A New Start {NEW ORLEANS HORNETS}2K12

[K0ZZ]

December 1st through 12th

Friday, December 2nd
@ Philadelphia 76ers (9-13) W 93-77

The Sixers starting five put up a mediocre showing that translated to a difficult loss to a Hornets squad now on a four game winning streak. The Hornets are hot right now and their defense is a huge key to that. Eric Gordon lifted the Hornets in a big way with 21 points and Mo Williams would put in 16 points in a bench showing. Wesley Matthews struggled throughout on a 3-10 day including a 2-7 beyond the arc, his scoring issues are somewhat problematic given he is playing the two guard spot. The Hornets jumped out to an early lead and twice held the Sixers to less than twenty points in a quarter.

Sunday, December 4th
@ Oklahoma City Thunder (16-9) L 121-122

In an offensive slugfest, the Thunder put a stop the hot Hornets with a one point overtime victory. Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant put the Thunder on their back, with Westbrook paving the way with 38 and Durant adding 35. Their strong performances carried the Thunder. Eric Gordon led the Hornets with 22, Wesley Matthews close behind with 21 and Gustavo Ayon had 14 and 8 rebounds. Greg Oden couldn't exploit a good match up and continued to struggle, with 4 rebounds and 7 points. The Hornets gave up 37 points in the final frame to allow the Thunder to claw their way into this one and inevitably to the win.

Wednesday, December 7th
Los Angeles Clippers (12-12) W 131-84

The Hornets absolutely slaughtered the Clippers behind three consecutive quarters of thirty or more points, culminating with a 41 point third quarter. This was ugly by half time, with the Hornets up 68-37 as Chris Paul got whipped by his old team. Eric Gordon scored 30 against his old team yet would tally 0 assists. Jarret Jack, Trevor Ariza and Wesley Matthews would all put up 14 points, Mo Williams would pull in 13 points and Greg Oden would pull in a career high 20 rebounds, just three shy of the league high of 23 set by Dwight Howard. He also would get a career high of 5 assists. The Clippers were out rebounded 53-35 and the Hornets would shoot 63% from the field and 72% from beyond the arc. The Clippers were held to 36% and 26% from beyond the arc. Chris Paul would manage 18 points on his old team, Omeka Okafor would put up 4 points and 12 rebounds.

Saturday, December 10th
@ Minnesota Timberwolves (9-13) L 95-102

The Timberwolves would completely extinguish the Hornets who fall to 1-2 on the week with a strong balanced performance, six players would score more than 10 points with Kevin Love bringing in 15 points and 11 rebounds. This would be without point guard, Ricky Rubio playing a single minute. Eric Gordon would put up 23 and Wesley Matthews continued his strong play with 22 points, sadly the rest of the Hornets couldn't keep up as they fall.

Monday, December 12th
@ Utah Jazz (13-10) L 80-98

Paul Millsap went off in this one, with 24 points and ten rebounds and Devin Harris would be a good facilitator of the offense with a 15 point, 10 assist game. The Jazz outrebounded the Hornets by 9 wile shooting a little better from the field. The stat that popped out? Greg Oden with 0 points although he pulled in 9 rebounds, its not the production that a starting center should have and with rumors of a roster shake up, he could be on the outs.

[K0ZZ]

Hornets win big in three team deal

(New Orleans, Louisiana) - In a three team deal that benefits two of the three teams, a big shift in power as the 76ers basically gut their team and eye the future. The Chicago Bulls, New Orleans Hornets and Philadelphia 76ers were included in a three team deal. The Hornets will bring in youngster Small Forward, Thaddeus Young from the 76ers. The Small Forward was struggling with Andre Igudola on the roster and oddly enough instead of moving him, the Sixers decided to part ways with him giving the Hornets a new starter. The Hornets would also receive Chicago's first round pick this season as well as Omer Asik, Asik a player in Chicagos bench mob, was deemed expendable as the Bulls skid out of the gates after high expectations.

Chicago would also win in this deal, pulling in Louis Williams from the 76ers. Williams will obviously not start with Superstar Derrick Rose signed to the long term, yet he will give an explosive spark off the bench in a unit that could consist of him, and C.J. Watson off the bench it's hard to not get excited in Chicago in what could be a stronger offensive unit coming off the bench than any team in the NBA.

The 76ers let everything go for almost nothing, They would receive Trevor Ariza who has been playing well below expectations all season, perenial bench warmer, Joel Przybilla who may have been sought after for his size to bring a rebounding presence to a small squad. They would also receive a second round pick from Chicago and shooting guard Terrico White from the Hornets. A group of expiring contracts and a draft pick are hard to accept but the Sixers have decided they need to rebuild again around Andre Igudola and moving some of their longer contracts allow them to be a player in the offseason. However at this point, Sixers basketball just went from difficult to almost unwatchable.

This comes on a day that the Utah Jazz shipped Devin Harris to the Milwaukee Bucks for aging scorer, Stephen Jackson and a 2013 second round pick, the Washington Wizards extended Nick Young's contract for four more years, the Nuggets extending Danilo Gallinari for five years while sending Timofey Mozgov down to the Stampede in hopes he can develop.

The Sixers aren't the only team selling their talent, the Rockets a week ago finished a deal sending Luis Scola away for the Thunders first round pick and Kansas Center, Cole Aldrich. Teams are quickly looking towards the future and a very loaded 2012 draft class, as the under classmen opted to remain in college with the lock out looming.

[K0ZZ]

Monta Ellis and Stephen Curry lead charge against Hornets

The Warriors jumped out to an early lead and never looked back. Ahead at 32-25, the Hornets would never manage to catch up. The Warriors won with their philosophy of volume over quality in what would be a rare Golden State win, Monta Ellis was nearly perfect going 9-12 from the field and 2-2 from beyond the arc to earn player of the game honors.

Stephen Curry would struggle a little more with a 8-17 day and 3-5 from the arc. It's hard to fault either performance as the Hornets offense absolutely steam rolled the Hornets. Six Hornets broke double digits, the other four, Dorrell Wright (15), Nate Robinson (13), David Lee (13) and Andris Biedrins (11).

Eric Gordon led the way once again with 24 points and 9 assists, coming up huge in the clutch. Thaddeus Young would be big in his first game with 20 points and getting to the charity stripe 11 times, converting 9. Mo Williams had another strong relief showing with a 14 point game adding 5 dimes. The Hornets continue skidding with a week starting off with back to back away games in Toronto and Washington, before heading back to New Orleans to begin a two game home stand against Dallas and San Antonio. The Warriors improve to 8-16, where as the Hornets who hit .500 to open the month are now 4 games under and are falling back out of the play off picture.

The loss at home was difficult to watch but a late rally sparked by Eric Gordon elicited calls of "MVP" from the crowd. It started to look close at the end before a pair of threes knocked the Hornets well out of the game and a few missed shots under the rim. The Hornets seem to have worked out their issues with a secondary scorer, but a lack of an inside presence thats consistent will hurt them.

[K0ZZ]

Hornets add one

The Hornets quietly improved their bench prior to a rough road trip by inking Pops Mensah-Bonsu to a one year contract worth under 750,000. Mensah-Bonsu returns to the Hornets after playing in only 7 games last season and intially considering a career abroad. The Hornets offered him a spot as a depth player and with the move were able to send Omer Asik down to the D-Leagues to further develop. His best season was the 08-09 season where he had a career high in every category. Athletic but raw, he could still develop into a good role player, but not too much is expected from the Power Forward. The Hornets brass has said this will be it for moves this season, as they await to cash in on a big offseason. The Hornets were able to also rework Eric Gordons contract, landing him for six years at a little over 10 million per year.

[puttincomputers]

nice trade!

[K0ZZ]

Hornets start homestand on right foot

The Hornets shut down on Dirk Nowitzki making him shoot 10-25 from the field, the high volume of missed shots and several cold streaks had commentators calling out his negative actions on the hardwood and would be shut down from beyond the arc. This win for the Hornets extends their win streak to two games. After escaping the capital with a 68-64 defensive slugfest victory. That win snapped a four game losing streak that included a 94-117 blow out to the team north of the border, the Toronto Raptors.

Thaddeus Young continues to be huge, going 2-2 from beyond the arc and shooting 9-15 from the field. He would put up 23 points on the board, leading the game in scoring. Eric Gordon who only played 23 minutes to allow him some extra rest had some signs of fatigue with a 7-17 day that led to 20 points, five coming from the stripe and only 6 assists. The big motivator off the bench was Jake Robinson who struggled beyond the arc 2-6, with one of the converted shots a huge three point heave at the end of the first quarter to give the Hornets a boost of momentum and the lead tht would carry throughout the rest of the game.

The Mavericks did a good job of keeping the Hornets bigs away from the hoop with starters Gustavo Ayon and Greg Oden combining to only 11 rebounds (6 and 5) as the Mavericks out rebound the Hornets by nearly double digits, 35 to 44. No player in this game would get a double double, with Shawn Marion coming the closest with late clutch play finishing with 18 points and 8 rebounds. Mensah-Bonsu provided some rebounding mismatches managing 5 rebounds in six minutes of play, a bright spot that could lead to a lot more minutes for the 28 year old.

The Hornets have four games left in the year, all against .500 or better teams. The Hornets would love to close out the year strong, to get ready for 2012, it's hard to believe with power houses San Antonio and Boston standing in the way. Some big news coming from outside this game, Jason Kidd has announced he will be retiring at the seasons end. Having finally won a championship, he can retire on a positive note and the Mavs are poised for another playoff run.

[K0ZZ]

Hornets skid into new year, manage to end 2011 with win

The last game of the Hornets year would be a win, after falling to three consecutive teams, two being blow outs. The Hornets would drop a 21 point game to the San Antonio Spurs at home, before heading to their old home town of Charlotte where the Bobcats would rally from being 13 down to open the fourth to win by 3 in a 99-102 game that continued the Bobcats win streak. The Bobcats are exceeding expectations and now sit at 17-13. Heading back to New Orleans to close out the year, the veteran Celtics showed they still have the legs to beat out a fast team by knocking off the Hornets by 16, 76-92. The Celtics held Eric Gordon to 4-14 from the field, Thaddeus Young to 3-13, and Wesley Matthews would lead the team with 14 points.

"There are just days where every shot falls, there are other days where you can't get the ball to crack the net. I had one of those days, it is disappointing to be on a losing streak but we aren't too far out yet. We can still fix this season and with one game left and the New Year coming up, we are going to do everything we can to pull together. I for sure will be working on my game." Spoke Eric Gordon in the post game interview.

The small speech seemed to do wonders, but not for Eric Gordon. In 32 minutes against the Suns, he would shoot the ball 7 times, converting two shots for 4 points with 3 rebounds and 3 assists. The catalyst? Greg Oden and Gustavo Ayon. The New Orleans bigs rarely make the headlines, yet this was one of those days, Greg Oden put up a season high 22 points going 8-10 from the field and getting to the line 7 times. He would make six of the seven attempts. Gustavo Ayon would post a double double with 18 points and 13 rebounds, outrebounding the Suns by 12, 46-34. If Greg Oden could play like this every game, he would be among the NBA Elite. He has shown what he could do, he just needs consistency.

The Hornets finish 2011 at 11-16. They went 6-8 in November, their numbers falling to 5-8. Their best win streak of the season thus far was four games from November 25th to December 4th. Their longest losing streak was five games, November 6th to November 18th. They are currently last in the Southwest, the second worst record in the Western Conference and tied for seventh worst in the NBA.

New Orleans Hornets Stats - 2011
Player	GP	MIN	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TPG	FPG
Eric Gordon	27	32	21.7	2.9	4.1	1.1	0.1	2.4	2.1
Wesley Matthews	27	26.7	12.2	2.7	1.4	1.5	0.1	1.4	1.8
Thaddeus Young	29	25.6	12.1	3.3	0.7	1.0	0.2	1.6	2.9
Gustavo Ayon	27	27.5	10.1	8.4	1.3	0.7	0.6	1.1	3
Greg Oden	27	20.9	7	7.7	1.1	0.0	1.2	1.1	1.7
Mo Williams	27	20.7	10	1.7	4.1	0.4	0.0	1.7	2.1
Jake Robinson	23	8.9	6.8	0.7	0.4	0.1	0.0	0.6	0.7
Jarrett Jack	25	12.9	5.8	1.1	1.2	0.3	0.1	1.3	1.1
Al-Farouq Aminu	27	13.8	3.7	3.9	0.6	0.4	0.6	0.7	1.3
Joey Graham	27	14.9	3.4	3.4	0.8	0.3	0.1	1	1.8
Pops Mensah-Bonsu	7	7.4	3.3	2.6	0.4	0.0	0.6	0.9	1.1
Trey Johnson	7	4.0	0.9	1	0.6	0.0	0.0	0.6	0.3

NBA Standings - Updated: Jan 1, 2012
ATLANTIC	W	L	GB	DIV	CONF
Boston Celtics	21	7	--	7-0	17-4
New York Knicks	18	13	4.5	3-3	11-6
Philiadelphia 76ers	9	20	12.5	3-3	6-10
New Jersey Nets	9	21	13	1-5	6-12
Toronto Raptors	7	23	15	1-4	2-13
CENTRAL	W	L	GB	DIV	CONF
Chicago Bulls	15	13	--	4-1	6-3
Milwaukee Bucks	15	15	1	2-3	9-11
Indiana Pacers	14	16	2	4-6	9-9
Cleveland Cavliers	11	16	3.5	1-4	7-11
Detroit Pistons	11	19	5	5-2	7-10
SOUTHEAST	W	L	GB	DIV	CONF
Miami Heat	24	5	--	6-3	16-3
Atlanta Hawks	20	9	4	3-4	12-9
Charlotte Bobcats	17	13	7.5	1-4	7-9
Orlando Magic	17	13	7.5	7-2	11-6
Washington Wizards	6	23	18	2-6	4-14
NORTHWEST	W	L	GB	DIV	CONF
Portland Trailblazers	19	9	--		11-5
Oklahoma City Thunder	21	11	--		12-8
Utah Jazz	16	14	4		8-8
Denver Nuggets	13	17	7		7-12
Minnesota Timberwolves	12	17	7.5		8-11
PACIFIC	W	L	GB	DIV	CONF
Los Angeles Lakers	16	15	--		11-7
Los Angeles Clippers	15	16	1		9-8
Phoenix Suns	14	15	1		8-10
Sacramento Kings	13	18	3		8-12
Golden State Warriors	11	20	5		5-13
SOUTHWEST	W	L	GB	DIV	CONF
Memphis Grizzlies	18	11	--		6-7
Dallas Mavericks	18	12	0.5		12-7
San Antonio Spurs	18	13	1		11-9
Houston Rockets	15	14	3		11-7
New Orleans Hornets	11	16	6		7-10

NBA Trade News

Indiana Pacers trade Darren Collison to the Detroit Pistons for Ben Wallace and their first round pick

Detroit Pistons trade Jason Maxiell and their 2nd round pick for Philadelphias' Andres Nocioni

Rockets send Samuel Dalembert and this seasons first round pick to the Milwaukee Bucks for Beno Udrih and next years first round pick

Coaching Carousel

Detroit Pistons fire head coach Lawrence Frank and hire Julian Schneider to replace him.

[K0ZZ]

Heat win in way that reminds many of Lebrons days in Cleveland

South Beach claimed two victims and one was friendly fire. On their way to a huge victory and extending their play to continue a winning streak. The game was carried almost exclusively by the 'King' as he fired his way to 31 points scoring almost a third of their points on the way to a victory. No player would have a strong showing for the Hornets who can only have anything positive to say about this game being that they managed to stop two of the 'Big Three'.

Speaking on the big three, one will be out for almost a month. Dwayne Wade while shooting missed a shot, as he took a step back Chris Bosh and Gustavo Ayon crashed into him knocking him to the floor and as the Hornets started down court, the referees whistled the game dead as the super star laid on the hardwood writhing in pain. As of now it's being ruled as a lower back strain and he will be out for at least 2 weeks and could play while still suffering for two more. This is a big knock, the Hornets were close until LeBron heated up and the shooting went ice cold.

The Heat ran out to such a good record they won't lose much, but the Hawks could close some of the gap on them and start to make things be a little bit closer, something the Heat don't want. The Heat can expect to bounce around Norris Cole and Mario Chalmers at the 2 in the wake of the injury.

New Orleans Hornets at Miami Heat
Jan 2, 2012	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
New Orleans (11-7)	22	16	17	17	72
Miami (25-5)	23	28	22	23	96

New Orleans Hornets
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Eric Gordon	24	5-12	2-4	3-3	5	7	2	2	5	15
Wesley Matthews	28	4-14	1-9	0-0	4	3	0	2	2	9
Thaddeus Young	28	4-8	2-4	3-4	2	1	0	1	4	13
Gustavo Ayon	28	5-10	0-0	1-2	6	0	0	1	2	11
Greg Oden	24	2-7	0-0	2-2	9	2	0	0	0	6
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Mo Williams	15	1-3	1-1	0-0	0	8	0	0	0	3
Joey Graham	9	1-1	0-0	0-0	2	0	1	0	0	2
Al-Farouq Aminu	11	2-4	2-3	2-2	1	0	2	0	0	8
Jarrett Jack	1	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jake Robinson	9	1-4	1-4	0-0	0	1	0	0	0	3
Pops Mensah-Bonsu	9	1-3	0-0	0-0	4	1	1	0	2	2
Trey Johnson	1	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TEAM TOTALS		26-67	9-25	11-13	33	23	6	6	15	72

Miami Heat
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Mario Chalmers	20	5-9	1-2	0-0	2	1	3	1	0	11
Dwayne Wade	10	1-3	0-0	2-2	0	1	1	1	0	4
LeBron James	24	13-22	0-1	5-6	5	3	2	1	2	31
Chris Bosh	22	3-8	0-0	0-0	10	1	0	1	1	6
Udonis Haslem	20	1-2	0-0	4-4	5	0	2	0	0	6
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Norris Cole	17	4-7	0-1	4-4	4	1	2	0	2	12
Shane Battier	20	4-9	2-4	0-0	4	3	2	1	0	10
TEAM TOTALS		37-71	3-9	19-23	44	18	14	6	8	96

The rest of the week

vs Philadelphia 76ers (10-22) W 84-82

Escaping with a win against a bottom of the league team is never impressive but this a big way to keep themselves out of the basement of the NBA and it all helps in the long run. Players rather sell their talents to winning teams, not bottom feeders and continuing success will help in the offseason. The Hornets battled back after a somewhat slow first half but with a huge third quarter would rally to go ontop. Mo Williams led off the bench allowing Eric Gordon to get much more rest, going 6-13 from the field for 16 points, Jake Robinson had another great game from the bench with 12 points on 4-5 shooting and 3-4 from beyond the arc.

This game was won by the bench, Mo Williams, Jake Robinson, Jarrett Jack (11), Trey Johnson (6), Pops Mensah-Bonsu (6) and Joey Graham (1) combined for 52 of 84 points. A rare game where the bench was responsible for the win. Oddly enough the Sixers out rebounded and had more assists than the Hornets yet still lost. What killed them was a slightly poorer shot selection.

Denver Nuggets (14-19) W 103-75

Losing by one at the end of the first quarter, the Hornets rallied in a huge way scoring 41 in the second quarter and would never look back en route to a 28 point victory over the ailing Nuggets. The Nuggets have had their up and downs in the wake of the Carmelo trade and at this point they are hitting a downward slope. Thaddeus Young took advantage of their weakness at small forward dominating his matchup with Richard Jefferson, shutting him out from the field while scoring 21 points on his own and a few other minor stats.

On the alarming side of things, Eric Gordon continues to struggle. After starting out averaging over 20 points a game, Gordon has seen recently his totals hitting single digits, this time going 2-12 (0-5 3 PT). Not a good showing for the center piece of this franchise. Mo Williams however stepped up yet again putting up 17 as he is starting to make more buzz to be a starter and shifting Eric Gordon back to his traditional 2 guard spot.

Houston Rockets (15-18) W 111-87

Thaddeus Young was put on the other side of things as he stumbled in this one, going 4-8 from the field with 11 points, raising his boards to 7. Yet his defense was problematic as Terrence Williams would put up 23 points on the young forward. His over aggressive play keyed in on part of his 14 shots from the charity stripe. Wesley Matthews stepped forward in this blow out victory going 6-11 from the field with 19 points.

Mo Williams was once again spectacular, going 7-10 from the field for 17 points, only getting a pair of assists. Greg Oden finally would notch a double-double with a 14 point 12 rebound evening. Jake Robinson is earning his playing time the hard way grinding his way onto this roster, 12 points in limited minutes. Gustavo Ayon and Eric Gordon struggled, Ayon would put up 5 points and pull in 8 boards but more production on the offensive and defensive end are needed. Eric Gordon continues to struggle getting the ball into the hoop. He did limit his shots however, only shooting 7 times in this one.