According to Hornets fans, the sky is falling after Monday night’s loss to the Clippers, but regardless of the impending doom, New Orleans still has a game to play tonight against the Jazz. It wasn’t just Monday’s loss that has Hornets fans worried, as the Hornets were exposed in several areas during their wins last week against Cleveland and Sacramento as well. Despite the 11-2 record, it is apparent that the defense might not be the elite unit their stats portray them to be and the offense is limited in certain areas.
Despite all of that, a win tonight against Utah would go a long way towards solidifying the Hornets as an early season contender in the West. That is going to be easier said than down however as the Jazz have won 6 of the last 7 against New Orleans and generally owned the Hornets since both D Will and CP3 entered the league. While history does not always dictate the future, New Orleans has to be aware that it is Utah’s physicalness and tenacity that has killed them in the past and this Hornets team, more than any other, is built to combat those attributes.
For the first time since they entered the league, it can be argued that CP3 has the deeper and perhaps more talented supporting cast. While Paul Milsap has been a revelation for Utah, Al Jefferson has disappointed so far and Raja Bell and AK47 are on the backside of their careers. CJ Miles is talented, but extremely inconsistent and it would be kind if I were to call the rest of the bench average.
Of course Jerry Sloan still mans the bench and because of that you know that Utah will get the most out of each and every one of its players. Also, you know that this Utah team will never give up, as is evidenced by their five 15+ point second half comebacks already this season.
After Monday’s loss, CP3 was quoted as stating “They say winning cures all. But hopefully, with this loss, we’ll get back to paying attention to what we’ve got to do as a unit defensively.” For Hornets fans ready to press the panic button, let’s just hope CP3 walks out of Utah tonight with that Winning Cure All.
What the Hornets need to do on Offense:
Despite Al Jefferson’s impressive career numbers and Paul Milsap’s breakout season, neither player is known to have a reputation as even an average individual defender. Looking beyond the two starters, the Jazz have Kyrylo Fesenko and Francisco Elson as their backup bigs and neither of those players strike fear into the heart of fellow NBA players. With David West catching fire as of late, averaging 24 PPG over his last three, he will undoubtably be the focal point of the offense tonight. Utah’s best matchup for West, in fact, might be AK47 because his quickness and length could give West problems on the perimeter. However, in those situations where he is on West, expect the Hornets to get the ball to West down low where he can use his strength.
West shouldn’t be the only Hornet who benefits from Utah’s lack of a defensive presence in the interior, as Belinelli and Ariza have proven to be fairly efficient when attacking the rim so far this season. In addition, CP3 should be able to get into the paint and draw defenders, while Willie Green can attack the defense from the wings and corners.
Where Utah has really been exposed, however, is on the boards as their defensive rebounding rate is only 62.74%, which is among the worst in the league. That means that of every five missed shots by an opposing team, Utah only manages to grab a little over 3 of them. While the Hornets are not a good offensive rebounding team, Okafor has been great this year and keeping possessions alive and the combo of West and Jason Smith have been active, averaging nearly 4 offensive rebounds per game combined.
The danger that the Hornets face is relying too much on the inside game and/or David West on isolation plays. While it is tempting to continually pound Utah’s weakness, it limits the involvement that other players have on the game, which is why Utah has been so effective in shutting teams down in the second half. Utah sets a trap where they let you have certain things early, and then when they take them away from you, then you are forced to choose between two options: Be stubborn and keep pounding away against double teams or Give the ball up to cold shooters who weren’t previously involved. It’s quite a brilliant strategy for an undermanned team to be honest, but the Hornets can not fall for Utah’s Rope-A-Dope. They must vary their offense, attack the rim, and keep everyone involved.
What the Hornets Must do on Defense:
It has been no secret that in years past that the Utah Jazz simply outworked and outhustled the Hornets on both ends of the court. They came off the bench with guys like Matt Harpring and Paul Milsap, who just pounded an already tired Hornets team into submission. Their quality of depth was evident and Jerry Sloan’s system allowed the Jazz to slowly pick apart the Hornets to the point where most games weren’t even in reach by the 4th quarter.
The Jazz have lost some of that depth and toughness, with guys like Ronnie Brewer and Matt Harpring leaving town and Paul Milsap forced to become a starter due to the departure of Carlos Boozer. Combine that with Okur’s injury and the addition of Al Jefferson, and the new look Jazz are more of a finesse team that relies on simply outscoring the opposition on any given night.
They still are fairly provicient on the offensive galss, which is surprising considering how poor they are on the defensive glass, but guys like Paul Milsap and Al Jefferson pull down their share of offensive rebounds. Where the Jazz seem to live and die this year is at the three-point line. When they are hitting, they can go off for 120+ points, but when guys like CJ Miles can’t find his stroke, they are an average offensive team at best.
On the season the Jazz are shooting 34% from behind the arc, but in their losses they are shooting under 25% from deep, while they are shooting over 40% in their wins. Guys like CJ Miles and RajaBell have the ability to light it up from three or have terrible shooting nights, and the Hornets defense has to do its best to make sure tonight is the latter.
Of course the Hornets number one focus has to be to stop Utah’s formidable pick and roll combo of Deron Williams and Paul Milsap. In a lot of ways it will be like looking in a mirror for CP3 and David West, with a few slight exceptions. Although Milsap does pop on occassion, he is more likely to roll to the basket than West and Deron is more likely to shoot the ball if defenders go under than Paul. Okafor has to be a presence in the middle and Ariza has to do a much better job of rebounding and boxing out on the weak side if the Hornets are going to walk out of Utah tonight with a win.
Vegas Zone
The Hornets come into the game as underdogs for only the second time in the last eight games, as the Jazz are 4 point favorites at home. Gamblers seem to agree with Vegas as 73% of those voting on the money line are picking Utahdespite the Hornets being +155. When you factor in the spread, however, 79% of gamblers are taking the Hornets +4, so expect that line to move to 3 or 3.5 by game time.
The over/under is 193 and a slight majority is taking the under. I am 1-3 so far this year, so odds say I am due to nail one of these. I will take Utah minus 4 and the under. Sorry to say it Hornets fans (and I am praying I am wrong), but I got Utah 97 Hornets 89.
NBA 2K11 Sim
In retrospect, perhaps I should have posted the 2K sim for the Clippers game since LA did in fact win the match up on Monday night. At the time it seemed more improbable than The Miz winning the WWE Championship, but both happened in a two hour span, so what do I know.
So, here is the sim for tonight’s game. If it goes anything like it does in the sim, then we are sure to be entertained, but might be cranky when we are with our families tomorrow afternoon due to a lack of sleep and the frustration of another close loss.
189 responses to “Game On: Hornets @ Jazz”
Hopefully my boys will show up tonight and play fullheartedly! HORNETS STILL THE BEST! LETS GO! TIME TO TAKEOVER!
I consider this a must win for the Hornets, I think most Hornets fans know why…
Blowout win.
a blowout win would be nice but…it isnt likely. I WISH but…we wont get any blowouts just yet…because if we were going to, it would have or should have happen against the clippers or kings…but…we dont show up like the championship team we are. we only scored 75 on the kings…we can win no doubt…but a blowout isnt gonna happen yet…even though we should be fully capable of doing it.
With focused play for 48 minutes, we’re suited to win this. Nevertheless, Utah is always a tough place to play for any team. The Hornets have done a good job at letting teams come back from double-digit deficits, and the Jazz are great at doing that. SO NO SETBACKS! STAY TOUGH!
I don’t know why people are panicking..I guess it’s because we’re not use to seeing This team lose..But we’re only struggling because CP is struggling..And I know we All have faith in him
interesting preview
I am afraid our Jazz team will have to beat you guys tonight. 🙂
Why must all super-villains of the 60’s and 70’s tell their weaknesses or plans to the hero? Did they not have plot devices in those years, or were all the writers too high to worry about just bashing people about the head with the story?
Oh well, onto the game. We should win if we have a plan for the zone. If not, come the third quarter, Grand Papa Sloan will whip that bad boy out on the Hornets like Tony Montana does a M16 w/M203 grenade launcher.
That is all, Back to Call of Duty Black Ops. LOL
For the first time I can remember, we are getting a day of rest prior to the Utah game. Every other time we were traveling from LA or Portland after playing a really tough game the night before. That ought to help the Hornets.
I hope we activate Aaron Gray soon to combat the physical play. Let’s go BIG!
The Hornets need to REBOUND. REBOUND AND STICK TO YOUR DEFENSE. Don’t just talk about hanging your hats on defense, do it. The Jazz fans have been complaining about their team not rebounding. Well if they aren’t going to rebound the Hornets need to capitalize on it. And yeah, Gray may need to be activated in case the Jazz decide to play Fesenko. Hornets will need to do something to combat Fesenko’s size.
GEAUX HORNETS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
3>8
Shame on me for taking this long to watch, but I can’t believe I just got a WWE Spoiler from Hornets247.
Yeah, Chris, I’m one PPV behind . . . just did Bragging Rights. I knew it was coming, the win, but not win.
Same boat as you, my friend. I hope to do Survivior Series this Sunday, taking advantage of what is apparently being called Saintsgiving.
It’s not for nothing, by the way. Michael made a very apt APA reference the other nice. Good times.
Also, don’t be a stranger when you come to town, if for no other reason I’m likely able to hand you free tickets: one for you, one for Boss Coyote.
Sorry guys- I didn’t spoil the PPV, I promise. Just the Raw afterward, but it was obvious.
My bad- I forgot that people fall behind on their soaps… err I mean wrestling.
No problem, it happens.
I’m the bad person here, not you.
Oh no, I am confused! Reveal yourself!
Ha. This is fun.
I saw you do more improv at Le Chat than any other person not in the troupes.
Think “Math” . . . .
I thought it was you! Also hoping it was you! Still the same phone number? Counting the days til I’m a season ticket holder myself!
Yup. I lost all my contacts in an update-gone-wrong. Ball’s in your court.
TNA > WWE by a mile.
Oh and sorry about you going 1-4 and losing more money MM.
I used to keep up some, but now it’s just too hard. WCW all over, same folks, same mistakes.
TNA hasn’t been good since 2006 and right before Hogan got there. Since Hogan and Bischoff showed up it’s a mess and I gave up on it a while ago.
Yep, too bad WWE is full of kiddy storylines and uses a development process that is beyond control. How many months of Nexus do we have to endure? They have barely wrestled in at least 4+ months of watching them cheat in every important match. WWE is predictable and the “Attitude Era” officially ended with the departure of Michaels, HHH, and Batista. Sorry, but TNA is the closest you will get to adult entertainment in the wrestling world and their tag team wrestling is light years beyond the WWE. Sorry, but WWE is the brand name and that doesn’t justify how Vince McMahon sold out his fan base in order for even more money from the 10 and under bracket (and their parents obviously). His greed has severely watered down his product.
I do agree, however, that TNA is making the same exact mistake that WCW did and they don’t even have the charismatic Wolfpack to keep things interesting at the moment. Regardless, it is still world’s beyond where the WWE currently sits.
Honestly for whatever reason, ever since HBK retired WWE has gotten a lot worse from what I saw. Don’t know how much influence he had backstage but it’s just not the same quality; too kiddy and goofy. I stopped watching after Danielson (Bryan Daniel) got fired and stuck with MMA.
He’s back. He got in trouble for improving something that a little too `Benoit’ on camera . . .
The reliable insiders said they were knowing entering a phase of character development and expected problems that would last about a year . . . a year and a half ago. All the criticism is valid, I just don’t respect most of what TNA does. Most. I go see them live when they come to town (BR usually). Their high end is quite high, after all, and they actually treat their ladies better. The low end, however . . . is just abysmal, pun intended.
I am watching the other Hornets team right now. Lol! The Raptors.
I can’t find this one on my DirecTV, but anyway I’m going to church w/friends. Among many things, I’ll be praying for a righteous beatdown of the Jazz and all their Satanic worshiping fans.
Cheers
Assuming you mean Satan worshiping instead of Satanic worshiping and that you are referring to Mormons: Cease with the hatespeak. There is no need to denigrate an entire group of people in a way that does nothing but expose that you know little to no real information about them.
Some info for those who do not know but care to know:
2% of the US citizens are Mormon, and a bit over half of Utah is. So many natural Jazz fans are Christians.
Moreover, the largest group is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. See, they like Jesus.
They respect the divinity of Jesus Christ and accept the many books of the Christian Bible as holy books that are central to their faith, adding to them the Book of Mormon as a third testament. Not all Christians agree on which books of the Bible, or which translations, have Bible membership. The is largely dependent upon the sect, with Catholics differing from most protestants.
Mormons do not worship Satan.
For some light, unbiased info to start anyone interest off: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mormon
I shudder to think what informed fans would think of this blog if this comment went unchecked.
Can’t we just call the team ugly and make fun of Deron’s beard and his weird hair bump like civilized fans?
Some Disclosure: I am not a Mormon.
As a Jazz fan I think Williams neck beard should be given preference…
Ha!
Good man!
This a real test for the Hornets tonight. I’m interested to see who Monty puts on D Will and hope its Bellinelli so we can see if his defense is for real. Utah’s a tough team and really tough to play in their own building. Hopefully we come out a little hungrier than the previous two games against the Kings and Clippers, that last a loss to a bad team, with a star rookie in Griffin, but not much as far as the team concept goes. With that said, CP knows what time it is and will be ready since he’s buddies with Deron. Let’s go Hornets!
Offense and defense require excellent TEAM execution. That’ what we should be looking for. The interior defense in particular has to toughen. When the Clippers can pummel us inside, we need work.
Marcus Banks will not be a Hornet and David Andersen has been detained for Visa problems…
http://www.nola.com/hornets/index.ssf/2010/11/newly_acquired_g_marcus_banks.html
I read about Banks. Why would we release him if we could’ve used him as a small trade chip? Or does getting the 9.7 TPE make him useless?
Let’s go Thornton!
Interesting news… anyone know the inactive list for tonight? Curious if they activated Gray or not.
“#hornets inactives tonight are Andersen, Banks, and Mensah-Bonsu”
Thanks!
Belinelli needs to knock down those wide open looks.
Stay on Millsap.
I’d like to see everyone’s opinion on West playing in the paint. His jumper is so effective especially with the pick and pop it bugs me when he abandons it to try and play the post.
Both offenses are clicking right now.
Come on Emeka.
Is Al Jefferson going to Deron Williams’ barber?
Ha! Tech on Bell. I was just getting ready to post keep an eye on Raja Bell.
Come on Hornets. You’ve got to want that rebound. What does Gerry V say? The game is won when the ball is in the air.
Offensive foul on Emeka. Is he the only Hornet that hasn’t thawed out yet? LOL.
Why did ariza avoid the contact on that if he would have gone straight up he likely could have gotten to the line
Listen at the fans. Trying to sway the refs already. LOL.
Wow, not sure if it’s the camera angle but looked like green could have easily hit Ariza on the break
Quincy gets some PT.
Come on Mbenga.
OMG! Here comes Gray! LOL.
GRAY MONSTER!
Gray gets some PT too.
Nice shot Willie. That ball tried it’s best to come out. LOL.
AG!!
I would like to see Marcus Thorton come off the bench and do like Devin Brown did. Drop 30. LOL.
They done let these asses take the one point lead to end the 1st.
This is not college Quincy
It would be nice if our starting center joined the team in a positive way tonight.
Agree he wrapped up his head…
Our offense has seemed to pick up some this game gotta lock down more on D giving up 31 in a quarter is not ideal…
Offensive foul on Quincy.
Thornton checking in.
I’ve been telling people Utah’s defense is better when Deron is on the bench. We’re seeing it already in the beginning of this 2nd quarter.
And the Hornets currently have 8PFs compared to Utah’s 4.
****!
Hornets have been stuck on 30. Great.
According to Utah broadcast we have Pargo on the court….
lol on Utah’s on the floor list for the Hornets they listed Pargo.
Bench’s defense has sucked.
That should be a flagrant on Fesenko but I’ll bet they won’t give him one.
Agreed he wrapped up his head
What are they booing for
What the eff are the fans booing for? Dumb asses.
Fesenko you’re a b*tch
And now Thornton called with an offensive foul. Don’t try to do too much Buckets. Settle down.
Hornets down 10 now. Timeout.
Utah is making everything..this won’t last all game
i dont understand why green brings the ball up… i thought thats why we got jack.
Bench can’t play defense at all. Slow as hell.
Paul, Jack, Belinelli, Smith and Gray on the court.
Every time the whistle blows it’s against the Hornets.
Some of these Fouls are bad Calls…..
Well, at least we can say Marcus isn’t avoiding contact. These Jazz fans are annoying.
And just as I say that they call an offensive foul on Miles.
Hornets are giving up too many 3’s already.
Chris is not rotating on D and is blaming everyone else around him.
Anyone ever see that episode of Martin when Martin has a boxing match with Tommy Hearns? Remember how Martin’s head ended up? That’s how Earl Watson’s head looks. LMAO.
BWAHAHAH LMFAO >>>>>>>>>DEAD
ROFLMAO! You must know what I’m talking about Forever504!!
that episode came on tv one like 3 night ago
Aww come on Belinelli! If you’re going to steal the ball, steal it. Dumb foul.
So is that 3 fouls on Emeka now?
Mek is too strong for his own good
wow Mek
Offense is getting stagnant
these refs suck, anytime the jazz get touched in the paint its a foul. with that said the hornets D has sucked just as equally
i want to kick all on-court players in the balls.
not a very hot performance right now.. what is going on? too many fouls and too many sloppy plays fml
51 points with 5 minutes to go for the half. great
I’m surprised they called that Kirilenko over the back.
Hornets need to play like they want to win. I can go finish cooking my dinner if they are going to suck tonight.
Tell those fans to st*u. LOL.
Shut the hell up Licht. He’s mentioning how no one has missed a ft yet.
Yea it seems like every night we’re playing the refs….But it’s cool..Treys Belinelli!!
Thanks for making that Marco!
Am I seeing CP get into the paint? I thought he wasn’t doing that this season.
Now it’s all he does . . . right?
Late ass whistle for Mbenga but I’m glad they called it. Refs need to stop being scared of Utah fans.
Yeah first miss Licht. Cuz you jinxed us clown.
Are our centers Afraid of heights??..Just asking cause these idiots never DUNK the damn Ball
Emeka will dunk it but he can’t seem to stay on the floor tonight. Hornets bigs need to have it on their mind to jam that damn ball. To hell with finesse.
Now Beli misses a ft. Thanks Licht.
Shot clock violation on Jazz. LET’S GEAUX HORNETS!!!!!!
You can’t give Deron Williams that much room. I mean come on now.
Williams vs Paul is beautiful to watch. I want Paul to be even more aggressive 2nd half. He’s too quick for Deron.
Well, as Mr. McNamara pointed out in the pre-game, the Jazz can put up 120+ when they have it going. Tonight seems to be a night when they have it going…
Hopefully it’ll leave them in the 2nd half. LOL! Probably not though.
We are in dire need of a 3rd scorer
That could/should be Thornton.
Aside from our defensive slippage the last couple of games it seems our bench has finally come back down to earth. Smith and Greene are no longer burying shots at the ridiculous rate they were early, meanwhile Jack’s still getting oriented. The all around defense for the second unit seems to be a step slow and a little on the lax side.
I think we are seeing a bigger fall off these last set of games when our bench comes in than we were early in the season, and thats getting us into some trouble. Hopefully once Jack settles in, some structure can come to the second unit, cause right now they seem a bit scattered and everyone’s trying to make something happen.
Hornets need to knock down shots. Get to the rim. Play defense. Rebound. Want it.
I’d love it if AK kept this up… eating up the Jazz’s possessions and blowing it mightily.
No kidding.
When Chris drops it off to West he’s in a position to just shoot it. But he waits for a man to quickly close out on him. That will most times always end up in a miss.
That is bull.
AND 1!!! Please Trevor, make your ft dude.
That would have been big if marco could have connected on that.
I forgot I’m behind on my DVR. LOL! Let me catch up.
Leaving points at the line. SMH.
C’mon West
That’s not working Emeka. Can Emeka post up to get deeper in there?
Apparently the Jazz have an official chaplain. BAHAHAHA
I don’t normally root for OKC but I did tonight and they let me down. SMH.
Dumb, dumb turnover.
Ariza’s letting me down…
We really look terrible.
3 FREE THROWS? ARE YOU F*CKING KIDDING ME? HE WASN’T EVEN SHOOTING
That’s home cooking right there, so uncool
I’m sorry but that’s a terrible call to give him 3 shots
Seriously, how is that in the act of shooting? Terrible officiating tonight.
Those refs know damn well Deron wasn’t shooting. LOL.
Ariza should look to do that all damn night.
Terrible terrible defense
I knew it. I knew it. I knew it. As soon as Licht said CP didn’t have any turnovers, he gets bumped alongside the baseline and to avoid going out of bounds with the ball, he tries to pass it and turns it over. That’s another reason I like to keep my tv on mute. LOL.
Wow, we really struggle with this team. Playing pretty sloppy tonight. Too many dumb turnovers, poor shot selection, and shotty defense. With that said the Jazz are playing amazing. Smart of them to add Jefferson after losing Boozer?
later y’all after that 3 ft play i’m done with this game, team is playing like spit and the refs are only making it worse. at to that i hate the jazz more than any other team. have a good night and happy thanksgiving
I hate Dallas.
Where’s the defense? For a team that prides itself on defense, the past 2 games ours has looked awful.
Thats how u beat Utah, Rebounding!
Hornets never win in Utah. When Devin Brown dropped 30 in there that was an anomaly. LOL. I’m going cook.
whats with all the 3s ariza
I think everyone should start dogging Smith again like the very beginning of the season. Set a fire under him again… Hey it worked last time…
Marcus’s Defense looks impoved.
*improved
Let’s go 2nd Unit!!
WE NEED ANOTHER BIG MAN
the bench looks like they have never played together before
Sorry to say this but the HORNETS BENCH SUCKS!!!
Marcus Thornton is TRASH! Missing Shots … got broke off by Deron Williams.
Is their any more discussion as to why he does not play?
L_Reazy
they ALL missed shots and even chris cant shut deron down
It’s not like Williams is some scrub he’s crossed up plenty of guys with that crossover
I miss Tyson. A lot.
We didn’t beat the Jazz when Tyson was here either. LOL!!
Just checking in and see Emeka getting his ish knocked away because he’s going up so effing weak. Still not missing anything. Let me go finish my stuffing. LOL.
if the starters was still in in the second quarter we would of been up
I miss Dwest. A lot. Oh wait he’s still on the team… and playing tonight?
Our BIGS never do well against Utah man! It’s starting to really piss me off. Maybe David West is part of the problem. How many rebounds does he have? 5?
Get tough … DAMN!!!
L_Reazy
Oh and every team in the SW division gets a W tonight except the Hornets. So sad. SMH.
You need to play man to man defense against the Jazz. Look how much contact West had to endure before they blew that whistle. GTFO. Happy Thanksgiving Hornets fans. Talk to you all on Friday.
Wests gotta stop bringing the ball so low with as much help as they are bringing
The hornets just staright up got they’re asses handed to them
And I’m done with this game…
I turned off my stream. This is embarrassing. Happy Thanksgiving Hornets fans. Good night.
Just not pretty tonight.
Well I can’t watch anymore
not watchin anymore… the sky IS falling
Yeah, Chris Paul is getting tired of losing to these kind of teams … this is frustrating … it’s only a matter of time before he ….. !
It’s not about the good record … he wants to beat these elite teams!
…so we got the Blazers, Spurs, & Thunder next … it was fun while it lasted. I hope I am wrong. 11-3 and counting … Ws or Ls?
L_Reazy
I don’t get why Willie was/is still handling the ball. Give the ball to Jack, darn it.
Ever since the bench fell behind in the 2nd quarter, we couldn’t catch back up. Is it really that hard to catch a pass and shot the ball? Honestly, why should CP3 have to work so hard to find them open shots, just for them to dribble into a defender and throw up a ridiculous shot? -_-
Side note: Trevor did a pretty good job defending (AK47 was 0-6).
its just 3 Ls just look at some of the teams we have already beaten. It was just a BAD night for everybody
One more thing … please stop hyping up Marcus Thornton … PLEASE! If he was going to prove something he would have done it against the Clippers and Jazz … I’m done waiting for this dude.
The team is struggling for points … which means … perfect time for him to take over like last year … am I right about that? That’s what I keep reading right? If we’re struggling for points how come Monty doesn’t put ‘Buckets’ in? Trade this dude ASAP … Please Dell! I’m frustrated!
L_Reazy
he didnt play against the clippers
L_Reazy: When you say please stop, it frustrates me just the same as when other folks claim that Marcus would have magically sunk some important, momentum-swinging bucket.
Point to things; it will help. Offensive fouls. You could point to him zigging when Green thought he was zagging, but that could be a function of limited minutes and not a lack of ability+brains.
He had a couple of nice hustle plays: trying to scoop up a loose ball, saving a bounding-out-of-bounds-ball. He also got to the line.
He did seem like he may have been hogging the ball.
Byron said championship teams don’t lose 3 in a row. Right or wrong, let’s follow Byron’s lead on this one . . . .
I’m not terribly worried. Not only do these things happen inevitably, but we’ve got new bench pieces we’re working in. It’s also our worst road trip of the season.
I’m not happy, but I don’t see this as a predictor of how we’ll do in most games.
I hesitate to say we don’t match up will since we’ve turned the team over since our last game against them, but I tell you their assist total is what is jumping out at me.
Gray seemed to be about the same: a third stringer.
Marcus’ D seemed to be improved, as noted above, but those turnover via foul were killer. At least the dude his getting time. I’m behind you, buddy.
I’ll play Devil’s Advocate:
The Mavs, Kings, Clippers, and Jazz exposed something significant about the Hornets. Even though we play lockdown defense at times we still lack toughness inside yawl. Its sad but true!
Get Samuel Dalembert!
L_Reazy
Agree. Okafor has more good games than bad, but we really need a back-up center with some toughness!!!
Agreed. Aaron Gray’s numbers are a joke.
It’s true. You got it. We’ll get there. We don’t have to be there now, right? We just can’t slam the door on the playoffs while we are getting right.
Just heared Gil said against a system like Utah the Hornets have to do a much better job defensively. I agree with that.
As for Marcus, he’s a shooter. Shooters are streaky. He has to find a rhythm. I would imagine that is hard to do when your PT is also streaky. He can get to the rim but tonight he appeared to be trying to do too much. I think he ended up with at least 2 offensive fouls. He probably wants to make so sure he plays well, that he’s messing up.
I agree with peronas. West has to stop bringing the ball so low when they’re coming at him like that. All they want to do is slap and hack the ball away from you. And they succeed at that. If we were slapping and hacking, the whistles would be blown out of the building and into the slushy snow.
I should’ve figured that all of these articles on how happy CP3 is would jinx us. Now we’re losing.
Pish-posh, pish posh.
The Heat lost tonight, which means no losses count tonight, right?
’42’ … we are a playoff team. I know that. I felt that way even when we were 1-7 in the preseason. I want more though, and we can get more than just playoffs if we get rid of a few loose ends.
David West, Thornton, Green, J. Smith, Okafor, Ariza, and Belinelli made Chris Paul look like the 2nd best PG in the NBA tonight. Deron William’s team is just better … so it’s easy for him to rack up assist and have a good game. The league doesn’t see it that way. They believe Williams is better by way of stats.
I’m not suggesting we get rid of all of the names that I mentioned, but they have to be ‘MONSTERS’ when they play these Elite teams. I’m tired of people saying our record is a fluke … but … we proved them right tonight! I hate proving others right when I truly believe they aren’t. Chris Paul still has to work too damn hard against the Jazz, and maybe even the Lakers, Celtics, and Magic still!
I’m frustrated because I see something in this team … they can go deep into the playoffs if they were a ‘wee-bit’ tougher. David West gets killed by tougher players all the time, and I’m tired of seeing that. I thought it would be different this year, but he is still soft … to a degree … and that degree is the Elite Teams!
Maybe I’m overreacting about Marcus Thornton … but atleast stop calling him ‘Buckets’ … see, that’s just plain-old irritating … especially when he doesn’t hit any.
L_Reazy
I think we’re on the same page about the team.
There’s are a couple of threads in the forum you may enjoy that are focused on these issues. You may find them more satisfying since they are dedicated to a topic, so the discussion won’t be strewn throughout various game day threads here in the posts.
Some girl who’s hot for Thorton came up with the Buckets nickname. Definitely wasn’t my first choice, and with the way he’s playing now, he wouldn’t be my third.