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Jeff Bower has said this team needs to run more.

After watching his team get outscored on the break 22 to 8 in a closer-than-expected 96-94 home win against the Sacramento Kings, I have to say I agree with him.

Bower’s got two young thoroughbred rookies, Marcus Thornton and Darren Collison, whose main attributes (speed, athleticism and finishing around the bucket) lend themselves to a fast-paced game.  He’s got the best possible asset in a fast-paced offense he could have in Chris Paul (who converted his two first-half steals into Hornets points on his way to a typical Paul stat line – 15 points, 12 assists, 3 steals).  He’s got what amounts to a couple of useless defenders in Peja Stojakovic and James Posey (and David West, depending on who you talk to, is no All-Star on defense either).  So why not run more and aim for a Phoenix Suns kind of mentality?

As is usually the case with the Hornets, the answer is not a simple one.
For one thing, the first argument that comes to mind is, why fix what isn’t broken?  After all, the team is playing much better lately, and they even put up 96 points tonight in a comeback win.  Emeka Okafor is looking better on the pick and roll, the team is running a varied offense that produces open looks, and even Peja stepped up tonight and hit some set jumpers, which as we all know, doesn’t always happen unless he’s feeling a rhythm.

To all of that I would respond, when has this offense over the past two seasons ever felt really effective?  Moreover, it’s one thing to be playing better, it’s another thing altogether to be a playoff team.  I agree with the notion that this team has improved to the point that it is competitive again.  I also agree with the thought that this team has the potential to go on a run at some point and put some wins together.  I just think there’s a difference between having the potential to do something, and actually doing it.  This team looks like one that is good enough to win at home.  Maybe steal a couple on the road.  Lose to the better teams on the schedule.  And there you go.

Normally that would be enough (especially if the team played in the East).  But given the hole this team dug for itself, that isn’t going to get them where they want to go (playoffs).  Instead, it will get them 35-40 wins and poor lottery position.  Now like I said before, this team has the potential to do better, but we just haven’t seen any indication that they will.  Any switch in team philosophy at this point may be worth a try … for the simple fact it isn’t status quo, which just isn’t working quite well enough right now.

Now, I don’t see the fast break being a magical elixir here, because the team is poorly assembled.  Some of these pieces just don’t fit that mentality (West, in particular, would have a tough time going full-speed all the time, I think).  But I do believe this team could be more than adequate at pushing the ball (and consequently more effective on offense than they are at present), and I say this for the following reasons:

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The Kings are in town tonight for their third clash of the season with the Hornets. The two teams last met just ten days ago in Sacramento, with the Kings winning 112-96. This time, the Hornets will have both Chris Paul and Peja Stojakovic available, while Kevin Martin and Francisco Garcia remain sidelined for the Kings.

Sacramento are 9-10 on the season, but almost as bad as the Hornets with a 1-7 road record. They've lost their last two games (Pacers, @ Suns) and have given up at least 105 points in each of their last three.

The likes of Sergio Rodriguez and Jason Thompson torched the Hornets ten days ago with the defense focused on slowing rookie Tyreke Evans. Let's see what was learned from that.

Game tips at 7 p.m. I'll be chatting Hornets over at ESPN's Daily Dime Live. Hope to see you there.

Linkage:

• Journals: The Two Smartest NBA Players in the Game
  
• Lagniappe: Bad news for two former Hornets, lessons from CP's absence and Shinn's impact on the decade
  
• Rival bloggers: Cowbell Kingdom (THN) | Sacramento Bee | Sactown Royalty

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

Hornets hoping they brought their winning ways with them on the road as they face the Kings in Sacramento this evening. Tip off is set for 8 p.m. Central.

The Hornets got their first win of the season against the Kings, back on October 30th in the home opener. Rookie Tyreke Evans impressed in that one.

Sacramento are 7-8 on the season and 6-2 at home. They've won two in a row after dropping four straight, most recently beating the winless Nets in Sacto on Friday.

Both Kevin Martin and Francisco Garcia will be unavailable for the Kings due to wrist injuries. Martin had been averaging 30.6ppg in five games this season.

As for the Hornets, Chris Paul and Ike Diogu are still injured and unavailable.

Linkage:

• Ryan's game preview
• Rival bloggers: Cowbell Kingdom (THN) | Sacramento Bee | Sactown Royalty

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

Matchup:  Hornets(7-9) @ Kings(7-8) 

Off Efficiency: Kings 105.7(19th), Hornets 103.8(15th)
Def Efficiency: Kings 106.8(23rd), Hornets 107.3(26th)

One month ago, the Hornets were 0-1, so were the Kings, and they were facing each other for the first time.  At that time, I was pretty optimistic about the Hornet's chances, but the game ended uncomfortably close, and only a pair of great defensive plays by Okafor and a full-on Chris Paul scoring explosion in the fourth earned the Hornets a 5 point win.

A lot of things have changed since then.  The perception of the Hornets as a good team has been sorely tested.  The Kings, expected to push for the bottom of the league, have instead played nearly .500 ball.  Both teams have suffered early injuries to their top players, and made up for it by riding young bucks - Collison and Thornton for the Hornets, and Tyreke Evans, Donte Greene, Jason Thompson and Omri Casspi for the Kings.

Sacramento is the epitomy of a highly athletic team, getting good numbers on the glass and relying on free throws to provide efficient scoring.  They also tend to turn the ball over a lot more and rank near the bottom of the league in assist rate as they rely on their own athletic gifts to provide their scoring.

The Hornets, of late, have been matching up fairly well with athletic teams, but those games tend to be ugly with a capital U.  Lets see if their newfound grit will carry them to yet another W.

Injuries:

Kings: Kevin Martin is struggling with his annual month+ injury.
Hornets: Chris Paul is out.  Ike Diogu is out.  Hilton is probably out.

Positional Analysis

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The Hornets came out victorious in their home opener, downing the Kings 97-92 ( box | recap ). It was a tight contest throughout. The Kings were a jump shooting team early while the Hornets got plenty of points at the free-throw line. Sacto appeared the more poised team through the middle quarters and started to control the boards while the Hornets couldn't get anything working consistently. The bench got New Orleans off to a solid start in the fourth and Chris Paul and Emeka Okafor were money down the stretch to seal it.

Let's jump into some bullets:

• It was a great battle between Chris Paul and Kings' rookie Tyreke Evans. Apparently Evans had a rough debut against OKC's Russell Westbrook on Wednesday, but he didn't show any signs of a hangover. He was physical with CP much of the night, more than willing to push back, post Chris up and drive right at him. Evans' height seemed to give CP some problems at both ends of the floor, and we saw a few uncharacteristic mistakes out of the world's greatest point guard. But you knew it would be Paul having the last laugh. He scored 13 in the fourth quarter, including four clutch free throws, and finished with 31 points. Evans, meanwhile, saw his night end badly when he bricked a three and got blocked in the lane in the final minute.
  
  
• Emeka Okafor was rock solid: 11 points (5-8 FGs), 13 boards and 4 blocks. It was his arm blocking Evans with seven seconds left, and he also got a piece of what would have been a game-tying triple by Kevin Martin right at the death. Great read by Okafor on that last one, since Chris Paul had been screened out of the play, leaving Martin running free to the corner. Oh, and let's not forget that huge put-back jam Okafor had with 44 seconds left. I'm loving the big man's work so far this season. Looking forward to seeing what he can bring when his conditioning is all the way there.

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