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Landry Propels New Orleans Hornets to Big Win Over Trailblazer

The New Orleans Hornets beat the Trailblazers in a thrilling contest behind power forward Carl Landry. The win solidified their standing in the Western Conference playoff race, moving into the 6th seed. BOX SCORE

Early on, LaMarcus Aldridge really went to town on the Hornets both offensively and on the glass. He finished the first half with 14 points on 11 shots to go with 9 boards. Last year it was debatable who the better player was, West or Aldridge, but even before West’s injury, Aldridge had taken a step past him.

Monty talked a little bit in the pre-game about how even those in the Portland organization didn’t expect him to take such a big step forward, and you can go ahead and include me in the group of surprised people. He just looks calmer out there now, as if he made an effort to be more deliberate with his offense.

Thankfully for the Hornets, Marco Belinelli was on in the first half, going 4-6 for 13 points. There was a 77 second span in the second quarter where he scored 9 points on three straight three-pointers. The Hornets needed that pick-me-up, and likely would have fallen into a big hole otherwise. They were down eight when he went on his shooting spree, and were down by as many as 11 only a few minutes previously.

With just over a minute left in the first half Emeka Okafor laid out a huge Pick on an unaware Gerald Wallace, literally sending him directly to the floor for the remainder of the play. Seconds later Okafor went up for a dunk and was taken down hard in retaliation by Andre Miller, who was given a flagrant one. That fired up Okafor for a sick block on the ensuing Portland possession, capping a nice first half.

From them on, Okafor was a all over the place on defense. He did a much better job on Aldrige in the second half, preventing him from grabbing so many boards, and keeping easy buckets to a minimum. Where he really made an impact was with his help defense. When he wasn’t laying out sick blocks (he had 3), he was disrupting shots. Although he had another 5-second violation, he was incredibly active in the paint when trying to get position.

One thing I didn’t get is when the Hornet went to him three times in a row in the post during the closing minutes of the third quarter. I get that there aren’t many options for creating, and that Okafor one on one in the post might look like a good option, but it rarely is. Mek is having a nice year offensively, but it’s mostly a product of other people creating for him.

To start the fourth, the Hornets went with Jack, Paul, Green, Smith, and Okafor. The result was some sweet defense, a few nice offensive possession in which the Hornets actually drove the lane, and a 10-3 run to start the quarter.

It was 80-75 Blazers when Landry checked into the game for J-Smith with 7:30 to go in the game, but the Hornets weren’t done with their small-ball lineup. Willie Green, especially was not done. He brought down one of the sickest Hornets dunks of the year off an offensive rebound, bringing the crowd to it’s feet. When I get the clip, it will be right here-

After a timeout with 5:32 on the clock, and the Hornets leading 82-75, they went right back out with the 3-guard rotation. Jack immediately hit a jumper, bringing the lead to 9. It was around then that the refs decided to make their impact known. Lots of calls both ways, including one that got Emeka his 5th foul, and double technical fouls on Jack and Fernandez.

Jack took it in stride, connecting on his next attempt to keep the Hornets lead at 9, but Aldrige, who the Hornets had a much harder time controlling when Emeka was off the floor, grabbed an offensive board and knocked down the 4-footer to get the lead back to seven with three minutes to go.

After a timeout, the Horntes brought Okafor back onto the floor alongside Landry and the three guard lineup. Right away Aldridge tried to go to work on Okafor to no avail. He wound up having to kick it out. It was too bad when Roy’s jumper fell as the shot clock expired, turning a good defensive possession into a waste. Okafor’s tip in on the other end answered, but Aldridge quickly came back with an alley-oop to get it back to 5. Chris Paul said “It’s 2008” for a second, and fired back with a layup in traffic.

And then Okafor fouled out on a stupid play. No excuse for him fouling out right there. None. It could have easily cost the Hornets the game. After the free throws it was a five point game with 90 seconds to go.

A slow deliberate possession wound up with Paul being unable to get a shot off, and after a quick Andrew miller layup, it was a one possession game. After a foul on Landry, in which he hit one free throws, the Hornets fouled Andrew Miller, who also hit just one. Jack missed a big three that would have ended it, and with 20 seconds left the Blazers had a chance, down three.

A Willie Green steal which wound up putting the ball in Carl Landry’s hands for three throws seemed to be a good sign for the Bees, especially after Landy hit both free throws. Of course that would assume that Wesley Mathews wouldn’t knock down a 28 footer just seconds later to cut it back to two.

After a foul, Landry went back to the line, sinking both yet again. Four big ones from a guy who shoots only 77% for his career was just enough to propel the team to victory.

Game Notes

  • Landry did what was needed on offense, but again it was made clear why he’s not really a starter in this league. He’s just not big enough physically to hold his own against guys 4-5 inches taller. That said, he’s a fantastic bench option. Games like this make me so sad that we will have wait until next year to really see what this team was capable of. Don’t be fooled by non-Hornets writers. Next year is going to be better than this one in New Orleans.
  • The defense won this game.
  • The trio of Paul, Jack and Green were phenomenal in the fourth. That’s a lineup that can cause havoc for opposing coaches, especially when they have to change their rotations to adjust, like what happened tonight. Monty got the better of his former mentor.
  • Chris Paul was way off shooting (4-15), but he was moving like he used to, grabbing important boards, breaking ankles, and delivering slick no-look passes that seemed to surprise even his teammates. If he plays like this, and finds his shot, the Hornets can make noise in a playoff series. Unfortunately, jumpers (like his wide open three in the fourth) falling well short are typically a result of tired/injured legs. He needs some rest, especially after playing 45 minutes tonight. The Hornets needed every one.
  • Andre Miller made a full length nothing-but-net shot in New Orleans about 5 seconds after the halftime buzzer sounded. He was really excited about it, even though it obviously didn’t matter.
  • If Ariza takes 1,000 three pointers a day each day before the playoffs, he might be better at shooting the three pointer. Otherwise I’m not sure what his role should be on offense.
  • What in the world was Michael Jordan thinking when he gave up Gerald Wallace for table scraps? Maybe he should have stuck to playing.
  • Patrick Ewing jr saw his first time for the Hornets, coming in with about 2:30 left in the first. He gave it his all, but didn’t have much of an impact either way.
  • Those in attendance were awesome. Those who didn’t come make me sad. Two years ago this was a sellout. Today there were 12,500. There was bad weather, but still that’s way too low for what was a must-win late season game.
  • The headline for this is the same headline I said I would use in the pregame. UptownSammy’s headline was probably better, but I didn’t want to go back on my promise.

Look, it’s the Bee-Zanies!

Joe Gerrity

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75 responses to “Landry Propels New Orleans Hornets to Big Win Over Trailblazer”

  2. Thanks for the recap Joe G. I was at a dinner meeting and so I missed all but the tail end of the game. What I saw was very entertaining, and I’m glad the Hornets came out with a W. One question I have, is how was Aaron Gray? He’s been gaining praise lately, but you didn’t mention him at all. Did he play well or did he give the usual foul/turnover for every minute played?

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    • Statline shows a pretty abysmal showing with limited minutes. Hopefully not one of those ‘make a mistake and I’ll pull you out of the game’ moves from the Byron Scott era.

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    • Haha. As you probably know, he was entirely ineffective aside from a lone bucket. He’s not the right guy to play against Portland, and Monty obviously knew that. He saw 3 minutes.

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  3. I’ve never been a fan of Andre Miller except when he intentionally fouled us at the end of a game awhile back so the Hornets could earn an opportunity to reach 100 points and, subsequently, free chicken.

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  5. Hornets 2-1 since D-West injury. I was forced to monitor the game through NBA.com ‘play by play’ feature. Not cool. Stoked we got the Win. Sounds like it was a fairly balanced effort from the hornets- which is exactly whats required with the offensive hole D-West left behind. Looking forward to seeing this Willie Green put back!

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  6. Green’s dunk was straight nasty.

    I’ve been saying for awhile now that Landry can play the 3 and *SHOCKER ALERT* he played Gerald Wallace very well tonight.

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    • nope. GWall plays mostly 4s in Portland. Landry can’t play a 3 in our system unless the PF is West because we’d be lacking in shooters.

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      • Just because GWall lines up at the 4 spot does not mean he’s a 4. Ariza plays the 4 in our small ball lineup too and he’s about as far from a 4 as you can get.

        Point is – Landry was able to guard Wallace ( a player with a SF skill set ) quite adequately.

    • Well, let’s see … John Wall got a clean body shot to Big Z’s ribcage, and still wasn’t able to knock him down; Big Z has the reach. It’s clear that these are two different weight classes.

      I’d say Jack VS Fernandez would be worth the price of admission and pay-per-view!

      L_REAZY

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  8. all good joe! Hornets Win! maybe next game we can have a headliner like….”CP3 bears down on Memphis for Hornets victory”

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  11. I enjoy coming to this site over other websites because it contains objective hornets basketball material. I read Ed Daniels’s article on a local site basically saying that everyday that passes it’s more obvious hornets got the clear-cut worse end of Landry/Thornton deal. It just frustrates me that he is writing about something that happened 18 games ago, and personally think the hornets winning 4 of 5 in a playoff is more important than stat watching a guy on a 25 something win team. I love Marcus as much as the next guy, pause, but scoring 25 on a team going absolutely nowhere doesn’t excite me like a someone averaging 21 points as a starter in the last leg of a playoff push. It was a win/win for both teams and let’s move forward. Marcus isn’t coming back and we can only hope Carl decides to resign next year. Sorry for venting just dumbness like his article bothers me.

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    • There is this great assumption that Marcus was a lock to re-sign here. I don’t see it that way. Being from Akron did keep LeBron James in Cleveland, and he took a paycut to leave. Marcus could easily get more somewhere else, like Sacramento.

      He might have re-signed, but I don’t see it as clear-cut.

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      • Exactly! After how inconsistent his minutes were distributed why would he sign back. The hornets took a calculated risk with the trade. We needed a low post scoring big, period. To get something you have to give something and Marcus was the only asset we had. Last night for example, maybe he duplicates Marco’s 4-5 from three, or maybe even Willie Green’s huge fourth quarter but no way he gets that plus 21 points down low. We had an overload at his position and Landry is filling it up for us just as Marcus is doing for the Kings. A win/win although I do prefer that the hornets are the team in the playoff race.

      • Sacramento is perfect for Marcus Thornton.

        As a shorter 2-guard (6″4) he needs to play with a big point guard like Tyreke Evans (6″6).

        Thornton, Evans, and Cousins will tear it up next year in that freelance offense if they play better defense!

        L_REAZY

  12. Flew from San Jose to Chicago to NOLA to catch the game tonight staying through Friday to see the Memphis game.

    Rewarded with the incredible first quarter shooting display by Marco, back on track after two off games. Was incredulous when Monty pulled Marco out (first again, of course) after he hit three consecutive 3s in just over a minute. Marco was not happy and had to be calmed down. What in the world was Williams thinking? You get your shooting guard off unbelievably and then you just routinely pull him off the court. I sat behind the Bees bench. Monty gave Marco a bit of that “loyalty” line. Imagine for a minute you leave Marco in and run up a huge lead instead of having to fight tooth and nail at the end of the game to fortunately pull it out. He barely played in the second half even though his hot shooting, floor game, and excellent defense continued.

    What a sad sight at the Arena. The Hornets with all the “I’m In” promotion (a nice campaign) and the house was half full…12,000 announced, less on hand. So “I’m in” doesn’t mean “I’m in the house” apparently. For the Blazers’ game in middle of a hot playoff chase. Unbelievable. I get the feeling we’re watching the Farewell Tour. The small fan base here deserves the Hornets to stay…but it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen.

    Joe, are you around before/after the games? Do we posters have a chance to thank you personally for your great work?

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    • The only reason Monty pulled him in 1st was because of 2 quick fouls. Jack was already at the scoring table before Marco went on that 9 point run. Portland was then trying to post him up at that point to draw a possible 3rd foul. Now the 2nd half there was no other excuse than Willie Green getting hot n needing Jack to handle the ball when cp3 would get trapped. I thought he woulda got a few more minutes in 2nd half though.

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      • I don’t think Jack was there for the entire run of Marco’s threes, just the last one… one. one. But it doesn’t matter. You pull Jack back. Williams is so locked into a routine that he doesn’t respond well to what’s happening on the floor.

        I agree with the poster below that Marco may not be here next year, and I am glad that he has had an opportunity to start for this club. Players want to play. Marco obvio9usly thinks he should be out there 35 minutes and his play merits that.

        Jarrett Jack is Chris Paul’s mom’s favorite player and it shows in the rotation.

        Sad to see Brandon Roy be such a shell of his former self….

      • Benching players for 2 quick fouls is done in the High School level all the way up to the pros. Especially, if the player is needed for offense.
        Alternatively, a decent player getting lots of playing time, often has to do with their high free throw percentage.

    • Hey James. Thank you much for the kind words. Typically before the games I’m pretty busy, but I’ve been known to have a beer or two outside. I’m doing the pre-game, so if I can make it out I’ll put something in there in the morning.

      I’ve been thinking about having a post-game party if we win on Friday, but that’s still up in the air. I’ll keep you guys informed.

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  13. Great win for the Hornets. Beat a team that was playing well coming in. As happy as I am with this victory, for me its tinged with a good bit of frustration. My favorite B can’t seem to get much of a run no matter how he plays. Belinelli was 4-5 from 3 pt land and scored 16 pts on seven shots. He rewarded with only eight second-half minutes and none in the fourth quarter. Defensively, he wasn’t at his best tonight, though I beleive he was on par with what Jack was doing. My point is, he’s a shooter, NOLA’s best 3 pt shooter by both volume and percentage. If he gets inconsistent minutes or can’t gauge what he has to do to stay on the floor, his confidence will be shot for the playoffs. Monty may unwittingly be setting him up for failure. Maybe part of the Buckets syndrome I don’t know. I view Marco’s run in NOLA a successful one. He is acquired for a seldom used bench player and he’s a starter for most of the season. Has acheived career highs in points per game, three pointers made and three point percentage. I don’t expect him to be with the Hornets next year. I hope he can latch on to a team that can give him a consistent role, even if it means he comes off the bench. Still, geaux NOLA for playoffs 2011… bring on the CUBANistas!

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    • Oh,and you don’t bench Marco who never fouls out after two quick fouls. This is not a player who will be out there 40 plus. It’s not a matter of saving his fouls. Poor player management on Monty’s part, plain and simple.

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      • You defend Marco to the death about “excellent defense” and everything else, but then say “This is not a player who will be out there 40 plus”

        I don’t get it.

      • Marco’s defensive assignments were Mathews and Batum. Check the box scorfe. NJiether did anything, and the Mathews baskets were not on Marco. His defense was fine.

        I say he won’t be out there 40+ because no matter how he plays, that’s just the dcase. That’s why you don’t worry about two fouls in the first quarter.

  15. I may be one of few who truly think Marco will be back next season. It won’t be because of Monty Williams it will be because of the work he does with asst coach Mike Malone. Marco has been given something he never has had before and that is a starting role, consistent minutes, a clearly defined role as designated shooter, and believe it or not confidence. Look at the last 2 minutes of the Laker game a few days ago. He was ice cold and they ran 5 straight plays for him down double digits and cp3 passed to him on 3 offensive rebounds with 30 seconds left basically saying keep shooting make or miss keep shooting. He comes back out today on fire. He will be loyal to hornets for the simple overlooked things like that.

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    • The last two minutes of the Lakers game was just garbage time. It didn’t matter who was shooting. Marco just flung shots up out of sheer frustration. It had nothing to do with strategy. If Marco’s role is “designated shooter” only, then his talents are being wasted. Certainly Marco is glad to have made progress this year, but I’m sure his agent will be exploring other options.

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      • His agent should always explore other options, he sucks as an agent if he doesn’t but I agree with you that Monty’s rotations do at times leave a lot to be desired. But back to that garbage time Laker game you said it didn’t matter who was shooting but it did matter because Marco was the only one shooting. He missed damn near everyone but they kept going back to him after every miss determined to motivate him one way or the other. He won’t have a better opportunity than what he has here and his first 4 years have proven that, he can leave and disappear on someone’s bench like he has his first several years or stay here and start and get 25-30 minutes a night

      • Agree that Malone has been the main person responsible for the success Marco has had here. Maybe Malone will get out of here if the Hornets fold and take Rocky with him!

  16. i dont understand u people u all are complaining about rotations on a winobviously monty knows what he’s doin marco was in foul trouble early he needed another ball handler to take the pressure off chris and it worked, and the only reason why he didnt get minutes in the 4th was because green caught on fire and he paul and jack words hounds defensively in the 4th

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  18. The Okafor screen on Wallace was fantastic to watch! Everybody thought they were at a Saints game. Wallace sat on the bench the rest of the half trying to remember his name. So sweet.

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  20. Joe, love it how you were able to end up using the exact headline you said you hoped to use pregame haha, made me smile

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  21. Favorite win of the season so far for me, before it was the heat. I celebrated this one with a lil too much style last night and now im paying for it at work, big time.

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    • This was definitely one of my favorite games of the year. Both teams played hard, and there was a little bit of everything in this one, including two plays that you won’t see if you watch 500 NBA games: A complete bell-ringing, decleating screen & a soaring one handed dunk off of a rebound from a guy who dunks less than DWest.
      Fantastic game all around. The Memphis game is going to be HUGE.

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  22. League Pass Broadband really eff’d me on this one. Was watching fine through halftime then had some personal stuff come up so I paused it. Come back about 30 minutes later and no dice, doesn’t play. So I ignore the game thinking I’ll watch it this morning from the archive like I have before.

    Go to the archive a few minutes ago and get “video not available”. First time I’ve ever seen that for ANY team. Of course.

    Glad we got the win, though. If Landry could find some inner Paul Millsap on the defensive boards it’d sure be nice.

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    • I have the same problem! I couldn’t watch the game last night so I was hoping to today. I’ve never seen ‘video not available’ before. Hopefully it’s a one time thing. The Hornets-Lakers game was blacked out for me too, even though I don’t live in LA. ugh.

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  23. What a big win for us! Another one tomorrow should seal the deal for the playoffs! Geaux Hornets!

    It felt a lot like a playoff game except the fact that 1/3 of the arena was empty. Comments:

    – the putback dunk by Green! Game changer!
    – Lamarcus got cold and probably scored only 4 pts in the last 15 min of the game (kudos to our defence)
    -Coach kinda forgot Smith until late but he brought a lot of energy when he played!
    -Landry proves his value. So glad we have him.
    -I wish Belinelli stayed on the floor for more but Green played well too so it had to be split between them.
    -what was that 3-pt attempt by Jack with 8 seconds on the shot-clock?

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  24. Marco has stated that he would like to remain here in New Orleans. That’s great for us because if he can continue to progress as an NBA player, maybe in the shadow of someone like Ray Allen(coming of screens to shoot midrange jumpers and 3s), then we may have found ourselves the starting SG next to Paul we have wanted for so long.

    The benching today was warranted(if what i heard was right) –> bad defense, and an awesome night from willie green. well coached.

    Monty has a lot of flaws, yes, but he also has a lot of good qualities. hopefully next year, with a year under his belt and another offseason to study and improve, he can become a better coach. that just bodes well for us 🙂

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    • Sorry but the “bad defense” tag didn’t fit Marco last night. Monty has it in mind that he will replace Marco before the end of the first quarter no matter what. I watch closely and sat close last night. Had Marco been beaten routinely, failed to close out, not fought through picks, or failed to switch I would have noticed. Didn’t happen.

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    • Sorry to be so wordy, but Marco is getting a lot of attention today, and I’m here in NOLA enjoying one of my very favorite cities. What a great place this is!

      I agree that Marco likes it here and would like to stay. The city fits him well–the sophistication of Europe with true American funk. But here’s the problem with how he is being used offensively: The Bees do NOT run plays for the corner three. Yet Marco has been instructed to run to the corner and wait in case the interior offense gets bogged down or Paul’s attempt to penetrate gets cut off. So Marco generally gets the ball outside the three point line in a moment of desperation–all the more testimony to his excellent shooting percentage from there.

      Because the Hornets play so slowly and deliberately there are very few open three attempts. No run outs. Very little ball movement from side to side. That’s mainly because Chris has to control everything. He is a great passer, no doubt. But the deliberate style takes away a lot of options that involve the wing players.

      My sense is that Monty just feels more comfortable with Willie and Jack when any pressure is on the team (except when he needs some miracle shooting, then he calls Marco to see if he can hit a bunch of threes real quick to get the team back into the game or to win a close game). That puts a lot of pressure on Marco to hit those shots…not easy to do because he comes in cold and often frustrated for not getting more playing time when he is going good.

      Let’s see how it goes tomorrow.

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  25. What a game! So glad you got to use that headline, Joe!

    Hornets D did a GREAT job of forcing the blazers to settle for jumpers for most of the game. Given some of the size mismatches, that looked like a real achievement to me.

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  26. agree with lance entirely that monty is catching entirely too much flak in these posts, after finding the right combo for a HUGE and Impressive WIN against a hot team who played quite well on the road, shooting lights out for the majority of the game.

    also agree that, in spite of the fact that I’m no great fan of jarrett (like kempleton just said, what the he*$ was that long 3 with 8 secs on the shot clock?!?0, that particular small-ball group was plain getting it done in the 4th, specially on the defensive end.

    I don’t understand monty’s decisions all the time either (my particular curiosity is why he does’t have more confidence in JSmith) but let’s give credit where credit is due. Am I the first poster here to say…

    Nice job last night coach. You found a group to win a must win game.

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    • supported and criticized Monty for so long so you won’t be the first poster to say that :)) but still, great job by Monty. impressed me both in this game and in the Utah game.

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  28. Good news people, I just went on ticketmaster to get tickets for tomorrow nights Memphis game. According to the interactive seating chart, tickets are going fast!!!! I can assume 16K+ in the arena tomorrow night, INCLUDING MYSELF!!!!! I’m In Hornets!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  29. I can not understand what is happening with the public in New Orleans. An important game like yesterday, and appeared even 13,000? What does that mean? It is very sad the fans don’t support the team when the players need them most. Regrettable. Congratulations to all who attended. And a huge “Fuck you” to those who might have gone to the game and were not.

    And another thing: How bad is that Aaron Gray! I don’t understand how some Hornets’ fans might like him. He is a bumbling, inexperienced commit fouls on defense and attack and defend terribly wrong. I prefer Jason Smith. And without much thought.

    Anyway, great victory!

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    • I purchased tickets today and according the the interactive seating chart, tomorrow’s game will be packed. At least 16K!!!!!! I guess that monsoon that passed on Tuesday night affect lots of fans.

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    • @Brazilian Hornet
      Lots of people don’t have jobs in NOLA and Aaron Gray does not deserve his. He’s a bum.

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  31. If the Hornets want to keep CP3 … then bring back Tyson Chandler via free agency.

    Chandler, West, and Okafor would be a sick rotation!

    Let Banks, Marco, Gray, Jason Smith, and Willie Green leave via free agency, and sign J R Smith.

    F-West, F-Ariza, C-Chandler, G-Smith, G-Paul

    F-Andersen, F-Pondexter, C-Okafor, G-Jack

    Nice 7-8 man rotation with J R Smith shift to the 3 at times for Ariza, and Okafor backing up West and Chandler. Whose stopping us?

    L_REAZY

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    • I don’t see Landry included on your list. Honestly at this point I’d rather keep Landry as a back up to West because the offensive production won’t fall off, rather that get JR smith. I for one was angry when we traded Chandler and would LOVE to have him back but Mark Cuban will fight us tooth and nail for him because well he’s a douche. But that Chandler, Mek, West rotation would be nasty tho. But wouldn’t that cause a problem as far as who gets how many minutes. Both Tyson and Mek are starting caliber Centers. But with Chandler at C and Mek at PF. that would be sick defensively and I know everyone would love the return of the Cresent City Connection of CP3 and Tyson.

      Reply

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