The Sixers game yesterday marked the halfway point of the season for the Hornets (incidentally, we were the last team in the NBA to play game 41 on the schedule). No better time to try spot some shooting trends via NBA.com’s Hot Spots. If you’re unaware, Hot Spots shows you how teams and players have been shooting from certain spots on the floor. Red is good, blue is bad. You can filter by home/away games, opponent, and other such stuff. I’ve picked out a few charts I found interesting. Here they are:

Team shooting

Last season:

This season:

We’re not shooting as well from the low blocks this season, but we seem to be more efficient from just below the free throw line. We’re shooting more threes from the corners, and less jumpers from just inside the arc.

Devin Brown

This season:

About what you’d expect overall from Devin. If you compare home vs. away though, you’ll find that his shooting is not nearly as atrocious on the road as it is in New Orleans.

Rasual Butler

Last season:

This season:

Rasual’s resurgence is evident in the shot charts. He’s been deadly from the corners.

Antonio Daniels

This season:

Last 10 games:

AD has appeared to be more aggressive lately, getting by his man on the perimeter and letting go of quick jumpers or runners. He doesn’t put up a lot of shots though, so the 10-game sample size may be misleading.

Sean Marks

This season:

Someone tell Sean to stay in the middle of the floor.

Chris Paul

Last season:

This season:

For a little guy he finishes pretty well at the basket, doesn’t he? He’s been pretty shy shooting from the corners this season and last, and his teardrop from just below the foul line seems to be going down nicely this year. He’s not making as many threes, going from .369 last season to .337 so far in this one.

Morris Peterson

This season:

Mo Pete’s been deadly from the corners and he’s finishing around the rim.

James Posey

Last season:

This season:

Quite a difference between New Orleans and Boston for Posey. He’s playing time has increased by almost four minutes a night, and he’s shooting career bests from the field (.469) and from three (.432) while averaging double figures (10.1ppg) for the first time since the 2003-04 season.

Peja Stojakovic

Last season:

This season:

This season vs. Suns (2 games):

Peja doesn’t seem to be firing near as many mid-range jumpers this season. Actually, he’s been getting less shots from almost every spot on the floor. He’s not quite as deadly from the corners as he was last season, and he’s favoring that right wing a lot more. And against Phoenix, he’s just been lighting it up all over the floor.

David West

Last season:

This season:

This season vs. Lakers (3 games):

West is shooting at a .474 clip from the field this season, compared to .482 in 2007-08. Not much of a difference, but from the charts we can see that his 17-footer hasn’t been falling as well this year. Looks like he’s picking up the slack straight below the foul line. And he’s been killing the Lakers in the middle of the floor.

Julian Wright

Last season:

This season:

Struggling to find consistent minutes, JuJu hasn’t been finishing as well at the rim this season, but his mid-range jumper looks to be slightly improved. A small sample size again though.

There’s probably a few more interesting things in there that I’m missing. Check out Hot Spots for yourselves and let us know what you find in the comments.