Based on previous games between these two teams, here’s some things I expect to happen in the opening game.  First, expect some cross matching in the backcourts as both teams prefer to keep their best defender on the opposing team’s point guard. Dahntay Jones will open defensively on Chris Paul, while Billups slips over to […]

This is the first of two opening posts I have planned to talk about the Denver Nuggets – the next one, hopefully up tomorrow evening sometime, will address matchups and some of the schemes I expect the Nuggets and the Hornets to open up with in the first couple games. The intent of today’s post […]

A year ago, Hornet’s Blog At The Hive and I both put up posts talking about Chris Paul, using what limited statistical measures exist to try and rate his defensive production.  The measures weren’t particularly encouraging, and Paul came out looking like he was a pretty weak defender, despite my arguments that he was likely […]

The Rockets have a very, very strong defense.  They have for years.  Their ability to contest shots and force you away from what you want to do makes it even more vital that when you get the shots that you want, you knock them down.  The Hornets did that in the first quarter – and […]

I’m not going to do a full game preview here.  New Orleans fans know Dallas.  Maybe not as well as Debbie does, but after last year’s playoff run and the two games earlier this year, most of us have a pretty good feel for what we can expect from Nowitzki and crew as the Hornets […]

As the season winds to a close, there’s been a lot of anxious energy flowing around due to the tight race in the Western Conference.  Tonight, however, I’m not really feeling it – and though I can’t pretend I’m the Hornets or their staff, I’m not sure they were feeling it either. Anyways, the Hornets […]

First, I wanted to make you all aware that Manu Ginobili is out for the rest of the season, including the playoffs.  If Manu had been able to come back to strength, I thought the Spurs could be a darkhorse contender and crash the big four’s party.  Now?  The best they can aspire to is […]

About the only good thing I could say about the game tonight was that they at least showed some signs of life in the third.  The Jazz offense was on target, and the Hornets didn’t once manage to keep them from scoring more than 20 in a quarter.  That’s not going to get it done.  […]

Not a particularly exciting game tonight as the Hornets took on the Clippers in Los Angeles.  Even when the Clippers came back and kept the game tight in the fourth quarter, I wasn’t really worried.  Quite simply, when a game is on the line against the Clippers, Zach Randolph is going to do something stupid that […]

Matchup: Hornets(45-27) @ Kings(16-56) Off Efficiency: Hornets 106.4(11th), Kings 102.4(25th)Def Efficiency: Hornets 103.4(8th), Kings 111.3(30th) Like all bad teams, the Kings are capable of surprising nights.  Earlier this year, they took one against the Hornets, and in their last game, they scored 105 points through the first three quarters, finishing with 126 points in a […]

Simply put, Chris Paul came out at half time and proved he was the best player on the floor.  I could fill up an entire observations section just with all the incredible plays he pulled out in that game.  It’s such a joy to watch him play. As what usually happens in good wins with […]

There is a lot of negativity floating around about the Hornets right now, particularly after some of the bad losses they’ve suffered the past couple weeks.  I’ve seen comments about firing Byron Scott, comments hoping that Peja will be so injured he’ll retire and fix the Hornet’s cap problems for them.  I’ve seen declarations that […]

On League Pass, it was the Knicks announcers, and I got to feel superior to Knicks fans as Baseball and Hockey players were regularly trotted out to talk about their sports – since the Knicks season is already done.  I felt pretty smug about how my team wasn’t finished yet. Then the Hornets crapped a […]

The New Orleans Times-Picayune is reporting Tyson Chandler will be out 1-2 more Weeks with that bad ankle.   This isn’t too surprising considering how slow that ankle has been at healing, and I’d rather have him miss the next couple weeks and come back 100% than try to push it and come back still hurt. […]

Matchup: Hornets(44-26) @ Knicks(28-43) Off Efficiency: Hornets 106.5(11th), Knicks 105.4(15th)Def Efficiency: Hornets 103.3(7th), Knicks 108.9(26th) The Knicks are a quick-moving outfit, ranking second in the league at pace factor.  They are also currently riding a six game losing streak that includes losses to cellar dwellars Sacramento and the Clippers.  It looks like the Hornets should […]

Yesterday, I wrote about Rasual Butler and his rise from the ashes.  However, it is nearly impossible to spend time mucking around in the soot and dust without emerging soiled.  Today, in accordance with the long tradition of Hornets247 investigations,(Peja, Paul) we will expose the dark secrets of Mr. Butler and his unlikely rise to […]

I want to take you back to what I wrote about Rasual Butler over the summer, when I produced my comparison of Hornet players to Dungeons & Dragons classes and compared him to the Paladin Class: “Paladins are the good champions of the D&D world.  Powerful warriors, they armor themselves heavily and head to battle […]

Matchup: Warriors(25-44) @ Hornets(43-25) Off Efficiency: Warriors 106.5(12th), Hornets 106.8(9th)Def Efficiency: Warriors 109.8(28th), Hornets 103.5(8th) There isn’t a team in the league more capable of enticing opponents to play their style than the Golden State Warriors.  They manage 101.2 posessions per game, easily the fastest in the league, and couple that with the 12th most […]

The Hornets let the Grizzlies hang around and hang around until 4:33 was left on the clock, and then Paul called over Butler, West and Wright and said, “Hey, why are we letting them hang around?  We’re the cool kids!” Three minutes later, the scrubs were in, the Hornets were up 16, and it was […]

There’s been a lot of discussion about which players in the league you’d want dominating the ball for you if your team had to score on their final posession.  The typical candidates in most discussions are premier scorers like Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and Dwayne Wade, and there are some nice crunch-time stats you can […]