Bringing Back the Buzz: Zo & '92-93 Hornets

[OliDegu2008]

This is awesome! Love the throwback. Keep it up!

[studbucket]

Quote: Originally Posted by OliDegu2008

This is awesome! Love the throwback. Keep it up!

Thanks, I'm glad you're enjoying it. The last game is one that I would have previously lost, so it was fun to eek out a win.

[studbucket]

The Hornets are going into the final game of 2015 on an 8-game winning streak that included 5 wins over Eastern conference foes and a statement win over the league-leading Rockets in Houston. The team is starting to play well together, and will be boosted by the returns of Kendall Gill and Taj Gibson in the next week.

December 2015

Alonzo Mourning and Larry Johnson continue to exceed all expectations. The duo rank 4^th and 5^th in PER, are both averaging 21+ points and 11+ rebounds per game, and are leading a defense that only allows 95 points per game. Larry Johnson is also sitting 5^th in Eastern frontcourt All-Star voting and ‘Zo is sitting 9^th.

Things will get harder for the Coach J’s boys in the coming weeks, however. The Hornets have only played 12 road games so far, and 4 of their next 6 are on the road, including 2 games against the Clippers and games against the Warriors and Thunder.

Hornets team stats so far

Some notes from around the league:

• The Wizards are 3-26 and have fired coach Randy Wittman and hired Howard Eisley
• Tony Parker is out for 4-6 months with a dislocated right patella
• The Warriors are underperforming and sitting at 16-14 and 9^th in the West
• The Thunder are just 1 spot ahead of them at 17-15
• The Phoenix Suns are 22-11 and have surprised everyone as they are the 3^rd place team in the West
• The East only has 5 teams with records above .500: Cavs, Hornets, Heat, Bulls, and Knicks

West standings

East standings

[trekfan]

That's a tough slate of games coming up. I'd aim for a split and hope for the best ... I bet you take the Clippers twice.

[studbucket]

The Hornets picked up their 10^th straight win with an easy victory over the Clippers. Los Angeles came in 2^nd in the West, despite playing most of the season without Blake Griffin. The lack of Griffin really hurt them tonight as Mourning, Johnson, Olynyk and Johnson combined for 89 points and 37 rebounds. The Clippers got nothing inside on offense, but Chris Paul, Josh Smith, and J.J Redick were able to get their buckets. Paul was especially impressive as he racked up 32 points, rebounds, and 13 assists.

After an up-and-down first quarter, the Hornets put out a more defensive lineup featuring Andre Roberson and pulled away, ending up by 16 points. Alonzo Mourning and Larry Johnson both had 21 points in the first half, with ‘Zo getting his on 10-12 shooting.

After that, the Hornets coasted to a victory led by Alonzo Mourning’s 39 points.

******

[studbucket]

Quote: Originally Posted by trekfan

That's a tough slate of games coming up. I'd aim for a split and hope for the best ... I bet you take the Clippers twice.

Yeah, game one vs Clips was pretty easy. We'll see if game 2 ends up that way. Jordan was a complete non-factor.

[studbucket]

The red hot Hornets roll into the Bay Area ready for a matchup with the under-performing Warriors. Both Klay Thompson and Andrew Bogut are injured, and the rest of the roster hasn't been able to fill in. 33 games in, the Warriors are only 17-16.

Coming into the game, the big story was the father-son matchup between Steph and Dell Curry. Leaving the game, everyone could see that the son outplayed the father, but Dad got the W.

Surprisingly, the game started off very defensively. Both teams were locking down the other, with the Warriors forcing a lot of turnovers and the Hornets forcing a lot of bad shots. WIth 5:45 left in the first, the score was only 13-12. After a timeout, Coach J moved away from the pick and roll game and Charlotte established a rhythm by letting Kendall Gill use his explosiveness off of isolation and through motion in the offense. Golden State's 2nd unit responded well, and they and Larry Johnson went back and forth to end the 1st quarter.

Golden State brought on their starters and got hot to start the 2nd quarter and the Hornets had to slow things down and lean on Mourning (15 points), Johnson (21), and Gill (13) to keep it close. At half, only 5 players had points for the Hornets.

The 2nd half began with some role reversals. Leandro Barbosa, who had been awful in the first half, hit 2 straight three pointers and scored 10 in the quarter to lead the Warriors to an 8 point lead. The Hornets stormed back by riding the offense and defense of Cole Aldrich and Avery Bradley and by playing a more physical brand of basketball, forcing the Warriors into 8 third quarter fouls.

Despite being close heading into the 4th quarter, Golden State wore down and started regularly forcing shots and passes, letting the Hornets runaway with a victory.

Larry Johnson (39 points, 10 boards, 5 assists) and Alonzo Mourning (29 points, 10 boards, and 4 blocks) once again led the Hornets, but Andre Roberson was a key role player, logging 4 steals, 5 assists, 2/2 shooting, no turnovers, and a +/- of 23 in 24 minutes.

[studbucket]

The Hornets have 15 straight wins and the best record in the NBA and welcome the .500 Hawks into town. This also represents Coach J's first matchup against rookie sharpshooter, and former Coach J player, Hope Law. Before the game, Coach J praised Law's skillset, but mentioned he could learn a lot about the game mentally from longtime veteran Dell Curry.

Grandmama has been on fire leading up to this game, and Coach J will be looking to continue to ride him to victory.

Coach J’s pre-game comments turned out to be immediately true as Dell Curry smothered Law and completely locked down his perimeter game. Law would have an up-and-down game and got a few nice looking buckets off of drives, but never found a rhythm and neither did the Hawks.

The Hornets rode fast-break buckets to an amazing first quarter and found themselves up 36-13 as the Hawks couldn’t slow down the Hornets or manage to get the spacing they needed to pick up buckets.

Atlanta got into more of a rhythm the rest of the game, finding some outside shots, especially from Horford. After generating a huge lead, the Hornets got a bit sloppy and let the Hawks get back to within 3 after a 9-1 Hawks run in the 3^rd.

Coach J decided to quit resting his starters and Bradley and Mourning turned it on in the 4^th quarter, leading the Hornets to their 16^th straight victory.