SB Nation - New Orleans Hornets

Raptors Rapid Recap: Toronto 98 – New Orleans 92

Raptors HQ - Vicious D — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 20:16:11 -0000

- The Raptors pulled out a victory with some good defense, some key blocks from Andrea Bargnani and three players with double-digit rebounding numbers. The Raptors out rebounded the Hornets 52-50 despite giving the Hornets an 18-12 edge in offensive rebounding.

- Once again, it was Toronto's "energy unit" led by Amir Johnson which really kept this game from getting out of hand. The Raptors still took too many outside shots against a team that doesn't really have a good inside presence. We'll discuss it further in the recap.

- CP3 was hampered by a re-injury of his ankle which probably slowed down New Orleans's offense for the game. However, Chris Paul did return to give his team a fighting chance. The Raptors just wouldn't let him completely take over.

- Peja Stojakovic shot a horrible 4-15 and the Hornets were only 3-21, missing several wide-open 3s. Not sure if you can say that it was the Raptors' defense rather than the Hornets' ineptitude, but it was a major contributing factor to the Hornets' loss this afternoon

-And finally, Morris Peterson came home to a standing ovation. Classy move Toronto. He's a guy that you would love sitting next to Alvin Williams as an assistant one day.

3 In The Key - Toronto Raptors Game Day Preview vs. New Orleans

Raptors HQ - Vicious D — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 13:30:13 -0000

More photos » by Bill Haber - AP

Chris Paul almost got a well deserved triple double. Heck, he almost finished with a 30 and 20 night against the Nuggets. Will CP3 get that elusive triple double against the Raptors today?

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In a rematch where Chris Paul will play the team that injured him, the Raptors will face one of the league's most dynamic point guards. Of course, Mo Pete will be the talk of the town as Vicious D takes a look at the Hornets.

This is all Morris Peterson's fault.

Well, not really, but let's look at how Mo Pete left.

Back in the wonderous 2006-2007 season, the Raptors decided to start benching Mo Pete after years of loyal service. The Raptors had a new guy in Jorge Garbajosa who was a tough Spaniard who wasn't going to take guff from anyone. He was going to be our defensive stopper who just played hard in every game and who could defend bigger people while using his crafty mind to take out the smaller small forwards in the league. Mo Pete was benched and his minutes severely reduced. When Garbajosa went down with his Raptors Career-ending injury, the team picked Joey Graham to start over Mo Pete.

Thus ended Mo Pete's career in Toronto.

Getting snubbed once for a veteran player like Garbajosa was nothing to be ashamed about, but getting snubbed for the likes of Joey Graham was probably the straw that broke the camel's back. Since then, we have been without any real stoppers at the small forward position in Toronto. And yes, that includes the recently end-of-bencher Antoine Wright.

But good news:

Mo Pete is back in Toronto.

With the Hornets.

Doing not much of anything.

As part of their 15 years anniversary, the Raptors will be celebrating Mo Pete's service to the Raptors and the Raptors' community. Without a doubt, Peterson was a man who just got to become Mr. Raptor by being a subtle part of some very good teams. He was the Ironman of the Raptors and gave us some very important years with some good defense, some better shooting, and some miraculous plays.

He'll be a Raptor whom I'll definitely stand up and applaud from my condo.

Up next though, the Raptors still have a game to play and against the New Orleans Hornets, they will have it out a lot tougher than the Nets. That's why today's game will be a much better measuring stick for this Raptors team:

1) Protect Your "Glass Jaw"
The Raptors are simply bad when they have to do anything tough, but more than that, it seems as though whenever teams start trading baskets with the Raptors, they will fold. In boxing, a glass jaw boxer is a guy with a weak chin who will go down for the count whenever their opposition tags them on the chin. With these Raptors, their "chin" seems to be their paint and the Raptors get hit there way too often. It all eventually changes the game to their opposition's favour. It happened in the Nets game, albeit only in the second half after they built a sizable lead, and it's happened in just about every game where they've been blown out. We're going to keep mentioning it until the Raptors change their ways, but the fact is, this team's best defensive unit is probably Jarrett Jack, Marco Belinelli, Sonny Weems, Chris Bosh, and Amir Johnson.

That's four bench players with Chris Bosh. With Chris Paul almost dropping a triple double the last game against the Nuggets, the Raptors have to keep protecting their paint otherwise this game will get ugly real quick.

2) Stick and Jab
The Raptors on the other hand, have to keep going inside against the Hornets. New Orleans just doesn't have a very strong front court despite having one of the most overrated centers in the league in Emeka Okafor. Chris Paul as well, has a propensity to being exposed by opposing point guards, so the Raptors should keep slashing and slashing in the paint like there's no tomorrow. Attacking them with two points here and there will keep New Orleans on their toes until you find yourself for open threes. Which leads us to...

3) Power Punches
The Raptors have not been shooting the 3-pointer very well lately. However, a lot of that has to do with who is taking those threes. DeMar DeRozan, Antoine Wright, and the recently cold Italian Duo are all people that should be careful about shooting too many threes. But if the Raptors start by hitting the Hornets with lots of jabs, they'll expose them for open looks on the perimeter. The Raptors are a team that needs those open looks and they'll have to stick them as it's a major part of what makes the Raptors a dangerous offensive team. It's how the Raptors pulled out a win in New Orleans earlier this year after all. However it's all got to start from the inside out. The best boxers establish themselves with their jab and then unleashes hooks and uppercuts when need be. The Raptors will need to do the same.

Assessing the Hornets Loss a Little Late

Packey — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 13:00:23 -0000

Surely, by now you've already read what went down two nights ago. The Pistons scored 55 first half points (28 in the first and 27 in the second) and only scored 32 points in the second half. They led by 13 at the half and were winning by as many as 14-points in the third quarter. Yet somehow they found a way to lose by eight in the end.

So how did it happen?

We can cop out and say that the Pistons simply wore down, which I guess, could have definitely beeen the case. The Pistons have three major players out with injuries (a problem all season) and were playing the second game of a back-to-back on the road. However, I'm not willing to go through an entire season letting them get off the hook on the "injury bug" and "tired (because of the injuries)" excuses when they've proven before that it's not crippling them as much as one might think it should or would. For instance, take a look at that Denver game a week ago. It was the second game of a back-to-back against a Western Conference powerhouse, minus four of the better players on the roster. The Pistons controlled that game and won. This was the same Pistons team that played that night -- plus Will Bynum.

What stood out to me Wednesday was the Pistons lack of ball movement in the fourth quarter. At the three minute mark in the third quarter, Detroit had a remarkable 21 assists. They were well on their way to 28-30 assists, which is unheard of territory for the Pistons this season. Want to know how many assists the Pistons finished with? 22. The Pistons had just six second half assists compared to the (doing the math in my head, uh) 16 assists in the first half. If that's not a glaring statistic, I don't know what is.

And then there is the play of Rodney Stuckey. It has become increasingly clear that the Pistons go as Stuckey goes. When he puts up a solid game shooting and doesn't need roughly 20+ shots to do it, the Pistons tend to do well (Pistons are 7-2 when he shoots 50% or higher on less than 20 attempts from the field. They are 2-5 when he shoots 20+ times at all). It's not some groundbreaking discovery that the Pistons have a better chance of winning when their starting guard plays well. However, critiquing his play continuously resurfaces because he, time and time again, resorts to the style of play that makes him play poorly and in turn, hurts the Pistons.

On Wednesday night, Stuckey took nine shots in the fourth quarter alone (he made three of those). In the final minutes, he forced three (missed) shots and had a bad turnover that led to a Hornets basket, which gave them a four point lead. This isn't a box score statistic, but I cringed all three times Stuckey went up with those final shot attempts.

In Stuckey's defense, the rest of the Pistons weren't really helping. The only source of offense was Charlie Villanueva, and he missed all of his shot attempts (four) in the fourth quarter (which was a double whammy because David West was still scoring on him on the other side). Even if Stuckey was feeling the pressure of needing to carry the offensive load, I still would like to see less painfully obvious, forced shots from him and more dishes after the initial penetration.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, the Pistons were presented with serious match up problems the past two games in Luis Scola and David West. Take this bit from Patrick Hayes at MLIVE:

The frontcourt defense is broken. The simple answer is to put Ben Wallace on the opposing team's best big every game, which works great against back-to-the-basket players like Dwight Howard.

Having Ben guard players like West and Scola, however, pulls him out of the paint, takes away the shot-blocking threat and allows guys like Aaron Brooks and Chris Paul to get into the lane at will.

Patrick goes on to add that the "opposing PFs/Cs have shot a combined 42-for-65 (65 percent) against Detroit over the last two games," which has a lot to do with the opposing guards getting into the lane at will and creating easy baskets for their bigs. Scola and West combined for 55 points, more than Villanueva/Wallace combined for in both games (I used CV because he's playing the starter minutes).

The Pistons will finish off this three game road trip with the Thunder before going home to face Kobe Bryant and the Lakers on Sunday. Let's hope we see a steady game this time around and end the road woes. It would certainly help to get some guys back from injuries, but ultimately, this team is capable of winning regardless.

A few thoughts after the jump.

A large chunk of the assists (nine) came from Will Bynum on Wednesday. There's no denying his individual points production is sorely missed, so let's hope those new shoes are starting to feel comfortable.
After seeing what Jonas Jerebko is capable of putting up on offense, it's too bad he only scored six points (on 3-3 shooting) when the Pistons needed someone other than Stuckey & Villanueva to step up. J.J. was also a team-worse negative-16 (by six points), so it could have helped that number, too.
Chris Paul is pretty amazing and fun to watch. Blaha was comparing him to Isiah Thomas during the broadcast, and I couldn't help but feel the same way. He scored 16 points on just nine shots and had 12 assists in what was looking like an off game at the half.
Emeka Okafor is a guy I'd love to see in a Pistons uniform. In my four years of college near Charlotte, North Carolina I saw a lot of his games with the Bobcats and grew to be a big fan of his. He finished with 15 points and eight rebounds.
Austin Daye is earning himself more and more minutes. He saw 25 on Wednesday and scored nine points on 3-8 shooting. He was 2-5 from downtown and had three rebounds, as well. I've said this before, but I wouldn't mind seeing him get more looks.
As it hurt the Hornets in the first half, turnovers played a big role in Detroit's second half collapse, too. They had 16 and a few of them came at crucial points in the fourth quarter.
Highlights:
I apologize for not getting a proper recap up in a more timely fashion. I didn't think I would have been able to post a productive recap on Wednesday night and unexpected things came up on Thursday to prevent me from weighing in. If it's any consolation, I'm pretty sure that's the first time since I've started this blog that I haven't had a (legit) recap posted within 12 hours of the game ending.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on what you think went wrong on Wednesday or what the Pistons need to do differently on Friday. One thing is for sure -- freaking win !

Frustrating... Hornets 95, Pistons 87

Packey — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 04:05:58 -0000

More photos » by Bill Haber - AP

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The Kuester face palm just about sums it up -- after tossing various household objects and punching some dry wall. There are not many productive things to say after the Pistons allowed a 16-point 3rd quarter lead to slip away and ultimately, lose by eight.

Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments tonight and I'll have a full recap up tomorrow when I get a chance to collect mine. If you missed the game here is the box score.

Randy Livingston Memorial "On The Edge" Call-Up Rankings

Scott Schroeder — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 16:00:21 -0000

Dontell Jefferson, the 6'5" point guard, can dunk, as learned here by Reno's Marcus Hubbard. (Photo by Melissa Majchrzak/NBAE)

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As you can see, we've collaborated with the top D-League blogger's in the universe (read: all that would answer my e-mail's) to come up with the top 10 players that are deserving of an NBA call-up. While 10-day contract's aren't able to be handed out until January 5th, there's typically two or three call-up's before that date, which is why we've put our heads together to bring you this list. As you'll remember last season, we alternated this type of post with a more specific list like this one. More than likely, I'll put one of those together as well, just because it serves a different sort of purpose.

Anyway, continue on to see the list and a breakdown of each of the top 10 players, an early holiday gift to all of our loyal readers from the D-League blogging contingent!

Livingston Memorial "On The Edge" Call-Up Rankings
Player w/ link to season stats	Jon L (RU)	Matt Moore (Hardwood Paroxysm)	Scott Schroeder (RU)	Steve Weinman (D-League Digest)	Composite Rankings

Dontell Jefferson	3	3	1	2	1
Anthony Tolliver	1	8	2	1	2
Morris Almond	4	2	3	3	2
Rod Benson	2	1	5	5	4
Desmon Farmer	8	4	4	4	5
Carlos Powell	5	5	7	6	6
Mike Harris	6	10	6	10	7
Sundiata Gaines	7	9	8	8	8
Alonzo Gee	10	6	NR	7	9
Dwayne Jones	NR	7	10	NR	10
Reggie Williams	9	NR	NR	9	NR
Cedric Simmons	NR	NR	9	NR	NR

(If I were to round out a top 15, I'd include Cartier Martin, Ron Howard and Romel Beck)

1. Dontell Jefferson, Utah Flash (20.5 ppg, 6 apg, 5.1 rpg, 1.6 spg, 47% FG) - Jefferson should be the poster child for the NBA Development League because I don't think there's been a player that's gotten consistently better like Jefferson has. Consider his D-League draft bio as a rookie back in 2006: to go from averaging 3.2 points and 4.4 assists in college to an call-up to the Bobcats last season is amazing. Having watched a couple of Flash games this year, he may have even gotten better. While his calling card will always be his defense and decision making, the 6'5" point guard is showing some impressive scoring ability this year as well. (Scott Schroeder)

2a. Anthony Tolliver, Idaho Stampede (20.7 ppg, 9.9 rpg, 47% FG, 43% 3pt) - I can't find a word more descriptive of Tolliver's performance than "everywhere." At 6-foot-9 and 240 pounds, Tolliver is a large man, even by basketball standards. But the threes he takes aren't typical of the 21st century pseudo-bigs who hang around the perimeter waiting for kickouts. To borrow the type of term Walt Frazier enjoys using, I can remember few other occasions when a player seems as omnipresent as AT - sprinting to the sideline to snare long rebounds from unsuspecting guards and fighting his way to loose balls amidst the pack inside as well. Defensively, more of the same. One second, Tolliver's jumping out to double a guard on a high screen-and-roll; the next, waiting at the rim to provide help on penetration or swat a shot out of vicinity of the basket. (Steve Weinman, D-League Digest)

2b. Morris Almond, Springfield Armor (33 ppg, 6 rpg, 49% FG) - Morris Almond is mostly known for his scoring, and it's true that putting the ball in the basket remains his best skill. He also does so fairly efficiently, getting to the free-throw line at a decent rate. Almond greatly improved his rebounding while in the NBA, though, jumping from just under two boards per-36 minutes as a rookie to around five last season. Almond wasn't able to crack Utah's
rotation but got some offseason looks from the Knicks (Summer League) and Magic (training camp). The one thing that might hold him back is, well, his back. He had some problems with it last year and teams might worry that they'll return, I suppose. He's not as athletic as some of his peers, but he has a very nice midrange game and so far in career has kept working to improve. What sounds bad about that? (Jon L)

4. Rod Benson, Reno Bighorns (16.8 ppg, 9.2 rpg, 2.4 bpg, 2.2 spg, 53% FG) - Benson's almost a volume rebounder, if there is such a thing. His DRR if he were to ever get a stinkin' flyer would be insane. All you're looking for is quality minutes and you know he'll give you that. He's added frame as he's gotten older and it's not like he's lost in terms of positioning. He's got a high basketball IQ. What's the downside here? The only thing I can figure at this point is that he peed on Adam Silver's rug at some point. And it tied the room together. (Matt Moore, Hardwood Paroxysm)

5. Desmon Farmer, Reno Bighorns (25 ppg, 6.7 apg, 5.5 rpg, 5.17 TO/g (doh!)) - Look, I get the push against guys from the D-League that aren't great at defense. I do. I appreciate that. And I certainly understand the turnover concern. But Farmer has been on summer league teams. He's been in camps. He's done his time. And he fills up the sheet when he's on the floor. He's had cups of coffee with San Antonio and the Pacers and the Sonics. But the Spurs never have room for anyone, and the rest were before the league had experienced success at the NBA-level. He's got potential to be a solid end-of-the-bench contributor with the possibility of a great fill-in in case of injury. (Matt Moore)

6. Carlos Powell, Albuquerque Thunderbirds (21.8 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 4 apg, 50% FG) - Carlos Powell, like Farmer, is he what he is - a big, polished wing that can put his head down and get to the hoop with ease. Powell has an affinity for scoring right around 25 points per game to go along with a handful of assists and rebounds a piece every where he plays. While he's obviously not going to put those numbers up in the NBA, he's a veteran scorer that has what it takes to succeed in the big leagues. (Scott Schroeder)

7. Mike Harris, Rio Grande Valley Vipers (26 ppg, 7 rpg, 59% FG, 45% 3pt) - Harris is currently third in the league in per-game scoring, amidst guys who are more likely to come to mind like Mo Almond, Reggie Williams, Desmon Farmer and Sundiata Gaines. He's making 45 percent of his three-pointers and averaging 10 rebounds per 48 minutes. So basically, he's good. The Rockets obviously like him, having retained him off of their Summer League team, but any other teams jealous of Houston's glut of 6'6" combo forward action too can get in on it by calling Harris up. He's been playing mostly inside next to Joey Dorsey, which helps, but he's also pretty athletic and has worked on his shot enough where he can play some small forward as well. (Jon L)

8. Sundiata Gaines, Idaho Stampede (25.4 ppg, 7.7 apg, 5.3 rpg, 56% FG, 2 spg - has started 1 of 7 games) - That's right, a (mostly) D-League reserve made our call-up rankings. Gaines is that good (and also Bob MacKinnon's bench usually plays a lot). A combo guard in college, Gaines has been playing more point in Idaho, and he's been one of the best in the league so far. He's second in the league in assists, both per-game and per-48 minutes, fourth in the league in scoring, and perhaps most impressive is the fact that he's averaging just three turnovers in that fast-paced MacKinnon offense. Gaines isn't the biggest point guard around, but he's really, really, talented, and his game should speak enough for itself for him to get some consideration. (Jon L)

9. Alonzo Gee, Austin Toros (20.5 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 55% FG) - You can't really take Gee in the Virtual Scout Game. I mean, he's a rookie, playing in a power system that rewards players of his ilk. And he's not really MVP worthy, despite being second in Pts+Reb+As, since he plays alongside the double-double machine Dwayne Jones and Curtis Jerrells. But if you're looking for top-level production that you could sign and immediately send back down? Gee would be a fantastic option for farming. You know, if anyone had managed to do that effectively. Thanks for ruining that dream, Ian Mahinmi. (Matt Moore)

10. Dwayne Jones, Austin Toros (18 ppg, 13.3 rpg, 2.2 bpg, 66% FG) - Jones has clearly been working on his post moves in the offseason, and while they're still not great, he looks a lot more fluid executing them. In addition to the spin move he "had" last year he's added one where he goes underneath the basket and lays it in from the other side, which was pretty effective. And, just so we're clear, his numbers have been helped tremendously by being matched up with Kevin Pittsnogle in five of his ten games. (Jon L)

Mavericks Vs Thunder: Game 26 Preview

Phillip Baggett — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 11:00:23 -0000

Welcome to Loud City

Mavericks vs Thunder coverage

Highlights from the Mavericks win over CP3 and the Hornets on Monday

Highlights of the Thunders loss in Denver on Monday

Dallas Mavericks Vs Oklahoma City Thunder by the numbers

And finally a look at the matchups

Prediction:

Dallas Mavericks: 105

Oklahoma City Thunder: 98

Game Recap: Barea Helps Mavericks Past Hornets 94-90

zdgmans — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 04:27:43 -0000

More photos » by Tony Gutierrez - AP

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The Hornets finally have Chris Paul healthy again so that he can provide a spark and actually push the New Orleans Hornets to victory. The Hornets are surely hungry for a victory after a 17-point loss to the New York Knicks. Their previous two games before that had both been wins.

After a razor thin margin of victory for the Mavericks in a game against the Charlotte Bobcats, the team was looking to get off to a fast start and not give the Hornets any hope of winning the game. Some unlikely heroes for the Mavericks tonight made things all the more interesting.

Game as a Whole:

If this game were a book it would be called "The Tale of Two Quarters". The Mavericks came out looking for blood in the 1st and it looked like the game was quickly going to get out of hand. However, we know that this is the NBA and every team (especially one with Chris Paul) is going to make a run and that is exactly what happened in the 2nd quarter.

New Orleans holds Dallas to 14 points in the quarter while pouring in 25 of their own points to erase most of the Mavericks lead going into the half. The Mavericks, with their excessive turnovers, absolutely refused to close the game throughout the 3^rd and 4^thquarters and had to continue to grit out a win (I guess that is what good teams do when their stars have bad night).

Kris Humphries got to play major minutes when the game mattered toward the end of the 3^rd quarter (needed him to rebound). It would have been interesting to see Roddy put into the game when the team was looking to slow Chris Paul and the Hornets in the second (obviously you couldn’t overlook Barea who was on a scoring tear).

It takes a great team to pull out a win when you commit 20+ turnovers and your top scorer has only given you 10 points. Either that, or it takes a bad team and a bit of a luck

Lets look at the quarters…

1st Quarter:

(first and second quarters were done with some assistance tonight!)

Mavericks win tip, Shawn Marion misses first shot, Erick Dampier misses the put-back. Groan…
Dirk gets his first steal and Jason Kidd misses a 3-pointer at the other end.
The New Orleans Hornets score the first basket. Is this how the rest of the night is going to go?
Jose Juan Barea drives hard to basket, Emeka Okafor goal tends and he gets his first score.
Barea decides that he wants to make it rain tonight and takes an ugly jumper and bricks.
Kidd misses another wide-open 3. Kidd, please focus on passing the ball.
Kidd adds to his career steals by intercepting a pass, Barea drives for layup on the fast break.
New Orleans is staying in the game only because they are shooting the 3 well tonight. The Mavericks exterior defense has always been pretty suspect.
There’s no game clock for some reason, so I have no idea what time anything is happening. Sorry.
Has anyone else noticed that Barea makes a silly free-throw face? I’m just saying.
Damp drives hard and throws up…a baby hook? Magic, is that you?
Barea having another excellent start to stay in the lineup, he is currently pacing Dallas with 10 points. His scoring has never been suspect though.
Josh Howard comes in to end the quarter, gets fouled on his first shot by Peja Stojakavic. Peja decides he doesn’t like the call and gets a tech. JET makes a free throw and Howard makes both of his a well.
Marion makes jumper on a smooth dime from Kidd, puts Mavs ahead by 15.
Mavs have not committed a team foul in the first quarter!

2nd Quarter:

Kris Humphries, welcome back! Where have you been hiding?
Humphries wants to show that he deserves minutes, takes it strong to the basket for the score.
There he is again!
The 1^st Mavs foul is committed at 9:47 and it’s committed by Kris Humphries. I guess it’s back to the bench for you Kris.
The Mavericks are dominating the paint (didn’t think I would ever get to say that). It’s currently 22 to 4 in the Mavericks’ favor.
Josh Howard passes to referee, that’s going to be a turnover unfortunately and not an assist.
OUCH, Wright has huge dunk to quiet the home crowd.
JET, first shot attempt is a missed 3 pointer off an inbounds play. He is usually really good at those. As the saying goes, "shooters keep shooting".
New Orleans is on 13-0 run. Not how you want to see the 2^nd quarter go.
Barea ends the Hornets run with a layup. That caps 4 minutes without a score for the Mavericks.
Barea drives AGAIN for a CP3-style layup. He is looking like Dirk tonight.
ANNNNND again. Barea has 19, leads Dallas scorers. When he leaves the floor, the crowd goes wild for him.
Dirk is having a really bad night. Only has 2 points to his name right now.
FINALLY Jason Terry gets on the board with 1:30 left in the quarter. Surprised that the Mavericks are still winning this game with two of their best scorers firing blanks.

3rd Quarter:

10:10, Marion gets the friendly roll on a shot that cannot be classified.
9:49, why does Marion even go for that ball? I can understand you want to score but there is no reason to get hurt trying for a loose ball that is going to go to your team.
Dampier has a great follow on a Marion miss. Definitely looks like Marion wants to be more aggressive this quarter. I like that.
Chris Paul is absolutely unstoppable. I am still trying to decide whether he is the best point guard in the league right now? Thoughts?
6:52, Kidd has been reading his scouting report and knows exactly where Brown is going (draws an offensive foul).
6:36, Kidd going all the way to the basket? Kidd tries to pass out of the drive when he is directly under the basket (leads to a turnover).
Peja, lazy pass and Marion makes him pay for it with a dunk. It’s great when the Mavericks force turnovers.
4:12, Terry gets a nice 2-pointer off of a screen. Definitely going to need some more scoring from him tonight.
Jason Terry scores off of a screen and curl at 2:52 for a two point score. The JET might be on the runaway.
The lid has come off the basket for the Hornets. Luckily, 1:48 the Hornets commit a 3 second violation on the offensive end.
Chris Paul is sitting down for the last minute and a half. The Mavericks need to force the tempo here.
Josh Howard hits a three and then hits a two on back-to-back possessions. The coaches have always talked about finishing quarters and the Mavericks look like they are doing it tonight.
Had to put Chris Paul back in after two Mavericks scores with 41 seconds to go.
16 Mavericks turnovers and we have a quarter left. That’s not a good number tonight.

4th Quarter:

11:16, This is an interesting choice by Carlisle with Humphries at the 5. We haven’t seen this lineup for a while. Is Carlisle saying we need more rebounding?
10:15, Josh Howard is doing a lot of talking to the refs and gets a technical foul for it. You can’t give away points in such a close game.
Barea is willing the team to a win tonight. Nice to see him take it to the basket for a floater.
6:58, Time out plays are great for Carlisle. Jason Kidd hits an open three to give him 11. Howard comes and gets a block on the help side defense.
4:47, Howard takes it to the basket and gets fouled. New Orleans has 4 team fouls now.
21 turnovers is something that you don’t want to hang your hat on. You are lucky to win games when you commit that many turnovers.
1:45, Kidd almost hits a dagger three. It was a nice pass from Dirk.
The Mavericks are lucky that there wasn’t a score on that play where Dampier was covering Paul at the top of the key. He could have easily taken it to the basket.
:58.9, Dirk is so clutch. Adds two more points to his six point total (almost his career low) to help push the Mavericks to victory.
Nail bitters are always the best NBA games to watch.
:12.9, Jason Terry has not been automatic from the free line recently. He rolls his first free throw in. He sinks the second. Mavs win.

Some Choice Statistics:

Hornets are now 2 -10 on the road, and 7 of those 10 losses by have been by double digits.
Barea had scored 36 points in the last 3 games, 31 of those points came in the 1^st half.
In the last 3 games Dirk is shooting 36 of 72 or exactly 50% from the field. That’s even with a horrible game versus the Bobcats.

Closing Thoughts:

The defense was key tonight as a lot of the offense flowed directly from it. When the Mavericks needed big stops, they got them and found players up the floor who were ready to convert on the fast break. In the preseason the Mavericks talked a lot about wanting to get baskets in transition and it would be nice if we could catch more than a glimpse of that potential.

Mavericks Vs Hornets: Game 25 Preview

Phillip Baggett — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 20:04:51 -0000

At The Hive

Hornets vs Mavericks preview

Hornets vs Mavericks coverage

THE MATCH UPS:

If Kidd was in his prime this would be an unbelievable match up, but in 2009 this is not much match up. Kidd is simply just too slow for Chris Paul. Oh by the way, Chris Paul IS the Hornets and without him they are worse than the Nets.

Edge: Hornets

The Mavericks continue to mix and match pieces here at this spot until Josh Howard can return to a full time starter. So far what they have found that the coaches seem to like is JJ Barea. Now I am not a huge fan of Barea's but in the last few games he has filled the spot nicely, but he has been streaky, it all depends on which end of the streak he is on. As for the Hornets they have relied quite a bit on Devin Brown the 31 year old journeyman to fill this roll. If your looking for "PTPers" well don't look here, cause there is not anything special going on here.

Edge: Even

Shawn Marion showed us a glimpse of the explosiveness that we used to see frequently from him in years past, was that a sign of things to come? I sure hope so, but much like his counterpart in tonight's game age has changed their games. Peja Stojakovic still has the ability to score in bunches, but both time and many nights with porn stars has limited his successes this year.

Edge: Mavericks

Dirk continues his push to change the "soft" label that has been placed upon him. For the first time in his career he is in position to be voted a starting forward for the West in the All-Star game. David West on the other hand much like his teammate Chris Paul continues to drown in the misery that is the New Orleans Hornets. David West has struggled this year, every major stat line is down for him this year. The Hornets are going nowhere fast, and it's two top players are unhappy.

Edge: Mavericks

Erick Dampier continues to impress, in his last two games he has averaged 17 points and 17 rebounds, where the hell has this player been the last 5 years? This is the guy the Mavs thought they were getting before the 2004-05 seasons began, amazing what money will do. Emeka Okafor the former second overall pick of the Charlotte Bobcats continues to be nothing more than an average NBA center. The Hornets thought they would be upgrading significantly over Tyson Chandler, unfortunately for them it just has not worked out so far.

Edge: Mavericks

Injuries/Suspensions

New Orleans Hornets

OUT - Ike Diogu

Dallas Mavericks

OUT - None

Prediction: The Hornets rank in the bottom half of the league in both PPG and PPG against, while the Mavericks rank in the top 10 in both categories. This game will be close for about 2 ½ to 3 quarters then the Mavs bench will take control.

Final Score:

Dallas Mavericks: 110

New Orleans Hornets: 97

Let's Make Deron Williams An All-Star

aramnath — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 19:55:23 -0000

More photos » by George Frey - AP

Even though he's a top-3 point guard in the NBA, Deron Williams still hasn't made it to the All-Star Game. Let's change that. (AP Photo/George Frey)

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I know the man plays in Salt Lake City, but it's time to show Deron Williams some love. The guy has been an absolute beast the past three seasons. Him and Chris Paul are the only 2 point guards in the NBA to average double digits in points and assists over the past three years. Steve Nash would be there, but there was that whole Shaq thing that happened in Phoenix.

Superstars are supposed to elevate the level of play of their teammates around them and there are few that do it better than Deron. This is a guy who's helped turn Carlos Boozer into a 20-10 machine since he's been in Utah. Then when Boozer was injured for much of last year he transformed 2nd round pick Paul Millsap into a 15-8 player. Millsap's good, but you better believe Deron makes him look that much better.

In a league where you need stars to win, no team has less lottery picks on their roster than the Utah Jazz who have two, Deron and the legendary Ronnie Brewer.

The Jazz have no ability to spread the floor, hitting a collective 33.6% of their three point attempts for the season. Still Williams penetrates into a congested lane (that's what she said?) and drops dimes to Boozer, Okur and the rest of his underwhelming supporting cast. Just imagine if they had anybody capable of scoring from outside of 15 feet other than Okur who doubles as their major three point threat.

The real reason Deron hasn't been voted as an All-Star, other than being stuck in the heart of Morman territory, is that he doesn't have a good nickname. D-Will is not a good nick name, I mean you can do that with anybody's name. David Lee's nickname is D-Lee it's just not very creative. Plus you can't just call him Williams because it's the most common name in the NBA.

In my push to get Deron voted to the All-Star game I've decided it's my duty to come up with a nickname for him. Here are a few I thought of . The Mormon Mack Daddy, Ill Will, Dub Weezy and the Shah of Utah. I could use some help.

Vote For Deron Here

Poll

Which nickname do you like the best for Deron Williams

Adding to the Wolves Dictionary

Stop-n-Pop — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 14:00:54 -0000

More photos » by Ann Heisenfelt - AP

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Let's begin with the commenting call of the year:

Took away a Wolves basket?

We’re gonna lose by one now. Book it.

by LoveTo on Dec 9, 2009 9:15 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

And...

yup.

by LoveTo on Dec 9, 2009 9:28 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

(Hand claps.)

Interestingly enough this is exactly what my daughter said to me while watching the game and I'm pretty sure it was in the minds of the couple hundred or so people who decided to head on out into the snow and make their way to the Target Center.

For almost exactly 2 1/2 quarters the Wolves played some of their best ball of the season. Here, take a peak at the Game Flow (picture borrowed from our excellent sister site At The Hive)

The Wolves were humming in the late 2nd quarter. Their offense was a Midway Machine and Jonny Flynn and Ramon Sessions were bouncing off of everyone and everything like a pinball. While this game featured what is likely the best 1/2 from Flynn (7 points on 3-4 shooting with 7 assists and only 1 TO), the team really went apes%#t when Ramon Sessions was on the court, going +6, +6, 0 and -1 in his 4 stints on the court. In one of them, he racked up 4 assists in just over 2:30 of action. Sessions was also brought into the game at two critical junctures. First, he saw action at the very end of the 2nd quarter right after the Hornets tossed off a 7-2 run. Look up at the Popcorn GameFlow. See the 2nd 7-2 run in the 2nd quarter? See the 12-3 run that ended the quarter? The peak of the Hornets run is almost exactly where Sessions entered the game. To be fair, Flynn played pretty much the same role in the earlier 7-2 Hornets run followed by an 8-0 Wolves run but take a look at the Hornets peak in the late 3rd. Sessions came in right around that time, calmed the Wolves down and was subbed out and not to be seen again with just over 3 minutes gone in the 4th.

I get that Jonny Flynn is a first round pick and that this season is about giving young players exposure to highly leveraged situations. Young players on bad teams need a trial by fire. I completely get that. What I don't get is that Ramon Sessions is a young frickin' player who is better than Jonny Flynn. He's a better defender (which would have, you know, helped a bit on the key play of the game where Flynn was torched by Chris Paul just seconds after seeing pretty much the same play fail because Paul couldn't cleanly handle the catch), he's a superior facilitator at this point, and he's building a pretty solid sample size of evidence showing that the Wolves are better with him on the court rather than Jonny. I get the trial by fire but at some point targets of opportunity have to be taken advantage of (especially in close games) and there is no reason on god's green earth why the young, talented and superior defending Ramon Sessions shouldn't have been on the court with a 1 point lead against a squad with the best point guard in the game. Flynn deserves a lot of time as a highly drafted rookie on a losing team but you put your best players on the court in that situation. No exceptions. No worrying about fragile egos or confidence. You play to win and how you handle your rotations says a lot about your commitment to that basic fact.

My beef here is that I'm not sure whether this is questionable coaching rather than questionable philosophy. I view Flynn's selection in the first place to be somewhat philosophically questionable so right now I lean towards the latter rather than the former but at some point the previously-mentioned targets of opportunity add up to a couple of wins and then...well, here's hoping it doesn't get that far.

Getting around to the title of this post, this game featured a few key items that should be placed in the vocabulary of any Wolves fan, casual or not. First:

brewsist (br-sst)

n. brewsist

A pass that would otherwise be an assist were it not for the inability of the recipient to make the resulting shot.

A tasty dime unfulfilled by Corey Brewer

v. brewsisted

To make a pass to a person who will surely miss the shot

As in: Jonny Flynn and Ramon Sessions had several brewsists last night as Corey Brewer went 5-13 from the floor while missing 4 layups. Yes, layups.

It has to be a confidence thing right now, right? Just 2 weeks ago we were talking about how Brew was looking like a functional NBA rotation player and now it looks like he can't catch, dribble, shoot or make a layup. His defense isn't that good and there are only so many ways you can hide him on the offensive end of the court when the game is on the line. The problem last night was that time and time again the ball was swung to him and he was unable to do anything productive with it. He missed his first 4 free throws (ending up 1-6 from the line....game, set, match). He missed bunny layups. He lost the game for the Wolves on the wing. With just a modest amount of wing play the Wolves walk away with that game.

Since this post is kind of running on a bit and is going a bit negative (and there is still more snow to be shoveled) I'll save the second dictionary entry for another game post (as it will be sure to happen again: The Jonny Stop) and take a moment to give some praise to Big Al Jefferson.

The Wolves dominated the paint last night. Sometimes...wait for it...at both ends of the court. To Al's great credit, last night was the first time I can remember him being a completely complimentary part of the offense. Now, as the main catch in the KG trade this might seem like a bad thing, but it's not. Al passed the ball well and at half time he made what I first thought was an innocuous statement (and I'm paraphrasing): "Coach just tells me to pass it to the first open guy I see." He did and when he did the Wolves moved the ball like gangbusters and didn't get bogged down in a 1/2 court game that doesn't fit the rest of the personnel on the team. I'll go back to the question of basketball philosophy: Can Al Jefferson be the 2nd best player on a team being built as an up-tempo squad or do you build around his considerable 1/2 court post scoring talents? Can he improve his defense and passing to the point where he can fit in as something more of a complimentary player than a guy you build your entire team around? This, I think, is the main question surrounding David Kahn's approach to the roster. He himself has said that Al could be the 2nd best player on a championship team. The Wolves are still in search of their A1 option but how do you deal with your Big Dog until the arrival of Basketball Jesus? Is this a risky approach? Is it a flawed philosophy that hangs its hat more on luck than anything else? We'll just have to wait and see.

Until later.