The Hornets look to bounce back from their loss in L.A. yesterday when they take on the Kings in Sacramento tonight. Our guys need to win the final three games of the season to be assured of the top spot in the West, but there's all kinds of ways this thing could shake out. Hornets Hype and At the Hive help with the explaining.
Stuff to know ahead of Hornets-Kings...
Hornets (W-L): 55-24
Kings (W-L): 37-42
Game Time: 9:00pm Central.
TV: CST locally, League Pass elsewhere.
Radio: KMEZ 102.9 FM in New Orleans and WIBR 1300-AM in Baton Rouge.
Linkage:
- AP game preview
- At the Hive: Hornets-Lakers game notes from the Staples Center
- Kings blogs: Sactown Royalty | Sam Amick of the Sacramento Bee
The Kings have won 5 of their last 7, and beat the Blazers big at home last night. Sacto's primary weapon, Kevin Martin, sprained his knee in the Portland game and is officially out for this one. That helps.
Probably gonna head to the airport a few hours after the game to welcome the team home. That worked out pretty good last time. If anyone is in the vicinity and wants to come along, e-mail me ( ron [at] hornets247 [dot] com ) for more details. They'll probably get in at around 3am, but we'll have a better guess in due time.
I'll be checking in with the comments during the game. Let's kick ass tonight, Hornets.
[UPDATE] Hornets play crap and lose, Ron decides not to go to the airport.
42 marvelous comments post your own
mW
04/12/08 03:52 PM
The Kings, no matter their lineup, are always tough at home, with those fucking cowbells. So let's just hope they come out strong.
www.hornetshype.com #1
Bob Loblaw
04/12/08 04:21 PM
gil is a pun guru
#2
mW
04/12/08 04:23 PM
Yeah, commenting on the latest CP-TC alley-oop, Gil said "The Crescent City Connection: you can drive it all the way to victory." I think Bob Licht might have thrown up a little in his mouth when he said it.
www.hornetshype.com #3
Ron Hitley
04/12/08 04:42 PM
Gil is rapid-firing the puns tonight. He needs to write them all down and publish a book at the end of every season. Up one after one. I'm kinda disappointed with our intensity level. I thought it would be higher. Peja and CP seem to be active on D, but not so much everyone else. Our transition D sucked in that quarter, too.
www.hornets247.com #4
mW
04/12/08 04:52 PM
Well at least the Hornets aren't playing down to their opponent like they often do...ummm...I mean...yeah. Damn.
www.hornetshype.com #5
ticktock6
04/12/08 05:04 PM
The puns are excruciating. Just. Stop...
hornetshype.com #6
mW
04/12/08 05:10 PM
Has Gil been drinking?
www.hornetshype.com #7
Ron Hitley
04/12/08 05:14 PM
Ugh, this doesn't inspire confidence. Down 49-52 at the half. Can we get some intensity please? No way I'm going out to the airport in the middle of the night to applaud this shit.
www.hornets247.com #8
Dejan
04/12/08 05:19 PM
lol, ron na man watch second half wher guna kill em.
#9
Ron Hitley
04/12/08 05:26 PM
I'm sure we'll win the game, but playing hard for only 24 minutes each night isn't good enough. This time next week we'll be in the Playoffs, and we'll get slaughtered if we don't pick up the intensity and maintain it for full games.
www.hornets247.com #10
Mark
04/12/08 05:30 PM
Can't see the game, but from stats, looks like we just need to tighten the defenses for the half (Kings got ~60% FG?). Not many buckets in the paint, so it'll be sufficient to just contest some shots. Whatever. 3rd's starting!
#11
mW
04/12/08 05:38 PM
On a 15-2 run now and up by 8...time to crush their souls and convince them they're destined to lose and make them quit on us...
www.hornetshype.com #12
Dejan
04/12/08 05:39 PM
ye i agree with you on tht, they shuld be playin harder for the full 48 minutes espeically after what happend last night.
#13
mW
04/12/08 05:48 PM
Man, I've been in denial over CPs's shot suffering of late, but tonight he continues to be off and it is hard to deny any longer...
www.hornetshype.com #14
Dejan
04/12/08 05:55 PM
yea cp has been struggling bad since the utah game
#15
Ron Hitley
04/12/08 05:56 PM
Yeah, Chris has been really cold from the field lately. Those open three-point looks he gets ain't dropping anymore. I think we should be trying to get his scoring going early. We went to Tyson in the post our first two offenses tonight. Why not isolate Chris and give him those early opportunities? Anyways, up 5 entering the fourth. Still waiting to see some fire.
www.hornets247.com #16
mW
04/12/08 05:58 PM
Interesting point, Ron. I almost wonder if CP is secretly injured. He just doesn't look like himself out there.
www.hornetshype.com #17
Dejan
04/12/08 06:02 PM
hmmm wher losing, if we lose to the kings we shuld kill ourselves and forget about the playoffs if they want to play like this.
#18
Bob Loblaw
04/12/08 06:13 PM
fuckin disgusting game
#19
Dejan
04/12/08 06:15 PM
omg...dissapointing
#20
Ron Hitley
04/12/08 06:16 PM
Down 7 with 2:43 left. This is ridiculous. Nobody seems to want the ball in their hands. Shot clock violations galore. We don't deserve a win tonight.
www.hornets247.com #21
Dejan
04/12/08 06:16 PM
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@2
#22
mW
04/12/08 06:22 PM
When Artest hits 4 3 pointers in the final quarter you know you're fucked. It's not like he's Reggie Miller.
www.hornetshype.com #23
ticktock6
04/12/08 06:22 PM
What were they THINKING coming out like this? Despicable game.
hornetshype.com #24
Mark
04/12/08 06:26 PM
I remember we had a spurt of playing extremely well in the fourth earlier in the season... so what's going on now?
#25
Dejan
04/12/08 06:27 PM
......
#26
Steve H
04/12/08 06:30 PM
What a fucking joke.I am disgusted beyond words. The post season is shaping up to be a colosal disappointment.
#27
mW
04/12/08 06:34 PM
What is wrong with you people?!? A) This game isn't over. B) This game has nothing to do with the postseason. Are you Hornets fans or Hornets haters? I'm confident in them on both accounts. You keep playing until you can't.
www.hornetshype.com #28
Mark
04/12/08 06:37 PM
mW~ Doesn't matter what happens at the end. Currently 8 down for the fourth quarter. Don't tell me you think that's good stats, because even a Hornets fan can tell you that answer.
#29
Ron Hitley
04/12/08 06:37 PM
@ mW: I can't feel good about our postseason chances after these past two games and that loss to Utah. Even if we had won tonight, it still would have been a disappointing performance. We're playing some of our worst basketball of the season at the worst possible time. You need to be peaking heading into the Playoffs.
www.hornets247.com #30
mW
04/12/08 06:40 PM
While I agree, Ron, that this is a bad time to slide. I'm not ready to pretend that this team hasn't been awesome all year. Two bad games won't make me forget that. Especially when we were essentially one shot away in both games from a tie. Is this game disappointing? Of course. But will I believe in the Hornets ability to win the next two games and throughout the postseason? Absolutely.
www.hornetshype.com #31
Dejan
04/12/08 06:42 PM
......dissapointing
#32
Dejan
04/12/08 06:43 PM
so if we lose to dallas, we can slide down to 5th?.....
#33
saltandcarbon
04/12/08 06:43 PM
@mW - They almost vindicated you there mate, or I should say Peja almost did. In & out. But being up by 5 or so in the fourth shouldn't end in a Hail Mary Peja prayer. There seems to be real hesitation out there at the moment. Is Chris feeling the MVP pressure, because he doesn't seem to want it in the clutch so much. Shitty that D-West got eye-gouged, but the Bees seem to be spooked right now. I called bullshit on the inexperience thing being a factor in the postseason, but maybe they're feeling thepressure.Still, I'd rather them drop the last four in a row and sort their shit out and come back hungry in the playoff than freak out in the first round. Maybe that's all this is - the necessary adjustment to expectation that will be outof their system by next week... Fingers crossed
saltandcarbon.blogspot.com #34
Dejan
04/12/08 06:48 PM
Idk even worse is tht k-mart or brad miller didnt play.... i think we beat ourselves tonight
#35
mW
04/12/08 06:48 PM
Well, I think Ryan is the one that pointed out three point shooting has been a determinative factor in Hornets' losses. (As Rasheed would say, "the ball don't lie.") Sure enough, the Bees were 3/18 from beyond the arc, while the Kings were 7/21. Ouch. While I am ever the optimist, I am wicked disappointed by this loss.
www.hornetshype.com #36
Greg
04/12/08 06:53 PM
Silver Lining time: This loss maybe makes us the second or third seed, now if we can hold on and win out, than what we get is a second or third seed. Greg, why are you excited about a second or third seed when we were number 1? A 2 or 3 seed ensures that we probably won't have to face, and if we di, it will be all the way inteh Conference Finals. I don't know about you guys, but Utah is the one team that I don't want to see the bees play against.
#37
Mark
04/12/08 06:54 PM
I don't get to see many Hornets games (thanks David Stern), but from what I gather, we don't have much of a post-game. If we don't hit our jumpers, we're definitely out. THAT'S what I'm concerned in the playoffs. Not inexperience, but inconsistencies outside.
#38
Greg
04/12/08 06:55 PM
I don;t know what the hell happened to my last comment so I'll break it down. A 2 or 3 seed means we avoid Utah till the WCF, and in my eyes thats a very good thing.
#39
Dejan
04/12/08 06:58 PM
for some reason utah is 1 team tht i wanna play, i am not feeling confident about beating the suns even tho we beat them (4-0) in the season and im not feeling a win vs the mavs either to tell u the truth....
#40
Mark
04/12/08 07:01 PM
Yeah Greg. Tomorrow is kind of whatever between Laker and Spurs for us (Lakers win, they essentially keep the first seed, Spurs win, we have a good opportunity to reclaim first). Like Ryan said in the recap post with the Lakers, our fate is literally in our hands; our post-season position depends on how well we do in our last two games.
#41
mW
04/12/08 07:04 PM
First thing's first. We have a home game against the Clippers. He need to rock that. I think thereafter we can worry about the Mavs and what everyone else is doing.
www.hornetshype.com #42