Things are a little bleak for the Hornets heading into tonight's showdown with the visiting Memphis Grizzlies. New Orleans has lost four of its last five, falling four games behind the Blazers for the last playoff spot in the West. John Hollinger's machinery is giving the Bees less than a five percent chance of making the postseason, and they play seven of nine on the road starting Friday.
The Grizzlies have similar troubles. At 30-30, they're just a half game behind the Hornets in the standings, but have lost 11 of their last 16. Their only recent success has come on the road, where they've won four straight (Raptors, Nets, Wizards, Knicks).
The Hornets will be glad to get Darius Songaila back from injury tonight, since the Grizzlies are tough inside: Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol combine to average about 36 points and 21 rebounds per game. The Grizzlies are also second in the NBA in rebound rate.
The Hornets lead the season series 2-0, having beat the Grizzlies twice by narrow margins in January. In the first game, James Posey was the hero after dropping the winning layup with one second left. Second time around, Darren Collison dished a franchise rookie record 18 assists and came up big in overtime to seal the deal. You can bet the Grizzlies haven't forgotten those heartbreakers.
Memphis will be without Ronnie Brewer tonight. Due to a hamstring injury, he's played just 12 minutes for the Grizzlies since coming over from Utah at the trade deadline.
Game tips at 7 Central.
Numbers:
Pace: Grizzlies 95.6 (12th), Hornets 94.6 (19th)
Offensive Efficiency: Grizzlies 104.8 (12th), Hornets 104.5 (13th)
Defensive Efficiency: Grizzlies 107.1 (23rd), Hornets 105.7 (19th)
Linkage:
- Lagniappe: Marks be blogging, Thornton a force, and behind the scenes with the Hornets' broadcast team
- Standings: Hornets four games back of Portland for the 8th spot. The Blazers host the Pacers at 9 Central.
- Rival bloggers: 3 Shades of Blue (THN)
(Many thanks to Dariusz for today's banner featuring Marcus Thornton. Be sure to check out more of Dariusz's designs in our Wallpapers vault.)
26 superb comments post your own
Niall Doherty
03/03/10 06:32 PM
Pre-game notes from the Arena:
- Darius Songaila will be available to play.
- That last game between these two teams (1/30 in Memphis), the Hornets overcame a 21-point deficit before winning in overtime. That tied the second-largest comeback win in franchise history.
- Average scoring by quarter this season (Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4):
Hornets: 24.9, 24.6, 25.0, 24.1
Grizzlies: 26.6, 25.8, 24.6, 24.0
- In case you didn't hear, last week the Grizzlies sent Hasheem Thabeet, the second pick in last year's draft, to the D-League. In three games so far with the Dakota Wizards, Thabeet is averaging 15 points, 10.3 rebounds and 3.7 blocks while shooting 68 percent from the field.
- From Sean Kelley (Hornets radio play-by-play) on Twitter this afternoon: "Aaron Gray is gonna get some time 2nite too."
- From the game preview at commercialappeal.com:
One more double-double this season and Zach Randolph matches the Grizzlies franchise record... Mayo is averaging 9.5 points and 3.0 turnovers on 34.8-percent shooting in the past two games... West is shooting 28 percent in his last two games while Stojakovic has gone 7-of-29 from three-point range in his last six... Memphis is shooting for a franchise-record fifth straight road victory.
www.ndoherty.com #1
Niall Doherty
03/03/10 06:43 PM
Also, I'll be chatting it up at DDL during the game. Should be able to maintain a connection throughout since they have me on the baseline tonight, better signal down here.
http://espn.go.com/nba/dailydime/_/page/dimelive-100303/daily-dime-live
www.ndoherty.com #2
Niall Doherty
03/03/10 07:02 PM
According to this, Sean Marks is going to miss some time with a shoulder injury:
http://www.wxvt.com/Global/story.asp?S=12078681
www.ndoherty.com #3
420ftJesus
03/03/10 08:38 PM
It's time for Collison to break though the mental wall he has hit.
He needs to take fewer, not no, risky passes, or evaluate more risky passes as such, and drive to the rim in a crowd of bigs less. Those two will amount to 5-10 points a game and we're in business.
C'mon, buddy!
#4
Mark
03/03/10 09:12 PM
Collison is getting his numbers, but he's putting alot of tread in those tires. I hope youth serves him well.
www.dogpile.com/ #5
breeeezy
03/03/10 09:29 PM
Seriously, I just thought I would vent my fustrations out somewhere. Zach Randolph hit a 30 foot three, with shot clock expiring, and banked it in.
Down 1, with 44 seconds to go. I hate/despise Randolph
#6
sergio_alj
03/03/10 09:35 PM
WTF
Gasol calls timeout without the ball in his hands?
#7
Jib
03/03/10 09:45 PM
wow really?!? so can posey just get cut now that songaila's back so i dont have to watch him pull this bs again?
Im speechless at how terrible that was...
#8
Mark
03/03/10 09:45 PM
RRGGGH we pay Pose for what?!
That wasn't the deciding factor why we lost, but it sure doesn't make him look any better.
www.dogpile.com/ #9
sergio_alj
03/03/10 09:47 PM
WTF
Peja 3 foot from the basket, and Posey passes the ball to Rudy GAy!?!?
#10
Chung
03/03/10 09:49 PM
why wasnt okafor or gray in on the last possession to get a clean rebound? randolph almost got that one. A clean rebound would have resulted in a pass to collison or thornton and a tie game (maybe). Instead, we see west, song, and posey bouncing around like chickens with their heads cut off.
I think posey had his head down that whole possession. No intent of passing that ball.
#11
Mark
03/03/10 09:53 PM
Chung: Making a last ditch decision to pass mid-air is never an intent of passing. I think they teach you that at the most basic level.
Mental mistake, just sad it had to be the last play. Good performances by the rookies again though... can they keep this up once CP gets back?
www.dogpile.com/ #12
Jayjay2The1
03/03/10 09:57 PM
Peja, West, AND Collison was wide open that last play. Wtf? We can't get a break, all we get is mental mistakes
www.facebook.com/jehosafeph #13
Jib
03/03/10 10:01 PM
@jayjay: yeah even from a "vet" like Posey. When he came in with 5 left in the fourth for Marcus the score was 88-83 our way, never was the same since...
A vet shouldn't make mistakes like pointless fouls and terrible turnovers like he does, with darius back I pray he rides the bench a lot more
#14
Jayjay2The1
03/03/10 10:04 PM
Yeah @jib, even aaron gray was on this game, I hope now they'll see they need to play more of him, he was solid. As soon as Posey got in the game, maybe six seconds later he gets a foul. Maybe this "vet", is really the vet we speak of... senior citizen because he's losing his mind on the court.
www.facebook.com/jehosafeph #15
Jib
03/03/10 10:10 PM
Speaking of Gray and his play lately, it has been pretty good, and Okafor 15 minutes? Fouls ik but still...
Just an idea with teams like Memphis (good inside, not so hot on jumpers) maybe a 2 big guy line up with both Gray and Okafor? With teams like Memphis it could work defensively and help rebounding.
#16
Niall Doherty
03/03/10 10:19 PM
Post-game notes and thoughts:
- This loss was huge. The mood in the building was pretty somber after the game. I'm sure the players will keep fighting, but this was a significant blow to the Hornets' playoff hopes.
- Emeka Okafor had just one rebound tonight, his lowest rebound total of the season. He's had 1 rebound or fewer in a game just twice before in his career.
- Mo Pete wasn't impressed with my facial hair. I best not stand beside the full-bearded reporter next time.
- I asked Jeff Bower if the team's success or lack of success these next ten days or so have any bearing on when Chris Paul comes back? He said that they won't rush him back just to make a playoff push; they'll make sure he's 100% healthy before returning.
www.ndoherty.com #17
Jayjay2The1
03/03/10 10:21 PM
The reason why Oak gets in foulr trouble so quick is because Mo P can't guard people and opponents get by him and D West is somewhere and Mek can only do much to stop them and not get a foul, you know. And if that lineup happened, it'll only work playing Memphis since gray is slow as dirt lol. I still don't know why they still start morris. Is there any free agent SF's available?
I hope they clean house and keep maybe 8 in the off-season.
www.facebook.com/jehosafeph #18
Jayjay2The1
03/03/10 10:23 PM
Yeah @ Niall, I hope they don't throw him out there no time before April, let him rest up and we can come out running in the next season, because we're preparing for success now.
www.facebook.com/jehosafeph #19
Mark
03/03/10 10:31 PM
Niall, tell Mo Pete to play better before he makes demands regarding your beard. Of course, if he was kidding, make sure to say 'just kidding!' afterward.
www.dogpile.com/ #20
Jayjay2The1
03/03/10 10:37 PM
lol @ Mark
www.facebook.com/jehosafeph #21
YoungFella
03/03/10 10:49 PM
I LOL'd at Posey sitting on the bench for the bulk of the nite.
Great stuff. Thornton is a bulldog out there. I wish Gray could lose 25 pounds of flab and gain back 15 pounds of muscle this offseason - he could be a legit backup 5.
#22
YoungFella
03/03/10 10:53 PM
P.S. - Bower's rotations down the stretch are atrocious. Memphis couldn't shoot to save their life tonight and yet this genius decides to go small and surrender the lane in crunch time to the Grizzlies.
#23
nikkoewan
03/04/10 07:48 AM
agree with Bower's rotations. They are atrocious. Maybe he can learn to study those kinds of things. Maybe not. If his heart is in it, he can. He rose from the ranks so that speaks volumes about his work ethic. We will see next year :)
I actually wouldn't like Johnson as a coach(read it from the lagniappe). We need more of a coach who emphasizes defense(and i mean good defense) to start a fast break. He doesn't especially need to have a sophisticated half court offense, we just need to have a great defensive system in place, then have him order a fastbreak when it's there, and a OK half court offense.
For that to happen, I believe we should trade West(yes i know). I believe the only real untouchables on this team are Paul, and Thornton. Everybody else is tradeable.
#24
ticktock6
03/04/10 07:51 AM
You can count this as the night I officially spazzed out over Bower's obsession with going small. The most successful run of the night was when Gray was out there with Thornton and Collison clogging up the middle. In case the coaching staff didn't notice, Memphis had TWO REALLY HUGE GUYS on their team. When Gray went off, I assumed it was because he was winded and he'd be back in a few minutes.
Yeah. I'll never assume that again. A Gasol layup and rebound (and stupid timeout that shouldn't have been called because he didn't have possession) later, the lead was gone.
Let's even concede that Okafor and Gray weren't playing that well. The two guys we replaced them with, Songaila and Posey, were playing MUCH WORSE. To me there is nothing stupider than not sticking with what got you the lead. It clearly worked. We need another coach if only for this-- I like what Bower & the staff have done-- but I'm looking forward, like way forward, like if we add some pieces next year and become a contender and ever want to win a championship ever, it is just a fact that we will not win it with small ball.
hornetshype.com #25
ticktock6
03/04/10 07:55 AM
On the last statement, I don't have proof. So. If someone puts up examples of teams that have won a championship without ever playing their center in crunch time or in fact for more than 20 MPG, go right ahead and I will concede the point. Teams where the guy replacing the center is over like 6-8 don't count!!
hornetshype.com #26