Of all the people to solve the issue of the New Orleans Hornets, Willie Green is certainly not a candidate
Before I start to describe to basic flow of the game something really struck as disappointing. I know all Hornet fans needed was a win just to ease their pains but the crowd (or lack there of) really got to me tonight. Attendance was just under 11,000 and it sure as heck felt like that. Sure it was a pretty ordinary game with the Hornets dominating in most facets but even at the start when Marco Belinelli was hitting all his shots, when Emeka Okafor was receiving sweet dishes from Chris Paul for dunks very rarely did the crowd raise their decibels. It’s a shame because I know for a fact that New Orleanians can be very raucous when put in one centralised area. I just want to see that partying attitude that embodies the city and the only time I’ve seen it this year was against the Heat.
Anyway todays game was filled with everything New Orleans Hornets. Most Detroit players looked uninterested in the affair and it showed as they scored a measly 74 points and struggled to get that.
Anyway’s let’s head over the jump for your usual Good, Bad and everything in between…
Good Stuff
- I’d be remiss if I didn’t start off with Marco Belinelli. We all know he has the capabilities to be our new Peja Stojakovic with a bit more dynamic about him and it proved to be so. The Italian sharpshooter scored 22 points on 12 shots, was 4-7 from three as he did what was asked for him.
- Chris Paul’s scoring concerns remain but his passing ability is as good as ever. He had 14 assists on 1 turnover played amazing defense getting 5 steals (he leads the league) and added in 2 rebounds for good measure. For most of the game he was looking for his team-mates and it was nice to see them respond by actually scoring.
- These nights make me proud to state why David West if my favourite player in the entire league. The way he plays the game, the attitude he has, even the types of shots he takes is why I love to watch him when he’s on. Tonight he dropped 25 points on 14 shots, grabbed 6 rebounds and 2 assists. I hope though he can do things like this against better teams and not “back down.”
- While Emeka Okafor held back in the rebounding department his activity on the offensive end was just beautiful. Against weaker sides Emek looks much better than he really is. The dude has to possess a dominating mentality when the Hornets play teams like the Lakers, Spurs, Mavericks among others.
- It was nice to see the bench producing, playing defense and sustaining acceptable off-ball movement. I won’t list everyone’s performance but I’ll give a shout out to David Andersen a fellow Australian. It’s nice to see some of my countrymen play ball in the NBA even if it be restrictive. He hit a nice three and just for Hornet fans he can do that.
- Trevor Ariza’s offensive skills are significantly inconsistent and that is why we need Marco Belinelli to step up as a scorer on that end. If we can get the right balance of having Ariza playing defense and Marco being a third scorer the team operates much more effectively.
- The Crowd, come on guys do you want this team in New Orleans?
- Detroit’s mentality, they really don’t seem like they want to play do they?
- Ownership woes…
- Most of the off-court chatter once again, I thought this ended with the CP3 debacle?…
- All starters except David West played below 30 minutes.
- Monty Williams said he wouldn’t be surprised to see Gary Chouest back in the discussions as purchasing the team in the future. I wouldn’t either but that’s only if the organisation can sort out their accounting problems. Once the ledger is sorted maybe he might reconsider, but I wouldn’t hold your breath we all saw what happened to Seattle…
Final Word: Gratitude…
Original Story:
http://swarmandsting.com/2010/12/09/p...
