SB Nation User Blog: hldomingue

Game 6: Hive Live

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

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

More photos » by Chris Graythen - Getty Images

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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

More photos » by Bill Haber - AP

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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

ESPN Western Conference Predictions

hldomingue — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 18:50:51 -0000

ESPN Western Conference Predictions

According to ESPN, the Jazz will barely edge us out for the 6 seed, putting us right back where we were last year. Here's an excerpt:

"It was a disappointing season in New Orleans, relative to the high expectations they started with, but they still won 49 games and they still have Chris Paul. The Hornets are another of the West's "if everything breaks right" contenders, as they need Julian Wright, Ike Diogu and Hilton Armstrong to do more to justify being lottery picks."

Arnovitz on "The High-Grade Sleepers"

hldomingue — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 16:39:01 -0000

Arnovitz on "The High-Grade Sleepers"

One of the most productive frontcourt tandems in the league and arguably the best point guard on the planet: That's a pretty nice place to start a season, don't you think?

Paul, West, and Okafor might not warrant a "Big Three" designation, but we can agree that they qualify as some sort of troika -- particularly in a scheme that's as dependent on the pick-and-roll as the Hornets offense.

Chandler for Okafor?

hldomingue — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 22:17:31 -0000

Chandler for Okafor?

One injury prone center for another. Doesn't seem like a step forward per se, but it could work to our favor... Stay tuned.

Hornets on the Internets: Lazy Summer Edition

hldomingue — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 22:29:51 -0000

Hey guys. Nice to see you all again. Been a while, no?

I was going to announce my return to this blog with some thoughtful words about the player movement in the league and how that all affects the Southwestern Division and whatnot, but since I've been in the process of moving for the past week, I decided to take the easy way out with some linkage to tie you over for a bit.

Some of these are out of date, but as always, they're well worth reading:

The guys down at 24/7 give us a hell of recap for the summer league.
Ball Don't Lie's summer league recap is great as well. In fact, Skeets is pretty high on Marcus Thornton and JuJu. Plus, he makes fun of Allan "No seriously guys, I'm coming back this year" Houston... which is always fun.
OMG CHRIS PAUL'S GOING TO BE TRADED! Oh, wait, no he isn't? Why do I ever listen to anything anyone writes ever. (Hornets Hype does a great job of chronicling the whole saga.)
For those of you who might still be hyperventilating from the last set of links, here it is from the horse's–aka CP3's–mouth (via twitter):

"Jus for the record too…I’M NOT GOIN ANYWHERE!!! No clue what Chris Thomasson was talkin about, but I didn’t say any of what he was sayin."

Ball Don't Lie has a great rundown on both restricted and unrestricted free agents. Not that we can afford any of them or anything. It's just good to know. And knowing's half the battle... or something.
Totally unrelated to the Hornets, but the duo down at Hornets Hype has a great piece about their visit to the basketball hall of fame.

Ok, that about does it for today. We'll be back soon with something a little more thoughtful and original. Until then go Cardina... HORNETS! (sorry)

Game 86: Hive Live

hldomingue — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 03:39:22 -0000

More photos » by Bill Haber - AP

6 months ago: Many fans left the basketball game between the Denver Nuggets and New Orleans Hornets early as the Nuggets defeated the Hornets 121-63 in the first-round playoff NBA basketball game in New Orleans, Monday, April 27, 2009. The Nuggets have taken a 3-1 lead in the best of seven games series. (AP Photo/Bill Haber)

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Denver MANY POINTS | New Orleans NOT MANY POINTS

"The best part about that game was when it ended."

Overheard that on the way out of the arena. Perfect descriptor of the most stunning and embarrassing loss I've ever witnessed.

Last year when we lost in the playoffs, we did it with dignity. We believed in ourselves and we were willing to put up a fight to the bitter end. Man, those days seem so far away.

Tonight, we sucked and the Nuggets didn't. End of story. In fact, they were arguably twice as good as we were, and there are actually numbers to back that (beyond the score). Credit the Nuggets for a damn good performance. This was one for the history books.

I wouldn't blame you if you didn't want to read a recap and have to relive this atrocious experience, but if you do there's a semblance of a recap after the jump.

Ok, let's dig in here a little. The Nuggets very nearly doubled our score at 121 to 63. Three teams this year failed to win 20 games all season and not one of them suffered a loss by a margin this wide. And it's not even all that close. A Clippers 39 point loss to the Lake Show was the worst I could dig up.

Seriously, it looked like a video game on the court tonight. Denver made us look amateurish at best. In fact, I don't even want to describe how awful it was. Instead, let's look at some numbers in which the Nuggets severely outperformed us:

FG%: 56.6 to 31.5
3P%: 50 to 13.3
REB: 41 to 32
AST: 29 (twenty-nine!) to 10 (ten!)
TO: 11 to 26 (twenty-six!)
AST/TO: 2.64 to 0.38 (let that sink in... we had almost 3 times as many TOs as ASTs)
PTS OFF TO: 41 to 12

No one on the Nuggets had a particularly bad night (as if you didn't already know that from the numbers above), but no one put up really stellar numbers either (how could they, no one really played much more than 30 minutes). Melo did pull a nice 26, 7, 6 and Chauncy added a 17, 3, 8... actually, those are pretty stellar considering both guys played way less than they normally do.

The Hornets? No one played well. Posey showed the most fight and deserves some amount of applause (especially after being injured in the last game), but it wasn't particularly inspiring among the other lackluster performances by his teammates. Honestly, I think this stat line really sums up the evening the best:

CP: 4 points, 2 for 7 shooting, 6 assists, 2 rebounds, 2 steals, 6 turnovers in 36 minutes. Has to be the single worst performance of his career.

Damn.I wish I had more insight to offer you guys, but frankly my brain is severely overloaded and still somewhat incapable of processing what just happened. I know we still have another game to play, but I think it's time we congratulate Denver, wish them luck, and start looking to the offseason.

I can tell you one thing: I don't envy Jeff Bower in the coming months.

Composed to: "The Bottle Let Me Down" (needed a soundtrack while I cry in my beer)

The Opponents Take: Pickaxe and Roll

Game 85: Hive Live

hldomingue — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 04:53:00 -0000

More photos » by Bill Haber - AP

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Denver 93 | New Orleans 95

That was close. But man did it feel good.

The Hornets pulled out the W in a hard fought game that saw four (major) players foul out. At the very least, they avoided getting swept by the surging Nuggets. At the most, they kept their championship hopes alive.

One game at a time.

Overall, the Hornets looked sharp today. They rotated well on defense and were aggressive attacking the basket (not our usual suit). We still made plenty of mental errors and the Nuggets continued their streak of "Oh-my-god-will-they-ever-miss-a-shot-we-had-our-hands-in-their-faces" but when it was all said and done, the Hornets prevailed.

Both squads were extremely close in terms of team stastics on the night (no one really had a big margin). We shot better from the floor and the stripe, they shot better from deep. Both teams coughed up the ball a ton (15 for the Bees, 14 for Denver) and Denver was, overall, able to push the pace in their direction... or so it seemed.

CP and company did well on the fastbreak today. They were able to push the pace more than normal, but they also excelled in slowing down the gameplan when necessary.

All in all, we still have a hell of road to travel if we want to make it out of this round, but for now I'll just be happy that we avoided the sweep. Monday is crucial.

Bullets after the jump.

THE GOOD

CP: 32 points, 12 assists, 5 rebounds, 1 steal. Sure he coughed it up 6 times, but he also played 46 minutes, so that number would have been higher than usual anyway.
DX: Strong moves in the post landed him 19 points and 6 assists. He's had better showings, but some of his moves were just mind-boggling-ly awesome. You've got to love the guy when he gets the rock down low and pushes his way to the hoop... though it's be nice if he could go one game without a 3 second violation.
Antonio Daniels. The dude gave Chauncy fits when he was in. Small impact in terms of the box score, but someone definitely owes this guy a beer... or eight.
Byron Scott: Refused to play Devin Brown and nearly ripped the head off of Bennett Salvatore. Honestly, the first piece is enough to get you on the good list. The second is just lagniappe.
Celebrities: Good showing today. Lil Wayne, Emeril, Reggie Bush, Jonathan Vilma, Mike Mckenzie, and Will Smith (the linebacker, not the rapper/actor/Man in Black) all made appearances.

THE BAD

Kenyon Martin: You are a thug. You are an idiot. I would ask that you not step foot in New Orleans again.
Nene: You whine more than our entire team combined... and we're known to be the second most whiniest team behind Tim Duncan.
Chauncy Billups: I like you. But what was that ridiculous foul on Chris? Not cool. Even less so since the refs decided that it was neither flagrant or intentional.
Tyson: Dude, what's the problem. Why are you playing if you can't jump or box out? I might as well be out there fighting for boards (editor's note: I'm 5'9", 180 pounds soaking wet). Oh, and you're ill-advised retaliatory (flagrant) foul after the no call on the CCC that might have been... childish. Grow up man, you're stooping to the Nugget's level.
Peja: The dude couldn't buy a shot. He was either falling prey to Anthony Carter's obnoxious (albeit effective... and legal) defense or missing wide open looks. Here's to hoping he adjusts for game 4.

THE UGLY

The officiating. I cannot describe to you how awful, inconsistent, and genuinely stupid the officiating was. I can't. I could tell you that the refs allowed the teams to play very physical ball while calling ticky-tacky fouls. I could tell you that the ridiculous fouls from Billups and Martin on Paul and Posey (respectively) were flagrants, but treated as routine. I could tell you that Salvatore's ineptness made Byron, a man who only ever stares intently or stares intently with a furrowed brow, scream to the point of needing Tyson to hold him back (and earning a technical). I could tell you that the officiating was so poor on both sides that it led to countless makeup calls which, in turn, frustrated the players and led to the more unreasonable fouls of the second half. Or I could just tell you it sucked.

See you guys Monday!

Composed to: The Hold Steady's Separation Sunday

The Opponent's take: Pickaxe and Roll