quarter. Other than that he was fairly quiet. |
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Five Things We Saw
- Tom Benson, Mickey Loomis, Courtney Roby, Lance Moore and Pierre Thomas all were in attendance when Tom Benson and his wife Gayle were introduced as the new owners of the Hornets.
- Tom Benson had his eyes glued to the floor almost the entire game, and seemed genuinely interested in what was going on. I love it!
- Saints running back Pierre Thomas NAILED a 3-pointer in his first and only attempt after the Hornets game. #nothingbutnet #signhim
- The baby race was yet again entertaining. I think if my toddler started crying and turned back to me, I’d turn him around and yell at him that he has to make up time. You?
- My predictions were terrible. Feel free to mock me.
Prediction number one: The Hornets will shoot over 50% as a team (difficulty level- 7) WRONG!!!
Prediction number two: Somehow, someway, we will not be complaining about bad refereeing afterward. (DL- 5) I’ll say this one was mostly correct
Prediction number three: Zach Randolph will score more than 20 points, something he hasn’t done since his first game back from injury on March 16th. (DL- 7) WRONG!!!
Prediction number four: Jason Smith scores less than 10. (DL- 5) WRONG!!!
Prediction number five: The Hornets will yet again win, AND the Kings will yet again lose. There will just just a half game separating the two teams after the day is done. (DL-7) HALF-WRONG!
31 responses to “Hornets Beat Grizzlies In Front Of New Owner Tom Benson”
We are going to be something special next year!
The future looks bright!
Im down for the Tank but Wins like these is what makes me one exited Hornets fan for the future!!!!!
Hope Benson gets rid of that 7-UP Ceelo commercial.
So you mean you hope he gets rid of 7-Up then? Because if he stays with 7-Up, you’ll probably continue to see that commercial.
I didn’t watch the game can someone who did review Aminu’s performance? From the box score it looks like him and Gordon make a great combination, is it a stretch to say Aminu could be our starting small forward next season?
He has a recap of his play in the player grades. Just takes me a few minutes to get everything up after the game.
i agree with the last part aminu possibly could start if he has a good summer league and has a good training camp
ok we got that the Hornets could have been way better. NOW STOP THIS NONSENSE
Which nonsense would that be? Winning?
yessir.. It’s not logical to keep winning. 3 more wins = the odds to be one of the top 3 picks will be HALVED
hahaha I’m as perplexed on why we’re actually trying. All the true fans know this team is very capable. Sac Town will end up probably with 21 wins, as will Cleveland (if they win against Washington). So realistically, we need to bomb our last few games, Doc Rivers style.
We’re done with the statement games. Let’s get top 3 honours (man, if we get #1 pick, we’ll be like San Antonio…)!
Maybe it has something to do with the brand new owner being announced in the building tonight. The Hornets have a tendency to win games when big news regarding the team is released.
god bless marcus thornton
Sac won tonight which makes this win that much sweeter.
My girlfriend actually pointed this out to me but it really looked like Chris Kaman was limping for most of the first half.
And I think X played well tonight, he did spend a lot of time guarding Rudy Gay.
I can’t get enough of J Smitty’s hustle. Just love it. And Carl? Z-Bo had 2 points!
Aminu showed some flashes of what he can do. He needs some coaching time, which has been missing this season with the compressed schedule, and he needs some mentoring. Hope that will happen this summer. He’s got to stop making those bone-headed moves, like in the 4th quarter when he rebounded the ball and threw it to a referee that was standing out of bounds…
Did anyone else notice someone loudly yelling who dat right before the game started??
I’m assuming the players and coaches don’t care about “tanking”. With so many close games but out of the playoffs they probably just want to win. Surely many of them are thinking that they won’t be back, so get the highlights and make themselves either look impressive for Benson or another team. But, with all of that said, I can’t help but wonder if we’ll be lucky enough to get the number 1 pick. Talking about a 180 degree turnaround for a franchise. Geaux Hornets!!!!
Aminu-Acid. He breaks down the D!!!!!!
I like the pun, but that’s not what those do.
I say were are close. I know you don’t like the Aminu thing, but he’s averaging 5.5 ppg this season, so 7 was a pretty good reach.
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/a/aminual01.html
We’ll have to either do this again, team up and try to conquer the future with combined predicitons, or get Mason to make predictions and both jump him when he fails!
I’m on the Aminu bandwagon he has improved late in the season i hope he’s in the slam dunk contest next season.
Tentatively? As a HORNETS fan, I will cheer with all my strength to the NBA veto any attempt by Mr. Tom Benson to change the name of the franchise. I am totally against the killing of bees by the New Orleans city. I’m a Hornets fan for nearly two decades. You don’t know what it is, Joe. Go, Stern! VETO!!!
If you’re a “HORNETS” fan that follows a team just on name alone, go follow the Charlotte “HORNETS” when/if they get the name back.
But you know the name will probably go back to Charlotte.
Wrong comment. Sorry.
Supposed to go to Lucas.
Whoa, New Orleans haters. There are a lot of people who have been following this team for a long time and the Hornet name means something to them. I’m somewhat indifferent, but if it was up to me I want to keep the name and definitely the colors.
I love New Orleans. I live in Brazil, but I’ve been in the Big Easy and I loved the city, people, music and culture. I just don’t agree to change the team name. The Hornets already part of the New Orleans. Like the Jazz already part of the Utah. That’s what I think.
I agree with you, Lucas.
If people would just say “ok” it’d be ok. There are lots of reasons for it, but the rebrand craze has a few causes, but I think it can be summed up fairly by saying it’s a proxy war between the individuals and their own insecurities about the themselves and the image of them as citizens of the region and about the city compared to larger, richer cities generally.
Man up.
“I’m the prize.”
Nevertheless, there is nothing be done. The rebrand is Kobe, we are . . . something . . . and you won’t be getting a pink diamond.
you give belli a c, and that’s deserved, but then you say he can’t buy a bucket in the first. did you notice, for a chance, that the first 4 shot by belli were bailouts with 2sec on the shotclock?
Could the guys, that frequently go to the Arena please hold some posters up that say “No name change” or something like that????? No “Hornets” anymore would be terrible…..at least to me…..:-(