Wow!

Chris Paul and David West were just announced as All-Star reserves live on TNT. Chris Paul, we knew you were due. Congrats on your first, dude. I'm sure you'll be back for many more.

But how about David West? Damn, I didn't see that coming. No doubt in my mind that he deserves it, but I didn't think the coaches would see it the same way. I guess an incredible record and consistent production are taken into consideration after all.

Big Easy D-Weezy in the All-Star game fo sheezy.

Spare a thought though for Tyson Chandler. I can't imagine he missed out by much. Fuel for the fire, big man. Keep working and let's get three guys in there next year.

Update: Quotes from the press release…

"This is a special moment for me that I share with my teammates, the organization and our fans," said Paul. "I'm truly honored to be able to make my first All-Star appearance in New Orleans and I'm thrilled that I can make it along with D-West, since we've both worked so hard together over the last two-and-a-half years to get this team to where we are now."

"Being named an All-Star is something that I look at as not an individual honor, but one that comes from the overall success of the team," said West. "I'm proud that I was voted to the team, but I'm even more proud of what we've been able to accomplish together on the court and for what it all means to the organization and to the city of New Orleans."

"On behalf of our entire organization and the fans of New Orleans, I'd like to congratulate Chris and David on their selection to the All-Star Team," said Hornets Owner George Shinn. "I'm looking forward to people around the world being able to see not only their talents on the court, but also the great character that makes them such outstanding representatives for the Hornets, the NBA and our city."

My defense of Morris Peterson was more popular than I thought it would be, getting linked by Truehoop and Kelly Dwyer at Yahoo! and was mentioned on The Basketball Jones podcast.  So here's a little follow-up posting my full table of 5th options.  Again, this list was created by taking the lowest-scoring player with starts in at least half their team's games.  I made a few judgement calls – like Josh Boone over Collins in New Jersey, since I believe Boone is starting now.  For three teams it wasn't obvious who is the real fifth starter – mostly because of lineups being shuffled a lot or injuries.

And again – this is purely evaluation as a scoring production.  I know some of these guys are out there for rebounding or defense, but the fact remains that as a fifth scoring option amongst the starters, Mo Peterson produces well, and a lot of these other guys don't.  I'm talking to you, Ben Wallace.  Oh- I also realized I was probably unfair to Troy Murphy in the original post.  He's a better scorer than Mo Pete too.

And to close this post, I'm going to pluck out a comment made by Wow from the original post, since his question got me thinking, and post my reply and his as well.

Wow: Uh I got linked here from Truehoop but mopete isn't supposed to be the 5th scoring option… you're saying tyson chandler is better endowed in scoring than mopete? WHAT THE HELL?

Ryan: Indeed – that's exactly what I'm saying. Tyson Chandler's ability to finish around the rim makes him a vital offensive peice. A player doesn't have to commence a play as long as he's capable of finishing it. It's the same premise as a pick and pop/roll or a drive and kick. That leads to another point. Good offensive players don't have to be offensive creators. You really should only have two, maybe three of those sorts of players on your team – otherwise everyone needs the ball in their hands to score. The Hornets are perfectly designed in this respect. They have creators in Paul and West and Pargo/Bobby off the bench and exceptional finishers in Peja, Chandler and Pete. Look at the Spurs – they have creators in Duncan and Parker – with Ginobili off the bench. Bowen, Finley, Barry, Horry, even Oberto – they are all finishers.

Wow: After mulling it over I see your point… but isn't Chandler's increased role on offense also due to the fact that Peterson's offense has digressed? Man, I guess I just miss the the MoPete from 2 years back.

So what do the rest of you think?  Would you rather have a few creators and a crew of finishers around them?  Or do you think having more creators than that does help a team?  The Warriors seem to be built that way with Davis, Ellis, Jackson, Harrington and Azubuike all capable creators.  Which would you prefer?

3:21 left in the game tonight, the Hornets trailing by nine points. Baron Davis pulls up and sinks a long three over Jannero Pargo and Chris Paul. As folks start heading for the exits, I scribble down four words in my notes…

Baron. Deep. Salt. Wounds.

This game was strange in many ways. Firstly, we lost, which I didn't think was possible anymore. Those Hornets really had me spoiled for a while there. Second, the Chris Paul / Baron Davis showdown was almost the reverse of what we saw in Oakland earlier this month. That game, BD went off in the first half, while CP was the man down the stretch. This time, it was Chris doing all sorts of fantasticness in the first half, but Baron was there at the end with the daggers.

It was also strange to see Adam Haluska in warmups rather than a suit, but that's neither here nor there.

On to some game notes, sprinkled with significantly less exuberance than we've grown accustomed to…

• Final score was 116-103. Linkage: box | recap | standings

• Morris Peterson sat this one out with a viral infection, while Melvin Ely was limited to four minutes of action due to a respiratory infection. Mo-Pete's absence especially hurt. The defensive rotation was way off on quite a few occasions, most noticeably in the fourth quarter when the Warriors got some easy buckets from guys cutting through the lane untouched. Methinks the road to the rim wouldn't have been quite so smooth for G-State with Peterson in there.
• That said, I don't think we could have beat these guys tonight even with everyone healthy. When they're hitting, there's not a hell of a lot you can do. Our offense was scattered but we still put 103 points on the board, enough to win each of our previous nine games by at least ten points. We had our lapses on the defensive end, but for the most part the Warriors just couldn't miss. They shot 52% from the field, including 13-of-27 from three. Stephen Jackson knocked down 10-of-16 from the field, and maybe only two of them were open looks.
• Great enthusiasm from the crowd at this one. 14,410 was the official attendance, about a thousand less than Monday, but everyone got into it. There were frequent chants (mostly "DE-FENSE," go figure), the halftime Mardi Gras parade went down well, and folks were just having a blast in general. Our guys got a nice ovation from those left in the stands when it was all over. The Hornets played hard tonight, and the effort did not go unappreciated.
• Sticking with attendance for a minute, I mentioned after last game that it really feels like this thing is building, and it's telling that tonight's game drew about 2,400 more folks than last Wednesday's game against the Blazers.
• Of course, Baron got booed. Loud and often. It was fun and everything, but then I got thinking about JR Smith. He didn't get it nearly as bad on Monday, and that guy did pretty much nothing of any significance as a Hornet, on or off the court. What was the highlight of his tenure in teal? Probably that behind the back jam in the dunk contest, right?

  Meanwhile, Baron's career as a Hornet featured back-to-back triple doubles in the Playoffs and consecutive trips to the Conference semis. But more than that, he did a lot of good in the community here in New Orleans, and still does apparently. His words postgame…

  "It was pretty loud when they were booing, but I heard some people cheering and it's good to see some familiar faces and people rooting me on, telling me they appreciate everything I've done for the community. I still come back in the summertime. I just don't let people know I'm here. I still do things in the community, help people that were torn apart from Hurricane Katrina. I still have close ties to this city. I love this city. I think it was a great city before Hurricane Katrina and it will continue to be a great city afterward."

  I was expecting to hear Baron take a shot at George Shinn or Byron Scott right there, or just somehow flash a big middle finger at everyone who booed him tonight. But he didn't. Gotta respect that.

• Of course, I'd still much rather have Chris Paul running my team than Baron Davis, and it will always be sweet beating G-State so long as BD is there. That's just how it goes.
• I figure Andris Biedrins was key for the Warriors tonight. He only played 19 minutes, but his rebounding and defense helped the visitors pull away in the end. He killed us last time we played the Warriors, too.
• Anyone know if that lady from Oklahoma City comes to the games anymore? You know; that noisy free-throw lady. Anyone?
• Tyson Chandler had a tough time defensively tonight. He's always bothered by guys who can shoot, and Al Harrington was draining threes in this one. Tyson doesn't much like following a guy out that far. I did notice something nice and new from our pivot tonight though. Late in the second quarter, he was having trouble getting offensive position in the post against Biedrins, so he faked a spin baseline as if he was going to turn and catch an alley-oop. Biedrins was so afraid of that potential lob that he backed off to cover it and Tyson was able to repost and get an easy feed. Not sure what came of that possession, but I found that part interesting.
• I thought Jannero Pargo played great defense on Monta Ellis until about midway through the second quarter. JP was hustling his ass off and frustrating the hell out of the Warriors' guard, but then that whole matchup just shifted completely in Ellis' favor, and he started getting open looks and fastbreak opportunities. Still not sure how that flipped so drastically.
• The Warriors made David West work hard. He had to scrap for every one of his 24 points, 13 rebounds and 5 blocks (wow!). I thought G-State did a great job defending him. They mostly let one guy take him in the post (usually Biedrins or Matt Barnes), then sent a bunch of help whenever West would spin into the lane. Worked pretty good. Also, for some reason we didn't run that pick and fade with West and CP so much. I can only recall one or two Fluffy jumpers.
• I thought our passing could have been much better tonight. In the fourth quarter, the gameplan seemed to involve Chris Paul dribbling in and out of the lane until the shot clock was running empty, then rush to get a shot off. The ball movement just wasn't as good as previous games. Not so much feed the post, kick to the corner, swing it around, find someone open at the other side, make the net go splash.
• Be sure to check out Golden State of Mind later, as they'll surely be wrapping this one up from the other side.

Anyways, you can't get mad when the other team is simply better than you on the night. We had four guys finish with double-doubles (including 20-10 for Peja!), and nine times out of ten that will get us an easy win. Guess we'll have to wait for the Kings in Sacramento on Friday to start another streak and get Byron in the All-Star game.

The Golden State Warriors are in New Orleans tonight, and that means we get to welcome Baron Davis back to the Big Easy for the first time since we traded him for, well, pretty much nothing back in 2005. Of course, we done picked up the anti-Baron in the draft a few months later and now here we are sitting atop the Western Conference.

Everyone loves a happy ending.

Should be a great game today. The Gun Shot Wounds are dangerous, but Tyson Chandler and the rest of our guys seem determined to get this win and ensure Byron Scott's place in the All-Star game.

The essentials…

Hornets (W-L): 32-12

Warriors (W-L): 27-19

Game Time: 7:00pm Central

TV: CST

Radio: KMEZ 102.9 FM in New Orleans and WIBR 1300-AM in Baton Rouge.

Linkage: Ryan's game preview | Golden State of Mind

Feel free as always to leave your comments below before, during and after the game. Compliments on my fabulous sentence structure are also appreciated.

Update: Warriors tore us up, 116-103. Ugh.

Recap | Box Score | Standings

Before I get to the game preview against the Golden State Warriors tonight, I wanted to address some complaints I've seen about Peterson's performance for the Hornets.  It appears very easy for the casual fan to take a look at his scoring average this season and dismiss him as a bad signing and a poor starter.  Indeed 8.5 points per game isn't a typical number to receive from a starting shooting guard.  However, I think Peterson is excellent, so I wanted to chip away at the idea he's not good for the team.

• He provides hard-nosed defense and better than average rebounding for his position.
• He's a proven three-point shooter who has to be respected, providing great spacing for our team on offense.
• He's smart.  The Hornets offense is a complex Princeton set – yet he is always where he's supposed to be.  He also rarely makes mistakes on defense or turns the ball over.
• He's our fifth option on offense, and 8.5 points a game is a good number for a 5th option.

That last point is important.  Don't be fooled into thinking Tyson is our last option and that he only gets buckets when Paul decides to "throw the ball at the rim for him to get".  Most of those lobs are set plays designed with Chandler's abilities in mind – and ARE plays called for him.  Peterson will get maybe two plays called for him – usually to start the game, and otherwise floats  to the perimeter or runs the floor and finds his offense where he can.

Still, how can 8.5 points per game be a good number?  In order to prove my point about that, I gathered the scoring numbers for the fifth offensive option among starters for all the other NBA teams.  I wanted to make sure I was comparing apples to apples – so I built the list by taking the lowest scoring player who had started more than half of the games his team had played.  Then I figured out how many points a player scored per 48 minutes. (some of these guys play 32 minutes and some play 20, I wanted to make sure I was comparing them accurately)  The list ended up being 27 players – since three teams have no clear cut 5th starter.  Where did Peterson rank?

5th overall, behind Ronnie Brewer of Utah, Troy Murphy of Indiana, Andris Biedrins of Golden State, and Raja Bell of Phoenix.  You'll notice that all four of those guys play for very fast-paced teams.  In fact, Utah is the 7th fastest, Indiana the 2nd, Golden State the 3rd, and Phoenix the 5th.  New Orleans is the 5th slowest team in the league.  As a result, their teams average 7 more posessions than the Hornets – and thus, they have more chances to score.

The only guy on that list that I really consider a better scorer than Peterson is Ronnie Brewer – who far and away outstrips the entire list because of efficient shooting.

So lay off Mo-Pete.  The guy is a great 5th option.

On to the Game Preview.

Matchup: Warriors(27-19) @ Hornets(32-12)
Off Efficiency: Warriors 107.7(6th), Hornets 107.2(7th)
Def Efficiency: Warriors 105.3(25th), Hornets 99.6(2nd)
Relevant Bloggers: Golden State of Mind

The West is so tight that the Golden State Warriors are currently 8 games over .500, yet are only a ninth seed and currently out of the playoffs.  Crazy stuff.

The Warriors played last night against the Rockets and lost by 4, 107-111 in Houston.  It's a testament to the Warriors explosive offense that the game was so high scoring.  The Rockets had entered the game tied with the Hornets for the most efficient defense, yet even they could be overwhelmed by the helter-skelter offense of the Warriors and be forced into a track meet. That's something we'll need to be careful of.  We have a decent transition game, but the Warriors are built for a transition game. Over their last ten, the Warriors are 7-3 and overall are 14-11 on the road.  They also recently signed Chris Webber, but he won't be eligible to play yet.  Unfortunate – I'd have enjoyed seeing West take the immobile Webber into the post and treat him bad.

The Hornets are on a roll, and not only has their offense been amazing these 9 wins, their defense has been crushing as well, keeping all opponents under 94 points during that stretch.  At some point, someone is going to go cold, but if they keep the defense going, this team is going to be in every game – and we know what happens when the team is in cruch time.  MVP!  MVP!

Positional Analysis
PG: 'Bloody' Baron Davis vs. 'The Upgrade' Chris Paul
Advantage: Hornets
As much as I despise Baron Davis, this isn't a tremendous advantage.  While Paul's scoring numbers and distribution aren't suffering, over the last few games his shooting percentage has.  He's been missing a lot of his little floaters in the lane.  I'm sure he'll snap out of it, and Tyson will clean up his misses against the weak-rebounding Warriors if he isn't, but I hope he gets his mojo back soon.  Baron's been doing his usual thing – going to the basket less often than he should – but I wouldn't count on that this game.  Baron gets up for the Hornets, I expect the crowd to feed his energy with boos, and when he's on he goes to the hoop and becomes a much more deadly player.  This will be a tough matchup.

SG: Monta Ellis vs. Morris Peterson
Advantage: Warriors
The skinny Ellis is coming into his own this year, showing an explosive scoring ability, if not much range.  Great in the open floor, he's also got a good first step that will get him to the rim.  Morris needs to play off of him a little and dare him to take long-range bombs, which are not his speciality.  The team as a whole needs to slow the Warriors transition game, and not let Ellis get off to the races.  If Peterson isn't hitting offensively, we may see Pargo playing here a lot to harass the speedy Ellis.

SF: Stephen Jackson vs. Peja Stojakovic
Advantage: Even
Jackson may have helped trigger last years Warrior's Playoff run, but my impression of the guy is he's fairly weak mentally.  He often gets stuck in a rut taking stupid shots(witness his 39% shooting), doesn't use his post up ability enough, and makes mistakes on defense frequently.  Like all Warriors, he excels in the open floor – especially with early offense three pointers.  Like Ellis, I think we dare him to shoot, and just close out on his shots when he does.

PF: Al Harrington vs. Fluffy
Advantage: Hornets
Harrington is a small forward trying to play the power forward's position.  At one time he was a good defender, but his years in Atlanta made him stop playing the right way and focus simply on three point shooting.  At some point he will get hot and hit a few, so David West will have to be willing to close on him.  What he won't do is rebound.  West and Tyson will own the glass.  He also won't be able to slow West, who should be able to overpower him in the post fairly easily.  In fact, the Hornets like to run their pick and roll and get West checked by a point guard.  Having the very strong Baron and his fast hands guarding West is probably worse than having Harrington guard him.  We may need to do straight post ups for him.

C: Andris Biedrins vs. Tyson Chandler
Advantage: Hornets
Biedrins is Chandler when he was on the Bulls.  He's never involved offensively, and is left alone to do all the rebounding and post defending.  As a result, he gets lots of fouls, and only scores on put backs or drop off passes under the basket by his guards.  Tyson's much more involved, is a little taller, and will make Biedrins life very, very hard.

Bench
Advantage: Hornets(wow, it's nice to say that again)
Individually, the Warriors have some good players on their bench.  The problem is, they are all swingmen.  Barnes is probably their largest sub size-wise, and he may be as tall as Morris Peterson.  The Hornets  second unit will control the boards, and Ely will score.  My only concern is Pargo.  The Pargo and Bowen fast break has paid dividends the past week or so – but the frantic pace may actually play into Golden State's hands.  Byron will need to watch and if it the Warriors start making a push, pull the reins on Pargo, calling plays for Ely to help slow things down.  Man – I just said "call plays for Ely".  What a turn around in my feelings about the bench.

Hornets win 109-99.

I stumbled across this blog today, where an interesting idea be brewing…

"My challenge to Mr Shinn: Have one game a year in the Superdome, let it count toward the average attendance benchmark, and I'll buy two season tickets."

Could this really work? The writer, Ashley Morris, asked John DeShazier of the Times-Picayune for his thoughts…

My guess would be, "No." He'd have to receive permission from the Saints, I believe, which he isn't likely to receive, and it would be a nightmare if, say, only 12,000 people showed up for a facility configured to host 35,000. But that's just a guess on my part.

I think it's a little premature to think we could sellout the Superdome, but if the Hornets keep rolling and make some noise in the Playoffs, such a feat may be plausible next season. And Tom Benson would be a dick if he stood in the way.

Thoughts? 

Everyone knows Mikey. He's the New Orleans Hornets mega-fan who yells his head off at every home game (and the odd road game within driving distance) and always has a comment or three for radio host Joe Block at the postgame show at Gordon Biersch.

The dude always has something to say.

But, with 3:34 left in tonight's game against the Denver Nuggets, after Julian Wright blocked a layup attempt by Von Wafer and followed at the other end with a sweet one-handed dish to Hilton Armstrong for a vicious slam that extended the Hornets lead to 29 points, I turned to Mikey and found him speechless.

That's how good we are.

You know, I really think we turned the corner with the win tonight, in terms of both attendance and national recognition for what this team is doing. The crowd was by far the best this season. No, not a sellout — 15,601 was the reported attendance — but easily the loudest and most enthusiastic crowd of the season. Chris Paul was showered with MVP chants on numerous occasions, folks were firing out "Who Dat's" in the second quarter, and after the game as we walked West through the tunnel on Girod, the walls almost shook with echoes of Chris Paul "Whoo's!"

As for the national recognition, I just caught the midnight SportsCenter and none other than your New Orleans Hornets were the lead. A nice couple of minutes devoted to the finest team in the NBA, and the legend that is CP3.

Let's get to some game notes…

• The final score was 117-93. Here's the essential linkage: recap | box | standings

• Great contributions from plenty of our guys again tonight. CP filled up the boxscore like some kind of malfunction, Peja rained in some long bombs, West and Chandler owned the paint and the bench was nothing short of spectacular.
• Kenyon Martin went off on us early, scoring 10 points in the first quarter. But Melvin Ely was out for revenge on that dude after the eye socket incident back in December. Martin would finish with 18 points and 9 rebounds in 36 minutes, but Ely almost matched that with 16 points and 9 boards in 22 minutes. There was this nice old lady sitting a couple seats away from me who kept screaming "Hit him in his eye, Ely! Hit him in his eye!"
• Speaking of K-Mart, my main man Toney Blare was sitting along the baseline for this one and assures me that the dude talks a lot of shit and plays dirty. He also figures that the reason CP blew that wide open layup early in the fourth quarter was because he expected a hard foul from Martin. Of course, that foul never came, so Chris stole the rebound from Kenyon and dished it right to Ely for two.
• The officiating in this one can only be described as awful. There was that inadvertent whistle at the end of the second quarter, which put the brakes on a Hornets possession and dimmed the buzz of the crowd. A couple minutes before that, Chris lobbed to Tyson on the fastbreak and the big man brought the house down. But wait! There was a foul called, on the floor, before the pass. Chris didn't want it, Byron didn't want it, 15,601 fans on a Monday night didn't want it. But the Nuggets fouled and we got punished. Worst of all though was the technical they gave Chris for swinging on the rim after his breakaway flush early in the fourth. Next time, he should just come down right away and kick Eduardo Najera in the face.
• Ryan Bowen had a great game. Scored eight, rebounded three, stole three. Oh, and he did a million other things that didn't show up in the boxscore. After he hit a jumper early in the fourth quarter, he stole one away from JR Smith and got it ahead to Chris Paul. Bowen then used his powers of teleportation to beat everyone up the floor and get a pass back from Chris for the layup.
• FYI: They play the song "Do the hustle" whenever Ryan Bowen scores at the Arena.
• JR Smith, playing his first game back in N'Awlins since we traded him however long ago, was booed nice and loud until he dunked on Jannero Pargo and subsequently crashed to the floor like a sack of potatoes. Ouch. Smith deserves props for playing on after that fall. He appeared to be hurting for the rest of the game, although that was only apparent on the defensive end.
• Quick question: Why did we choose to foul JR in the backcourt at the end of the first quarter? That gave the Nuggets a sideline inbound which resulted in a Najera three. My brain was confused.
• Carmelo Anthony didn't play tonight. Allen Iverson had his work cut out, and we did a decent job on him. Morris Peterson used up five fouls on AI in 18 minutes, and CP and Pargo also took turns on him.
• Play of the game: Two minutes deep in the third quarter, and Chris crosses up Anthony Carter something disgusting, then tosses up a teardrop that Kenyon Martin can only stop on it's downward flight. Count it.
• Okay, so there were a dozen other plays you might have preferred over that one. Julian Wright's alley-oop anyone?
• You know, if I was an opposing coach, I'd tell whoever is defending CP to step off him for the entire first half. Chris seems determined not to shoot until the third quarter, unless it's late in the shot clock or someone gives him a wide open lane to the rack. But when he's left open for jumpers in the first half, he doesn't even glance at the rim.
• The Nuggets played a lot of zone in this one, and their 3-2 formation bothered us for a minute in the fourth, cutting the lead to 15 at one point. We beat it in the end by moving the ball well for some open looks and just beating Denver down the floor for easy buckets.
• Our rebounding was savage. 52-33 was the edge. Marcus Camby is supposed to be good at the rebounding thing, right? There were a couple of offensive trips for the Hornets which lasted forever because of offensive rebounds. Ryan Bowen usually had something to do with it. The crowd really appreciated the hustle.
• After the game, we pointed ourselves towards Gordon Biersch and prolonged the fantasticness of this win for a while longer. None other than Kenyon Martin walked into the joint just as the game highlights came on the big screens. Ha.

So we're now riding high on a 9-game winning streak, and we're beginning to look scary-good with all these blowout wins. To put into perspective just how dominant the Hornets have been lately, check out this piece from Jim Eichenhofer's game recap…

In the history of the NBA, the Hornets are now the second team ever to win seven straight games by a margin of 14 points or more in each triumph. The 2003-04 Pistons, who went on to win the NBA title that year, won eight games in a row by 14 points or more. That's it. That's the only team with a longer streak of doing this than New Orleans' current run.

Yes. These Hornets are special. Finally, the local sports fans and the national media are beginning to realize just that.

The Hornets will try to keep the good times rolling tonight as they host Allen Iverson and the Denver Nuggets at the New Orleans Arena. Our guys are coming off Saturday's superfunky win in San Antonio, while the Nuggs dropped one in Dallas yesterday.

The Nuggets have been without Carmelo Anthony for the past few games due to an ankle sprain, but the Denver papers are reporting that he'll likely make a return tonight. JR Smith's immaturity and Kenyon Martin's elbow should also be good to go.

Game info…

Hornets (W-L): 31-12

Nuggets (W-L): 26-17

Game Time: 7:00pm Central

TV: CST

Radio: KMEZ 102.9 FM in New Orleans and WIBR 1300-AM in Baton Rouge.

Linkage: Ryan's Q&A with the Nugg Doctor | The Nugg Doctor's Q&A with Ryan | A lovely picture of Anthony Carter

Feel free as always to leave your comments below before, during and after the game. Now please excuse me while I haul ass to the Arena.

UPDATE: Hornets beat the hell out of the Nuggets 117-93.

Recap | Box Score | Standings

Sometimes, it feels like we can't be stopped.

Before we get to tonight's game – the newest version of the Bloggers MVP and Rookie of the Year voting is up over at Pickaxe and Roll. I took part again, and CP has risen. Yay me and CP. In an odd coincidence, Pickaxe and Roll is also a blogger for the team we go against tonight. Hopefully the Hornets can pickaxe these Nuggets, and roll out of the arena with a win. With that – on to the game!

I'll admit, I'm not a huge fan of the Nuggets. Ever since Anthony smacked a restrained Jared Jeffries and ran away like a little girl during that tussle against New York, I've been anti-Carmelo. I've also despised Kenyon Martin since his days in New Jersey. Knowing my bias, I went and found someone with the opposite bias to get their take on the Nuggets, so here's four questions I asked Nick, AKA the Nugg Doctor. You can also find four questions he asked of me about Tyson Chandler as a defender, our chances in the West, Peja vs. Morris, and he also prompted a great story from me about CP3. Go take a look.

Hornets247: Carmelo and AI are on the cover of the new SLAM, and they're both smiling. That's good, but last year I noticed the Nuggets didn't run plays that involved both players very often. Their offensive sets appeared to be dumping the ball to Anthony in the post or giving Iverson a high screen from Camby and letting him create. Are they working together better this year?

The Nugg Doctor: Most definitely. The duo can boast that they are the highest combined scoring averages in the league with Allen Iverson averaging the third best clip of 27.1 ppg and Carmelo is right behind him with the fourth highest scoring average in the NBA at 25.5 ppg, respectively. I’m not too sure how much better anything else in the situation could have worked out for the Nuggets.

Hornets247: The Nuggets always seem to be struggling with injuries to their frontcourt, but whose recovery would mean more to the Nuggets: Kenyon Martin or Nene? Do you think they'll ever be reliable?

The Nugg Doctor: I think that Nene being healthy would mean more to the Nuggets overall, but his return isn’t expected until the end of March. With that being said, Kenyon Martin is going to be the man at power forward for the majority of the rest of the year and his impact is going to be felt, either positively or negatively. The Nuggets desperately need a reliable third scoring option and Kenyon could fill that role, but until he proves that he too can stay healthy, the Nuggets are going to continue having to guess as to who is going compliment AI and ‘Melo offensively.

But to answer your question of is either man ever going to be reliable I can only answer that with, 'I hope so.' Nene signed a ginormous six-year, 60 million dollar contract before the start of last year and it has been one thing after another for Big Brazil. The knee injury sidelined him for all of last year, he was injured again while playing for Team Brazil in the FIBA games, and then he tore ligaments in his thumb early this season in a game against the Celtics. After and on top of all that, Nene learns that he had a testicular tumor that test results revealed was malignant while having a random NBA drug test! The poor guy just can’t catch a break.

Then there’s Kenyon Martin. The Nuggets signed him to a massive contract after K-Mart had All-Star years in New Jersey and the guy has been nothing but an injury nightmare ever since. Two microfracture surgeries, a plethora of other problems, and a staph infection on the buttocks later and the Nuggets have still not seen value for their money. It can be frustrating at times, but Denver has to play the cards they are dealt without any excuses.

Hornets247: This is former Hornet JR Smith's fourth season in the League and he's still making headlines for the wrong reasons. Are Nuggets fans holding out for him to reach his 'potential', or are they sick of him yet?

The Nugg Doctor: J.R. is the kind of player that is seemingly unwilling to mature, but I have seen some really positive things from his this season. Granted, he is still getting hit with technical fouls for ridiculous reasons, but he is taking better shots, playing better D, and still giving fans at least a couple of reasons to hold their breath every game. I think the biggest thing for J.R. to realize is that his game needs to grow mentally tough and focused in an attempt to match his freakish athletic ability for him to really blossom as a ball player. Sure the Nuggets could get rid of him because someone else in the league is going to try and further develop him, but I think Nuggets brass is committed to seeing this young man through his trials and tribulations because they believe in what he could be capable of. And being as he has already given Denver enough reasons to pack him up and ship him out, I think it’s safe to say that J.R. isn’t going anywhere in the immediate future.

Hornets247: The Western Conference is tight at the top and for once it looks like the seeding could shake out entirely different than it has the past few years. What teams do the Nuggets match up well against and would you like to see in the playoffs? Who do you want to avoid?

The Nugg Doctor: The only three teams I do not want to see come playoff time are the San Antonio Spurs (curse you, Manu!), the Los Angeles Lakers (mainly because they have already beaten Denver three times this season), and the Phoenix Suns. I just don’t think the Nuggets match-up well with any of the aforementioned three.

As for who I would like to see the Nuggets match-up with…that’s irrelevant to me! I think the Nuggets, at full-strength minus Nene, can make a series interesting with anyone else in the Western Conference. And who knows? The Nuggets and Hornets could be as exciting of a match up as any other that I potentially see out there!

I particularly like the information about Kenyon's staph infection. Now I can call him a diseased ass, and not even be wrong!

I'll only add a couple more things for tonight's game, forgoing my usual Positional Analysis. Carmelo sat out the last game with a sprained ankle, but should be able to go tonight. I have not heard if Bobby looked good enough in yesterday's practice to play tonight. Personally, I'd rather he sit out and come back 100%. When he's fully healthy, he can play well, but it doesn't take much to throw him off his game any more.

I have a strange feeling that our team was pretty amped from their San Antonio win, and may came out flat against the Nuggets. So I'm going to refuse to predict a score, in my usual cowardly way. Not that it matters, I never get these damn things right anyways.

Oh yeah – the Hornets are now #1 in John Hollinger's statistical Power Rankings over at ESPN.com. Beautiful.

The Hornets stretched their winning streak to 8 last night while crushing the San Antonio Spurs in San Antonio by 24 points. The Hornets, despite playing quality opponents like San Antonio, Golden State, Phoenix, Portland and Houston, have only lost one game this entire month – an aberrant drubbing at the hands of the Lakers.

In fact, this team is an almost perfect analog to the Navy Jet that also shares their name, the F/A-18E Super Hornet.  The F/A-18E is a fighter/attack aircraft much admired for its versatility, high manueverability and attack capabilities.  Able to carry deadly 2,000-lb bombs, launch mid-range attack missiles, and at times outfitted for long range missle strikes against ground targets, the Super Hornets are ideal offensive aircraft.  The New Orleans Hornets offense delivers much the same sort of punch, with Chandler smashing home the 4th most dunks in the NBA, Paul and West operating with deadly efficiency from anywhere between the three point line and the basket, and Peja and Mo Pete furnishing a blistering array of long-range shots. Outside of Phoenix, it is hard to find a more offensively versatile starting five anywhere in the NBA.

Offense is not the F/A-18E Super Hornet's only function, being well known as an exceptional escort and air superiority fighter – i.e. it controls the area it flies in with deadly effect.  The New Orleans Hornets again match their namesake, as their defense continues to be the third most stingy in the league – allowing only 99.8 points per 100 posessions.

Perhaps the most celebrated feature of the F/A-18E is the new design that allows it to make sharp adjustments and manuevers while maintaining control.  It's powerful afterburners, enhanced fuel capacity, and state of the art computer system allow the jet to reach incredible speeds, yet retain full combat ability.  The Hornets, through January, also have an afterburner switch, and in honor of the Super Hornet's weapons systems, I'll drop a stat bomb on you.

Since the Hornets started crushing opponents at the start of the month, there has been one constant in their success: They feel out their opponent for two quarters, sometimes pulling a little away, sometimes falling slightly behind by halftime,  but once they leave the tunnel to start the third, the switch gets flipped, the afterburners come on, and the Hornets simply execute their opponent into oblivion.

In the 12 January games, the Hornets have scored 604 points to their opponents 563 in the first half, for a small advantage of 3.4 points per game.  In the second half, the Hornets have outscored their opponents 646 to 532, or a 9.5 point per game advantage.  Only twice have the Hornets failed to win the third quarter – against LA in the one loss, and in Houston, where the Hornets only won by 5.

Overall, the Hornets have won this stretch of games by 12.9 points, lifting their season differential(Points per game vs. Points given up per game) to a West-leading 6.5 points a game.  Only the Pistons(7.5) and Celtics(10.7) have greater differentials, and they, of course, play in the east.  If the Hornets had played 66% of their games against Eastern opponents instead of Western ones, I'm fairly confident they'd be pushing those Celtics for best in the league.

Oh – and if we throw out that awful crapfest of a game in Los Angeles, in January the Hornets have been winning by 18 points a game, and outscoring the other team in the second half by 12.

What does this tell us?  Being able to make adjustments at halftime and come out and dominate the other team is the sign of focus by both the players and the coaching staff, and aggressiveness in taking advantage of those things the other team has been giving them. 

Focus and Aggression.  F/A,  like the Jet.  Or F'ing Awesome, like the Hornets.

((Okay – the F/A stuff at the end was a stretch, it should be a good coaching staff and an intelligent team, but work with me here.  I'm excited, damnit!))

And catch Ron's recap of the San Antonio win.  It's nice to smack that team – kind of like how Chris Paul smacked Bruce Bowen in the face.

What the Hornets did in San Antonio last night was nothing short of pure dominance. Our guys rolled into town with a swagger and may have finally convinced the basketball world that New Orleans is for real. How can we be ignored after handing the defending champs their biggest loss of the season on their own damn floor?

Let's dive into some notes on this one…

• "West was really the killer. He was the monster. He was impossible for us to guard." – Those were the words of Spurs honcho Gregg Popovich after the game last night. He had just witnessed David West score 32 points, 20 in the second half, on 15-of-19 shooting. Badass.

• Our other big guns also played great. Chris Paul finished with 17 points and 11 assists. He let Parker get his in the first half, but turned it on at crunch time and did some MVP-type shit. Peja Stojakovic stayed hot, knocking down various medium and long bombs for 22 points. Legend. Tyson Chandler was a warrior out there, taking some knocks and battling foul trouble, but still coming through with solid defense on Tim Duncan.
• Hilton Armstrong played a nice 15 minutes tonight. He came on for Tyson early because TC picked up two quick fouls. Hilton started out by stealing a post feed to Duncan, and ended the first half with a sweet swat of a Parker layup. He did get burned a few times trying to guard the pick and roll, but overall I think he deserves praise for this one. He was active on both ends and stayed on his feet defensively. Nice job.
• Ryan Bowen with ZEE MONSTER JAMZ!! Dude needs to get himself in the dunk contest. He was great tonight with the usual hustle. There was one sequence about midway through the fourth quarter, where Bowen was everywhere on defense, going from the top of the key, down to the corner and across the base to the other corner in about five seconds. He ended up getting a hand in the face of Ime Udoka as he attempted a three, then somehow managed to beat just about everyone down the floor to receive a feed from CP and drop a layup. How he didn't cough up a lung after that, I do not know.
• The Hornets defensive rotation has amazed me recently. Next time Chris is playing D out high, and his man feeds the post, watch what happens. Against the Spurs, Parker would feed Duncan inside, and Chris would drop down to double. Our weak side guard (usually Mo-Pete), would then come across to cover Parker. Now when Duncan would kick it back out to Parker, Chris wouldn't even look to get back out there, not even glance in that direction, because he knows his teammate has him covered. Instead, he would turn and go right across the lane to find whoever Peterson had left. It's amazing how much trust they must have in each other to do this right. If one guy messes up it all falls apart. They've probably been running it like that for quite a while now, but I only really took notice of it at the Clippers game on Friday. Beautiful to watch.
• Our bench struggled scoring tonight. Byron changed it up a bit and started all reserves in the second quarter, and Pargo was the only guy out there with an offensive mindset. Ugly.
• It was a pretty physical game. I love that the Hornets give as good as they get when teams try to beat them up. Chris wasn't taking any shit, and even threw a couple of cheap shots at the Spurs. Bruce Bowen can't be mad.
• Defensively, the Spurs did a nice job in the first half. They were looking out for that CP-TC hook-up and broke up a few oops. They also doubled West pretty good down low. In the second half, we just threw too many weapons at them and they couldn't cover them all. I don't think any team can. When Peja is hitting from outside, Chris is ripping through the middle and West is inventing new ways to score every time he touches the ball, there's nothing the opposing team can do but shake their heads and inbound the rock.

I can imagine the Spurs' die-hards discussing this one. "Who cares? It's a regular season game. See what happens if we meet the Hornets in the Playoffs." I can see their point. This loss doesn't mean much to them, but the win is huge for us. Byron had the starters out there at the beginning of the fourth quarter, while Popovich went with a traditional reserve unit. It was a great move by Byron because we tore them a new one, but I think if Popovich could do it all over again he wouldn't change a thing. He'd keep his rotation the same, because the Spurs are all about the big picture. They don't need to win games like this. They've earned their respect. They can cruise to the Playoffs and then pick it up.

The Hornets? We're still earning it. Games like this are huge because folks have yet to take us seriously. I'll happily sit back and enjoy all this regular season success, but what's great about being a Hornets fan right now is that I don't think we're even close to the peak. Methinks this elevator can go all the way to the top.

The Hornets are in San Antonio today to face the defending champion San Antonio Spurs. They've got Tim Duncan, Tony Longoria, Manu Ginobili and some other dudes, but methinks we can take 'em.

After last night's defeat of the Clippers in New Orleans, the Hornets have won seven straight overall. We've also got a seven-game road winning streak going on. The Spurs have won three straight, but had trouble with the miserable Heat in Miami on Thursday.

We've met the Spurs just once already this season, back on November 9th in New Orleans. Parker and Duncan killed us in that one, en route to a 97-85 Spurs' victory.

Some extra info…

Hornets (W-L): 30-12

Spurs (W-L): 28-13

Game Time: 7:30pm Central

TV: CST, NBA-TV (national TV, baby!)

Radio: KMEZ 102.9 FM in New Orleans and WIBR 1300-AM in Baton Rouge.

Linkage: Ryan's game preview | Spur of the Moment | Pounding the Rock | AP game preview

Feel free to leave your comments below before, during and after the game. Kick ass, Hornets.

UPDATE: Hornets win!

Final score: 102-78.

box | recap | standings

Pure dominance, baby! I wasn't going to drink tonight, but methinks the Hornets left me no choice. 

I'll keep this one short and sweet because there's way too much fun to be had in this town right now, and it ain't good for the social life to be inside typing all day. Carnival season is in full swing in New Orleans, and there have been parades rolling past my place all day. I can hear trumpets and drums right now. Good times.

Anyways, last night I was at the Arena as the Hornets handled the Clippers pretty easily, winning by a score of 111-92 in the end (box | recap). It was a really fun game to watch, especially with Peja Stojakovic making it rain in the third quarter. That said, I don't think it was one of our better showings. Chris Paul, David West and Tyson Chandler all looked a little off, so we were lucky Peja had it going.

Isn't it nice though that on a night where our "big three" all play sub-par, we still win by 19 points? I think that speaks volumes about the weapons on this team, and the improved play of the bench.

Good crowd at the Arena last night, too. Honestly, I was expecting less than five figures because of all the festivities around town, but the entire lower bowl was sold out and the upper bowl looked better than most nights. There seemed to be an extra buzz about the place, a little more electricity in the air. It was surreal being in that crowd as Peja kept on hitting in the third. Goosebump type shit.

So our guys are missing all the Mardi Gras fun because they're in San Antonio today to play the Spurs this evening. That game will be a tough test for us, but the Spurs have been mortal recently and I've come to know better than to underestimate the Hornets this season. If they can win back-to-back in G-State and Phoenix, then why not this one?

Game time tonight is 7:30pm Central. Back later with a gameday thread. In the meantime, be sure to check out Ryan's unprecedented Siamese preview.

The LA Clippers are in New Orleans today to play the Hornets. Should we win, we'll have a big and sexy seven-game winning streak heading to San Antonio tomorrow.

This is the third of four meetings between the Hornets and Clippers this season. We won the previous two out in LA, by 9 points and 14 points respectively. Peja Stojakovic scored 22 in that first game, while David West kicked ass to the tune of 29 points and 10 boards in the second meet. I got a fuzzy warm feeling inside both times.

Some quick game info…

Hornets (W-L): 29-12

Clippers (W-L): 13-25

Game Time: 7:00pm Central

TV: CST

Radio: KMEZ 102.9 FM in New Orleans and WIBR 1300-AM in Baton Rouge.

Linkage: Ryan's game preview

UPDATE: Hornets Win!

111-92

Recap | Boxscore | Standings

I've got a lot to do tomorrow, and I doubt I'll have time to generate a game preview in the morning for the San Antonio Spurs.  So today, I'm going to generate a double game preview covering both games.  I'm crazy like that. Here we go!

Matchups: Clippers(13-25) @ Hornets(29-12) @ Spurs(28-13)
Offense: Clips 97.5(29th), Hornets 106.5(10th), Bastards 106.6(9th)
Defense: Clips 102.0(9th), Hornets 100.0(3rd), Wankers 100.2(4th)
Foolish non-Hornets lovin' Bloggers: Clipsnation, Clipperblog, Spur of the Moment

The Clippers sail into New Orleans still trying to stay afloat until Elton Brand comes back aboard.  They've been taking on water like mad, but they're still bailing gamely, managing to force every other opponent they've fought over the last six engagements to lower their colors.(Enough nautical terms yet?) 

The Clips are a scrappy defensive team with an absolutely awful offense, despite having Chris Kaman, an efficient post scorer and Corey Magette, a skilled slasher.  Still, Mobley is a decent shooter, Cassell is too, and rookie Al Thornton is improving quickly.  So – how are they so bad offensively?  Starting SG Quinton Ross is bad.  Tim Thomas is bad, and their bench bombs away at an awful 37%.  They shoot the three poorly, and they have bad turnover problems.

After attempting to sink those Clippers – which they SHOULD do – the Hornets will take flight to San Antonio, where they get to play the highly irritating defending champions.  The Spurs have been a nightmare for the Hornets recently.  Well, actually they've been a nightmare for everyone, but the Hornets have been seemed particularly unable to slow that Spur execution.  At least now we have a team that should match up well; the efficiencies of the two teams are almost identical.

The Spurs have also looked mortal recently, going 6-4 in their last ten, and barely beating Miami last night by 1.  That said, they have won 4 of 6, and the two losses were by a combined 4 points.  They'll be tough.  Like the Portland game, we need to throw quick doubles at Duncan, and then rotate and close on their shooters.  Mo Pete is also going to have to track Ginobili like he did Roy – though he'll have to be careful about bumping the sneaky Argentine.  Just a tap will send the poor guy flailing to the ground and make whistles toot.

Injuries:
Other than Brand, who has been out all year, the Clippers seem to be healthy.
The Hornest will be missing the services of Bobby Jackson – probably for both games.
San Antonio has no significant injuries right now.

Positional Analysis
PG: Sam Cassell vs. Chris Paul vs. Tony Parker
Advantage: Hornets over Spurs over Clips
Last game, Tony Parker's speed gave the Hornets fits as he knocked down more than his fare share of ridiculous layups.  Really – he hit every one, no matter how bad a shot.  'Twas crazy.  But overall, Parker's total floor game isn't as good as Paul's, and despite the fawning worship showered on him last season for improving his shot, he's only hitting at 25% from deep this year. Cassell is just too old and broken down to compare to either.  He may be the most savvy of all three – but that's because he has to be in order to keep playing.

SG: Quinton Ross vs. Morris Peterson vs. Michael Finley
Advantage: Hornets over Spurs over Clips
There are similarities between all these guys.  All are focused defenders.  All are fourth or lower offensive options options for their team.  Finley and Peterson are even shooting close to the same percentages.  Still, Peterson's defense is better than Finley's, and Quinton Ross may be the most inept offensive starter in the league.  I'd take Mo-Pete over either of the other two.

SF: Corey Magette vs. Peja Stojakovic vs. Bruce Bowen
Advantage: Clips over Even
Corey is the most accomplished scorer of the bunch, even if he's a turnover machine.  His defense can be good if he's focused, and he draws fouls at a tremendous rate.  I'm a little worried about Peja being taken out of his game by Bowen's defense, but there's at least one good part to this matchup.  Despite his ability to harass players out of their game, Bowen is almost to the point of being too much of an offensive liability to have on the floor.  Hopefully that helps – and if Peja plays hard, we'll win this position handily.

PF: Tim Thomas vs. Da Fluffster vs. Tim Duncan
Advantage: Obvious(Spurs over Hornets over Clips)
David West is having a great season, but Tim Duncan is exactly the type of player he has the hardest time playing against – long and able to move his feet.  West can take anyone his own size, and anyone bigger and slower – but if they are bigger and just as fast, he has trouble.  Hopefully, he'll figure out how to beat that sort of player soon.  Duncan is a machine – and Tyson will probably check him defensively.  Byron likes to leave Tyson alone defending players like Yao and Tim and rely on him to contain them enough that they don't kill us.  He's not managed to handle Tim yet – and I hope we'll see some double teams every once in a while to keep Timmy off balance.  Oh yeah, I almost forgot the other Tim – Tim Thomas is a soft, three-point shooting and otherwise useless pile of crap.

C: Chris Kaman vs. Tyson Chandler vs. Fabricio Oberto
Advantage: Hornets over Clips over Spurs
Kaman is a good scorer and rebounder – but mediocre on defense and somewhat slow.  Fabricio is a crafty bastard who always seems to be right where your team doesn't want him.  Tyson is fast, an effective defender, incredible offensive rebounder, and enough of a lob threat just standing around the basket he's dangerous.

Bench
Advantage: Spurs over Hornets over Clips
The Clips bench is awful.  They shoot terribly, don't rebound, and defend poorly.  Only the declining Cat Mobley and developing Al Thornton(has improved every month this season) are worth anything on this squad's second unit. 

The Hornets bench is too streaky.  They always defend and rebound, but swing wildly between awful and good when shooting the ball. 

The Spurs roll out the unstoppable Manu "the Flail" Ginobili, dead-eye shooter Brent Barry, Ime "Bowen 2.0" Udoka, and serviceable back up bigs Elson and Bonner.  That's quite a bench.

Hornets beat Clippers 98-84.
Hornets beat San Antonio 88-84.

Just a quick post to let all you super-fantastic people know about the launch of CP3TV.com.

To quote the press release, CP3TV.com is "a behind-the-scenes look into the life of Chris Paul as a professional basketball player away from the court. Through a season-long series of short webisodes, Paul will provide viewers with an all-access look at a variety of commercial, charitable and corporate events and activities that have become a staple of his life as a professional athlete. CP3TV.com will also team up with Xbox LIVE, the premier online console gaming service, in an exclusive content sharing partnership to show the debut of each new webisode."

The first "webisode" (see what they did there?), is online as of today, and shows some behind-the-scenes stuff from CP's charity bowling tournament in Winston Salem last summer. What's more, you can watch it all with your eyes!

Catch it all at ChrisPaul3.com 

Wow!

That one was fun to watch. The Hornets and Blazers are both playing some great basketball this season and this match-up didn't disappoint. Well, maybe it disappointed Blazer fans, but everyone else went home happy.

Gonna switch it up a little again with this recap. Instead of pouring out the game-flow notes, I'll just stick to the bullets and throw out a bunch of random thoughts on this one…

• First and foremost, I gotta commend the play of Jannero Pargo. He had played pretty damn great in our previous five wins, but he was just on another level tonight. He finished with 24 points in 24 minutes, shooting 10-of-18 from the field. He also dished out five assists for the hell of it. He was especially fantastic in the second quarter, when he racked up 15 points and 3 assists. For a while there he just could not miss. There was a stretch where he and Ryan Bowen had it going and they looked like Chris Paul and David West out there.

• If it didn't frustrate my team so much, Portland's match-up zone would be a joy to watch. They communicate, help, rotate and recover so well in that thing. We handled it better tonight than we did back in mid-December, mostly because we were hitting the tough jumpers and getting some offensive rebounds in there.
• The Hornets' defense was also nice and intense tonight. They covered well for one another on the rotations, and the Blazers got very few open looks. We also did a great job of limiting their fastbreak. Methinks Brandon Roy's jam over Bowen might have been their only successful break tonight.
• Speaking of Roy, I thought we did a nice job containing him. Paul, Pargo, Rasual Butler and Morris Peterson all took turns guarding him, and nobody gave him anything for free. When CP had the assignment in the fourth quarter, the Blazers tried to post up Roy against him, but we played solid help so they couldn't exploit that.
• Kudos to David West for keeping us alive in the first quarter, when he scored 16 of our 20 points. He got his scores a billion different ways, too. He only scored six points in the final three periods, but credit Portland for limiting his looks.
• The halftime show tonight was this big game of "Simon Says" with a bunch of kids. Some dude named Steve Max was running it. Might sound lame, but trust me, it was awesome. The crowd really got into it, especially when Stevie Max said it was great to be coming to New Orleans instead of Oklahoma City. Probably the best halftime show I've seen at the Arena this season.
• Peja finished with 12 points on 5-of-11 shooting, half of those points coming in the final 75 seconds. I figure the Blazers did a good job on him tonight, barely giving him space to squeeze up a shot for most of the game. When teams play Peja like that, methinks he gets a little frustrated and has a tendency to start chucking shots early in the shot clock, before the defense can smother him. He did that a couple times in the third quarter tonight.
• The Blazers also did a good job on Chris Paul tonight. That is, until it came to crunch time. Chris had three clutch buckets late in the third quarter that really helped us secure the win. He had trouble getting in the lane for most of the evening, with Portland doing a good job clogging up the paint and preventing CP from throwing those lob passes off the pick and roll. In the end though, Chris knew what he had to do and Steve Blake wasn't going to stop him.
• Play of the game might have been that early alley-oop between CP and Tyson. The big guy really had to stretch to send that one home, and he got fouled on the play, too. Bowen's jam off a fastbreak feed from Pargo also got the crowd into it.
• Speaking of the crowd, the attendance for tonight's game was listed as 11,006. The atmosphere was great as usual, but I'm disappointed with that number, especially with the ticket promotions and I thought there was some buzz about this match-up. I really can't wait for All-Star weekend to get here and wake this city up.
• While we were busy handling the Blazers tonight, our roomies atop the Western Conference standings, the Phoenix Suns, were busy losing in Minnesota. That means we're now sweet percentage points ahead of Phoenix in the standings. Take a bow, Hornets.

That's about all I've got. Worth noting that this game was number 41 on the season, meaning we're halfway through. It was also my first game as a Hornets season ticket holder, after I bit the bullet and committed to a package yesterday. Aunt Sally might have to wait a while longer for her operation, but at least Section 305 just got a whole lot funkier.

Next up we've got the LA Clippers at the Arena on Saturday. We'll need to stay focused and grab that win, because on Saturday our guys are in San Antonio to battle those craft Spurs. I must say though, I'm liking our chances against everybody these days.

For tonight's game against the Blazers, we're gonna try something new. Well, new for us, because other NBA blogs have been doing this for forever.

This post will serve as our gameday thread. Feel free to voice all your thoughts and observations about tonight's game in the comments below, and I'll throw a quick update in here when it's all said and done.

Some quick info…

Hornets (W-L): 28-12

Blazers (W-L): 25-16

Game Time: 7:00pm Central

TV: CST

Radio: KMEZ 102.9 FM in New Orleans and WIBR 1300-AM in Baton Rouge.

Linkage: Ryan's game preview | Q&A with Dave from Blazer's Edge

UPDATE: HORNETS WIN!

Final score: 96-81.

Box | Recap | Standings

Game Preview
Matchup: Blazers(25-16) @ Hornets(28-12)
Off Efficiency: Blazers 105.3(13th), Hornets 106.3 (9th)
Def Efficiency: Blazers 104.0(20th), Hornets 100.0 (3rd)
Bloggers: Blazers Edge

First, I'll need to dispel an illusion created by comparing the two team's efficiencies like I did up above.  These teams are not as far apart as it looks.

It is generally accepted by Basketball stat guys, whether it is John Hollinger of ESPN or Dave Berri of Wages of Wins or any other of the major stats analysis guys that point differentials(Points scored per game vs Points given up per game) tell a lot more about a teams quality than simply its win-loss record.  Studies show there is a much greater correlation between teams with a high point differential succeeding in the playoffs than teams with good record succeeding in the playoffs.(I.E. You can luck into a good record, but you can't luck into a good differential)

Judging by these two team differentials for the season, the Hornets are clear winners with a differential of 5.5. Portland only has a differential of 1.4.  With those numbers, it could be assumed that the Hornets, a conference contender, should beat Portland, a playoff also-ran, rather handily.  But that's not the whole story.  Portland had a rough month of November as its young players figured out their roles and how to play with one another.  But when December arrived, they were able to settle their rotations and explode out of the gate.  Since December 1st they have been winning games at an average of 5.75 points a game – the differential of a conference contender.

Now, to be fair, the Hornets also needed a period of adjustment in November – they were working in a new starter in Morris Peterson and pretty much a new starter in Peja Stojakovic, who missed all but 13 games the year before.  Their differential, leaving off November as I did for the Blazers, is 7 points per game.

What can we take from those numbers?  Just this:  both of these teams are young, improving, and dangerous.  And this game will be a good one.

Positional Analysis
PG: Stevett Jalake vs. Chris Paul
Advantage: Hornets
The Blazers and Hornets are very different.  The Blazers have extreme depth, can keep their players fresh as a result, and can keep rotating solid guys until they find the hot hand.  At point guard, they alternate the extremely solid floor general Steve Blake with the high energy combo guard Jarrett Jack.  They make a potent one-two combo and are solid at chasing Chris Paul.  Paul will still get his, he'll just have to work for it.

SG: Brandon Roy vs. Morris Peterson
Advantage: Blazers
The one position the Blazers don't rotate very much is filled capably by the do-everything Brandon Roy.  Roy is a capable scorer with a point guard's floor game.  He's also extremely poised and confident.  Morris will have his hands full chasing the guy.  Hopefully he'll still have enough spring in his legs to hit shots.

SF: Marvis Webslaw vs. Peja Stojakovic
Advantage: Even
Another rotating position, Travis Outlaw and Martell Webster are a study in different styles.  Webster is a semi-passive long range shooter, and Travis the slasher with a surprisingly good ranged shot.  Both players compliment their units perfectly – Webster the outside threat for the starters, Outlaw the primary scorer for the second unit.  Stojakovic will be a handful for either, but he'll have a hard time containing Outlaw.

PF: LaMarcus Aldridge vs. Lord Fluffington
Advantage: Hornets
Aldridge doesn't rotate out much because his backup Channing Frye is a serious drop off and duplicates his game.  The other rotating positions rotate to throw different looks at the other team and keep them off balance.  Aldridge reminds me a lot of David West in his third year.  Capable mid-range shot – some developing post moves, and less rebounding than there should be.  He's a better defender though due to his length.  He'll bother David West a little inside, but so far this year has shown he can't slow him that much, especially if West's patented 'Fluffy Bunny' jumper is falling.

C: Joel "No One Likes Me" Przybilla vs. Tyson Chandler
Advantage: Hornets
Last game preview I mentioned that Tyson seems to really despise Przybilla.  A couple days later I saw this article by Kelly Dwyer over at Yahoo!  Then I remembered another article about a fight in a Portland practice between Martell Webster and, you guessed it, Przybilla.(yes, I know the article is supposed to be feel-good, but still, it's another fight) I just thought you should know you aren't alone, Tyson.  Joel?  You're very alone.  So alone you should just quit basketball and take up gardening.  Plants can't hate.

Oh – this spot rotates too – Joel only plays 21 minutes, with the rest going to a combo of Aldridge, Frye and LaFrentz.

Bench
Advantage: Blazers
In case you couldn't tell from above, this is a BIG advantage for the Blazers.  Their team is legitimately 10 deep.  Besides Travis Outlaw, Jarret Jack and Channing Frye that I mentioned above, they can run out James Jones(hitting at 53% from three this season), speedy point guard Sergio Rodriguez(16 points in 16 minutes last game) and servicable big man Raef LaFrentz.  The Hornets will be missing Bobby Jackson and though the reserves are playing better, Pargo is still unreliable, Ely still limited, and Bowen still REALLY limited, if fun to watch.

Hornets win, 93-90

And don't forget to take a gander at the questions I peppered Dave of the Blazer's Edge about over the weekend!

The Portland Trailblazers find their way into New Orleans tomorrow, right now the only team in the league able to claim they've beaten the Hornets twice.  They are a young, rising team like ours, so I figured I'd bombard Dave at Blazer's Edge with a few questions about his team.

Hornets247: Nate McMillan never seems to get enough credit to me – never being mentioned as one of the top coaches in the league, despite having gotten what turned out to be a bad Seattle team to play way over its head before coming to Portland.  In a lot of ways I draw parallels between him and Byron Scott.  Both are no-nonsense coaches with very definite ideas of how players should act on and off the floor, and both have left a definite stamp on their team.  Hornets fans run hot and cold about Byron due to some of his comments about New Orleans, his substitution patterns, and his playcalling at times.  So let’s hear it.  What weaknesses does McMillan have that we could hope to exploit?

Blazer's Edge: When you look at the age/experience of this team compared to its record, poise, and all of the different ways it’s found to win games in the last few months you’d have a hard time finding much fault in Nate’s approach.  His great strength is his single-minded focus which can also be a weakness when a little flexibility is called for, I suppose.  But really it’s perfect for this young team full of smart guys with fantastic attitudes who soak up things like a sponge.  Blazer fans also cite Nate’s 'substitution patterns' whenever we lose but I’ve come to regard that as fan-speak for 'we need someone to blame and we like the players too much to blame them'.  If a coach doesn’t make regular substitutions he’s considered too random and accused of not defining roles for his players.  If he does make regular substitutions he’s considered too rigid and accused of not riding the hot hands enough.  The only remedy is the one Bill Belichick has discovered:  win every game.  Then nobody outcoaches you from the stands.

The Blazers, on the other hand, have a few weaknesses.  They don’t rebound as well as they should.  They forget to drive the lane at times.  They have trouble defending the lane when Joel Przybilla is out.  If you can get them to give you easy buckets you will have a decent chance of winning.

Hornets247:  The last two games in the Rose Garden between the Hornets and Trailblazers have been painful.  For the Hornets.  There seems to be some serious dislike between Przybilla and Chandler, and even the level-headed Peterson lost his cool in the second game.  Is this typical?  Is there some secret compound pumped into the visitor's locker room at the Rose Garden? Do the Blazers make everyone crazy with their aggressive defense, or is my team just particularly susceptible?

Blazer's Edge: The Hornets appear to have a chip on their shoulder.  The only other team comparable would be the Warriors.  Stephen Jackson melts down in Portland biannually.  New Orleans has had the misfortune of playing Portland right after the Blazers have played physical teams…in particular the Nuggets.  The book on the Blazers early in the season was if you pushed them around they would fold.  Denver has tried to take full advantage every time we’ve played.  It has nearly come to blows a couple of times.  The first game of the year it worked but after that Portland started fighting back.  The December 16th game got pretty chippy.  Guess who we played on the 17th?  Tyson Chandler and company are catching us when we’re riled up and not taking any guff.  I’m actually pretty proud of the team for standing up for itself.  These guys really are young and almost to a man they are as nice as the day is long.  But as the immortal Kenny Rogers told us long ago, sometimes you’ve gotta fight to be a man.  It’s a lesson the Blazers have picked up.

Hornets247: Paul or Roy.  Make the call.

Blazer's Edge: Geez, you ask hard questions!  This is like choosing between Jessica Alba and Jessica Simpson.  Come on, honey, can’t we just have a three-way?  It’ll be fun…

Both players are well-suited for the teams they’re on.  I love Paul’s scoring and dishing ability plus the fact that he can force the tempo either by running or picking pockets.  He really disrupts the game.  Roy is more of a halfcourt guy a silent assassin.  He changes direction more effortlessly than anyone I’ve seen and can score no matter who is across from him (or how many of them there are).  He also sees the floor and teammates well.  He doesn’t disrupt the game as much as lift himself and his teammates above it into their own level of play.  His poise has won more games for us this year than his scoring.   New Orleans does better with Paul’s firepower and star power than they would if you stirred Brandon into the mix.  Brandon is the perfect guy for a young team full of potential scorers.  Both will be amazing guards for years to come.

Hornets247: Your team has stockpiled a ton of talent and is deep as can be.  You also have a ton of talent(is it 3 picks in europe?) in the pipeline and draft picks galore coming up.  To make room for future talent you'll have to trade/cut/let walk some of your young talent.  Pick three of your 25 and under players to let walk.(I said 25 because Miles is 26, and that's too easy.  Oh, and by the way, Miles is only 26?  It seems like he's been in the league forever!)

Blazer's Edge: We have Englishman Joel Freeland, Spaniard Rudy Fernandez, and Finnish sensation Petteri Koponen stashed in Europe.  Of the three Fernandez seems most likely to make the swiftest transition and impact but I never like to judge players until I’ve seen them in the NBA for at least a season.

Our players under 25:  Greg Oden (19),  Josh McRoberts (20), Sergio Rodriguez (21), Martell Webster (21), Lamarcus Aldridge (22), Taurean Green (22), Travis Outlaw (23), Brandon Roy (23), Channing Frye (24), Jarrett Jack (24), plus Freeland, Fernandez, Koponen, and next year’s picks. 

We don’t have a single regular rotation player over 28 years old.

I assume just not taking some of the Euros would be cheating.  So let’s guess second-round picks Green and McRoberts will be short-timers.  Of the remainder I’d say Jack and Frye would be the most likely to go.

Thanks to Dave for taking the time to answer our questions.  Check out The Blazer's Edge for five  questions we answered for him, including our take on the Hornets chances at a title this season and beyond, Peja, Chris Paul's game, and if Paul is headed to Portland.