Matchup: Bobcats (6-11) @ Hornets (12-5)
Off Efficiency: Hornets 103.6(15th), Bobcats 103.8 (14th)
Def Efficiency: Hornets 99.2(3rd), Bobcats 104.4 (15th)
Thanks to the amazing Dariusz Ejkiewicz for the Game Day Banner.
The Hornets look to end a two game slide (their longest of the year) tonight against the Charlotte Bobcats. After winning 11 of their first 12 games the Hornets have now lost 4 out of 5.They are also coming off their only home loss of the year, a 109-95 loss to the current best in the NBA, the San Antonio Spurs.
Consider that slump over after tonight. The Hornets are going to beat the Charlotte Bobcats, and they are going to do so handily. I’ve yet to recap a loss this season, and there’s no chance that the Bobcats take this one down. NO CHANCE!!!!
For one thing, Stephen Jackson has been suspended, and his 27.5 points per game last year against New Orleans will be on the bench alongside him. He’s averaging 18-4-4 with 1.4 steals on the year so that’s a big loss for Charlotte. He, along with DJ Augustin, have been the best players on the Bobcats this year. Even with Jackson penciled in to play, I had a hard time envisioning the Bobcats pulling this one out, so you can imagine my optimism now that he’s going to be unavailable.
Charlotte takes nearly a third of their shots inside, so it’s important for New Orleans (specifically Emeka Okafor and David West) to play tough. The Hornets perimeter defense should limit the opportunities that the Bobcats have to drive, but they should still get their shots. Fortunately the physical match-ups all go in the Hornets favor, and West and Okafor should get a good number of opportunities to alter shots inside.
I want to see this again-
Injuries:
Hornets: None
Bobcats: Wallace (elbow) was limited during Monday’s practice, but said that he will be ready to play Wednesday, the Bobcats’ team website reports.
New Orleans Inactives: Pops, Aaron Gray, Marcus Banks
Charlotte Inactives: Diop, Henderson, Najera
Positional Analysis
PG: Chris Paul v DJ Augustin
Advantage: Hornets.
Yes, DJ is having his best year ever. And yes, Chris Paul seems to be a bit off his game in recent days. That doesn’t matter. One guy is Chris Paul and the other is DJ Augustin. Enough said.
SG: Marco Belinelli v Dominic McGuire
Advantage: Hornets
If Stephen Jackson is in there, this goes the other way. Despite McGuire having a nice game last time out, I wouldn’t expect him to top Belinelli’s performance.
SF: Trevor Ariza v Gerald Wallace
Advantage: Bobcats
Although similar in size and specific skills, Gerald Wallace is a cut above Ariza offensively and on the boards. Even though Ariza has the edge on the defensive end, there isn’t a small forward in the game today that possess the rebounding skills of Gerald Wallace. The Hornets have been getting killed on the boards is recent weeks (and in crunch time), so Trevor’s ability to keep Wallace of the glass could be huge. Oddly enough, that might just be his number one priority heading into the game.
PF: David West v Boris Diaw
Advantage: Hornets
Diaw is an excellent match up for West. Although he’s athletic and a good defender, he’s smaller than West and doesn’t have the physical ability to check him on defense inside. Expect a big night out of West, and again the Hornets should be looking to him right after the opening tip.
C: Emeka Okafor v Nazr Mohammad
Advantage: Hornets
Okafor has been playing very, very well, and Mohammad is an undersized center who isn’t athletic. Physically it’s a prime match up for Emeka. Although Okafor won’t do too much damage since Nazr is a decent interior defender and Okafor has no outside game, he’s still the clear cut winner in this battle both offensively and defensively. On the boards they are about even, but that’s not enough to keep this one close.
Bench
Bobcats: Tyrus Thomas, Livingston, Derrick Bron
Hornets: Jason Smith, Jarrett Jack, Willie Green, Marcus Thornton, Pondexter, Pops, Mbenga
Advantage: Hornets
An already weak bench gets depleted even further due to the suspension of Jackson, and Jarret Jack has been a Bobcat killer in recent years. Those two things combine to give the edge to New Orleans.
So looking at everything, I’m sure you understand my optimism. And if the on-court advantages aren’t enough, just remember- I’m doing the recap, and feeling lucky.
Vegas Zone-
Points- Hornets are favored by 8 currently (12:00 CT) and 62% of bettors are taking Charlotte.
Money line- They are going off at -360, or you can take the Bobcats at +300.
Over/under- 186.5, with 90% of bettors going with the under. I find this strange.
Notes From the Arena (or maybe beforehand)-
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This game features three of the most durable players in the league. Jarrett Jack, Boris Diaw and Emeka Okafor are third, fourth and fifth in the league in most consecutive games played. Each one has at least 274 straight game appearances
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Bobcats television analyst Dell Curry hasn’t played for the Hornets in ages, but he still owns a ton of team records. Among them, most seasons (10), games (701) and points (9,839 – a good 2,000 ahead of David Wesley).
- Paul ranks first in the NBA in steals, second in assists, third in assist to turnover ratio, and ninth in free throw percentage.
- The Hornets are first in the NBA for fewest points allowed by an opponent this season (92.4). Last season they were over 10 points worse (102.7)
Also, check out all the new Journal posts by 42- Through 17 games…, and Agent Ziko, who has some stats and thoughts on Chris Paul.
Update– Joe will be on ESPN’s Daily Dime Chat throughout the game, so come over and represent the Hornets fan base.
63 responses to “Game On: Bobcats @ Hornets”
Can we get Marcus to dunk on Wallace again?
Oh, and by dunk, I mean emasculate publicly.
it’s in the preview now.
Is ‘dunk’ code word for playing time?
That too!
My BOLD prediction…
Marcus drops 10+ and gets on espn top 10
Yeah this should definitely be a win.
Also, for the Injuries section, you have us playing the Mavs. Good thing we aren’t.
And of course it has just been changed as I reply.
Can’t wait for the game!
Josh (Columbus, OH)
if you could construct a “Big 3” from any three players in the league right now, ignoring cap restrictions, who would it be?
Chad Ford (1:34 PM)
Dwight Howard, Chris Paul and Kevin Durant. Unstoppable.
Unstoppable. LOL.
A 1,3,5 combination. That’s how I would do it.
RM: Pops and a combination of any other 2 players. LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!
Well Done.
So True.
Pops, Deng, Gordon.
Brit Power.
Your the most loyal person I’ve ever known RM. Wish more fans were like you…
Pops, Pops, and Pops. I spit hot fire.
I agree. I loving rm’s passion.
Let’s hope that I can be rewarded with some minutes and a performance.
Doubt it but I live in hope.
no luck. He’s inactive.
Will there be a David Anderson sighting tonight? I would love to see what he can do in a game…gotta be an upgrade over DJ. Tonight might be a perfect time.
edbballin504 is on a roll. I’m totally with you.
I don’t think he’s an upgrade over DJ. Anderson has the reputation for being soft, and a bad rebounder. DJ is a good defensive player and can bang a little. He might be the best backup center the Hornets have had in a while… Oh wait, Sean Marks would have been an all-star if he stayed healthy, my bad. David Anderson, welcome to the ranks of Hilton Armstrong, Melvin Ely, and Aaron Grey. As far as I can tell, from reading stuff online, Anderson and Smith have similar games; Decent mid-range shot, good length, not much else. I do like Smith’s hustle, I think he earns his minutes.
isnt wallace injured or questionable?
He said he’s going to play. I’ll get an update from the Arena later on.
Charlotte Bobcats without Stephen Jackson. Ok .. If the Hornets lose this game tonight … huuuummm … it is better to go on vacation soon …
I once had a good pizza in Charlotte and all the buildings had crowns on them so I feel pretty good about this being a win for Nola.
Looks to be the last game I can attend before we have the new stinger in the house.
42 is a great name . . .
A little hornet? Congrats.
hewho, wave if you see a Dead member around the Arena . . .
Another member to fill seats at the hive.
Congrats!
Looking forward to see Nazr verse Emeka- Joe has it as an advantage, but I dont necessarily agree. I think they will play each other pretty even. Would love to see Nazr here by February
“Curous scheduling quirk: officiating crew chief Derrick Collins and #Bobcats PG D.J. Augustin both attended Bro. Martin HS in NO. #Hornets
6 minutes ago via web”
I will be in attendance and if anything looks funny I will be yelling my head off. LOL!
David Anderson is in the house and active. He’s warming up right now.
I’m estimating attendance right now at 2,500.
Not a joke. It’s about to be tip off. And the worst part is that there isn’t really a line outside.
Very sad.
Today is World AIDS Day and I’m off to church. Among many things, I will be praying for a righteous win over Team Jordan, as I’ll wearing my new Jordans. 🙂
I thought I heard a Marco Polo inspired flourish after his score.
We’re over 2,500 in the house (I sit higher than Joe) but it’s light. 11k as the attendance number.
Delay of game was junk.
Okafor hesitated again.
that was also 11 minutes later.
Yeah, running update on the crowd.
Side note: I saw Stone Temple Pilots a few weeks ago. There were under 500 people in the River Center in BR for the opener. Looked bad bad bad. Picked up for the next ans decent for STP.
Yeh Ariza finally found the mark! Yea the arena looks scarce on TV since you only see the lower bowl…
I hope someone on Charlotte gives West a hard foul to wake him up. I have yet to see him look this disinterested in a game so far this year. CP3 is gonna get all up in his *** if he keeps this up.
Willie Green takes some BADDDD shots. Dude is a ball hog!
Man whats wrong with Jack??? He got me over here laughing. Im kinda glad I gave my tickets away tonight. This game is rough on the eyes. lol
Smith is getting good looks finally. He’s on pace.
Jack needs to pass more.
8 points in 8 minutes for us. 15 for them.
I know Monty preaches D and Im fine with that, but our offense is horrible. Maybe we just dont have the talent for offense, but whatever the case, what do you guys think can be done to improve in this area?
So many things…..
First, Ariza has to know his role. He needs to be Lakers Ariza and not have moments of Rockets Ariza. You are a spot up shooter and slasher- that’s it and that’s all.
Marco needs to put the ball on the deck more and create when people run at him. He is so successful when he pump fakes- either drawing fouls or getting more open looks for others.
If West ever would beat his man up court on offense, it helps space the floor. Guards have to react to that and that would create openings.
West also needs to learn how to pass out of the double team and occassionally roll on the pick and roll instead of always popping.
Just think of it from the defenses point of view- you ALWAYS know what these guys are gonna do. Think how hard it is to defend a team when anything is possible. More off ball movement, more creativity, and a little randomness- none of those things have anything to do with talent. They are all possible with the guys we have.
I agree with all that Mike.
To add to it, let me say I really hate it when one of our guys breaks the D down..using alot of effort and energy. He then kicks it to an open teammate that catches the ball and holds it, or doesnt know what to do right away. The D then gets to set back up. To me that cancels out the whole breakdown that just happened to the defense. It’s extremely frustrating. We need more of a sense of urgency on offense.
Nice take by Okafor
Yup. Marco Polo in call-and-response fashion.
Nice! I could hear the marco on the broadcast but couldn’t tell if anyone responded lol.
Crowd popped for Marcus.
We should not be losing this game so far. I hope there’s more effort in the second half, everyone looks uninterested! Let’s goooooooooooooooo. The Hornets played so slow that half time feels like at hour.
I really like our offensive pace this 2nd half…and an early entrance by MT5 is so nice to see. Monty is finally hearing us!!!! LOL.
What is Monty has been tricking us all this time. We all know its a long season. And how young MT5 is compared to Green. Also, MT5’s upside is huge compared to Green. What if all this MT5 to the bench stuff is a bluff to showcase Green, and use Green as a trade asset in some package, not MT5. Just a thought…
I just looked up Shaun Livingston’s injury after they talked about on CST and man was that a bbaaaadddd injury, I’m not even that squeamish but it made me shudder. Have any of yall seen it. It makes me have the upmost respect for Livingston coming back to the NBA after that.
Yea when he went down it was freakishly bad after seeing it once I can’t watch it again, same goes for Bogut’s injury last year. Livingston had such promise and the fact that he’s always worked hard after his injury and took whatever role he could with a team shows that he really has a passion to play and will do the work necessary to keep going.
Did anyone else see Marco put up his hand for the high five after Chris hit that shot to end the third quarter and Chris just ignore him? haha
Hah yeah I did, it isn’t a big deal or anything, but I speak for everyone when I say having your hand up for a high five and not getting one is pretty depressing lol
NBA.com says attendance is at 10k tonight. OUCH! lol
The thing I love about rookies is they are so grateful to get any form of PT that when they are out there they are active. Pondexter’s moving without the ball and just being all around active, and while mistakes will be made occasionally, it’s nice to see someone active in a game when the guys on both teams seem to be sleep walking.
Liking Q.
Nice second half by the Bees. Good job team. Lets do it again Friday! Yall at home go turn it to NBA TV. OKC and NJN in 3 OT. Lets go NETS! lol
I guess we see why the Nets are the Nets…pathetic way to lose. Jordan Farmar sux.
Lets go rockets!