The Hornets got down big in the first half, then roared back and made it interesting in the fourth.
Five Things We Saw
- The Hornets hustled 16 offensive rebounds, hit half their threes, and won the turnover battle. They even earned more free throws against a team that specializes in crushing opponents at the line. If their centers Jones and Kaman hadn’t gone 5-24 for the game, the Hornets should have had this one in the bag.
- I like that Monty rode the bench that brought him back from the big deficit at the end. It’s the age old question – do you reward the guys who brought you back with more time, or take them out, since they probably killed themselves to get you there. I like that he rode them to the end . . . though a little piece of me wanted him to take out Jones and insert Ayon so. damn. badly.
- I’m going to start saying this now. If any of you think Monty is a bad coach, you are batshit crazy. He has a team that is 7-24, playing it’s second and third string, playing damn hard EVERY night, never giving up, and almost always being within reach at the end. At no position on the court does he have an easy answer. Every player has glaring weaknesses and moderate strengths. He is doing a masterful job.
- I’ve mentioned this before – Ayon’s passing is superb – but he’s still not yet up to full NBA speed. Tonight, he had a bunch of slick passes that the extreme length and athleticism of the Thunder just made impossible to complete. As he gets more acclimated, he’ll adjust and we’ll see them slipping through again. Vasquez had the same problem tonight as well.
- It was a crazy block party out there for the Thunder. 13 blocks against the Hornets.Still, I’d like to thank Daequan Cook for helping the Hornets to stay in that game.
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Trevor Ariza, SF 29 MIN | 2-7 FG | 3-4 FT | 4 REB | 5 AST | 7 PTS | -14
I think Ariza played well out there. He kept the lid of Durant while he played, and did what he needed to offensively. He wasn’t fantastic, but he was good. |
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Gustavo Ayon, PF 21 MIN | 2-5 FG | 0-0 FT | 5 REB | 1 AST | 4 PTS | -11
Ayon struggled hard tonight facing the ultra-athletic Serge Ibaka and the rest of the Thunder. This game exposed a few of his limitations, as his hustle works great – except for when the guys he’s hustling against are freaks of nature and can recover when he lures them into mistakes. |
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Chris Kaman, C 28 MIN | 4-17 FG | 4-4 FT | 8 REB | 3 AST | 12 PTS | -14
Kaman had a vendetta tonight. He was going to bruise every inch of that rim with his chucking. And he did so. Why did the Hornets go down 20 in the first half? The easy answer is here. |
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Marco Belinelli, SG 23 MIN | 4-8 FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 0 AST | 10 PTS | -1
Bellinelli was doing everything you want from your deep shooting specialist in the game. He wasn’t amazing, but he was flaring to the open spots on the wing and not forcing anything. If he keeps up what he’s been doing the past couple weeks and doesn’t go into another stretch of inconsistency, he’ll be worth looking at bringing back next year. |
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Greivis Vasquez, PG 29 MIN | 5-9 FG | 3-3 FT | 2 REB | 0 AST | 15 PTS | -6
Vasquez had a beautiful stretch in the third when the Hornets were executing nice rub screens to get him going one on one vs Daequan Cook instead of Westbrook. I still can’t give him a great game because Westbrook abused him every which way, and his passing, which is his strength, was ineffective. |
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Jarrett Jack, PG 30 MIN | 6-15 FG | 4-6 FT | 5 REB | 5 AST | 18 PTS | -1
Jack led the surge in the fourth to get the Hornets back. He too was getting torched by Westbrook, but really, I can’t get mad. |
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Solomon Jones, C 22 MIN | 1-7 FG | 0-0 FT | 4 REB | 2 AST | 2 PTS | +1
The good: Jones sets some CRUSHING screens. The bad: Everything else. Blown layups, stone hands, silly fouls. For a guy who looks so athletic, he’s a bit of a stiff. |
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Lance Thomas, F 20 MIN | 2-7 FG | 1-1 FT | 8 REB | 0 AST | 5 PTS | +1
Pure hustle, as usual. Mediocre results. For every nice hustle play he has, he gets crushed for two bad ones. |
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Al-Farouq Aminu, SF 23 MIN | 6-10 FG | 1-1 FT | 6 REB | 0 AST | 14 PTS | +7
I enjoyed Aminu’s game tonight. He was shooting with confidence when spelling Ariza, and when working as a small power forward, he was crashing the glass and finishing around the rim. If he can show this touch around the basket consistently, he could become a stretch 4 and play meaningful minutes. |
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Xavier Henry, SG 16 MIN | 1-6 FG | 4-4 FT | 3 REB | 1 AST | 6 PTS | -2
Henry was doing what he needed to tonight. Yeah, he missed a few shots, but he was attacking like crazy, getting free throws, and playing good denial defense. After a couple weeks of me watching him with ambivalence, I could see the promise. Of course, as soon as I wrote that note, he promptly left with an injury. Seriously. |
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7 responses to “Thunder hold off Hornets in Fourth”
Not only are they working their tails off, they are doing so in games where it would seem crazy to try, like when they are down 20 against the class of the West these days.
Completely agree about Monty and Belinelli! Agree about Henry and hope he is OK.
I think Thomas is better than you do. +1, 5 points, and 8 rebounds in 20 minutes. That doesn’t sound like two bad plays for ever good one to me. His game is subtle and sophisticated. You have to look at him constantly to see and appreciate all of the little things he does.
Aminus dunk was worth the torture that was the first half. I disagree that aminu shot with confidence. He is too hesitant to shoot the ball off of plays clearly drawn up for him. Henry finally looked like he was coming around, then the injury. If Kaman could have played some semblance of basketball today, I think we would have had a legit shot to win that game.
At what point in the game was the dunk? I missed the game so I didn’t see it and ESPN didn’t have it in the replay..
Monty is just a beast coach! I think the thing he deserves the most credit for this year is what you’ve mentioned before, I think to this point Landry is the only guy thats possibly not giving it his all because of his minutes and team play. That kind of character from a coach can get you through alot of diversity through a dynasty.
As a guy whose prime b-ball watching days are between 7 weeks of christmas to febuary, i havnt bought the league pass this year so I have not had the luxury of watching these guys play. Anyway this has caused me to miss the Ayon extravaganda (thats Italian origin I think unfortuately) but I like Xavier Henry and from what iv read here and stat wise and knowing a little about his college game I still want to go out on a limb and say Aaron Afflalo is the game structure he could mold into. That could be a massive asset if that comes to fruition, fingers crossed.
[…] Hornets 24/7: “It was a crazy block party out there for the Thunder. 13 blocks against the Hornets. Still, I’d like to thank Daequan Cook for helping the Hornets to stay in that game.” Share: […]
Hey this is my first post here and I tried to sign up to to the website about 2 weeks ago and still havent gotten a conformation email. Could someone please help out?
Thanks and Geaux Hornets