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Salary Cap Stuff

Don't get too excited, but it appears that the that the NBA salary cap and luxury tax lines are dropping less than expected. It's now being projected that the cap will fall from 57.7 million to 56.1 million. The 1.6 million dollar decrease is millions less than most front offices had anticipated.

The expected luxury tax hasn't been revealed, and likely won't be until the official salary cap is set. That said, I project it to be just over 68 million, given the historical correlation between the two. This years luxury tax line was set at 69.92 million.

As it stands right now the Hornets have ten players under contract for approximately 72.2 million dollars.

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Just when you thought there was no more excitement to be had this season, the Hornets almost pull off the biggest comeback in franchise history. Down 26 in the second quarter with the Bobcats flexing their defensive muscle and Jeff Bower ejected, the Hornets turned this one around by pushing the gas pedal and rolling with the rookies. The third quarter was as well as we've seen the team play all season, and it looked like they were headed for a double-digit win late in the fourth, up 8 with 3:44 to play. Credit the Bobcats though for getting their defense working again, getting to the free throw line and riding the hot shooting of D.J. Augustin.

104-103 the final score.

Marcus Thornton

Another one of those games where Thornton seemed to unleash every offensive move known to mankind. Really, all he was missing was a skyhook. He had the mid-range working, he dropped triples, he got out on the break, he took guys off the dribble and finished at the rim... and let's pause for a second to give that grown-ass man jam over Gerald Wallace the respect it deserves...

...

... wait, not done yet...

...

... yeah, that's about right.

Marcus also managed to dish out two of the better assists of the season for the Hornets, one a cross-court touch pass between two defenders to Morris Peterson on the break, and the other that skimming bounce-pass between three defenders to get Darren Collison a fast break layup.

On the down side, Thornton did have some trouble trying to beat those Charlotte traps when running point and had his work cut out guarding Stephen Jackson, especially in the first half. Something tells me he'll be a fine defensive player some day though.

Emeka Okafor vs. Tyson Chandler

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With just four games left in the season and distractions abound, the Hornets take on the playoff-bound Bobcats at the New Orleans Arena this evening, tip off at 7 Central.

The Bobcats are 41-36 on the season, but just 11-27 on the road. They've won six of their last eight, but only two of those games have been away from Charlotte. Just last night the Bobcats came up with a big home win over the Hawks, 109-100. Gerald Wallace scored 28 to lead Charlotte, while Boris Diaw almost got himself a triple-double.

The only other meeting between the Hornets and Bobcats this season was back on February 6 in Charlotte; Darren Collison led the Hornets to a 105-99 win with 24 points, overcoming a 26-point night from Stephen Jackson.

Tyson Chandler did not play in that February game due to injury, but he will be playing tonight, making this his first game against the Hornets since being traded for Emeka Okafor last summer. He's been coming off the bench lately for Charlotte, splitting time in the middle with Theo Ratliff. However, Chandler is expected to start tonight with Ratliff excused to attend his grandmother's funeral. Tyson's season averages are 6.1 points and 6.2 rebounds. Last night against Atlanta, he finished with 12 and 8. Should be interesting to see how much he gets up for this one.

Numbers:

Pace: Bobcats 92.8 (26th), Hornets 94.7 (17th)
Offensive Efficiency: Bobcats 101.3 (24th), Hornets 104.6 (16th)
Defensive Efficiency: Bobcats 99.9 (1st), Hornets 107.3 (22nd)

Linkage:

• Rival bloggers: Queen City Hoops (THN) | Rufus on Fire

(Many thanks to Dariusz for today's banner featuring Darren Collison. Be sure to check out more of Dariusz's designs in our Wallpapers vault.)

Lately there has been more than a little Emeka Okafor bashing, with some even going to far as to say that an injured Tyson Chandler is better than a healthy Okafor. It's time that we get into some real detail about Okafor's play, and how much worse he has really been than Tyson.

First let's take a look at Tyson's first year in NOLA compared to Emeka's. Seems fair since it obviously takes some time for centers to adjust to playing a pick and roll offense, especially in a point guard dominated offense. Granted Tyson was a bit younger than Okafor when he started with the Hornets, but they both had accumulated about the same amount of NBA experience prior to coming to the Hornets. Here are some basic stats.

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Normally after a game, I want to write about some items of interest about the Hornets game plan, and then bring up some other items to  illustrate styles of play from either team.  Tonight, however,  I'm flabbergasted.  Nothing in that game was normal or consistent.   Well, other than the fact Tyson Chandler wasn’t playing and Okafor was.

Where was the vaunted Charlotte defense?  Why did Nazr Mohammed not play in the second half for the Bobcats?  When was the last time Peja Stojakovic took 12 shots and every one was a different type of shot?  How does Morris Peterson end up with the best +/- of any player in the game?

Darren Collison

Tonight Collison had to score rather than create.  Despite having a great skillset for a rookie, he does not have the best court vision on drives.  He’ll find guys in the corner, or the big rolling to the basket, but he rarely finds the shooters on the wings unless he’s turned back on his drive and uses them to bail him out.  The Bobcats are a disciplined team, keeping fairly tight on the guys in the corner, and mostly relying on the guard and big in the paint to contest on penetration.  That style of defense left Collison with few of the passing options he was comfortable with . . . so he did other things:  he pushed the ball hard on fast breaks,  hit a few nice foul-line jumpers, and got to the rim on the biggest play of the game, dropping a tough layup over Ray Felton with his off hand.  Big shot.   He’s proven to be scary good in the closing minutes of games this season.

David West

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