SB Nation User Blog: hldomingue

Game 86: Hive Live

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

2 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)

Browse more photos »

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

Browse more photos »

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

The first player to lead the league in assists and steals AND finish in the top 10 in scoring. We...

hldomingue — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 20:51:53 -0000

The first player to lead the league in assists and steals AND finish in the top 10 in scoring. We might as well start there. Only five players led the league in steals and assists since 1974; Paul has done it in consecutive years. If he scores 39 against the Spurs in his final game, he'll become the fourth player to average 23-plus points and 11-plus assists in one season (joining Oscar, Magic and Tiny Archibald). Since the All-Star break, with Tyson Chandler battling injuries and missing 18 games, Paul carried the extra load by averaging a 25-11-6. For the season, he's shooting 50 percent from the field and 87 percent from the line, and his assist-to-turnover ratio is an astonishing 11-to-3. I don't know what's left.

Oh, wait, I know: His supporting cast isn't good. David West is their only other scorer. They have no low-post presence at all. Their best rebounder/shot-blocker (Chandler) struggled all season. They didn't crack the top 12 in FG percentage (currently 14th), 3-point percentage (17th), steals (16th), rebounds (24th), blocks (26th), points scored (26th) or assists (28th), making it only in FT percentage (third), points allowed (fourth) and opposing FG percentage (seventh). Basically, they're a good defensive team that can't rebound, can't shoot very well and can't succeed unless its point guard plays well. And they're going to win 50 games? Huh? Throw in how he kept them together after the demoralizing Chandler trade got vetoed and he's the clear No. 2.

Simmons ranks Paul 2nd on MVP Ballot (that he doesn't have)

Chris Paul (11 field goals, 17 assists) had a hand in 28 of the Hornets' 40 field goals in their...

hldomingue — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 14:54:02 -0000

Chris Paul (11 field goals, 17 assists) had a hand in 28 of the Hornets' 40 field goals in their victory over the Mavericks. Paul has either made or assisted on 51.3 percent of his team's field goals this season. Only two NBA players have ever had a higher percentage in one season: Tiny Archibald (53.5 percent for the 1972-73 Kings) and John Stockton (51.6 percent for the 1990-91 Jazz).

April 13th Daily Dime

Game 80: Hive Live

hldomingue — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 21:25:46 -0000

More photos » by Bill Haber - AP

Browse more photos »

Dallas 92 (48-32) | New Orleans 102 (49–31)

Hell of a matchup today and both teams left it all out on the court. The Hornets were playing to recoup a little bit of pride after Friday's loss, while the Mavs were hoping to get their momentum going and tie us for 3rd in the division. The Mavs played a total of 8 guys, while the Hornets gave almost every minute to 6 (we technically played 10, but 4 of them had 7 minutes or less). Excitement ensued.

(Happy Easter, by the by.)

I actually missed the first quarter because I was having Easter brunch with my family at Brennan's in the Quarter. I actually thought the insane amount of rich, delicious food we ate (not to mention the bloody marys) would have made it hard to stay awake for the game, but both teams kept it too close for me to even blink.

Actually, the Bees had a sizeable lead after one, but then promplty blew it, letting the Mavs get within 1 by the half. They then started the third quarter ice cold, taking almost 5 minutes to score their first bucket (meanwhile the Mavs had scored 8). The Hornets closed the gap, but then started the fourth tied at 69. The lead jumped back and forth for a bit until a few solid defensive stops and a couple of clutch treys put the game out of reach for Dallas.

In terms of playoff implications, this win allows us all to breath a little easier knowing it would take a major meltdown for us to end up as the 8th seed (AKA Laker bait). And a tie is absolutely possible seeing as the Mavs finish the season against Minny and Houston (we get Houston too, but then we have to play the Spurs).

Bullets after the jump.

THE GOOD

Chris. Paul. Holy. Freaking. God. He finished with a line for the ages: 31 points, 17 assists, 9 rebounds, 2 steals and 1 turnover in 45 minutes. Oh, and his true shooting percentage was 86. Damn, son.
DX was also on fire tonight. With the exception of rough patch in the third, David was sinking shots from anywhere and everywhere. some of them were the typical 17 footers, some were power moves to the basket and some were near-circus fadeawys. Unstoppable. He too finished with 31 points, and then also added 6 boards, 3 assists, 2 turnovers, and a monster block on Josh Howard. He was also more aggressive on man defense than I've ever seen. Unfortunately, that leads to my next bullet.
Dirk. Dude was on fire tonight. He bricked a few late in the game that could have kept the Mavs in it, but that shouldn't spoil his performance. DX was all over him today and for most of the game it just didn't matter. He also cleaned the glass with a game high 14 boards.
Ball handling. Both teams took care of the rock tonight with the Mavs committing six turnovers and the Hornets giving away 9. (Although, that one turnover on inbounds pass in the second was pretty painful.)
Tyson's suit. The dude always looks sharp, but he looked especially nice today. Hopefully, we'll see him a uniform soon (rumor is Monday... anyone?)
The officiating. Joey Crawford and company did an admirable job today, especially considering the level of intensity both sides were bringing. It got a little hairy at times, but it was a clean fight thanks to the officials.

THE BAD

The Dirk flop. Check your TiVo: 2:50 to play in the third. What the hell was that anyway? Sure Posey fouled him, but Dirk threw down such an egregious flop that it caused Posey to stand over him and insult him (which eventually got him T-ed up). I suppose that makes the flop somewhat successful, but it's still infuriating to see all the same. (Though it did prompt a fan to hold up a sign reading "And the Oscar goes to...")
Dallas' 3 point guard approach in the fourth. I guess they were trying to spread the floor or something, but why would you kick the ball around the perimeter when we have a thin (and not very good) front court?

THE UGLY

The Hornets Offensive Rebounding. They had 14. We had 2. Tyson, please hurry back.
Kidd from deep (or anywhere else). Kidd went 3 for 13 from the field (including 2 for 7 from deep). The Hornets left him open quite a bit, but he's a career 40% shooter so the gamble paid off.
Peja from deep. Treja also went 2 for 7 from downtown (including an airball). He did hit a clutch trey to (sort of) ice the contest in the fourth, but you kind of want that shot to start falling a little more often. He is contributing all over the court (his rebounds and assists have gone up lately), but when he's nailing treys, we are some kind of dangerous.

My recaps for the regular season are officially over and done with (though I'll be here for post season home recaps). Just wanted to give a quick thank you to all of our readers for sticking out the season with us.

So, wherever you are, raise a glass...here's to avoiding the 8 seed. GEAUX BEES!

***

Composed to: The La's eponymous debut

The opponent's take: Mav's Moneyball

Game 78: Hive Live

hldomingue — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 23:17:05 -0000

More photos » by Bill Haber - AP

Browse more photos »

Phoenix 105 (43-35) | New Orleans 100 (48–30)

In the past 2 seasons, the Hornets have beaten the Suns in 7 of 7 opportunities. Tonight, they had the chance to complete the sweep for the second straight season AND knock them out of playoff contention. Neither of these things occurred. Instead, we had a painful night of "almosts" and eventually settled for a loss.

Actually, it didn't all suck; the first 12 minutes went really well. It was one of those quarters where you rarely look at the scoreboard, knowing full well that your team is comfortably ahead of their competition. You're making jokes with your buddies, casually observing the game, enjoying the ambiance and fist pumping on two of every three possessions. Ah... those were happier times.

CP took over early, taking full advantage of being guarded by Nash and flying through the paint for score after score. Even Shaq couldn't figure it out; it's like Chris was too short and too fast to be visible. The Bees finished the first with a 6 point margin that had actually been as high as 12.

But then the second quarter happened. I know this isn't news, but our bench really sucks. It only took them 5 minutes to erase the starters' work, partially due to their general ineptness and partially due to the fact that they could only muster 3 points.

The reality is that the Hornets were never really able to outplay the Suns after the first quarter. Maybe it was the fatigue of our starters playing 47 minutes the night before in Miami, maybe it was trying to play to the Sun's pace (pace was 92, about 7 possessions more than normal), or maybe it was some combination of the two.

At the end of the day, the Hornets weren't able to knock down the shots they needed and resorted to fouling instead of playing defense (more on that later). Credit the Suns for coming out and playing for their playoff lives despite a disappointing season. They pulled out the W and live to fight another day.

Bullets after the jump.

THE GOOD

Chris Paul. Despite having another off night in terms of shooting (13 for 29), CP took over when no one else was willing to. He finished with 29 points, 16 assists, and 7 rebounds.
DX. He finished with 28 points, 12 boards 1 assist and 2 steals.
The Hornets' ball-handling. We only had 9 turnovers. Lately it feels like CP could do that all by his lonesome. No one player had more than 3.
Peja's steals. He 4 steals tonight to add last night's 4. Weird. He also had 18 points on 5 for 11 shooting (5 for 9 from deep) and 7 boards.
The Sun's D. They were a little out of sync for the first--perhaps because we tried to beat them at their own game--but in the end, they shut us down by staying glued to our jump shooters and keeping a solid hold on the lane.
The Sun's Vets. Nash, Shaq, and Hill all looked great tonight. I know the Suns were playing hard to stay alive in the playoff race, but I was shocked at how sprightly these three were. Nash went 24/13 and Shaq went 17/10 and neither one played more than 37 minutes.
JuJu's putback dunk on Robin Lopez.

THE BAD

Our defense. We looked confused for most of the game. And when we weren't confused, we were slow. They took so many open shots and their 51.4% from the field shows it. And when we did decide to play D, we just ended up fouling because they either outsmarted us or Shaq got a hold of the ball down low (again). We gave them 33 free throws. This leads to my next point...
WE DON'T DRIVE! Why not? Why? Shaq didn't get his first foul until the beginning of the fourth. THE FOURTH! Why? Not because the refs were botching calls, but because we refused to drive into the paint. Driving leads to fouls and fouls lead to free throws. Their whole team finished with 13 personal fouls for the game, giving us a mere 12 shots from the charity stripe. This game was won at the stripe. Both teams shot 75%, but they took 21 more free throws than us. Done and done.

THE UGLY

Hilton. In 17 minutes he managed 4 points, 1 rebound, 2 turnovers, 0 boxing outs, and a gajillion bites on Nash's attempts to draw double teams in the paint (which left Shaq wide open). Man we need Tyson back.
The Bench. They went 5 for 16 on a night when the Hornets as a team finished 47% from the field. Oof.

Composed to: Aztec Camera's High Land, Hard Rain

The opponent's take: Bright Side of the Sun

Game 76: Hive Live

hldomingue — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 02:28:56 -0000

More photos » by Bill Haber - AP

Browse more photos »

Utah 108 (47-30) | New Orleans 94 (47–29)

And the hits just keep on coming.

I think the game thread really captured the sense of frustration for all 48 minutes, but I'm going to try and do a recap this anyway without focusing too much on the bad.

So where'd it all go wrong? Many places. For starters, the Jazz were on fire for most of the first half, and we just didn't have an answer for them. Our rotations were a little slow, but even when they weren't, the Jazz had no problem knocking down shots over us. All of that would have been fine had we been hitting anything, but instead we opted to turn the ball or take poorly selected shots. The result: a 27 point deficit at the half.

The third quarter was our only true stretch of good basketball. We outscored the Jazz 37 to 21 and cut the lead down to 11 going into the fourth. David caught fire and Paul was all too happy to feed him from anywhere on the court. Unfortunately, the Jazz weren't willing to roll over and (with the help of a few well-timed fouls for CP) managed to finsh strong and close out the game. Benches were cleared with 2:00 to play.

[New and improved!] Bullets after the jump.

We're going to stratify tonight's bullets instead of tossing them ll together like a salad. Let's get cracking.

THE GOOD

David looked good tonight. He fought hard in the paint and had a nice stroke going from 17 feet out. He also did not get a 3 second violation or a tech for arguing with the refs (and there could have been cause for the latter)
Chris did well, but unfortunately (or perhaps not surprisingly) so did Deron. Both saw limited minutes due to foul trouble, and their stat lines were almost identical. CP finished with 19 points, 12 assists, 3 rebounds, 1 steal, and 4 turnovers in 32 minutes, while Deron had 21 points, 11 assists, 3 rebounds, 3 steals and 0 turnovers in 33 minutes.
Ronnie Brewer lit us up. Dude couldn't miss. It stung even more when Curry reminded me that we passed on Brewer to draft Cedric Simmons. Yeah. Let that one sink in for a minute.

THE BAD

Both teams shot 53% from the floor. You would probably think that qualifies this bullet for the above section, but that's before you find out that our 17 turnovers resulted in the Jazz shooting 13 more shots than us. At 53%.
Sean Marks and Julian Wright were pretty useless tonight. They each played about 20 minutes and only made 1 shot between them. They did combine for 3 blocks and 7 rebounds, but when you're that much of an offensive liability it really limits your team's game plan.
Matt Harpring played 8 minutes but took 7 shots. That's not bad so much as it is weird, but I didn't have a weird section. Of course, he only made 2 of the 7 so...

THE UGLY

Devin Brown. I would elaborate, but I think that name speaks for itself.
Peja's shot has not returned from injury yet. He played with gusto and was generally helpful on D (except for that one time that Brewer made him look stupid), but going 2 for 7 from the field and missing both free throws on ugly shots wasn't particularly helpful.
Byron! If Peja and Devin are bricking everything, why does Mo Pete only get 6 minutes of playing time? And if the Jazz are outrunning us up and down the court, why is Ryan Bowen riding the pine? Sure, he's not super fast, but he runs everywhere. He's always running. Isn't that why you like him?
I felt a little slighted by the refs tonight. The Jazz are a very physical team and are known for being generally effective (albeit obnoxious) on D. That having been said, I was particularly pertrubed with the amount of reaches that went uncalled against the Jazz while the Hornets were getting called for ticky-tacky crap on the other end. Let's be clear here: officiating did not decide this game, but I did feel as though the refs made some pretty poor calls the whole game.
With this win, the Jazz have swept us for the season. Bummer.

Composed to: Squeeze's Singles 45's and Under

The opponent's take: SLC Dunk

Game 70: Hive Live

hldomingue — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 03:17:04 -0000

Denver 101 (46-26) | New Orleans 88 (44–26)

Bleh. That one really stung.

Tonight, the Hornets had a chance to make up some ground in the Western Conference standings as well as settling a tie-breaker with one of the second tier team (AKA not the Lakers). But CP and company were unable to capitalize.

A quick perusal of the stats doesn't (at first) point to any one reason for the loss, as the Hornets led most of the team statistical categories and finished pretty close with their percentages. But a closer look reveals the true culprit: ball handling.Tonight, New Orleans gave the ball away 17 times (compared to to Denver's 10). This led to a massive disparity in shots attempted from the floor. Sure, both teams shot around 43% for the game, but when your opponent puts up 81 shots to your 68 there's not a whole lot you can do to make up that ground.

Tonight was one mistake after another. And the Nuggets took full advantage of our constant miscues, getting hot at all the right moments and putting the game far out of our reach. I still like our chances against this team if we were matched up against them in the playoffs, but we've got to find a way to lock down their scorers and play our own pace if we want to even stand a chance at winning.

We've got a rough schedule coming up to close the season, and these last few games haven't done much to inspire a lot of confidence. I'm just hoping TC and Peja's return will spark a new life into some of our guys.

Bullets after the jump.

CP had 6 turnovers. Though that number seems awful, it should be noted that several good passes were bobbled and thrown away by some of the pass-ees. I'm not writing him a blank check or anything, but I thought you should know.
Posey deserved all 3 of his turnovers. I haven't seen such poorly chosen passes since... well, Devin Brown I suppose.
David got really lazy on D tonight. I'm pretty sure my sister could box him out.
Speaking of David, why do we insist on running the exact same weak-side iso play to him if his shot isn't falling? He went 6 for 19, for crying out loud. No offense to David (sometimes you just hit rough patches), but shouldn't the importance of this game have dictated that we not let him play through such a poor slump? Shouldn't we have tried something else? Do we have anything else?
It infuriates me that J.R. Smith does as well as he does when he plays us at home. He flat out quit on this team (this coach, even) and now he just stops by to light us up for 16 points off the bench. The karma gods need to get on this.
The officiating was rough tonight. CP was drawing a lot of contact from the opposing team, but not a whole lot of sympathy from Bennett Salvatore and company. Yes, I know he finished with 10 FT (which was more than Melo or Billups had), but that doesn't mean that the refs didn't miss (or egregiously mis-call) some things. Plus, beyond Chris, Posey and Butler weren't allowed to breathe near their man without getting a whistle. Frustrating to say the least.
Of our remaining 12 opponents, 9 are in the playoff picture in either the East or West. Friday's game at Madison Square Gardens features one of the three opponents not in said picture. Let's hope we can go out there and take care of business.

Photos courtesy of yahoo.com

Composed to: Talk Talk's Laughing Stock (I needed something to calm me)

The opponent's take: Pickaxe and Roll

Game 69: Hive Live

hldomingue — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 15:08:43 -0000

Golden State 89 (25-45) | New Orleans 99 (44–25)

Great game, no question. The Hornets were able to pull out in front pretty quickly (up 7 by the end of the first), and then held a 20 point lead until latter half of the fourth. It would have been nice to see them hold that margin until the end, but Golden State started hitting shots that they were bricking for most of the game, so it's hard to complain.

The Hornets did what they could to control the pace, but eventual settled into Nellie-ball using 10+ possession more than usual (game pace was 97 compared to our usual 85 or so). But you know what? It worked. It helped that the Warriors looked a little out of sync, often running into one another, but I was generally impressed with the offense all night.

Probably the biggest story of the night was the success of the bench in the second quarter. Not only did they outscore the Warriors 11-6 in the first 6 minutes, they gave CP an unprecedented 9 (Nine!) minutes of rest. It was a beautiful sight to behold.

Detractors might note that our bench was playing an even weaker bench since the Warriors were missing 2 starters in Biedrins and Crawford. But to that I say that A) we were still out 2 starters and B) their bench features Corey Maggette, who's way better than anyone we have coming off the pine (no matter how healthy we are). Regardless, even if this performance is just a confidence booster for the second unit—and it should be—that would be a victory.

In the end, the Warriors shot such a poor enough from the field (39.5%, 21.1%, 77.8%) that no number of possessions could have saved them from the onslaught of Chris Paul, David West, and Hilton Armstrong (yes, you read that last name correctly).

Bullets after the jump.

Hilton "double-double by halftime" Armstrong was the player of the game in my book: 14 points on 5 for 6 from the field and 4 for 4 from the stripe, 11 rebounds, 1 block, and 0 turnovers in 16 minutes. Great showing for him.
CP was his normal (read: awesome) self and added 27 points on 9 for 20 from the field and 7 for 7 from the stripe, 2 treys, 8 rebounds, 8 assists, and 2 steals. Ok, he probably deserves the player of the game, but I don't want to spoil Hilt's effort.
JuJu's shot wasn't falling last night, but he still found ways to contribute by pulling down 5 boards, and swatting 4 shots. I think it's worth noting that Peja's (re)injury might turn out to be pretty well-timed as it's giving JuJu plenty of opportunities to grow (both in skill, experience, and confidence) on the court. And we're going to need him come playoff time.
Golden State's bench (Maggette, Randolph, Watson, and Morrow) went 6 for 23 from the field. They also went 11 of 11 from the stripe, but 9 of those were Maggette's. Oof.
Stephen Jackson dropped a 22-10-5 line on us, but he also found it hard to hit shots consistently, going 7 for 17 from the field and 1 for 5 from deep.
The Hornet's +/- lines tonight were pretty interesting. CP, DX, and Mo were in the negatives, while everyone else was in the positives, including Ryan Bowen's team-leading +16.
Speaking of the the Hustle Man, Bowen gave quite an effort going for 6 points, 1 rebound, and 1 steal in 6 minutes (his only missed shot was a prayer at the end of the shot clock that almost dropped). The fans thanked him with a standing ovation when DX subbed in for him. Unfortunately, we were informed in the third quarter that he suffered a separated shoulder during the game.
Nellie didn't stand up the entire game. His assistant was the one running around and barking orders. Don't know if it was laziness or health related, but neither seems ideal.

Photos courtesy of yahoo.com

Composed to: Tift Merritt's Another Country

The opponent's take: Golden State of Mind

Game 68: Hive Live

hldomingue — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 15:33:35 -0000

Sean: Oh, that's no good. I think he's gonna score. How do we guard that next time?
David: I don't know how to guard layups. That's why I usually hang out at the top of the key instead of under the bucket.
Sean: What's a layup? I only know how to dunk.
Chris: Guys! Seriously?!

Memphis 84 (17-51) | New Orleans 96 (43–25)

A brief look at the score would tell you that the Hornets got a solid W, just like they were supposed to do all along. A look at the box score would tell you this game should have had a wider margin of victory if we had made anything from deep (2 for 11 from downtown). And, finally, a trip to the arena last night would tell you that the margin of victory would have been even larger if we hadn't let the Grizzlies control the tempo for the first half.

Regardless, it's still a solid W considering we were (still) without Peja or TC. You hate for DX and CP to play 41 minutes a piece, but until all of our starters are back and healthy, they probably won't get the rest they need to take us deep into the playoffs.

That having been said, both guys had monster nights with DX putting up 29 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 steal while CP added 32 points, 5 rebounds, 9 assists, and 5 steals. Rasual and JuJu also made a few contributions, but most of the team spent the night in foul trouble, contributing little in the way of usable stats.

Bullets after the jump.

The whole game I was thinking, "Man, Rudy Gay has to be the worst shot selector ever." But then I looked at his line in the box score and he ended up making half of his shots.
Marc Gasol abused Hilton down low for most of the first (at least until we pulled Hilt due to foul trouble). I was really worried that this matchup (or one with Sean Marks) was going to be exploited all night, but instead the Bees stepped it up on D and held Gasol to a very mediocre 12-6 night.
Another solid performance from JuJu. Not only is he gaining more confidence as a shooter, but his passing skills are improving at light speed (he had 4 assists tonight).
I ran into Sean Marks at a bar after the game. Not important, but it happened.
I can't think of anything else. See you Sunday.

Photos courtesy of yahoo.com

Composed to: Dusty Springfield's Dusty in Memphis (cheezy, but what the heck)

The opponent's take: 3 Shades of Blue