SB Nation User Blog: hldomingue

Game 20: Hive Live

hldomingue — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 04:44:46 -0000

Sacramento 94 (9-11) | New Orleans 96 (9-11)

Hooray! Another nail-biter against an inferior organization! No offense to the players and fans of California's capital, but a CP-led Hornets squad should be able to take care of business against a Kevin Martin-less Kings.

Both teams shot at or above 50% on the night, but both seemed to approach scoring quite differently. The Kings flew through the lane (Collison had met his speedy nemesis in Tyreke Evans) and outscored the Bees in the paint by more than 20 (56 to 34). The Hornets, on the other hand, took care of business downtown, going 8 for 18 from deep.

New Orleans was also fortunate to have great performances from CP, DX, and Mek, which was nice since the bench didn't show up. The 3 aforementioned players each logged 35+ minutes and finished with a double-double and at or above 50% from the field. On the other side of the ball, the Kings got a more even performance from their entire team, with the exceptions of Evans and Jason Thompson, who both played out of their minds.

Ultimately, the team stats for both teams look remarkably similar (which isn't surprising for a game decided by 2 points), but it would appear that the King's poor, poor performance from the stripe is what ultimately did them in (9 for 19... which is worse than Shaq's career 51%). Actually, the Hornets performed poorly from the stripe, too (just over 60%... you don't have to be better than the best, just the team you're playing). Both teams combined to go 23 for 42 from the stripe tonight, which comes down to about 54.8%. Looks like everyone will be running laps tomorrow.

Bullets after the jump.

Who would have thought the Hornets would enter this contest behind the Kings in the standings. (For those of you who just noted that we didn't have Chris for 8 games, consider that the we went 4-4 over that stretch and that the Kings have not had Kevin Martin for 14 contests.)
CP: 15 points, 5 rebounds, 12 assists, 3 steals
DX: 24 points, 12 boards, 5 assists, 1 block
Mek: 17 points, 12 boards, 1 assist, 4 blocks
Peja: 4 of 5 from deep.
Buckets and Dimes: Good showing for Buckets (can't praise this kid enough). Tough night Dimes, who played 14 minutes and finished with 0 points, 1 rebound, 3 assists, 1 steal and FOUR turnovers.
Posey and Devin: Combined for 7 points (including 1 for 6 from deep), 2 assists, 2 rebounds, and a block in 42 minutes. Thanks, guys.
Evans: Impressive performance. 25 points (on 10 for 17 shooting), 5 rebounds, 9 assists in 38 minutes. And he did most of that damage after a nasty fall at the end of the first quarter (we heard him hit the ground and yelp from the upper deck).
Thompson: 20 points (on 9 for 13 shooting), 9 rebounds, and 1 assist in 30 minutes (numbers could have been higher, but he fouled out). Thompson looked good on the floor, getting the better of DX several times. He also has a nice floater that goes so high, you have just enough time to doubt it before it invariable swooshes through. Good things to come for both he and Evans, methinks.
Quick follow up on the free throws, it's worth noting that Andres Nocioni had a chance to potentially send the game to OT. After being fouled with 1.1 seconds to play--and the Kings down by 2--Nocioni bricked the first of 2 free throws. Then, knowing he had to then miss the next shot and hope for an offensive board, he got too excited and committed a lane violation on the second shot. Bummer of a way to lose (or rather "not send it to OT").

Composed to: MGMT's Oracular Spectacular

Opponent's Take: Sactown Royalty

Game 19: Hive Live

hldomingue — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 17:01:39 -0000

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Minnesota 89 (2-17) | New Orleans 98 (8-11)

CP3 is back! CP3 is back! CP3 is back!

And without missing a beat I might add. Chris put any lingering concerns about his injury to rest with a ridiculous line of 16 points, 15 assits, 8 steals, 6 rebounds, and a block.

Unfortunately, I was only able ot catch pieces of the game via radio, so I'm afraid any insight I might have is limited to "we won," "it's nice to see Emeka continuing to score at a high percentage to go along with all his boards," and "CP3 is back!"

I don't (and won't) do this often, but for some truly insightful analysis, turn to our buddies over at Hornets 24/7. They'll (unknowingly) cover for us today. But I'll be back in full force Tuesday (with actual coverage).

Oppenents Take: Canis Hoopus

Comment if you got 'em.

Game 13: Hive Live

hldomingue — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 04:36:26 -0000

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Phoenix 103 (10–3) | New Orleans 110 (5–8)

Wow, right? How did that happen?

I have to admit, 15 minutes before the game tonight I sat down in my seat at the arena and thought, "Oh yeah, this is a TNT game. Now everyone will get to see the slaughter. Like the Christmas Day Massacre all over again."

And why not? Despite beating the Clip Show the other night, we've been playing some pretty uninspiring ball. Not to mention that the glue that holds this team together is sitting on the sidelines in a (formidable) suit. Take that and throw it out against the team with the best record in the conference and who do you think walks away with the W? Thankfully, no one on the Hornets was buying my sour nancy act.

The Suns scored first, but then Hornets rattled off 15 unanswered points, capping an improbable run that brought the previously listless crowd roaring to their feet. 15 points for the Hornets, 2 for the Western Conference-leading Suns. (I would like to reiterate that CP3 did not play. At all.) Sure, those numbers were unsustainable–Phoenix had to start hitting shots at some point–but the by then, the buzz in the arena was flying. It almost felt like home-court advantage again. Like, dare I say, 2007. More correctly, it was fun in a way that the previous 10 or so games hadn't been.

At any rate, Phoenix closed the gap and even took the lead a few times, but Hornets dominated in a few key areas to seal the deal. For starters, we rebounded like crazy tonight. 56 to 38 was the final tally, but more importantly we finished with a 51% rate on the offensive glass (that would be 25 to 14) which led to a 31 to 13 advantage on second chance points. It probably didn't hurt that we shot high percentages from deep (52%) and the stripe (83%), but it was our aggression on the boards that gave us the real advantage. Oh, that and we finally played like a "team" (Devin Brown passed! Like 5 times!). Byron had run that notion out of the locker room, so it's nice to see it make a return.

Bullets after the jump.

Peja!!! You win the "Who will put up the gaudiest stat line CP's absence" of the game award. 25 points on 19 shots, 7 of 11 from deep, 13 boards, 1 assist, and 1 turnover in 35 minutes. Thank you, sir.
Emeka also had a nice night, finishing with 13 points, 12 boards (7 of which were on offense), 2 steals, and 1 block. Actually, "game" might not be the right word. More like "15ish minutes of a game. He started hot and then cooled quite a bit. Which is a shame, since he was on pace for your general 40 point, 28 rebound game after the first quarter.
Emeka had a filthy block on Stoudemire. Trust me, it deserves its own bullet.
Solid performances for the rookies as well. Thornton continues to impress with his aggression, while Collison seems to be getting better with his decision-making. Both are still a little reckless, but that's to be expected. Buckets finished with 19 points on 12 shots, 4 boards, 1 assist, and 1 steal while Dime contributed 15 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal, and only 1 turnover in 32 minutes.(Of course, it's be nice if Collison did better than 4 of 15 from the field, but he almost made up for it with a perfect 6 of 6 from the stripe... almost.)
"Bleh" performance from DX. Granted, he only played 30 minutes, but really he couldn't seem to get it going. Finished the night with 6 points on 2 for 11 shooting, 4 boards, 5 dimes, and a steal.
Yes, I'm avoiding Devin Brown.
The Suns came out cold tonight, bricking quite a few shots early on. They snapped of it somewhere in the middle of the first quarter, but failed to really take control of the game at any point.
Channing Frye impressed me quite a bit tonight. His line wasn't stellar–11 points and 10 boards isn't going to turn too many heads or anything–but I really liked his game... well, not the 1 for 7 from deep, but he's been hitting those at a crazy clip this year, so I can forgive him. I always wanted the Hornets to go after him during our "we need more solid big men coming off the bench" era. Oh, wait...
Was anyone else amused to see that a team is rostering one of the Collins brothers?
Fine. Devin Brown. You did well tonight. Even though I cringed every time you touched the ball, I have to admit you earned your keep tonight. Yes, there were plenty of dumb shots, poor passing decisions, and really dumb shots, but I suppose I can positive on you for one recap.
In case anyone missed it, we rolled out a "Mardi Gras" uniform yesterday. I don't care what Paul Lukas says, it's ugly. That may be the point–you know, to revel in being tacky–but it's still ugly. Who knows, maybe it'll distract the other teams when we wear them in February.

Composed to: DJ Shadow's Entroducing...

The Opponent's Take: Bright Side of the Sun

No Timetable for CP3's Return

hldomingue — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:21:56 -0000

No Timetable for CP3's Return

The team says an MRI confirmed the initial diagnosis. Paul twisted his left ankle in the Hornets' loss Friday night to Portland. Team spokesman Dennis Rogers said Monday that Paul will be evaluated daily but remains out indefinitely.

Game 10: Hive Live

hldomingue — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 18:42:03 -0000

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Portland 86 (7–3) | New Orleans 73 (3–7)

Well, that could have gone better.

Sorry I'm so late with the recap. I'm on the road all day, so this one will be short. Then again, most of us probably just want to forget about this game all together, so there's that.

For the Hornets, last night was a game of new coaches, bricked shots, an injury which we shall not reference (lest it become more serious), and a couple of rookies running all over the place. For the Blazers, last night was about bricking shots but still finding a way to win.

By the way, I don't think I can over emphasize the amount of poor shooting we saw in this game. Both teams combined to miss over 100 shots... without factoring in the clangers from the charity stripe. Combined percentage from the field for both teams: 37.3%. Even worse, from deep both teams managed to hit only 5 of 27 shots from deep (which is roughly 18.5%)... Oof.

You know what? This is depressing. Let's just move on to the bullets.

The score at the end of the first was 14 to 12. Fun.
Not to keep ragging on the poor shooting, but if you took away DX, Thornton, and Collison's performances, the Hornets shot a paltry % (that would be X of X).
Stop it, Devin Brown. Just stop it.
It was nice to see the rookies out on the court. Collison looked a bit lost at first (he needs to work on his awareness in general), but by the second half, you could tell he was already getting more comfortable in his role (which started after he knocked down a beautiful floater in the lane). And holy bajesus is he fast. Thornton came out the gates firing on all cylinders and was responsible for two thirds of our threes. He looked aggressive for most of the game (if not a tad reckless), but overall he and Collison impressed.
Jeff Bower is way more animated than Byron. Then again, so is my pet rock. I don't know if waving your arms and yelling helps you win games as a coach (probably not), but I suppose we'll soon know.
LaMarcus Aldridge has a nice stroke. The guy was sinking shots all over the court. I thought I'd check the box score to see that he'd sunk 75% of his shots or something, but instead he was just shy of 50. Of course, for last night's came 50% was unstoppable.
Another Portland point: where was Bayless all night? Andre Miller was firing careless shot after careless shot and Bayless still only saw 11 minutes of playing time. He did have the worst +/- for any Blazer and finished without an assist, but the guy seems way better suited be platooned rather than eating up garbage time.
Last Portland point: Juwan Howard? Really? Are you guys just rubbing it in to the rest of the league that you have plenty of cap space and draft picks galore? Stop making everyone jealous. Isn't it enough that you beat us?
Part of me wants to rant at how bad some of the officiating was, but we were so terrible it seems like a moot point. But still, Mark Ayotte, get your act together.
To the injury that shall not be named: feel better soon, buddy. We need you. Like a lot.

Composed to: The Feelies' Crazy Rhythms

Opponent's Take: Blazer's Edge

Hornets Fire Byron Scott

hldomingue — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:48:52 -0000

Hornets Fire Byron Scott

The New Orleans Hornets have responded to their 3-6 start by making the first coaching change of the young NBA season, firing Byron Scott on Thursday, according to NBA coaching sources...

It was not immediately known who will replace Scott.

Game 6: Hive Live

hldomingue — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 17:51:30 -0000

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Toronto 107 (3-2) | New Orleans 90 (2–4)

Oof. That wasn't pretty.

The game was actually pretty close throughout the first half, but then the Raptors (who are the third highest scoring team this year) went bananas in the second half, shooting almost sixty percent and draining what felt like an endless barrage of threes (they finished with 14 to our 6... but they made theirs 50% of the time to our 30%). Credit the Raptors for shooting so well, but don't forget to thank the Hornet's new defensive scheme called "the sieve."

But seriously, though we did look pretty helpless on defense, the Raptors were simply on fire. For instance, there were several series where Emeka played Bosh really well on D giving him no space and always getting a hand in his face during shots. But Bosh seemed to sink every one of his shots anyway. And when I say every one, I mean every one. Bosh was a perfect 10 for 10 on the night (including a trey) and also managed 8 for 11 from the stripe. The guy was an absolute beast.

Our offense, on the other hand, looked so ineffective on the court that I was surprised when I looked at the box score and saw that we shot 48% from the field. If we could just cut down on the turnovers and play something that resembles defense once in a while, we might actually start winning games. You know, like in a row.

Bullets after the jump.

Your daily "Holy crap, Chris Paul!" line: 21 points (on 60% shooting), 7 boards, 18 assists, 2 steals, 1 turnover in only 36 minutes. And it was all for naught.
No other Hornet had a line worth sharing.
Score for the third quarter: Toronto 34, New Orleans 14.
Turkoglu and Bargnani shot a combined 7 for 14 from deep. And here I was getting all excited that Emeka could shoot from outside the paint.
We shot 62% from the line last night. Ordinarily, I 'd say you have to step up a bit more than that to win games, but the Raptors finished with 65%... so now I'm just confused.
The Hornets managed to get in the bonus with 5:30 or so to play in the second. So did we take advantage and attack the basket knowing we'd likely come out with a high percentage shot or free throws on most possessions or did we only make it to the line once (on a questionable Bargnani foul on Chris)? Think hard before you answer.
Bobby Brown once again sank half of his shots (finishing with 16 points), but his shot selection continues to be pretty poor (especially from deep). I keep going hot and cold on the guy... but then I end up staying hot because I remember the Mike James era.
Dear James Posey, I know you landed your big fat contract and all, but it'd be really nice if you pretended to work that money. The lazy play and stupid fouls are getting really old, especially from a guy who was supposed to be the "glue" that held us all together. Thanks.
Quick bit of trivia for you. On February 5, 1977 Pistol Pete Maravich scored a career high 68 points in a game against the New York Knicks. His total could have been higher though, as Pete fouled out of the game. You know who blew the whistle on his 6th foul? Dick Bavetta. Who called the game last night. Holy crap. (Special thanks to Curry for this little tidbit).
Finally, I'm sure you're all aware of George Shinn's recent diagnosis of prostate cancer. I'm sure I speak for all us in wishing him a speedy recovery. For those of you who feel inclined to do a little more than wish, may I suggest Movember. For the month of November, this group is encouraging men everywhere to grow mustaches to raise awareness about prostate cancer (and collect donations).

Composed to: Crowded House's Woodface

The Opponent's Take: Raptors HQ

Elias: Hornets Have 3rd Longest Winning Streak in OT

hldomingue — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:06:35 -0000

Elias: Hornets Have 3rd Longest Winning Streak in OT

It took an extra period, but the Hornets defeated the Mavericks on Wednesday.

New Orleans has won its past 10 overtime games at home, dating back to 2006. That's the third-longest streak in NBA history. The Knicks won 14 straight home OT games from 1988-92, and the Rockets had an 11-game streak from 1976-80.

Game 5: Hive Live

hldomingue — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 06:21:54 -0000

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Dallas 107 (3–2) | New Orleans 114 (2–3)

Great game. Any win at all would have been acceptable; however, the Hornets dialed it up a notch and found a way to win even in the face of adversity (aka Dallas, which is a way better team than Sacramento).

After flying out the gates and finishing the first with an 8 point lead, the Hornets started to sag while the Mavs, who started cold, began hitting open looks all over the court. The lead continued to change hands for the rest of the game until the end, when the Mavs were up 4 with 16 seconds to play to play. Things looked pretty bleak from section 325, and the Hornets seemed to be headed to yet another loss; a hard fought loss, yes, but a loss all the same.

One CP offensive foul and 4 missed Dallas free throws later, the Hornets find themselves down by 3 with 9 seconds to play and deem Peja "0 for the night and then some" Stojakovic the man to fire the tying shot... and he drains it. Un.be.lieve.able.

The Mavs went ice cold in OT, and really, that's all she wrote. The Hornets finished the contest with the advantage in every statistical category but blocks and three-point percentage. Perhaps the most important part was the Hornets owning the paint in the second half. They were able to penetrate and out duel the Mavs to the tune of 26 to 14 down low.

Bullets after the jump.

As we've noted, Chris Paul, who became the third-fastest player to tally his 3000th assist on Monday night, is freaking amazing. As such, it was no surprise that he finished the evening to the tune of 39 points (on 61% shooting), 7 assists, 5 rebounds, 2 steals, and perfect from the stripe.
Jason Terry was also on fire tonight. He single-handedly kept Dallas in the game and made me write a plethora of expletives (in all caps, mind you) in my little notepad. When an opponent drops 35 points (on 66% shooting) on us, I tend to get annoyed. Must be what everyone else in the league feels about CP.
Front court was solid for the Bees tonight as well. Sure, they got jammed up a few times playing zone D (though it looked like we played a fair amount of man to man as well), but Emeka and DX combined for with 36 points (on 60% shooting) 23 boards, 8 assists, 4 steals, 3 blocks, and 3 turnovers. Damn, that feels good.
While we're singing their praises, I'll go ahead and thank both of our starting bigs for the superb job they did locking down Dirk. The Big German finished the night with only 12 points and went 4 of 15 from the field. The refs were letting the boys play under the hoops, which led to a few tiffs, and ultimately, I think Dirk's frustration won out. His shortcomings (and his 6th foul with two and a half minutes to play in regulation) was as crucial to the W as those missed FTs from Terry and Berea.
Shawn Marion was also not much of a factor in this game. 8 points (on 33% shooting), 6 boards, 2 blocks, and 5 turnovers. I wasn't expecting "The Matrix Reloaded" or anything, but that's pretty mediocre/bad for a guy who logged 39 minutes.
Bobby "My Prerogative" Brown continued to launch shots (some of which were ill-advised), but managed to sink more than half of them, finishing with 18 points. I still think we're doing a disservice to Collison by letting someone as irresponsible as Brown live ahead of him in the depth chart, but for tonight, Brown was worth his salt (even if I cringed for every shot he took).
And one final thought: late in the game Emeka picked up a loose ball after a missed CP layup and slammed it home. After I was done clapping, though, I realized that we really don't dunk anymore. Ever since Tyson left, it just doesn't happen much. Of course, I'll take Mek's post moves any day over a guy who has to be under the hoop to score, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss the excitement.

Composed to: It's My Life by Talk Talk

The Opponents Take: Mav's Moneyball

Game 2: Hive Live

hldomingue — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 03:40:38 -0000

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Sacramento 92 (0–2) | New Orleans 97 (1–1)

It would have been nice to win this one by a larger margin but a W is a W, especially after the Spurs dismantled us to start the season a couple days ago.

The Kings started strong (and we started weak), and held the edge in points for most of the first quarter. After the Hornet's first lead (with about 3 minutes to go in the first), the lead jumped back and forth with no team ever leading by more than 7. Our 5 point margin of victory was actually the biggest lead we had all night.

The Hornets were able to put this one away thanks largely to their efficient shooting (45.5% from the field) and their ability to get to the line (26 of 32 from the stripe compared to Sac's 13 of 20).That aggression down low led to a 40 to 30 advantage for points in the paint. The Kings, despite way out rebounding us on both ends of the court, were ultimately undone by their inability to hit any manner of shots (poor percentages across the board).

There's a lot of talent on this Hornet team and, frankly, I like the way things are shaping up for us, but I also think it's going to take some time before we find out sea legs. The guys are still getting used to playing with each other and it was pretty evident that we haven't quite adapted to this new zone defense. It'll be interesting to see what happens when we start firing on all cylinders.

Bullets after the jump.

CP and DX now have captain's patches. Nice. Curry said it was the first time he'd seen the patch since P.J. Brown was around.
CP3: What was that? Thank god he went 14 of 15 from the stripe because he was having some kinda trouble finding a rhythm in the field. The pull up jumpers, the smooth finger rolls, and the usual fair of circus-worthy and-ones just weren't finding their way in. Focus on the 31 points because if you venture down the line you'll see the 4 assists, 2 rebounds, and 4 turnovers. Oof.
DX: Low point totals (he too was missing open shots he normally knocks down), but a 13 point, 8 rebound, 3 steal, 2 block night is always welcome. Plus, the Kings came down hard on him and, despite not getting the calls (he went to the line 4 times), he refused to be his normal whiny self.
Emeka: Holy crap, I'm so glad we got this guy. He's an absolute beast. he only finished with 11 points, but he grabbed 13 boards, blocked 3 shots (including the one that iced the win), and stole the ball once just to prove he could. I mean, the guy's got post moves, he fights for rebounds. What's not to love? Welcome aboard, Mek (I'm told that's his nickname). Nice to have you playing the 5.
JuJu: Though he finished well, Julian started the game a little erratic. It's like we still haven't totally reigned in his potential, which is really frustrating since it's hard to describe someone who's been in the league for more than 2 years as "raw." Then again, he's 22 years old (crazy, right?). 11 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 assists is a step in the right direction for JuJu, but I think he can do more.
The Rest of the Team: Nothing terribly notable. Peja drained a couple of treys for 10 points off the bench, Hilton and Bobby Brown couldn't buy a bucket, and Songalia (despite decent contributions) found a way to turn the ball over 3 times in 13 minutes. Bench needs a shot in the arm, but that seems like old news.
Byron: Great job resting CP. He and DX each played around 36 minutes, which is nice considering CP averaged over 40 a game last season. Only knock on Byron was not giving Collison a look despite Bobby Brown's lackluster showing.
CP is still look for his first steal of the season. DX had 3 steals tonight.
The Kings: not a bad showing from a group I assumed to be much worse than they apparently are. Frankly, we're a tad lucky they shot as poorly as they did (37.5% from the field, 29,2% from beyond the arc, and 65% from the stripe) because they out-rebounded us to the tune of 52 to 43 (with a 21 to 10 showing on the offensive boards). Couple of thoughts on their guys...
Kevin Martin: Slow your roll, son. 9 for 29 from the field? Jeezum, let someone else try. Poor form to the coach that's green-lighting a guy who finishes 2 of 10 from 3 point land.
Jason Thompson: Bad shooting night (4 of 16 for 9 points), but his 12 boards and 6 assists were impressive. He's one to watch for when he puts it all together.
Tyreke Evans: This guy is good. Very impressive and (I hate to say stuff like this but) he's got quite a bit of gumption. He gave 110% and it showed. 22 points, 2 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, and he got to the line 8 times. It'd be nice for him to up that assist total in the future, but he looks pretty darn good already.

Composed to: "The Freaks Come Out at Night" by Whodini

The Opponents Take: Sactown Royalty