Hornets Beat the pre-Heat, Confusion Remains

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Published: October 27, 2012

A victory in Miami is nice, but what does this game tell us other than we know nothing?

The 96-89 victory of the Hornets over the Heat to bring the Hornets to 4-4 in the presason was filled with surprises, but was even more-filled with confusion.

The team keep up with the turnovers, with the final tally holding at 21, but leading to only 13 points. This compared favorably with the vet-laden (improved) championship Heat team’s 17 counting for 14 points. Confusion.

Keeping in mind that the Heat limited Kim and Paris’ minutes, Anthony Davis, defensive stalwart, led all scorers with 24 points on 18 shots in 36 minutes of play. His efficiency was actually third class in the game behind Ryan Anderson’s 17 points on 10 shots in 29 minutes of play and The General’s 18 points when looking at players who played at least 24 minutes . . . on 8 shots . . . in 42 minutes of play. Add in the point guard’s 10 assists and 5 turnovers, and it’s a sublime game for the Venezuelan. Confusion.

The Hornets also let in field goal percentage and 3-point percentage. They trailed the Heat in free throw percentage, but the Hornets got to the line far more often than the Heat. Confusion.

Thomas got the start over Aminu, picked up two fouls in as many minutes, and was out for the rest of the game aside from 8 additional and uneventful minutes. Aminu played 37 minutes, put up 13 points on 9 shots, went 7 of 8 from the line, and had 10 rebounds. Confusion.

Robin Lopez is another one. His performance was average, but he’s playing just well enough in preseason to make Hornets fans wonder if his career in Phoenix was the anomaly. Confusion.

Austin Rivers’ ankle injury subsided long enough to allow him to put up a typical performance, then tweak the ankle. What will we see of him in the regular season? Is this is the `real’ Austin Rivers?

Darius Miller continues his silent work, drilling two 3’s and not much else, except an unacceptably large number of turnovers in his 16 minutes of play.

We have yet to see Eric Gordon. If this doesn’t grow the confusion surrounding this team, then I’m not sure what will.

Will Jason Smith play? Confusion.

About the only thing that looks like it may be settled is that Henry and Warrick will be on the market next summer, if not before.

This team was the most interesting in the major American sports. With the new ownership and the immediate crisis averted, the team slowly approached the norm in terms of excitement. At least with all of these injuries and oddities, the Hornets are keeping it at least a little interesting. The entire preseason did nothing but add to the list of confusion.

Enjoy the regular season.

Get some popcorn . . . who knows how this is going to go!

24 Comments

  1. Pingback: Hornets Beat the pre-Heat, Confusion Remains – Hornets247 | Rocking Chairs

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