Under Byron Scott, the Hornets offense had become stagnant and predictable. The ball was usually put in the hands of Chris Paul or David West, and they were asked to create something out of nothing. Guys like Peja Stojakovic mostly stood by on the wing, waiting for a kick out. There was very little off-the ball action, such as back door cuts or weak-side screens. Oh, and capable rookies were left rotting on the bench.
Under the direction of the new coaching tandem of Jeff Bower and Tim Floyd, we've seen the Hornets' offense flowing much more freely these past two weeks. Check out the following video for a breakdown.
17 mighty comments post your own
untitled1018
11/27/09 08:06 AM
thanks for that very good analysis. (that bit at the end was an unexpected treat). you all are my new espn.
(also -and please take no offense- my girlfriend wonders why you sound so sad , heh :D )
#1
Dmon3k
11/27/09 08:34 AM
Awesome analysis, I wish the guys at ESPN and those who cover the games put that much time and effort into their work.
#2
nikkoewan
11/27/09 10:34 AM
great analysis. I think that by January, this team will start to click on all cylinders especially with Paul ang (praying to God) Diogu back. This team will kick some #$%* ass LMAO goo bees!
#3
Jib
11/27/09 10:51 AM
Great job Niall.
I enjoy watching something that makes a lot of sense instead of ESPN acting like they know what the heck they're talking about;)
#4
Mikey
11/27/09 11:18 AM
Good roll-up, Niall, and I'm glad you pointed out that Bower/Floyd didn't inject the Hornets with some magic elixir to get them to move the ball better, and that they still have a long way to go.
There are a couple things I'd like to point out as well in regards to our new player movement, and set plays.
1. It looked like Milwaukee's defense was very active in the passing lanes, which is typical of a Skiles-coached team. They intercepted many lazy Hornet passes, often resulting transition baskets. The Hornets were always near the top of the league in not committing turnovers under Byron Scott, but perhaps that was due to the pounding of the ball you talked about. I expect that to slip somewhat. More ball movement means more opportunity for the defense to create a turnover. So as teams adjust to the new-look offense for the Hornets, New Orleans will need to work more on both their transition defense, as well as making crisper passes to their teammates.
2. I'm not suprised that the Hornets haven't installed more set plays. They haven't really had any time to practice until this week. We saw a new set play on Wednesday night, and I expect to see a couple more installed over the next few weeks. The Hornets got two full-time practices in this week, which was a departure from the norm from earlier this season.
**** Suggestion for next video. Talk about what the Hornets are doing down low to improve their rebounding. 60+ boards against the Bucks made me smile. Maybe you can get Gerry V. to narrate a couple of video segments too.
#5
SaveYourBoredom
11/27/09 01:01 PM
Does anybody have any idea what's going on with Chris Paul? Is the team being overly cautious with him and trying not to rush him back, especially since the team is playing well without him? Lance Moore of the Saints has had an ankle sprain all season and has missed most of the games, so maybe this is a weird injury with an unknown timetable?? I don't know, but I'm starting to get anxious.
#6
icebird
11/27/09 01:17 PM
@SaveYourBoredom: The official statements have all been that Paul would be out three to four weeks, and as far as I've heard that's still the case. His return date hasn't become a moving target yet like it has with Ike's injury.
Thanks for analysis Niall. Very interesting to someone who gets to see virtually none of the Hornet's games.
The impression I get is that the offense hasn't been focused on creating opportunities for Emeka Okafor, and his scoring numbers over the past few games seem to bear that out. I hope over time we see him becoming a bit more involved - I think you want as many scoring options as possible for the times when David West or Peja or Thornton are off with their shooting.
I'm interested in the rebounding situation as well. The Hornets were getting cleaned up on the boards earlier in the season, but lately they seem to be either out-rebounding teams comfortably, or fighting out honorable draws. The personnel hasn't changed at all, so it makes we wonder what (if anything) they're doing differently.
#7
Diane
11/27/09 02:24 PM
Thanks Niall, good stuff. I think having Chris Paul out show the others THEY can do it! I am looking forward to Paul coming back and just see out it goes.
This year it really seems that their are alot of really good rookies. It will be interesting to see who get the nod as the best.
#8
bniz
11/27/09 03:52 PM
thumbs up on this... proud that we have such an intelligent blogger covering the Hornets
#9
Caleb462
11/27/09 04:53 PM
Great video, and great points Mikey and and icebird. Like icebird, I also want to see Mek get a bit more involved offensively... and I do hope they slowly incorporate him more into the offense.
neworleansbasketball.blogspot.com #10
Borris Mart
11/27/09 05:38 PM
Thanks a lot for the vid, Niall. Good breakdown
#11
MoPeteCP3
11/27/09 09:43 PM
what a cheerful voice!
#12
Snave
11/27/09 10:16 PM
That's quality, thanks.
www.twitter.com/snavetrebor #13
The_big_H
11/28/09 01:47 AM
Great stuff. Really loved it.
#14
F******
11/28/09 07:38 AM
Great analysis. This week of practice will bring some more plays, like Mikey already mentioned. I'm looking forward to that and I'm thrilled how things will work out when CP is back. I hope he keeps the plays rollin instead of dribbling the air out of the ball again. The day he will be back is crucial. They can still reach 50 plus wins.
#15
cl0verstreet
11/29/09 10:40 AM
Is there anyway to show that these clips weren't just chosen to prove your point? I like the analysis a lot, way better than anything out there, but still have that question in my mind.
#16
Niall Doherty
11/29/09 07:59 PM
Thanks for the comments, everyone.
@ untitled1018: I'm working on my SportsCenter anchor voice. It should get better over time ;-)
@co0verstreet: Good question. Honestly, you could probably pick and choose the clips in such a way that the offense would appear great early in the season and look terrible since the coaching change. Like I said in the video, the Hornets still make lots of mistakes offensively, and many of those mistakes are the same ones they were making when Byron Scott was head coach.
But, the clips showing good ball movement and off-the-ball activity are much easier to find in games from the last two weeks than they were from the first 9 games of the season. The Hornets have definitely made those things a priority and it shows when looking back through the tape. Unfortunately, there's no way to prove that without producing a MUCH longer video.
Also, I started this video project looking to prove that the Hornets were running way more set plays since the coaching change, which I thought was the case, but I ended up proving myself wrong on that; only one new set play that I could find since November 12th.
www.ndoherty.com #17