Hornets247.com

Last week we heard about Ryan's old man-ness and how he really wanted OKC to lose. His wish was granted, as the Kobe company took down the Thunder in six.

Today I welcome you to Haterville, the home of hate. Now before you get your panties in a bunch, realize that I don't really hate these teams per se, I just don't want them to win. Well, to be more accurate, I'm rooting for their demise.

Do I need reasons? No, it's a free country and I can hate whoever I want, except for players on the Hornets of course. And Michael Jordan, because he's the reason I started watching basketball all those years ago. And Big Chief Monk Boudreaux. If you're unsure about the requirement of love for Big Chief, I suggest you learn more about him.

Without further adieu:

Continue reading »

It's playoff prediction time here at Hornets247. No, the Bees won't be part in the postseason, but that doesn't mean that we can't have some fun talking about the 16 teams that have earned a shot to compete for the title. The seeding is set, players and coaches are preparing, and we're predicting.

Ryan Schwan: If ever there was a time when seeding was unimportant, it was this year in the Western Conference.  Seven games difference between the 1 seed and the 8 seed?  Point differentials that only vary by 2.6?  Crazy place, the Western Conference.

Continue reading »

Perhaps the toughest stretch of the season for the Hornets starts tonight in Phoenix (tip off at 8 Central): Five games, seven days, all on the road, three against Western Conference playoff teams. Not exactly a welcome sight when your team is banged up and has lost eight of its last ten.

The Suns are 40-26 on the season, 24-9 at home and have split their last six games. The had a big showdown with the Lakers on Friday in Phoenix but came out on the losing end, 96-102. Amare Stoudamire led the Suns with 29 points and 16 rebounds, doing most of his damage in the first quarter. Head coach Alvin Gentry was ejected during the fourth quarter for arguing with officials.

Steve Nash has been struggling in March, averaging 10 and 10, but also coughing the ball up more than four times per game and shooting well below his averages, especially from three (3-17, 17.6%). He'll be playing in his 1000th career game tonight.

This will be the fourth and final meeting of the season between the two teams. The Hornets won just one of the previous meetings, 110-103 in New Orleans in November behind seven triples from Peja Stojakovic. On February 1, also in New Orleans, Marcus Thornton led five Hornets in double-figure scoring with 25 points, but the Suns got up big in the first half and had six guys finish with 10+ points en route to the 109-100 win.

Injuries:

The Hornets will be without James Posey, Peja Stojakovic, Chris Paul and Sean Marks. We posted a full report on them earlier. The Suns' Leandro Barbosa has missed the last six weeks with a wrist injury, but is very close to returning and is listed as a game-time decision for tonight.

Numbers:

Pace: Suns 97.9 (4th), Hornets 94.8 (15th)
Offensive Efficiency: Suns 111.6 (1st), Hornets 104.4 (15th)
Defensive Efficiency: Suns 107.7 (25th), Hornets 106.2 (18th)

Linkage:

• Standings: The 32-34 Hornets are 10th in the West, seven games behind the 8th-place Blazers.
  
• Rival bloggers: Bright Side of the Sun | Valley of the Suns (THN)

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

The Hornets get started on a three-game home stand tonight at New Orleans Arena, trying to come to terms with the news that Chris Paul will miss at least a month with that knee injury.

The Suns come in with a 28-21 record and are just a game ahead of the Hornets in the standings. They've lost five of their last six on the road, with that lone win coming last night against the Rockets in overtime. Amare Stoudemire led Phoenix in that one with 36 points and 11 boards, while fellow All-Star Steve Nash delivered 11 points and 16 assists.

The Suns will be without Leandro Barbosa (wrist surgery), while the Hornets will of course be without Chris Paul and James Posey (strained Achilles).

This is the third meeting of the season between these teams. The Hornets got blown out in Phoenix on November 11 when the Suns had eight players score in double figures, hit thirteen triples and were +16 on the boards. The Hornets would get revenge a week later in New Orleans, when Peja Stojakovic sank seven long bombs and the rookies came up big in Chris Paul's third game out with an ankle injury. The Hornets will need strong performances from Darren Collison and Marcus Thornton again tonight if they hope to win this one.

Game tips at 7 Central. Numbers:

Pace: Suns 98.7 (3rd), Hornets 94.2 (20th)
Offensive Efficiency: Suns 111.3 (1st), Hornets 104.8 (14th)
Defensive Efficiency: Suns 108.5 (29th), Hornets 105.4 (19th)

Linkage:

• Earlier on the blog: Collison and Thornton: A New Hope
• Lagniappe: A listing of some D-Leaguers Jeff Bower might have his eye on
  
• Rival bloggers: Bright Side of the Sun | Valley of the Suns (THN)
  

(Many thanks to Dariusz for today's banner featuring Michael Adams, who ran back-up point for the Hornets back in the mid-90's. Be sure to check out more of Dariusz's designs in our Wallpapers vault.)

Tonight, the Hornets simply out-hustled the Phoenix Suns and evened Jeff Bower's head coaching record at 2-2.  The Hornets owned a +18 edge on the glass and had an astonishing 25 offensive rebounds - one more than the total number of defensive rebounds the Suns had.  The Hornets now stand at 5-8, hardly an impressive record, but there was one very important difference between this game and the games we saw under Byron Scott:  The guys didn't quit. 

The Suns were down three at the half after battling back from being down big in the first quarter.  They then came out and ripped off a 16-5 run to open the second half, and it looked like the Hornets were letting it slide out of control.  Instead, the Hornets simply buckled down, attacked the screen and roll, got back in transition, and fought back.  By the end of the third, the Hornets had reclaimed their lead and didn't back down the rest of the way.  Good stuff.

Observations:

• Just a few hours after I make a joke about worrying about Peja taking open threes, he goes out and has his best game of the last two seasons.  25 points and 13 rebounds.  7-11 from three.  He was even in amongst the trees digging out offensive rebounds, and he came away with 5.  Do you know the last time Peja had 5 offensive rebounds?  January 6, 2006.  When he still played for Sacramento.  The team was running plays for him all night - and not just the simple "catch and shoot" plays off screens like Byron used to run.  They were sending him across the paint regularly(probably a reason for the rebounds), which kept the Suns scrambling, and West and Okafor were setting staggered screens in the paint for him to weave through probably every fourth possession.  In fact, I noticed that by the end of the game, Peja looked a little ragged.  He probably hadn't worked that hard in game in a long time.  But it worked.  And that three he hit with 2 minutes to go was icing on the cake for a turn-back-the-clock game for him.
  
  
• Darren Collison was ice cold in every sense of the phrase.  For the first three quarters, he was ice cold and unable to buy a shot.  They weren't bad shots, they were just falling short.  In the fourth quarter, he was ice cold as he drilled two huge shots - first a pull-up three(his first of the season) and then a beautiful drive into the paint and fake pass to Okafor that allowed him to finish a nifty layup at the rim.  It took some real balls to take those shots as he was 2-13 up to that point, but he was up for it. He piled two free throws on top of that to help seal the game, meaning he is now shooting 95% from the free throw stripe.  15 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, a steal and only one turnover in 32 minutes.

Continue reading »