The Return of EJ versus Charlotte hoping to end a 17 game losing streak. Which team will reign supreme?
We’ve been told all week that Eric Gordon will be back on the court tonight. I, for one, am very excited at the prospect. Charlotte, however, has to be feeling somewhat excited about tonight as they get to play another cellar dwellar at home. Is there a better chance on their schedule to put an end to the losing? They’ll come out firing tonight to try and get that done. Hopefully, working Gordon back into the lineup and knocking off the rust won’t make it possible.
The Bobcats were the worst defensive team in the league last year – and they are again this year, posting a Defensive Rating of 111.9. They allow the second highest effective Field Goal percentage in the league, force the eighth lowest number of turnovers, and are the second worst defensive rebounding team around. The only thing they don’t do is allow many free throws – but that’s more a function of allowing any shot the other team wants, rather than any sort of disciplined defensive skill.
Offensively, the Bobcats post the 25th ranked offense, and their failures boil down to one thing: making shots. They rarely turn the ball over, the earn a ton of free throws (4th in the league) and are average at grabbing offensive rebounds. Their effective field goal percentage, however, is 29th in the league.
Their center is shooting 37% for the year. Other than Ben Gordon, they don’t have a guard with a true shooting percentage over the league average, and Kidd-Gilchrist is the only other PLAYER on the team with a TS% above the league average. No big men getting easy buckets. No shooting specialists. That’s tough to sustain.
The Hornets aren’t great, but they should be able to extend the Bobcats losing streak. Should.
Keys to the Game
- Protect the ball. The few easy points the bobcats get are generated off blocks and steals. MKG gets a good portion of his scoring in transition. The Hornets need to limit this opportunities – and it’s something they frequently struggle with.
- Stay home on Ben Gordon. He wants to shoot threes. He’s good at it. Try to make him drive. He’s okay off the dribble, but he is at his most deadly behind the arc.
- Clean the Glass. The Bobcats are ridiculously bad at rebounding on the defensive end. Crash the boards for easy putback and layups.
Enjoy the game!
Update from the Hornets:
The New Orleans Hornets have placed Eric Gordon on the Active List and moved Darius Miller to the Inactive List prior to tonight’s game against the Charlotte Bobcats, it was announced today by Hornets Senior Vice President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Dell Demps.
Gordon has missed all 29 games this season with a right knee injury. He is expected to play in tonight’s contest.
18 responses to “Hornets @ Charlotte”
Do any of y’all know the name of the song that comes on for tip off
Hey guys quick question. Ive noticed sometimes instead of calling him EG, people call him EJ, can someone shed some light because his full name is Eric Ambrose Gordon.
Eric Ambrose Gordon, Jr.
EJ. This is common. Many TJ’s come about like this, instead of something like Tommy.
Maybe we should call him T-Eric.
I liked the podcast you did with Raptors Republic, just to point that out. Also I love T-Eric but unfortunately don’t think that’ll catch on.
I also do not think it will catch on.
I didn’t circle around to my point about Ross v. Gordon after ruling out front court alternatives, but that’s fine. The point was basically made. International fame regardless!
If they arent going to play miller at least send him to the d-league so he can learn. Rivers needs to be down there also but guess he makes to much money not to let him play.
So. I wonder how many ppl gonna blame this game on Rivers cause Vasquez sure is getting beat a lot.
On another note. You can tell Gordon is out of shape but when he drives it looks so fluid.
Great game for Vasquez! Did you watch it, eventhough he was very tired: two consecutive games with 40+ minutes… It seems NOLA just needed a legit SG.
You don’t have to blame Vasquez to protect Rivers….
Our problem now is at SF. Otherwise, Monty won’t play 3 guards at the end. If you ask why Rivers didn’t stay until the end for this game and last game, that’s because he didn’t outperform Roberts last game and Mason this game.
Rivers is still learning.
I don’t know what you guys think, but Gordon is looking really good. Especially since its Only his 1st game.
I spoke before the half and they made me eat my words. Good win tonight
Gordon was gassed at the end, but he’ll play himself into basketball shape. Seemed like NO got into their offense faster and easier, and spacing was so much better. Loved how he was able to beat the double team and penetrate during crunch time, driving and dishing. Fun to watch.
Agreed. I don’t think rhyno knew what to do with all that space. It’s been a long time since he shot consistent uncontested threes
We told the Eric Gordon haters this guy is the real deal… His presence will really benefit Rivers… make or break… He has got to start making his shot… and not he can come off the bench… Now we need better play out of the SF position and why isn’t Aminu playing…
Please..one game back doesn’t make him the real deal.Lets see how long he goes without getting “hurt” again.Hopefully they will trade him before that happens..He just needs to be gone.
Hes not going to be traded.“Gordon is a Hornet, he wants to be a Hornet, and he’s not going anywhere. Demps explained that the whole rehab in LA was the team’s idea, not EG’s. The mentality was that we have limited staff here and 15 players, so EG couldnt get the resources catered to him 100% of the time. By isolating EG in an establishment with a good reputation and tract record, he could see some serious progress without any delays while getting all the staff’s attention. Good news is that the plan worked and EG is finally healthy, the bad news is that “resting” and rehab with no bball activity for the last few months means EG is out of shape. So now back with the team, EG is getting back in game shape. When that happens he will be back on the floor. EG was asked straight up if he wants to be a Hornets, and his answer was yes.”
Not buying that crap…Demps is just trying to take some heat off of Gordon.Did you really expect him to say anything else? Same thing for Eric.what else is he going to say right now?..No i don’t want to be a Hornet?…He’s lost all credibility with me and I won’t be jumping on his bandwagon anytime soon. if ever. Before you guys start proclaiming him the as the answer to all our problems let me remind you this was against a team thats struggling even worse than we are.
‘Ol Moonface really shone in his first game back…