The Hornets faltered late yet again and lost to the 76ers by a score of 101-93.
 |
Carl Landry, PF 7-14 FG | 7-8 FT | 8 REB | 1 AST | 21 PTS | -6 Along with Gordon, Landry was part of a hot Hornets start that had them leading by 10 for much of the first half. He fought hard for loose balls and boards. Defensively he was less than stellar, but he held his own. This is what a good night be Landry looks like, FYI. |
 |
 |
Al-Farouq Aminu, SF 0-4 FG | 0-0 FT | 4 REB | 0 AST | 0 PTS | +4 Defensively he’s pretty decent already, and on the boards he seems like he’s going to be one of the better guys at his position, but elsewhere he’s a bit of a mess still. With his height and athleticism I don’t want to see bank shots from under the basket. DUNK THAT. I played a game of NBA2K last night. I know he’s got ups. Aminu also made a bunch of strange decisions passing, most notably an attempt at an alley-opp connection with Eric Gordon early on. Late in third quarter he left Turner wide open for a three when he leaked inside for no reason. Lots of zeros on that stat sheet for a guy who should be doing a little of everything. |
 |
 |
Emeka Okafor, C 2-4 FG | 1-4 FT | 7 REB | 0 AST | 5 PTS | -2 Couldn’t finish down low, and missed two big free throws down low late in the fourth with the Hornets down 5. Also didn’t control the paint on defense. Combine that with an untimely three-second violation and it’s hard to give him even a passing mark. |
 |
 |
Jarrett Jack, PG 7-15 FG | 5-5 FT | 5 REB | 11 AST | 19 PTS | -8 It wasn’t a performance like he had last game, but he gave a very nice effort again on the offensive end. At a few times it seemed like he was the best chance for offense on the court. He was really pressing hard, and as a result committed a few dumb mistakes that really cost the team. |
 |
 |
Eric Gordon, SG 8-22 FG | 5-6 FT | 6 REB | 1 AST | 22 PTS | +2 He came out burning hot, scoring 9 points in the first five minutes and finished the first quarter with 11 on 5-6 shooting. He added a nice block after his lone turnover that quarter, too. One thing I noticed is that he talks a lot out there. That’s important, since otherwise the Hornets are way too quiet. After struggling to start the fourth, the Hornets turned to Gordon to get them out of it. He didn’t deliver, struggling to create shots for himself and others, and being part of a few dumb turnovers by the team. He needed to finish like he started for the Hornets to get a win, and he didn’t, hence the poor grade. |
|
 |
Chris Kaman, C 5-7 FG | 0-0 FT | 8 REB | 2 AST | 10 PTS | -4 He had a couple dumb first quarter travels, but otherwise had a decent game on offense. He worked hard on both ends, although the results weren’t anything special. How nice would it be if he could limit going down low to when he finds himself there after offensive rebounds or on mismatches? He seems to get the jumper working more often than not. Tonight he had it going again, but the three second violation and traveling calls nullified some of the good. |
 |
 |
Trey Johnson, SG 1-1 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 1 AST | 2 PTS | -7 Trey saw some time as a third guard in both the second and for most of the fourth quarter. Was hustling hard, and had a nice foul on Lou Williams to deny him an easy basket in the early fourth quarter. Didn’t pay off, but that’s a good play. He hit a nice jumper shortly after also to provide the Hornets with some much needed fourth quarter offense. I didn’t expect anything, so his performance was gravy. |
 |
 |
Jason Smith, PF 3-4 FG | 2-2 FT | 2 REB | 1 AST | 9 PTS | -4 He had a beautiful block on the defensive end followed by an offensive rebound that resulted in a tip in after running the floor. Then he nailed a three. Energy. Energy. Energy. I like it. He’s got the makings of a great fourth big man. Locking him up at a low price for three years is looking like a heck of a deal so far this year (except when he gets hit in the head). He gave up a bit inside, but it was a nice effort overall. |
|
 |
Marco Belinelli, SG 2-5 FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 0 AST | 5 PTS | -8 Hit a nice floater in the second quarter, then did literally nothing else until he hit a three late in the third. He missed (almost the entire basket) a crucial three that would have kept the Hornets in it with a minute left in the fourth. He’s going to see his playing time suffer if he can’t hit three. That’s what he does… |
 |
 |
Greivis Vasquez, PG 0-3 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 4 AST | 0 PTS | -7 Didn’t see much burn probably because this just wasn’t a very good matchup for him. Had a few nice passes, but failed to score. |
 |
Five Things We Saw
- The Hornets big men are going to lead the league in blocks… against. They go up so weak around the basket, I feel like David West was a dunk machine at this point.
- Gordon, like Paul before him, didn’t start the fourth quarter. The Hornets, like their former selves, struggled on both ends of the floor until their star got back out there. A six point lead quickly vanished.
- Here’s an idea for next time— Guard Jrue Holiday. Guy can make shots when he’s open.
- Jazz music was an odd choice for the Arena. Sorry, I just have to say that. I love Jazz. You can find me at Snug Harbor at least 3-4 times a year, and at Preservation Hall about half that often, so don’t think it’s because I’m a jazz hater. This isn’t Utah we’re talking about. I just think that they could have gone with some upbeat funk and seen a more energetic crowd as a result. Way better than no band either way, so I’m still a happy camper.
- Hugo made 6 blindfolded free throws in 30 seconds. I was impressed. Also, some guy completed the NBA skills challenge as the buzzer expired to win free tickets to a future Hornets game. The crowd erupted. I like the addition of that as an in-game event.
37 responses to “Hornets Fall to 76ers”
Aminu,Aminu,Aminu. U play NBA? Which team?
Aminu is solid on defense, just needs to find his way offensively.
Aaminu looked totally lost. When he gets yanked for Marco, yikes…
I agree on the Jazz–not high energy enough.
Turnovers killed us. Mel yet again was too weak around the rim.
If we could put together a solid game consisting of 1st quarters like tonight, we’d be golden.
Finally, a shout out to j smitty on what might have been his first 3 pointer ever!
Actually coming out of college Smith was known as a big guy who can shoot from three… He just toned it down the past few years after his surgery.
Okay, this losing streak is despressing…
On the bright side, it’s the best time to do it and in the last few weeks, Demp made a heck of a job to build the future of the franchise !
Now hornets have a core of young players with plenty of potential : Vasquez/Gordon/Aminu/Henry then add two draft picks in one of the strongest draft and that seems a bright future !
The top 5 is brutal but even with some late pick around 20, we could draft a prospect with real talent such as Kendall Marshall, Myck Kabongo, Patric Young, Mason Plumlee, Meyers Leonard, Cody or Tyler Zeller.
Just watched the game, wouldn’t have given EG a rating below a B. Understandable in the heat of the moment after our 4th straight loss, but he was the least of our concerns, and if some balls had bounced differently, he would have had an extremely solid night.
If we want to figure out a way to throw some games for a good draft pick next season, then keeping Marco and T. Johnson on the court in crucial moments of the game is the best way to do it. I really like Marco as a guy, and respect Johnson’s story, but to call either of them role players in the NBA is a stretch, and both seemed to be attempting more than they were capable of, knowing that Henry is probably going to slot straight in to their combined role’s on the team it’s understandable, but having them play a part in the fourth quarter was a far greater concern for the bees than Eric Gordon not pulling out of a tight spot.
Landry was solid once again, Mek looked a little tentative, and he tried to make a couple of plays in the post, which makes my stomach turn every time.
J-Jack is playing well, but his performances are the perfect example of why sports go beyond the numbers, he offered us a CP3 stat line, but it didn’t take a genius to figure out we were missing our floor general throughout the ball game.
Aminu doesn’t seem to know what he’s good at, and I’m not sure anyone else does either, but surely he’s good at something? His potential is on the defensive end, I like the ‘In The No’ reference to Thad Young, but think that could even be a stretch, with Aminu having such a strange/awkward physique, and struggling with some fundamental parts of the game. Give him time, he could become a solid role player, or he could not.
The joys of being crap is picturing our next superstar we’re going to more than likely acquire in the upcoming draft. Barnes? Sullinger? Davis? Henson? I wouldn’t be surprised if we landed two top ten picks, probably similar positioning to the Bobcats last season.
I agree with most of your points and you raise some interesting ones i havnt even thought of.
With the draft possibilities it is realistically way to early to speculate but im tired of saying and thinking that. It’s fun to do so and when the team isnt looking too bright at the moment it offers an alternative.
So i’ll make my case that hopefully we have enough opportunity to get the 2nd or 3rd pick (not crossing out 1st but thats an obvious pick) if you have the 2nd (just to have the luxury of the following decisions), and another say….. around 7-10. I think your looking at an obvious SF and big man duo. So my favourite option is Harrison Barnes and John Henson, i wanna go into why i really like this besides for talent reasons but this is alreay one long comment.
The second is Andre Drummond and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist or Quincy Miller. These combo’s i like less because all three players are far from sure things, im scared of any centre prospect in a draft cause except for Dwight every good cente in the league came in the middle of the draft or later, the best ones going into drafts dont seem to work out. Nethertheless he had got Dwights and Amare’s offnesive and defensive potential. The two small forward prospects are defensive hard workers with potnetial to be a survicable options on offense, great compliments to EJ in other words.
Demps can find me a a playoff teams pick and i’ll target perhaps Kendall Marshall, Marquis Teague or one of the Zellers of Mason Plumblee just to take a swing on another centre prospect or point guard depending on how the first stage goes.
Oh and I really like an under the radar guy Arnett Moultrie, watching him play reminds me so much of landry except with actual NBA height so he doesnt get abused on the boards or on defense.
When Belli and Trey J were all over the 4th i was thinking the same thing. But give me Trey J over Belli’s broke self any day
Hey guys, not sure if this is the right place to post this and my apologies if its elsewhere on the site, but I thought this Yahoo Sports article was very interesting. It includes near the end Kaman and Gordon expressing very positive thoughts on the Hornets organization and a tantalizing tidbit about Gordon and his agent being open to signing a contract extension before the deadline at the end of the month.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=mc-spears_eric_gordon_chris_kaman_clippers_nba_010412
What a great article. This confirms what we’ve all suspected, which is that Monty and Dell are running things the right way, and players who come here will respect that and want to be a part of the organization. Even though we’re rough, I REALLY like our current squad, and hope we try to keep a lot of this intact.
There were multiple possessions in a row where Gordon didn’t even touch the ball and when he did, it was in those “bail us out” moments late in the shot clock. Jack didn’t look for GOrdon enough in the closing moments, IMO.
Nothing serious just yet. But we’ll adapt, adjust, and right the ship. Or not and we’ll finish with a terrible record and a high lotto pick.
Win-win all season. Add another win when the T’Wolves lose.
I cannot believe Jarrett Jack made a double double. He does not look like distributing the ball that much. He is definitely a shoot-first PG not a pass-first player.
For example, I think The 3-second violation by Okafor late in the game was not only his fault. Jack could have passed to him but decided to go to the rim instead (as he does most of the time) and Okafor was expecting the pass to finish it under the rim. By the time he realized Jack wasn’t gonna pass, it was too late to go out of the paint because of the crowd created by Jack down there.
I like Jarrett Jack, but he needs to feed other people for our team to win.
Another way to state the surpirse is to frame it in terms of the guys being passed to making open shots. Dont’ be so quick to questions Jack’s decisions when recent history should have us begging for him to take over games. Remember the similar chorus last season?
Also, in the particul case you pointed out, the best way to handle that is to sometimes keep and sometimes pass, especially if the off-ball player is standing still. Being unpredictable has a cost, but it has a better cost-benefit factor than doing one or the other each time.
He gives the ball up plenty for me, but I’m willing to be educated, as always.
I like Jarett Jack… I’ve said before, I just don’t like him as our starter past this season…
The team has fallen mighty far if we are asking JJ to “take over” games..
I am of the mindset that if we aren’t going to be winning these games… And our best bet is to turn to Jack to make miracles happen.. Then we should be developing the young talent we have instead of letting their minutes drop…
Lets face it… Jack is not a superstar… He is not a guy who can single handedly win games like his predecessor… I respect Jack… But I don’t dare fool myself into thinking he is better than he really is
I’m starting to wonder if the current losing streak is part of the plan to “tank” these games. I’m not understanding why this team is making ill-timed decisions in the 4th quarter. Personally, I still want this team to win this year. Losing/tanking, your preference for how you want to call it, still send a bad message to fans. Yes, fans are aware that CP3 and D-West aren’t with the team anymore, but the fans still expect a good product on the floor. The 10,000 season ticket holders want a return on their investment.
How is it possible to sell this team next year to fans if we lose?
Does drafting in the top 5 make this team better?
How do you sell this franchise to free agents next year that this team is heading in the right direction?
Would FAs want to even come here?
These are questions for after the season, but we can’t just focus on the future. We have to focus on the present. We’re a young team and these guys are still getting to get to know each other, but that’s no excuse for the horrendous play in the 2nd half of these games. We’re already @ a 4 game losing streak. Up next: Denver, @ Dallas, @ Denver, & OKC. A murderous row of teams headed our way. These guys have to get it together or this could get ugly. Or is this part of the plan???? I don’t know.
Follow, please: http://brazilianhornet.wordpress.com/2012/01/05/pecando-em-momentos-cruciais/
What do you play 2k on?
I liked this grading format. Two days ago, I saw it at Salt City Hoops from the TrueHoop Network. I was hoping for hornets247 to do something similar and I am glad to see it.
Comment about last nights game. We gave away too many offensive rebounds that led to too many 2nd chance points for Philly and eventually lost the game. They scored 34 points in the 4th quarter against our 20!! I think coach kept Kaman in the game for too long in the 4th. By the time Okafor got back into the game, it was too late to win with the D! They started the final quarter with a 7-0 run to take the lead. Coach should have heard the ALARM sounds of our defence within that 2-minute period…
That’s my take for our loss last night.
Part of the delay is me being a little chicken about updating some of the site code with stuff I hadn’ seen work time and again.
There are a couple of kinks that are being worked out, but we’re now rolling with it, pretty formatting included.
Feedback is good, whether it affirms changes, condemns changes, or changes changes. We’re listening to you guys, and we’re doing things about it. That, I feel, is what should be getting you guys excited.
Any suggestions? We can flow them up to the folks really working this tool. I sent a few up myself, in fact.
I think an overlooked stat is the amount of minutes that both Jack and Gordon had played. In the fourth quarter I noticed Jack (of all people) getting lazy contesting shots and I immediately said he simply looks worn out. I looked it up and both Jack and Gordon played nearly 40 minutes … and it showed. It’s tough to play that long and maintain energy in the closing minutes of the game (especially since this was Gordon’s first game back). In the fourth quarter we had as many turnovers as in the previous 3 quarters combined. In my unprofessional opinion this is a direct correlation to the exhaustion our back court.
babyboi5: There are 2 races in the NBA this year – 1 for the title, which we can’t get near, and 1 for a team changing draft pick, which we have a real shot at. Wonder no more which one Dell is trying for.
Have a really bad season, add the right players and ticket holders re-up. Win more games, have a mediocre year, get medicre players, and they don’t.
Wear your bagheads at the arena because you don’t want to show your face as you watch this sloppy team lol.
I’m sure I’d be fine being the face of this franchise regardless of players and play.
This is my team.
Who’s with me? Is this your team?
For true Hornets fans, we will be here no matter what happens…
But true fans don’t make up the Majority of season ticket holders…
The majority are businesses and casual fans who can drop a few grand for tickets…
And there are two types of teams that attract these fans… Young teams with potential that are fun to watch… And teams that win big…
I fear that if we field a mediocre team… We would lose atleast a chunk of the 10k we are so proud of…
All true. What’s that got to do with bags on heads? To me, it just sends a message to the franchise: change something. We know they are changing things, so no need.
No, j was stirring up stuff, not being funny or good natured. We all know whay we’re in for with this team. There is no need to ridicule people for their choices by telling them to hide.
Losing 4 in a row sucks but damn…..
Give it some time. If we end the season with two wins then it’s maybe time to start talking about bags. But until then, hold on to some positives that we have going for us.
My biggest concern is getting a damn owner to keep the team in the NO.
I think once that happens we can begin talking about re-signing Gordon and maybe moving some of our “assets.”
Bellinelli sucks. And we need a starting PG besides Jack and a bigger 4 with post skills.
I want to write do much more but I’m in a rush. Keep the faith Hornets fans!
Hey I have an idea for the website. There could be a little side window on the right of the website with some insight on our picks. It could say where the picks rank in the league so far – like if the season had ended at that moment, which pick would it be?, and it can also say our next three games and the twolves next three games or something like that. Its just something neat for the fans to be able to easily keep track of where the picks stand.
Nice idea… But being that the picks are lottery generated… It’s impossible to know who gets what pick…
And even more impossible if you believe in the corrupt lottery every 5 years or so..
All that information is already on schedulesthe on other sites about the games, and we won’t know about whether we have lottery picks for weeks. We’ll have weekly pieces addressing these, but no static status box.
Something struck me over the past few games…
If Smith can keep this play up, How about letting him start? And let Landry Go to the second team and give us a better presence on both ends of the floor…
I’m by no means saying Smith is better Than Landry… But it’s not always the best player who starts… It’s about where you can best help the team… And at the end of the game Landry would still have starters minutes..
Just a thought…
Nice idea, i think it would balance the team out maybe a little more but I don’t know if Landry would like it, I mean I think a big reason he signed back with Hornets because he knew he was going to be the starter and he knew the system. I like the idea because with Smith as starter he has a good jumper so it will open the lane up early for Gordon and maybe Ariza(to use his athletism) to slash to the lane and get points or early fouls.
I see where your coming from but i really think it would hurt us defensively too much
@Hornetsfan!! I think if anything,it doesn’t hurt but it helps the Hornets balance there Team Defense. I mean think about it the Second unit has Kaman and Smith neither of which is great defenders but at times they can hold there ground. So if you place Landry on the second team it makes the D better and Smith on 1st team it will make there O better and the D will be a little softer but it still can be effective.
Also the starting of Landry and Okafor they are the same type of player in my opinion where they look to bang inside (Landry can hit jumpers but he most is better in the paint). Smith and Kaman are the same type of player where they look to hit the jump shot but they can go inside.
So why not mix it up so the players can compliment each other,where we have Okafor and Smith or even Landry and Kaman. Either move will open up floor for Gordon or Ariza to slash down the lane because of have a jump shooting big man and the starting D will soften but it will still be solid. Even the second unit gets better with that move.
It’s just an idea.
But it evens out our size…
We are an undersized team at tipoff.
Jack 6’2
Gordon 6’3
Ariza 6’8
Landry 6’8
Mek 6’10….
Meanwhile our second team
Vasquez 6’5
Belli 6’5
(Henry 6’6)
Aminu 6’9
Smith 7′
Kaman 7’…..
swapping Landry and Smith does a couple of things
1. Evens out Size
2. Gives the second team a Go-To option
3. And lets Landry be even more dynamic going against mostly inferior PFs..
4. Smith draws big man out… Opening in the lane for a cutter…
5. Also gives us Smiths energy at the beginning… Which ends up in more possessions and second chances(when he does his thing)
I think Landry would be open to it as long as he gets his minutes…
If landry gets going in his early minutes… We could see 20 from him nightly…
He is getting about 15 or so starting out against the opponents best…
Losing games suck but lets give it time, I think we still can win 30-35 games this year once all the pieces fall into place.We have solid players they just need to play consistently. And remember if I’m not mistaken we still haven’t played with the whole team yet.
In my opinion J.Jack is playing good basketball but we need to remember he is not CP3 so we cant expect that from him. I think Okafor needs to step up more and really go to the rim hard. Ariza needs to slash to the basket more (use his athleticism). I hope Belly finds his shot if not he mite lose a lot of minutes to Henry if he comes out scoring. I like how Landry,Kaman, and Smith has been playing. Vasquez is a good energy player but I think he need to bring more to the table. We are a good team just needed a second scorer and hopefully Henry will fill that void coming off the bench.
I love the trade we made for Xaiver Henry, think about it we got a lottery pick(Henry) for a 2nd rounder. That’s a win by itself,its a bonus that Henry is only
20 years old. So the hornets are rebuilding now but with good pieces before the
draft.Henry is a potential guy who can play the 2/3 and be a decent scorer,I think he can average around 15-17 ppg when it’s all said and done.(he was a lottery pick for a reason) At Memphis it was hard for him to find Minutes behind Mayo and Allen(13minutes per game)but here I think he will get a chance early (with Ariza out and Belly playing a little small). I’m hoping he can start by giving us a spark off
the bench and hopefully become a bigger steal by becoming a starter or 6th man.
Mite be a ill optimistic but I like how the future looks even brighter now!
Geaux Hornets!! “I’m In”