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The Missing Piece: For What They’re Worth
When the topic of free agency comes up, the conversation always finds its way to the price tag, (i.e.) – How much would you pay this guy? What is he worth? How much will other teams offer? If you like a guy, you don’t want to underpay and risk losing him to someone else, but […]
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The Missing Piece: Waiting for 2014
It has been assumed for the past couple of months that the Hornets would make a large splash either in Free Agency or via Trade sometime between now and August, resulting in us acquiring the ‘Missing Piece’ and moving forward with a complete, dangerous team. But the purpose of this year long series is to […]
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Game On: Hornets @ Jazz
Keys to Victory 1. Control the Defensive Boards The Jazz front line does a fantastic job of getting their guards more shots to miss by crashing the offensive glass on every possession. As of right now, they rebound 3 out of every 10 misses and they average one point per possession off those second chance […]
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Second Unit Lays an Egg as Hornets Fall to Lakers
The NBATV’s Fan Choice Game of the Week had plenty of star power on display. From Kobe, Dwight, Nash, and Pau Gasol on the Lakers to Eric Gordon and the #1 pick Anthony Davis for New Orleans, there were no shortage of potential game changers. But the game wasn’t decided by any of those individuals. […]
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Game On: Hornets @ Lakers
Back on December 5th, the Lakers came into New Orleans and handled the Hornets rather easily, winning 103-87. A lot has changed since then. Most notably, Eric Gordon is back for the Hornets and the Lakers have returned to full health as well (both Nash and Gasol missed the previous game). The Lakers have won […]
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The Missing Piece: Re-Handicapping the Field
Our first ‘Missing Piece’ of the season introduced all of our possible options and handicapped the field, so now that we are halfway through the season, I felt it was right to revisit and re-handicap the field. Things are a little more complicated this time around, but in a good way. At the beginning of […]
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Game On: Warriors @ Hornets
The Hornets come into this game with a fully healthy squad, having won six of their last seven while Golden State will likely be without starting point guard Stephen Curry (edit: Curry has been upgraded to probable) and have lost five of their last six. Add the fact that this will be Golden State’s third […]
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The Missing Piece: International Imports
I hate not knowing. Hate it. I pride myself on knowing every side of the argument, researching every possible solution and then moving forward with well-thought out forecasts and solutions that have a foundation of probability, or at the very least, extreme possibility. In my Missing Piece last week, I laid out the different college […]
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The Missing Piece: Draft Tiers
In the last few pieces we have focused on veterans who could step in right away, take the Hornets to another level, and save Monty the frustration of having to introduce teenagers to the fundamental parts of the game and the NBA lifestyle. Monty has stated in the past that he would prefer to coach […]
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Hornets Overcome Sluggish Start to Defeat Timberwolves 104-92
By the time the first quarter had come to an end, all you had to do was peak at the box score to understand Monty’s sense of desperation. The Hornets appeared sluggish on both ends of the court and coach Williams was left with no other choice than to try anybody and everybody. And I […]
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The Missing Piece: Plugging in Rudy Gay
Just last week, Ryan Schwan stated that this weekly feature is one of his favorite reads on the site. I set out to change that today by taking time to project how our future would look if we inserted Rudy Gay into our small forward spot. According to recent rumors, the Grizzlies are listening to […]
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The Missing Piece: Finding the Perfect Small Forward
Earlier this week, Mason and I projected how Eric Gordon’s return would impact this team, and those numbers give Hornets fans plenty of reason to be optimistic moving forward. If Monty makes Gordon the primary ball handler in the pick and roll, both Vasquez and Anderson figure to become more efficient and the Hornets offense […]
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Making the Transition: Is Austin Rivers Really the Worst?
(By Michael McNamara and Jason Calmes) Just yesterday, ESPN Insider ran a story that set out to answer one simple question- Is Austin Rivers Having the Worst Season Ever? For those without Insider access or who simply lack the desire to read another anti-Rivers column, the author (Kevin Pelton) uses a player metric that he […]
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Back Home for the Holidays: Projecting the Return of Eric Gordon
In a two-part series by Michael McNamara and Mason Ginsberg, we take a look at how Eric Gordon’s return could impact both individually players and the team as a whole. Part One focuses on his impact on the offensive end, while Part Two will dive into the impact he could have on the defensive end. […]
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Hornets Blow 22 Point Lead, Extend Losing Streak to 11
With 57 seconds left in the second quarter, Robin Lopez’s dunk gave the Hornets a 46-24 lead. It looked like it was all but certain that the ten-game losing streak would be snapped, the only question was how much the Hornets would win by on this final game before Christmas. By the end of the […]
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Game On: Pacers @ Hornets
Last time these two teams met, the Hornets suffered a heartbreaking loss in overtime, as Paul George sank nine 3’s to lead Indiana to a 115-107 victory. The Hornets were on a four game losing streak at the time and seemed to have the game in hand with about four minutes left in the 4th, […]
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The Missing Piece: Gauging the Value of our First Rounder
The New Orleans Hornets currently have a record of 5-21 and if the NBA lottery were to be held tonight, they would have a 15.6% chance at the #1 overall pick and a 47% shot at a top three pick. But what is a pick like that worth just a third of the way through […]
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Hornets Forget to Bring their Offense to LA, Fall to Clippers
Just one night removed from some exciting basketball that saw this Hornets offense seemingly take a step towards respectability, they managed to have a game where they took an even larger leap back. Robin Lopez and Anthony Davis punished the Clippers inside during stretches, but the perimeter players couldn’t seem to get out of their […]
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Game On: Hornets @ Clippers
The last time these two teams got together, a three-point contest broke out in the middle of an NBA game, and thanks to Ryan Anderson and Greivis Vasquez, the Hornets pulled out a thrilling victory. Can it happen again? Well, let’s take a look at how the Hornets can win this game. Keys to the […]
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Hornets Comeback Bid Falls Short in Loss to Warriors
Yet again, the energy was there from this young team on the road and after Anthony Davis sunk a free throw to tie the game at 92 with 4:07 left, you had the feeling that they were going to snap their seven-game losing streak. But it wasn’t to be. The Warriors controlled the boards late […]