The Hornets destroyed the Jazz 100-71 to even the season series at 1-1. It was a game that left little doubt that the past dominance of Deron over Paul is over, and might just get those still talking about it to reconsider their position. No, Paul didn’t do anything statistically incredible, but he did exactly what was needed on both ends of the floor and the end result was an easy W.
There probably hasn’t ever been a Hornets game in which they dominated the glass like they did against the Jazz, at least not one that I’ve attended. The Hornets led 48-18 in total rebounds with about 6 minutes to play in the fourth quarter. Credit will go to David West and the bench for this win, but the overall team rebounding is what made the difference tonight. It was a real team effort.
Monty Williams opened the second quarter with a three guard lineup of Thornton, Green and Jack. Ariza was on as the four, and Smith as the five. It worked, and the trio led a 19-8 run over the next six and a half minutes. When the starters got back on the court there was a comfortable lead and momentum was clearly in the Hornets corner. Utah would never recover and the Hornets coasted to an easy victory from there.
Throughout the rest of the season you should expect that group to see a lot of time together in a small ball lineup. They work well with each other and it forces other teams to adjust accordingly. Too many times in years past the Hornets have been the team  who made major adjustments based on the other team’s lineup. It wasn’t often that they forced adjustments from the other team. It seems like Monty prefers to be acting instead of reacting, which in my opinion is the better choice. When our bench plays their game, they are at an advantage.
The Hornets played that same lineup late in the third and into the fourth quarter, first with Paul and then with Jack at the point. The lead was 22 when they came on actually increased by the time they started being swapped out midway through the fourth quarter
Jarret Jack is looking better every game. He struggled right off the bat and a lot of you seem to have written him off. Cut that out. Make no mistake; he’s a damn fine ball player. In his seven minute spurt in the second quarter he racked up 6 points on 4 shots, 3 assists, and played some quality defense. When we got him for Peja a while back it was widely known that he was the most talented player in the deal. He remains that same player.
Thornton continued his offensive brilliance, and showed that his defensive performance on Wednesday was no fluke. He’s also rebounding on the defensive at a rate nearly twice that of last season. We all scoffed when he was sitting the bench, but don’t you think that the ends justify the means. Getting DNP’s caused him to work harder to improve and the end result is going to be a better overall player. It’s good to know that he’s the kind of guy who doesn’t expect things to just be handed to him.
David West’s first half performance shouldn’t be understated. He was critical in setting the tone on both ends of the floor, and his intensity seemed to wear off on the rest of the first unit. He scored 18 points on 8 shots in the first half.
Other Game Notes
- That halftime show was one of the stranger things I’ve ever witnessed. How does one even think up something like that?
- Watching someone get a pie to the face is hilarious, even when you know it’s coming and that the fan is a plant.
- Since Marcus came on during the second half of Wednesday’s game against Sacramento, the Hornets have outscored their opponents by 55 points.
- 100 points= Free Chicken. Marcus scored the deciding bucket with about 40 seconds left in the fourth. It was a fitting finish to an excellent game.
- Only 14,414 attended, well below what was expected.
54 responses to “Hornets Whoop the Jazz”
I predicted a triple double from CP but this is NICE!
I just can’t understand for the life of me how more people wouldn’t go to see this game. The Jazz are practically the Hornets biggest rival. Just don’t get it.
Great win. God damn, we needed that. Was watching through NBA League Pass and had to listen to the Jazz announcers call the game. There was a line that blew my mind as to why they think D Will is better than Paul. “Because he has the ability to dominate him down low” and “Chris Paul just isn’t strong enough to guard him inside”. Since when does that determine who the better PG is?
No crap. How often do you go to a PG in the post any given game? Somewhere between 4-6 times, max?
Unless he’s Magic Johnson reincarnate it’s just not that much of a factor other than a couple of times a game. In the end he’s still a point guard and all it takes is one wing guy to switch over and shut that down.
When you don’t know what you are talking about, I think.
Also, little known fact: When you see a traffic light is green at any point in time, it’s is perfectly legal to drive through it any time. Just tell the cop to ignore everything else about the situation and base his decision on that one event.
dats wat im talkin bout, go hornets!!! ok reboundin by trevor ariza, bellineli grabbed a couple, and my man marcus thornton acted a dogg!! also cp3 outplayed deron williams!
Great game overall and even better because we spanked the Jazz.
Btw, what was the halftime show about?
Totally agree with your point regarding Jack. It takes some time for a new PG to adjust, and anyone thinking we downgraded from Bayless to Jack just doesn’t know the game very well.
Hopefully with Thornton’s ascent Willie Green will take a step back offensively and focus on the defensive end. And hopefully Aroza can imagine Ivan Drago is covering him every night so he can continue to play like he did tonight. My God, who was that guy?!
Go get me a backup big Demps and let’s crush this soft upcoming schedule!
aaaah ya Mac show some of that Ariza love 😉
I am all for the back up big!!!
Not a whole lot to complain about in this one, but I can pick a nit like no one’s business, so here goes:
Do we need to take classes on how to set high picks without getting an offensive foul called? I know the guards take a certain amount of responsibility here but wow we sure do get whistled for that a lot more than any other team I’ve watched.
But hey, great great game overall. Hopefully a few of those strung together can get the local fanbase re-energized. The team and franchise as a whole needs it.
I’m glad we got the win.
I never get too excited about a blowout. A nice steady choke is what I see as a quality win you can hang you hat on. Think 25-20 quarters . . . 4 in a row . . . yeah . . .
I understand the sentiment, but I do tend to get a little excited for this particular blowout seeing as how, even before the slump hit full-scale, the tendency was to relinquish big leads in the second half in the bat of an eye.
No doubt that Utah didn’t bring it tonight, but I just liked that we didn’t really let up at any point. Raja Bell hit a couple of shots late in the third but other than that we didn’t get sloppy.
I’m also hopeful that a blowout like that can restore a lot of lost confidence in those slumping role players so that Ariza, Thornton, Marco, Jason Smith, and Jack aren’t JAGs out there anymore taking up floor space. We need them to have an impact.
“No doubt that Utah didn’t bring it tonight, but I just liked that we didn’t really let up at any point. Raja Bell hit a couple of shots late in the third but other than that we didn’t get sloppy.”
I agree. We’ve seen how Utah has been rallying to come back from down. I kept saying that the Horents shouldn’t go up by more than 20 because that’s when Utah has been making those huge comebacks. But our Hornets stuck it out. Monty mentioned that the Jazz didn’t shoot the ball well. Well, maybe they didn’t but I’d like to think that the Hornets defense had at least a little to do with that. At least a little. Hahaha.
Again I’ll point out that we should never change this banner.
That being said, great win! Ariza was taking it to rim surprisingly, and it was working really well. Thornton, again, was amazing. CP3 outplayed Deron by miles, and Jack is starting to play quite well!
Yeah, I’m all for keeping the banner up too. At least a little while longer. LOL!
I changed/altered the banner so we can keep looking at Buckets for a while.
Good game hornets. shout out 2 MT5. Off topic, but i wud like to see us persue Gerald Wallace maybe for Ariza
Oh my goodness! What a great game. What a great win. Nice team effort. You see, the Hornets could win more games against the Jazz if everyone contributes positively as they did tonight. People focus too much on Paul/Williams but Paul’s teammates need to step up as they did tonight.
Thornton and Jack seem to be clicking together. I like the 2 man game they have going.
Dude. I am trying to dampen my expectations a little but if Monty Williams effed with us so hard until he was ready to unleash “Super Marcus”, I will eat my words.
Maybe, the coach is who we thought he was! I will withhold judgment until I see Marcus getting consistent minutes every game even after a sub-par performance the night before.
oh, 14.4 attendance makes me really sad btw…
Did you read Bucher’s quote today about how the Hornets are basically gone? That was even worse.
Did he say more? Claim inside knowledge? Or just spewing opinion?
I take Bucher with a grain of salt. He’s full of sh##. Always very pessimistic about the Hornets
“@coachthorpe New Orleans just rocketed into my #1 city. Amazing food, of course, and a police escort to my hotel after I couldn’t find a cab. CP3 a bonus”
Thank you for the kind words, Mr. Thorpe.
May not have been the biggest crowd, but it was loud. People were psyched to see this victory, and lots of home blowouts it is easy to coast as a fan and stay quiet. Not this one. Everyone got a piece.
It was a great live experience, punctuated, of course, by the excitement that Marcus Buckets brought. And for those of you wondering, both Rick Kamla and Steve Smith, on NBA TV, referred to him as “Lil’ Buckets.” It was awesome.
HA! I can’t believe they used his nickname.
haha thats awesome. let the name be known!
M,
Remember the game against PHX on December 21, 2007? That wasn’t a huge crowd either, but the Hornets beat a team that was professed to be one of the Western Conference elites in that game, and it was a huge step forward for the organization in terms of gaining momentum within the community. This win last night felt just like that IMO.
OH! Wanted to post this link. Maybe 42 could get it out on the news page.
This was what Basketball Jones had to say about the New Orleans Arena and the city. All things considered, they said a bunch of nice things about us and commented on crowd noise.
http://blogs.thescore.com/tbj/2010/12/17/6030-no-23-new-orleans-arena/#more-8712
i love marcus … all i have to say he is exactly what the team needed with our drought EXACTLY
What a great win; one we really needed. Interestingly, d will and kirilenko were at Harrah’s until 1130 or 12 last night. Bog does kirilenko stand out.
Attendance = unimpressive. For a friday game too. Are these businesses giving out those tickets, or just buying them up? As long as they’re buyin the tix, that’s cool i guess.
Marcus looked very very good in the “flow of the offense” as some people have mentioned. Didn’t force his shot at all. Passed well, would’ve grabbed a few more assists had the right shots went down. MONSTER DUNK too! that was awesome
Our 3 guard rotation seems to be effective for us, i like it when Monty goes with that. Great win. Hornets needed that one
It probably takes more than 2 days to buy tickets and organize somebody to actually attend. Particularly during the holidays….
Shout out to my ticket rep Ryan. One of the best things about being a season ticket holder is getting some perks. Fan up New Orleans!
I think Trevor Ariza’s shot selection was a huge key to this game. He took shots he can make, and he only took a couple that were outside his range. If he disdains the three-ball for the next few weeks I would be happy.
I would say that almost all of Dwill’s points came against someone other than CP3. A couple of free throws maybe came against him.
Jason Smith had an awesome game. He secured or enabled at least 5 offensive rebounds, had a monster block and a good foul, and made a few jumpers. He and DW look good together. I agree with the prior post that we get called for more high screens supposedly moving than anyone. Last night Emeka even got one when CP3 didn’t use the screen and went the other way!
All in all, it seemed like a fairly officiated game. Equal whining by both sides…
Jason Smith says, “Get that weak s#@t out of here!”
Marcus (Basketball Rainman) was unconscious as usual. He also had a sweet block that got called as goal tending. His dunk was an emphatic statement, and the greatest moment of the game was the cut and finish at the goal for Popeyes!
Been reading a lot of box scores the last few weeks. My college schedule got crazy and I needed some big grades so I haven’t sat and streamed a game for about 3 weeks.
When I saw the highlights of the Sacramento game, I felt that was the rebound point. That’s a win where the team could have folded and taken a devastating loss. Instead, they comeback and build the momentum.
Then you come out and just spank the Jazz. I missed this game as I was packing and heading home for break. But, Ariza’s box score put a smile on my face. Jack appears to be growing into the system here.
Also, pumped by the last two performances from Thorton. Reading here, sounds like the defense is looking much better. When he was taking all of those DNP’s I felt like Thorton would be the guy who’d take that as a challenge and fix the reason he was sitting. It sounds like he has, which is huge because the crowd is behind him and the spark he provides is a beautiful thing.
And of course, humbling Jazz fans is always wonderful. If you get the chance, read the ESPN conversation, especially the pregame comments. Ignorant fans are always wonderful. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/conversation?gameId=301217003 One user wrote “97-93 Hornets. CP3>DWill.” To which we had some classic remarks of “Hahahahaha somehow a 3-12 record against D Will makes him better.” “Are you kidding me ricky? Look at the head to head records and stats. Paul isn’t fit to carry D-Will’s jock. Jazz by 10+, D-Will with another 30 point outing.” The best part of all that was, the guy who posted the Hornets to win, then stated “Keep livin’ in the past boys… I look for Thornton if he’s given the opportunity to go completely bonkers tonight!”
I think he’s on the inside. But, great to see the humbling take place. Can’t wait for the next game!
“He played well the other night,’’ Williams said. “This is a test for him. He was there before and drifted back to having those lapses on defense.’’
MONTY! To use your damn quote: “You are making my hair turn gray!”
Just taking what I wrote on ATH.
I saw two major lapses from Thornton on defense when D-Will killed him with a crossover and he drove hard for a steal that ended up in #20 leading a fast break. I also saw help defense that caused at least 2 turnovers (1 24 second violation, 1 bobbled ball out of bounds) that didn’t show up on the stat sheet along with his 2 steals.
I’m hoping Monty is just trying to motivate Marcus to stay home but his comment shouldn’t be taken that way, nor does it read that way. He can’t give MT5 a break. Point blank. Monty Williams is seeming more and more like the prideful a**hole Byron Scott was.
Oh would you stop. You obviously won’t give Monty a break and let HIM coach. Marcus Thorton is talented but he couldn’t play defense SO Monty made him work for what he earned. Byron Scott was much too offensive minded which is why he always kept Cp3 in the game instead of trusting his bench to do the job(but the bench wasn’t too good anyway). Monty trusts his bench to do the job while the starters are out of the game. But if the person is substituted in and CAN’T play defense and isn’t shooting 100 percent from the court, then he’s going to take them out. WE PLAY TO WIN THE GAME NOT TO PLAY FAVORITES!… obviously…we saw that he gave Bayless numerous chances and Bayless couldn’t get it together SO he’s out of here. Obviously Monty has some liking for Thorton because HE WASN’T TRADED instead of Bayless. He gave Thorton a chance to develop,Which He did. Get off his back and let him coach and play your role as the fan.
OR they got rid of Bayless because he cost more money than Marcus did and part of that move was money saving.
You’re attitude is exactly what’s wrong with a lot of things in this country. There is power in numbers moron and if you don’t use whatever platform you can to enact the change you want to see enacted than you are wasting your right as an American citizen. There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that the hats in Washington are, one and all, self-serving pricks. Instead of the American people using their power to replace them with people that care about their well-being, they sit back and idolize people like Glen Beck.
Sorry, I have no defense against the political problems in this country, but I feel as if it is possible to make a change locally. Get over it and quit crying.
Marcus had two incredible games and all Monty Williams did was criticize him and act like it was nothing. He treats Marcus Thornton differently from everyone else on the team. I’m countering his indifference with whatever tiny difference I can make. We all have those people at our jobs that do a crappy job and get praised to all heaven by their bosses. The majority of those bosses aren’t inherently evil. They just only see what they want to see. Monty has appeared to be no different. He sees what he wants to see.
Besides, Monty’s flippant attitude towards Marcus Thornton has really done nothing but piss off the fan base and what good is that doing the Hornets at this point?
Bees.
Honestly, I think you need to analyze Marcus more on defense. He played GREAT on offense. He even TRIED making passes in the Utah game, which I was VERY happy to see. But do you have any understanding of defensive rotations? Because like Marcus, I don’t think you do.
The Jazz shot TERRIBLY. And thats a big reason they lost. Go back and watch the game. Marcus is consistently missing his rotations, especially when we play MAN DEFENSE. Which we did much more last night because it was OBVIOUS that CP WANTED to guard D Will.
I REALLY like Marcus. He’s a great offensive talent. But he plays one side of the ball. Personally, I would rather see him in than Green MOST of the time. But I know for a fact that Monty is a big time Homer for Green, and that Willie will continue to get his minutes even if we have to go small.
But whether it was last year, or this year, Marcus has struggled mightily on the defensive end. He’s a fan favorite because like in baseball, fans love the long ball, well, in basketball, fans love points. Marcus can score like crazy. But you need to open your eyes to what he struggles with compared to what he excels at.
People have been so critical of CP not having a “killer instinct” this season, yet sooo many fans have been siding with Marcus and not noticing his deficiencies.
AGAIN. I REALLY like Marcus. But I know he’ll never bring us a title, or get CP to stay with the team down the road. And other than CP and DWest, he is our best trading chip we have.
I’d rather see CP and Iggy in the backcourt together 2 years from now, than Jack and Marcus.
The Hornets got rid of Bayless and Peja to GET UNDER THE CAP SO THE NBA WOULD PURCHASE THEM. That trade did NOT make the Hornets better, it made them worse. Jack is our security blanket in case CP high tails it because of all the hoopla and lack of serious contending supporting cast.
I love how because you played pee-wee ball you think you understand basketball so much better than every other fan and those fans don’t know what the f*** they are talking about.
Yes, I saw Marcus rotate poorly a couple times which resulted in a couple of wide open looks that the Jazz just missed, most notably Raja Bell. I also watch Belinelli and Ariza and see them pull off the same mistakes every game.
Marcus does tend to cheat off his man at times and it can get him in trouble, but his quickness allows him to rotate back to the shooters better than Belinelli or even Ariza when he gets caught on screens.
Our team is not perfect on defense, else the other team would be scoring 70 points a game due to every 3-ball being contested and their only paints coming off tough jumpers, at the line, or in the paint. The thing is that multiple players on the team make mistakes and Marcus is the only one who gets called out on it.
On top of the fact that he is actually rotating better than last year, he has become smarter at when to trap or attempt to steal the ball. I will admit that yesterday he gambled about once or twice to many times for Monty’s liking, but he also caused about 4 turnovers and Monty doesn’t seem to think those count.
BOTTOM LINE: Please stop going around and acting like playing high school basketball makes you superior to every single fan on this board. It is one thing to disagree with someone or rub it in someone’s face when your point is made. It is another to go around telling every single member of 247 that they don’t know jack s*it about basketball because you refuse to believe MT5 has a part in the Hornets future.
Haha. I played a little more than Pee Wee ball. But touche.
Bees. The first 12 games of the season, the Hornets went 11-1 and were the best defensive team in the NBA, holding opponents to the fewest points allowed. A big reason for that was cuz of Marco, and Ariza. They’ve proven they can get it done defensively, and they take on the opponents best perimeter players every game.
Also. Even in that spurt, I was adament about ONE thing. Marcus is our best trading chip aside from CP and DWest. That’s not a knock on Marcus. That’s a compliment. He showed in the past 2 games that he’s improving his D. And that makes him more valuable. He’s the ONLY way we can get a premier player. ONLY way.
If Marcus developed defensively, I could EASILY see him plugging himself into the starting lineup, moving Marco to backup SF, and instead of looking for another wing player, we get rid of Okafor, and go for a premier big man.
Remember something, prior to the season starting, Monty had Marcus projecting to be the starting SG. He said himself in practice that Marco had earned the spot due to his defense and 3 point shooting alongside CP, which was similar spacing as to what we used to see from Peja.
Stop thinking the world is against Marcus. Its biased mentality.
All of the politic talks are unnecessary…
Power in numbers…OH I SEE…Play who the crowd wants to see RIGHT?…SO if everyone else says play Marcus then Monty should listen because ALOT of people want to see him play. Monty criticized him? by making him work on his defense before throwing him out there on the court to only mess up the game flow? COME ON. To play someone because of there popularity is simply….stupid. WE PLAY TO WIN THE GAME! NOT WIN OVER FANS AND IN TURN LOSE THE GAME.
And about that money comment…IF Bayless was effective and at least SHOWED potential,no matter how much money he would have costed he would not have been traded. Marcus showed potential but he just had to work on that defense…There was no rush to throw him in because Willie and Marco(at one point) were paying the bills at SG. Marcus Is Ready and Monty Sees that…SO HE IS PLAYING
I agree with the masked man in the room.
Your points are about as valid as your grammar and AgentZiko’s killer PG play in the NBA. Monty just b**ched again at Marcus’ D. If he had his way, Marcus would still be riding the pine. If Marcus Thornton was ready to the point where Monty was willing to play him, then why did it take 27 minutes and 23 points down into the Kings game to get him into the ballgame?
Lol…I’m not typing a paper so I don’t really care about how my grammar looks. It doesn’t make my argument any less valid or true. And theres no reason to get SO angry. And the reason he didn’t throw him in there so fast was to try to give the other players a chance to pull it closer and NOT discourage the players on the court to show disbelief in them. And if Monty doesn’t believe in Mt5…WHY WOULD HE PUT HIM IN THERE WHEN THEY ARE DOWN 23! If Monty didn’t believe in him HE STILL WOULDN’T BE PLAYING! ITS LOGIC NOT ROCKET SCIENCE.
If you think Monty played Marcus at that point in time because he had the utmost faith in him, I really don’t care to converse any longer on the subject. That’s just plain ridiculous.
“Well, guess we are sucking it up like I drew it up. Time to play the guy that I dug this hole for so he can climb out of it and be treated like the savior of our team that I know he is!”
I must really be underestimating Monty. That is just plain brilliant.
Monty could of put him in there just to put him in there
I just don’t read the quote as that bad. It seemed to be he was saying he’s waiting for that relatively sustained effort and success from Marcus. It would say Monty has to be more pleased with his performance after the Kings game (Jazz) than whatever he saw against the Spurs early on.
This team has changed, is changing, and will continue to change significantly. We should be enjoying that and letting the growing pains fade to the background.
NO Im all saying is that he no longer thinks Thorton is a LIABLITY. Nevermind believe what you want. -_- Have a great day
I saw when Dwill blew by Thornton to score but I wasn’t to upset because it was Derron Williams, one of the top pgs in the league, now if it had been someone like Carlos Arroyo then I might be a little worried.
Sounds like someone is polarizing . . .
Orlando just traded half of it’s roster. Wow.
Yeah. I’m trying to think about where the center dominos are going to fall. Orlando needs a big. I wonder if they are desperate to take Okafor, send some small guys to team X, then have team X send us a center and another big. A pair of $6m players on 1-2 year deals.
somebody get me roy hibbert and danny granger on and oj mayo