The Hornets will look to bounce back from their Game 3 loss tonight when they take on the Spurs in San Antonio. A win for New Orleans would give them a 3-1 series lead heading back home.
Stuff to know...
Game Time: 7:00pm Central.
TV: TNT nationwide.
Radio: KMEZ 102.9 FM in New Orleans and the super-fantastic WIBR 1300-AM in Baton Rouge.
Linkage:
- Ryan Schwan: What to watch for in Game 4
- Our latest news wrap
- Spurs blogs: 48 Minutes of Hell | Pounding the Rock | Project Spurs
I'll leave you with an excerpt from one of those above Spurs blogs, all of which I forgot to include in my news wrap this morning (oops!). Here's Aaron Stampler from Pounding the Rock...
- On the court, Chris Paul, in addition to being a wondrous virtuoso talent, is also a prick. A total, classless, bitch-ass punk. He whines, he berates teammates and officials, he talks shit, he struts, he poses, he preens, and he flops enough to make Rivaldo blush. I don't know if it's the Napoleon complex, this gigantic chip on the shoulder he's got, but I don't think it's an impossible thing to ask, for an athlete to excel without acting like a total asshole, making sarcastic comments at halftime about his opponents' accomplishments, just being disrespectful in general. I will never understand, for many superstar athletes, why the hardest thing in the world, the one missing line on an otherwise spotless résumé is to play with sportsmanship and a sense of humility.
[UPDATE] Spurs win big, 100-80. The series swings back to NOLA tied at 2-2.
27 glorious comments post your own
mW
05/11/08 12:57 PM
Wow. Has that Aaron dude actually seen more than two or three games with Chris Paul? First of all, I hope he realizes there are two CP's, the one on the court and the one off the court. Off, he's the best friend a person could have. Ask the Spurs' TP. Or ask any random fan he's met, like me. He's totally generous and kind. On the court? Don't be jealous it took your point guard a few years to figure out the Playoffs. Don't be jealous your coach has to browbeat a good performance out of him in this series. Yet that said, I love TP. I love Ginobli. Hell, Duncan is a stone-cold killer. The team is just flat out good. They just happened to have run up against a better team in the Hornets. And as for his interpretation of CP's on-court behavior, the dude is just wrong. That's not how CP is at all. He doesn't berate his teammates, he guides them. They all love him. If he knew anything about this team, he'd know that. The extreme lengths this dude went to to spit vitriol makes clear that the only whining, classless asshole was in fact himself.
hornetshype.com #1
dubya
05/11/08 01:10 PM
is chris andersen unavailable for the playoffs or could he be activated at some point? quite a writeup on him on ESPN today
#2
Ron Hitley
05/11/08 01:13 PM
@ dubya: He's available. Unlike in previous years, I don't think there's one set playoff roster anymore, and coaches can activate and deactivate guys before each game.
www.hornets247.com #3
johnny
05/11/08 01:33 PM
Before mW goes off anymore of his reading of just the part above about Paul. He needs to read the whole story about how Stampler thinks Paul is "the best single player" the Spurs have come across in their years of championships. This includes Nash, Kobe, Lebron, and dirk (I didn't capitalize his name because I don't think its necessary.) Sounds like a damn good compliment to me.
#4
mW
05/11/08 02:06 PM
@ johnny: I did read the whole post and all the comments over at PtR. He mentioned the San Jose Sharks, too. So what? Yes, he had compliments for CP, but he still said what he said. I stand by my comments.
hornetshype.com #5
Bob Loblaw
05/11/08 02:14 PM
isnt aaron stampler the name of the edward norton character from primal fear? he sounds mighty jealous
#6
ticktock6
05/11/08 02:27 PM
Yeah it is. Aaron Stampler. Primal Fear. Just IMDB'd it. So is it his real name or an alias?
hornetshype.com #7
mW
05/11/08 02:44 PM
Well, you definitely want to see the Hornets play better, but when you shoot 43% to your opponents 56% and are outrebounded 8-11, I guess you can't feel too bad about being down by only 2.
hornetshype.com #8
ticktock6
05/11/08 02:51 PM
Well at least no one's in foul trouble this game. That's a good sign after their problems with that in game 3.
hornetshype.com #9
Andy from Oregon
05/11/08 02:54 PM
We have to get DWest going! Pargo is trying but we need someone else to step up too! were in trouble.
#10
mW
05/11/08 03:08 PM
They don't seem to be doubling Tim as much, yet the Spurs are still getting lots of open looks. Although, they are nailing EVERYTHING. I think to continue the boxer analogy that the announcers used, they need to just keep taking hits here, and keep the game close. Then they need to hope the Spurs cool down at the same time that they amp up their defensive effort in the second half. All while actually figuring out how to put up more than 35-40 in a half. Tall order. The Spurs look like the champs here. The Hornets really have to get back that confidence and that swagger that made them look like they were ready to win it all.
hornetshype.com #11
Steve H
05/11/08 03:27 PM
Does Ely suck or what? Coach has actually kept him on the bench where he can do no harm- except for the last few SECONDS of the firs half to keep Tyson from picking up a foul. So what does numb-nuts do? ALLOWS Duncan a lay-up, WITH a weak assed foul so he can get the and one. ELY SUCKS!Coach ALMOST had the right idea- but to be 100% sure that Ely is not going to fuck us up- he needs to spend 100% of his time on the bench- or better yet, on someone elses bench.If there is a silver lining in what has otherwise been an embarassing half of basketball for the Hornets- being ahead at the half has been the kiss of death in this series to date.
#12
ticktock6
05/11/08 03:45 PM
Wow...how many touch fouls are they going to give TD?
hornetshype.com #13
Steve H
05/11/08 03:49 PM
I can't watch this shit anymore. Nobody can hit a fucking layup- and on those rare occasions when the Spurs miss- they either get the bailout foul, or an offensive board. This game is embarassing. Somebody call me when they get back to New Orleans.
#14
mW
05/11/08 03:56 PM
Rough game...the Hornets are still shooting under 40%, while, the Spurs are on fire at 60%, plus they have 8 more rebounds than us and 10 more assists. So while the refereeing hasn't been kind, we've more than done enough to lose this game on our own so far. Down 20 with 5:47 in the third. Let's hope TNT really does know drama and the Bees can find a way to get back in this.
hornetshype.com #15
mW
05/11/08 04:08 PM
Okay, I know I just said we are losing this game on our own, and we are. But the refs are working real hard to prevent us from getting back in it. At least three fouls in this quarter replays clearly showed no illegal contact whatsoever. Meanwhile, we've gotten several questionable no-calls at the other end. Here's the real question, and it's not even Hornets specific. Two many 4-1 series? Not enough long series for the NBA? Losing advertising revenue? Now the C's, Lakers, and Hornets are all caught in the mire after looking dominant through 2. Sure, home court makes a big difference. But does anyone really believe that Jason Kidd throwing Pargo's head to the floor was less of a foul than Turiaf's hard hit on Price's hands today, which just happened to result in Price landing on his head? Meanwhile, the Jazz, with the Lakers biggest body out of the game, roughed up the Lakers on a way to victory, and all the TNT asses that said Dirk was weak for not punching D-West after the "slap incident" were saying Turiaf crossed a line. Sure. Enjoy it while you can Spurs fans. It doesn't guarantee victory. Just a longer series.
hornetshype.com #16
Dejan
05/11/08 04:20 PM
Embarrasing, i dont know any more, I think now were done. This series is over, peja is completly shut out, there bugging west, paul is getting anything he wants they dont care. We got no defence timmy is owning chandler, atleast dont let him get the bucket if your going to foul the guy. The playoff expierence was good for us this year. Better luck next year, and I hate bonzi wells the guy is horrible.
#17
ticktock6
05/11/08 04:25 PM
Whoa, whoa, Dejan. I definitely don't think the season is over. The Spurs haven't proven they can win in Nola yet, and we still have home court. Plus, Mike James might score 20 points in the next five minutes and steal out a victory. Or maybe we just need to cheer real loud at Game 5.
hornetshype.com #18
Kal
05/11/08 04:33 PM
And i was excited for this game since Thursday. :( When i got back from dinner, i saw that the Hornets were down by 20 and i was so angry and upset... I didn't know what happened in the first quarter till i read up on these comments but i do hope that Peja will regain his shooting 3 touch at home, and that West will have a better game than 10 points... Should be longer series now since it's knotted at 2... but what a ridiculous horribly embarrassing blow-out. :( And if it is true about the officiating being skewed, i am very very disappointed. :( Go Hornets in Game 5!!! Blow out the Spurs!
#19
mW
05/11/08 04:40 PM
What the Hornets really need now is Ron Hitley's wit. If they knew what was good for them, they'd give the man a press pass for Game 5. And maybe a Honeybee.
hornetshype.com #20
Ron Hitley
05/11/08 05:04 PM
I just got back from the watch party. That was one ugly-ass game. Ryan, I'm so glad you're doing the recap for this one, man. Now excuse me while I go spend some quality time with my Honeybee poster.
www.hornets247.com #21
Bish
05/11/08 05:34 PM
The officiating does suck, but it seems to suck for visiting teams - except in the case of the Suns, who tend to just get bad calls everywhere. It looks like the Spurs might have found a semi-answer to the Hornets supporting cast, once they realized that they cannot do anything really to stop CP3. The guy is automatic ... but if they can take out Peja, and West they do have a chance to keep the scoring down in the dismal dumps of boring that allow the Spurs to win. Game 5 is not so much the game I'm looking forward to, it's game 6. I'm fairly confident that the Hornets will win 5, but if its not like games 1 & 2 I would not be surprised to see the Spurs get their win at home and steal #7 in NO. Refs suck, that's the only certain thing in the NBA.
www.hotmail.com #22
WhatYouKnowAboutCrack?
05/11/08 05:34 PM
What happened to all the cocky Hornet fans? LMFAO
#23
Michael Torres
05/11/08 05:41 PM
I was very disappointed in the effort (or lack thereof) that the Hornets showed tonight. They need to regain the swagger and passion that they had in the first two games and parts of game 3. The Hornets need to go back to more ball movement. They are at their best when everyone is touching the ball. However, the Spurs are doing a great job of letting CP3 get his points but shutting down the rest of the team. Let's hope the coaching staff can find a way to unleash the magic shooting touch of Peja.
#24
Mo
05/11/08 11:46 PM
WTF is Aaron Stampler talking about? Did CP kill his puppy or something? I know people can pull shit right out of thin air to say when they dislike somebody (for whatever reason) but he's got CP pegged all wrong. Berates teammates? Oh my goodness. It must be really easy to talk shit about people when you really have no clue about them at all.
#25
munciemug
05/12/08 01:19 AM
TyChan MoPet Pogo Pargo(cause you never know if he will be up or down) and Peja played a combined 102 minutes and had a combined rebound total of 7......BWells played 18 minutes (don't give me the garbage time comment cause almost all the minutes the top six played was garbage)...well Wells had 5 rebounds and Wright chipped in with 4......what's the point here, change the rotations and give more minutes to these better rebounders...just look at the box scores and see how we have gotten pounded on the glass in these last 2 games. Also we can clearly see that Pogo can't defend anyone on the Spurs.....Actually JWright is our best perimiter defender, and he should start instead of MoPet...and Wells should be the first sub in...let's shake things up and give the Spurs a look that they are NOT expecting. I shouldn't go off to much on DWest, because we wouldn't have won 40 games without him, so I'll just say.......DON'T JUST STAND THERE AND HOLD THE BALL.....PASS THE BALL OUT OF THE POST....THE SPURS HAVE LEARNED HOW TO DEFEND YOU.....Bonzi is just as good of a post up player as you but he got ZERO post ups when he was in the game with the other starters. I really think West and Pargo don't want Wells included in the offense when all 3 are on the floor at the same time....and I sensed that about the second game in the regular season they allplayed together. We won't win this series unless we get either Wright or Wells going with some consistancy. DID TYSON STAY BACK AT THE HOTEL....I DIDN'T SEE HIM ON THE COURT LAST NIGHT...AND WHERE WAS PEJA, DIDN'T SEE MUCH OF HIM EITHER. We will win this next game or the season is over for the Hornets....We will move the ball better and rebound the ball better or the season is history...Can Byron come up with plan B...cause plan A worked for 2 games but no more. The Spurs made multiple tweeks and adjustments...can we? We must diversify our offense, and quit leaving people wide open as we leave to double team....or we will loose.....GEAUX BEES, WE GOT TO GET THIS GAME.
mykronzz@gmail.com #26
Kacee
05/12/08 07:26 AM
I totally agree with Aaron Stampler about CP3. The Hornets fans don't see it because they dont want to. It is easy for you fans to praise him when they are winning, and it is easy for you to poke at other great NBA players, but, when it is your CP3, you don't see it. Aaron hit the nail on the head with his comments about CP3. While he does play great, he has NO sportsmanship and he has a chip on his shoulder because his team beat a 7th seed Mavs team in the first round and his team beat the Spurs the first two games with Tim Duncan SICK. The Hornets will NOT win this series. But, at least they will have playoff experience. Now, during his time off, maybe CP3 and David West can learn some sportsmanship and some humility.
#27