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Sunday, November 1, 2009
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Definitely dead now...
And this blog too, might possibly be dead before it even got started. Keeping a blog when you don't have a PC at your home is inconvenient. We'll see what happens. Go Hornets!
Monday, March 30, 2009
Ain't dead just yet...
What a game.
The Hornets were once again missing Tyson Chandler and Peja Stojakovic, and James Posey was also missing after getting suspeneded for his silly ball-throwing incident against New York. The Spurs were in town with their big three of Duncan, Ginobli and Parker intact. It was, on paper, a game that the Spurs should have won. Luckily for Hornets fans, the Spurs did not win.
After a season full of mounting injuries and unfulfilled expectations, the Hornets pulled the rabbit out of the hat. A damn vicious rabbit with the word "DEFENSE" tattooed on its face. This game was all about effort. The Hornets played solid and aggressive team defense, rotating well on the perimeter and playing physical inside without getting into too much foul trouble. San Antonio did get some open looks from beyond the arc, but for the most part New Orleans did a fairly solid job of closing out and was able to prevent San Antonio from getting into any kind of rhythm from deep. Instead, the opposite happened. San Antonio kept chucking them up and they continued to miss, finishing a miserable 7-29 from deep. Mistakes were made, mistakes always are, but the effort was there for 48 minutes. The team played hard, and playing hard is atleast 50% of good defense. Thankfully, solid rebounding made the defensive effort pay off. West battled big and finished with 16 boards, Armstrong pulled down 6, Marks grabbed 5, and the little magician aka the merchant of grief aka the anti-Nate Robinson had 7.
On the offensive end, the team didn't shoot much better than the Spurs did. In fact, they shot worse from the field overall (37.5% to the Spurs 40.3%), but they had a slighty better showing from three-point range (30.8% on 13 attempts to the Spurs 24.1% on 29 attempts) and they lived at the free throw line, where they shot an impressive 32-33. The Hornets were just as aggressive offensively as they were defensively, which is why they were rewarded with so many free throw attempts. The Hornets pushed the break, and they pushed it hard. Chris Paul in particular ran coast to coast like a madman after what seemed like every long rebound or steal.
Energy, aggressiveness, effort, drive... its been missing, but it was there last night. Let's hope that what we saw last night was not an isolated case, but a turning point. Win or lose, I want to see the Hornets play like this from here on out.
Props to: Hilton Armstrong and Sean Marks. Hilton had a workman-like statline of 7 points, 6 rebounds, 2 blocks, a steal and an assist in 29 minutes. He had only 1 turnover and just 3 fouls, and he made Tim Duncan work for his 19 points. Among the bright spots the past few weeks is Hilton's consistently solid play.
Meanwhile, Marks showed some white boy hustle at its very best. Swatting shots, grabbing boards, cutting to the rim, setting screens... as strange as it sounds Sean Marks was a force to be reckoned with in his 16 minutes on the floor. When Hubie Brown says you "are playing great basketball," well... that's quite a compliment.
The Hornets were once again missing Tyson Chandler and Peja Stojakovic, and James Posey was also missing after getting suspeneded for his silly ball-throwing incident against New York. The Spurs were in town with their big three of Duncan, Ginobli and Parker intact. It was, on paper, a game that the Spurs should have won. Luckily for Hornets fans, the Spurs did not win.
After a season full of mounting injuries and unfulfilled expectations, the Hornets pulled the rabbit out of the hat. A damn vicious rabbit with the word "DEFENSE" tattooed on its face. This game was all about effort. The Hornets played solid and aggressive team defense, rotating well on the perimeter and playing physical inside without getting into too much foul trouble. San Antonio did get some open looks from beyond the arc, but for the most part New Orleans did a fairly solid job of closing out and was able to prevent San Antonio from getting into any kind of rhythm from deep. Instead, the opposite happened. San Antonio kept chucking them up and they continued to miss, finishing a miserable 7-29 from deep. Mistakes were made, mistakes always are, but the effort was there for 48 minutes. The team played hard, and playing hard is atleast 50% of good defense. Thankfully, solid rebounding made the defensive effort pay off. West battled big and finished with 16 boards, Armstrong pulled down 6, Marks grabbed 5, and the little magician aka the merchant of grief aka the anti-Nate Robinson had 7.
On the offensive end, the team didn't shoot much better than the Spurs did. In fact, they shot worse from the field overall (37.5% to the Spurs 40.3%), but they had a slighty better showing from three-point range (30.8% on 13 attempts to the Spurs 24.1% on 29 attempts) and they lived at the free throw line, where they shot an impressive 32-33. The Hornets were just as aggressive offensively as they were defensively, which is why they were rewarded with so many free throw attempts. The Hornets pushed the break, and they pushed it hard. Chris Paul in particular ran coast to coast like a madman after what seemed like every long rebound or steal.
Energy, aggressiveness, effort, drive... its been missing, but it was there last night. Let's hope that what we saw last night was not an isolated case, but a turning point. Win or lose, I want to see the Hornets play like this from here on out.
Props to: Hilton Armstrong and Sean Marks. Hilton had a workman-like statline of 7 points, 6 rebounds, 2 blocks, a steal and an assist in 29 minutes. He had only 1 turnover and just 3 fouls, and he made Tim Duncan work for his 19 points. Among the bright spots the past few weeks is Hilton's consistently solid play.
Meanwhile, Marks showed some white boy hustle at its very best. Swatting shots, grabbing boards, cutting to the rim, setting screens... as strange as it sounds Sean Marks was a force to be reckoned with in his 16 minutes on the floor. When Hubie Brown says you "are playing great basketball," well... that's quite a compliment.
Friday, March 27, 2009
The Hornets lose to the Knicks
Injuries were no excuse here. The Hornets just decided to suck in the 2nd half for some reason. Memo to the Hornets: I am running out of optimism dudes, I've used a lot of it on this blog, but you are really starting to drain it.
That's all I have to say about this one.
That's all I have to say about this one.
Tyson
Out for another 1-2 weeks.
My dream is that we fall to the 8 seed, get healthy for the playoffs, and surprise everyone by upsetting the Lakers in the first round. Gosh that would be nice.
My dream is that we fall to the 8 seed, get healthy for the playoffs, and surprise everyone by upsetting the Lakers in the first round. Gosh that would be nice.
The Denver Loss
Yeah so that game against Denver didn't go too well. Fire Byron Scott!
No, don't. Whatever complaints you might have against Byron (and we all have some), this wasn't a loss to due to bad coaching. It was (once again) a loss that can be explained by referencing the injury situation. It was also due to a fantastic defensive performance by the Denver Nuggets. Denver trapped aggressively, played very physical and clogged the lane well. The trapping and banging frustrated the Hornets and caused turnovers and sloppy play. I hate to use a cliche, but I will anyway because it works so very well; Denver came out and punched the Hornets in the mouth.
It didn't help that Chris Paul looked a bit "off." He was a bit lacking in speed, his jumper wasn't there, his dribbling and passing looked a bit out of control and he finished with six turnovers. Somehow he still managed to put up a ridiculous 19/13/6/2 stat line.
Still, props to Denver for having a plan and executing it perfectly. I imagine George Karl counted on the absence of Peja and Tyson because the Denver strategy was perfectly catered to that abscence. Peja wasn't there to spread the floor and be a perimeter threat, Tyson wasn't there to catch the lob... and Denver was able to clog the lane succesfully and trap without worrying too much about getting burned. It also hurt that Butler, who played well (10 points on 4/7 FG and 2/4 3PT), kept getting in foul trouble and thus couldn't really be the offensive threat he needed to be.
What it comes down to is that we need Peja and Tyson back desperately, especially for the playoffs. Though it would be great to finish as a top 4 seed, I'm more concerned about the Hornets having a healthy lineup once the regular season ends and the playoffs begin. Best case scenario is that Tyson and Peja are able to return soon for the stretch run, help the Hornets grind out some tough victories and capture a 2-4 seed. However, if Tyson and Peja continue to sit, victories will be much harder to come by, and a 5-8 seed finish will be much more likely. This is looking like the more likely scenario. Yet if that's what it takes to get those guys healthy for the playoffs, then that's the best course of action. Home court advantage is important, but its not everything. More important is team matchups, and with the way the standings are, landing an unfavorable matchup (Utah) is a possibility no matter the seeding. I don't know about you guys, but I still have my eyes on the Western Conference Finals.
Of course I should also mention the worst case scenario, in which we are a 5-8 seed but are still not healthy for the playoffs. That would suck.
Hornets take on New York tonight. New York handed New Orleans an unfortunate home loss earlier in the season, so hopefully the Hornets can get some revenge tonight.
After New York comes a huge home game against San Antonio on Sunday. A win against San Antonio would make everything all better, wouldn't it?
No, don't. Whatever complaints you might have against Byron (and we all have some), this wasn't a loss to due to bad coaching. It was (once again) a loss that can be explained by referencing the injury situation. It was also due to a fantastic defensive performance by the Denver Nuggets. Denver trapped aggressively, played very physical and clogged the lane well. The trapping and banging frustrated the Hornets and caused turnovers and sloppy play. I hate to use a cliche, but I will anyway because it works so very well; Denver came out and punched the Hornets in the mouth.
It didn't help that Chris Paul looked a bit "off." He was a bit lacking in speed, his jumper wasn't there, his dribbling and passing looked a bit out of control and he finished with six turnovers. Somehow he still managed to put up a ridiculous 19/13/6/2 stat line.
Still, props to Denver for having a plan and executing it perfectly. I imagine George Karl counted on the absence of Peja and Tyson because the Denver strategy was perfectly catered to that abscence. Peja wasn't there to spread the floor and be a perimeter threat, Tyson wasn't there to catch the lob... and Denver was able to clog the lane succesfully and trap without worrying too much about getting burned. It also hurt that Butler, who played well (10 points on 4/7 FG and 2/4 3PT), kept getting in foul trouble and thus couldn't really be the offensive threat he needed to be.
What it comes down to is that we need Peja and Tyson back desperately, especially for the playoffs. Though it would be great to finish as a top 4 seed, I'm more concerned about the Hornets having a healthy lineup once the regular season ends and the playoffs begin. Best case scenario is that Tyson and Peja are able to return soon for the stretch run, help the Hornets grind out some tough victories and capture a 2-4 seed. However, if Tyson and Peja continue to sit, victories will be much harder to come by, and a 5-8 seed finish will be much more likely. This is looking like the more likely scenario. Yet if that's what it takes to get those guys healthy for the playoffs, then that's the best course of action. Home court advantage is important, but its not everything. More important is team matchups, and with the way the standings are, landing an unfavorable matchup (Utah) is a possibility no matter the seeding. I don't know about you guys, but I still have my eyes on the Western Conference Finals.
Of course I should also mention the worst case scenario, in which we are a 5-8 seed but are still not healthy for the playoffs. That would suck.
Hornets take on New York tonight. New York handed New Orleans an unfortunate home loss earlier in the season, so hopefully the Hornets can get some revenge tonight.
After New York comes a huge home game against San Antonio on Sunday. A win against San Antonio would make everything all better, wouldn't it?
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
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