Tonight should be interesting.
Without Chris Paul for the first time this season, the Hornets welcome the Bulls to the New Orleans Arena. Almost at the end of a seven-game road trip, the Bulls are owners of a 21-27 record after a 7-point loss last night in Houston. They beat the Suns, Kings and Clips on the road before that, but are only 8-18 away from Chicago this season.
Antonio Daniels will step into the starting lineup in Paul's absence, and will have his hands full trying to slow super rook Derrick Rose.
Game gets tipped a little after 7pm. No buzz fest before the game "due to cold weather in the New Orleans area." Hmm.
Linkage:
- The 14th Blogger Power Rankings
- Wallpaper: Brand spanking new from Dariusz
- Lagniappe: CP3's multiple groins, Tyson blogs overtime, Hornets Hype stays positive, and much more.
- Rival bloggers: Blog a Bull | By The Horns | Thank You Isiah
(Special thanks to Dariusz for the banner and the above image.)
44 superb comments post your own
stormsurge
02/04/09 05:15 PM
Hey, ticktock6 and me got sick after buzzfest Friday. *SNIFF*
I still blame Maggette for that though
www.stormsurgephoto.com #1
At the Hive
02/04/09 05:28 PM
Dariusz, that image is super awesome. My favorite one so far.
www.atthehive.com #2
Juncti
02/04/09 05:43 PM
No buzz fest because of cold weather? We really are a city of pansies about that. We get an inch of snow, the city shuts down, it gets chilly and we don't go outside. Ugh.
Besides, cold weather is good beer drinking weather. Beer never gets hot!
#3
Dariusz Ejkiewicz
02/04/09 05:47 PM
@ATH: Thank you very much. I posted my new wallpaper on your facebook, was wondering if you would like that to be At the Hive :>
www.ejkiewicz.com #4
Andrea
02/04/09 05:49 PM
Another one of those pesky sub-.500 teams. We'd probably be susceptible for a loss whether CP played or not but even more so in his abscence. I'm not saying we CAN'T pull out a win sans Paul; I'm just saying I don't have a lot of faith in our Paul-less Hornets. Hopefully, the guys can change my mind by, at the very least, playing hard and well tonight.
#5
emir
02/04/09 06:16 PM
peja steps up again hopefully
or we see west try to shoot even when other players are open
don't get me wrong all his shots are good but he really needs to learn how to pass sometimes
#6
Dariusz Ejkiewicz
02/04/09 06:29 PM
Another time I have all of the games but not hornets, those blackouts are stupid, **** :/
www.ejkiewicz.com #7
GodJesus
02/04/09 06:41 PM
I had a nightmare about the Spurs game, I swear to god. I was watching the game at my grandma's house on Audubon and Tim Duncan was sitting next to me laughing and insulting me every time the Spurs scored.
Except in this dream, the Hornets lost by 4 in overtime.
Christ Almighty do I hate the Spurs.
#8
davidgladow
02/04/09 06:44 PM
Everyone knows Paul is out at this point, but here's the lineup for tonight's game anyway:
Hornets: Peja, West, Armstrong, Butler, Daniels (Chandler, Mo-Pete inactive)
Bulls: Deng, Thomas, Noah, Gordon, Rose (Huges, Ruffin inactive)
Geaux Hornets!
#9
Juncti
02/04/09 06:51 PM
Dariusz: did you see that comment someone put in one of the other game day threads for you? They mentioned that sometimes those blackouts are due to the game being on another channel in your package.
Being that this is the Bulls, I would look for WGN, they usually carry all the Bulls games. Go through your whole guide or do a search and see what pops up.
Worst case you could find one of those elusive streams that seem to appear on the forums.
Good luck
#10
Dariusz Ejkiewicz
02/04/09 07:01 PM
Yeah I asked a friend and one of the polish tv's is having that game, one that I actually dont have... thats a 3rd hornets game in poland in the last 2 weeks, that's insane.
www.ejkiewicz.com #11
Niall Doherty
02/04/09 07:07 PM
Antonio Daniels is always a good interview. He comes across as a real intelligent, thoughtful guy. Easy to root for him.
www.ndoherty.com #12
Niall Doherty
02/04/09 07:21 PM
Wow, down 19-7 already. That's a lot of points to give up in 5 minutes. Bulls getting inside a lot but also hitting their outside shots. 80% from the field.
www.ndoherty.com #13
Niall Doherty
02/04/09 07:29 PM
29-15 Bulls with 2:13 left in the first. I like that Byron's gone to a zone. Not much we can do about them hitting all those jumpers, but let's at least shut down the lane.
www.ndoherty.com #14
Juncti
02/04/09 07:37 PM
No Mo Pete, No TC, no CP3.
This game is one prolonged 2nd quarter.
And we all know how those go.
Hell, we haven't even gotten to the 2nd lol Can't wait for that.
#15
Niall Doherty
02/04/09 07:37 PM
Down 31-20 after Q1. Looked like we were falling back into the zone after we scored, held the Bulls without a field goal for the last 3 minutes. Much better.
www.ndoherty.com #16
YoungFella
02/04/09 07:37 PM
I'm skippin this one.
Hey, desperate times call for desperate measures. We talk about guys stepping up and trying to give the Hornets a lift - what's up with Ely? I mean is it that difficult to comprehend that the return of his 'fro would be a huge morale boost?
I am very disappointed. If ever there was a need for a killer fro, this was the game.
#17
Niall Doherty
02/04/09 07:46 PM
Head Down Devin Brown is keeping us alive. Also notable that our energy has picked up a helluva lot since Ryan Bowen came into the game.
@ YoungFella: I skipped this one, too, although I'd planned on doing that before Monday's game. Needed a break from all the Arena madness. No CP and no Buzz Fest just makes it easier to stay home. I'm regretting the decision a little now though; forgot I'd have to listen to Bob and Gil.
www.ndoherty.com #18
mW
02/04/09 07:52 PM
We just look off on offense. Not sure what it is (other, obviously, than MIT having CP).
www.hornetshype.com #19
Niall Doherty
02/04/09 07:52 PM
Bulls run, up 45-31. Peja can't make a good pass tonight. I'm surprised at how well the Bulls move the ball. They've started swinging it around our defense pretty good, not much dribbling. Gil made a good point that all our scores are coming from guys creating their own shots, while the Bulls are getting easy buckets off nice ball movement.
And can CST please stop showing CP sitting on the bench in a suit? Salt. Wounds. Hurts.
www.ndoherty.com #20
Niall Doherty
02/04/09 08:02 PM
Getting ugly with the turnovers and the Bulls making us pay on the break. We're down 56-39 with 2:13 left in Q2.
Ely's missed jam hurt. Hilton was pretty bad guarding the pick and roll when he was in, got caught in no-man's land a few times. Looks like Byron set him straight on that though. Methinks the reason we've been better with Devin Brown running point is because he can take it to the hole. Daniels can't seem to penetrate at all.
www.ndoherty.com #21
Dariusz Ejkiewicz
02/04/09 08:07 PM
It looks like I'll be glad that I was able to watch Lakers vs Raptors instead of the Bulls game.
www.ejkiewicz.com #22
Niall Doherty
02/04/09 08:13 PM
Down 18 at the half, 62-44. Kenny Gattison just interviewed, said Chris Paul being out is no excuse for our sorry defense.
If anyone is DVRing this game, go back to Derrick Rose's three-point play at the 1:10 mark in Q2. David West delivered some pathetic pick and roll defense on that play. He's giving us all he can on offense and he's rebounding strong, but those type of defensive lapses are far too frequent for him.
www.ndoherty.com #23
mW
02/04/09 08:20 PM
I blame the massive new "Gs" on the back of the players' seats. Seriously, take one of the most marketable and recognizable names in the industry, Gaterade,and baffle consumers with a one-letter appellation. Just weird.
www.hornetshype.com #24
SavageHenry
02/04/09 08:21 PM
Definitely not the first half any of us were hoping for. We'll need to do a much better job getting back on transition defense and flip the turnover story from the first half. Chicago is getting a ton of points from those two factors alone.
I think we can still make a run, though. There's a reason Reinsdorf called the Bulls a failure and embarrassment.
#25
Andrea
02/04/09 08:39 PM
@Savage: If Chris Paul were playing we could make a run. Unless he's coming off the pine in this one, the game's over. The defense that we've played is not good enough to make a run...unless Chicago doesn't score for the next 15-20 possessions and we score on all of ours.
Anyway, let's look ahead. I read a rumor on Yahoo! that Chris said he might try to give it a go on Friday. Anyone know if there's any truth to that?
#26
Niall Doherty
02/04/09 08:56 PM
Down 19 heading into the fourth. Let's pack it in and thrown JuJu and Armstrong out there for the entire fourth quarter, let them make their mistakes. And Sean Marks. Strange that he hasn't played at all yet tonight.
@ louisianagyrl: I'd say Chris himself won't know until after shootaround on Friday morning. He'll probably test it and see how it feels. Byron likes guys to get at least one full practice in though before returning from injury, so maybe he'll keep CP out until Sunday.
www.ndoherty.com #27
Niall Doherty
02/04/09 09:03 PM
Elsewhere: Bad week so far for the Knicks. After Kobe's 61 points on Monday, LeBron just dropped 52, 11 and 10 in NYC.
www.ndoherty.com #28
Roc217
02/04/09 09:04 PM
The worst thing they can do is let CP come back too early. I know they have no chance of winning without him but what good is it to bring him back when it may make it worse? They were cautious with Peja, West, and TC. They need to do the same with the one player they most certainly cannot do without.
#29
Andrea
02/04/09 09:04 PM
So this will be out 4th loss in a row. When was the last time we lost that many in a row?
And...If Chris can't go anytime soon, how many more games will be added to this streak? It hurts to think it/type it/say it, but I wouldn't be surprised in the least if we lost the one or two more games that he wouldn't play in.
#30
mW
02/04/09 09:06 PM
I agree with Roc217.
www.hornetshype.com #31
Niall Doherty
02/04/09 09:08 PM
@ louisanagyrl: Last time we lost four or more games in a row was March 2-13 2007. That was a six-game losing streak.
www.ndoherty.com #32
JChangNZ
02/04/09 09:15 PM
Just got back from school down here in NZ..and where is my kiwi man?! Melvin Ely's stats don't look very nice on the box score
#33
mW
02/04/09 09:22 PM
Down to 10 points with four minutes left!
www.hornetshype.com #34
Niall Doherty
02/04/09 09:22 PM
Oh Hornets, you big tease. 10 point game now with 4 minutes left. We're scoring at will but getting stops still a problem. I'm guessing we'll see a lot of the ball in Derrick Rose's hands down the stretch.
@ JChangNZ: I was wondering that myself. For some reason Byron just opted not to play Marks tonight.
www.ndoherty.com #35
Niall Doherty
02/04/09 09:24 PM
I love Ryan Bowen.
www.ndoherty.com #36
JChangNZ
02/04/09 09:27 PM
Oh okay..if he decided not to play him, then fine with me. As long as he isn't injured or anything..
#37
Niall Doherty
02/04/09 09:30 PM
So much for that. Down 15 with 2 minutes left.
www.ndoherty.com #38
Niall Doherty
02/04/09 09:35 PM
I'm okay with this loss. Pity we didn't come out stronger because we never really recovered from that poor first quarter. The effort was pretty good throughout though, we never gave up.
We fared much better with Devin Brown at the point than we did when Daniels was running it. I don't think our offense works at all if the point guard isn't a scoring threat, and that's one thing Daniels isn't good at, especially taking the ball to the basket.
107-93 final score.
www.ndoherty.com #39
YoungFella
02/04/09 09:36 PM
Still 5th seed with Houston's loss. Even if we fell to 6th seed we'd still have a winnable 1st round matchup.
Just remember how encouraged we all were 10 days ago when the bench was stepping up and we were beating decent teams without our starting 4 and 5.
A few wins in a row and everybody will feel a lot better. I'm not giving up, are you?
#40
Roc217
02/04/09 09:38 PM
louisianagyrl, i believe they will lose all the games CP misses which will make him want to come back asap. If he doesn't play in the four games he's rumored to miss their record will be 28-21 and either the 8th or worse seed. It's so sobering to even think that this team can be that low.
#41
Juncti
02/04/09 09:41 PM
Beep...................Beep.....................Beep........................Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Not looking good.
#42
YoungFella
02/04/09 10:04 PM
Man, I just turned off Joe Block. I realize that the Hornets sign his check, but good God. I cannot listen to him passively defend every facet of the Hornets after this 4th consecutive loss.
#43
mW
02/04/09 10:16 PM
I'm with YoungFella @ 9:36. Wins cure everything. Honestly, Playoffs are the most important thing. Obviously home court is nice, but our goal at the beginning of the year was the Finals. That means you have to go through everyone in the West first. Who cares if its Lakers in round 1 or in the WCF? To be the best, you got to beat the best.
www.hornetshype.com #44