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

[studbucket]

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

Man, Zo and Johnson are dominating the league right now. If they can stay healthy going forward, you'll have a shot at top two seed in the East -- huge for avoiding the Cavs until the ECF.

Yeah, but I'm realizing the loss of Gill hurt more than expected. He's a great slasher, can hit any two, some threes, and plays good defense. It'll be nice to have him back.

Grandmama should be getting some serious MVP love soon with his play so far.

Yeah, he's been a revelation. Too strong for SFs, too quick for PFs. It's pretty remarkable. He and Gill running the fast break with Dell Curry as the 3rd wheel has been awesome.

[studbucket]

Coach J Protégé Report

Through 20 games, how are Coach J’s former player’s doing? 4 of the 7 players have been signed to rosters, and 3 of those 4 are on very strong teams, possible title contenders.

Joey Fletcher, PG, Knicks
Fletcher is currently hurt, but is also leading all rookies in assists (7.9 apg) and is averaging 10.4 PPG while starting at PG for the Knicks. When asked about Fletcher’s progress so far, Coach J praised his ability to come into a new team and settle right in as a distributor, but he did say he though Joey’s three-ball was struggling a bit as he adjusts to the new distance.

Hope Law, SG, Hawks
Just like his fellow classmate, Hope Law has spent some time injured. Despite the injury, it’s been a promising start to the season as he’s starting for the Hawks and shooting 42% from deep and 6 rebounds a game. As he settles into his game, he could prove to be far more potent than Kyle Korver has been for the Hawks.

Tommy Camper, C, Cavaliers
In his 3^rd season, Camper has broken into the Cavaliers starting lineup and is an adequate, if unspectacular, role player. Everyone can see his potential, but the athleticism hasn’t quite translated into stats yet as he averages 5 points, 7.4 boards, and 1.7 blocks per game. Coach J was reserved when asked about Camper, not willing to publicly comment on where the young center’s game was lacking.

Chief Bing, C, Rockets
Biding his time behind Dwight Howard, Bing has given the Rockets a great option for the future and the league’s tallest 6^th man. Coming off the bench, he’s still getting over 11 rebounds a game but is raw on the offensive end. Despite averaging 4 offensive rebounds a game, he’s only getting 5.1 points. When asked about Bing, Coach J praised his tenacity and chalked his lack of offensive production up to the team he’s on, stating “the Rockets don’t need buckets when they have James Harden.”

Wallace Anrin, SF, Free Agents
The 27 year-old is coming off of major foot surgery and looking for ~$6 million a year, both of which have kept him unsigned for the time being. Teams around the league are interested, but we won’t see any movement until he lowers his expectations.

Paul Noonan, SG, Free Agents
Paul Noonan is exactly the type of player Coach J wants to sign…except he can’t. In addition to the Hornets being above the cap, the 28 year-old, 6’7” sharpshooter is currently in rehabilitating his opiate addiction. Being a big star in Boise went to his head, and the 6^th year pro thought he was invincible and made some very poor decisions. When pushed for his thoughts on Noonan, Coach J only asked that “we keep him in our prayers, so that he may be healed.”

Romain Martin, SG, Free Agents
Yearning for more playtime, the undersized shooting guard from Eastern Illinois took a big payday from a Chinese team. However, after just 8 months he came back to the US, not being able to cope being so far from friends and family. He’s eager to fill a bench role in the NBA, but teams are wary of the impact he’ll have on the locker room.

[studbucket]

December 12, 2015 vs Boston Celtics

The Hornets were missing Kendall Gill. Andre Roberson could fill in nicely on defense and Dell Curry was shooting better, but they just lost handily to both the Heat and the Grizzlies. Teams were able to focus on Mourning and Johnson, trying to force the other players to beat them. Without a dynamic 3^rd player (on both ends of the court), the young Hornets just got swallowed up and barely generated any offense. Against Memphis, ‘Zo scored 7 points and Charlotte went 31-90 from the field.

Next up was the second game of a back-to-back: a home game against the Celtics. This was a game that had the whole town talking. They weren’t excited for the Celtics though. They wanted to see Muggsy Bogues against his former teammates. However, this wasn’t the Muggsy they were used to seeing. Coach Stevens had decided to use a very unorthodox approach, starting Muggsy at the 2 and letting Isaiah Thomas continue to handle the point. Surprisingly, it had been working OK with the Celtics 5^th in the East at 13-10, looking like they were on track to make the playoffs on the strength of a competent and deep roster.

Though deep and competent, Coach J saw a team he could push around. He knew why he got rid of Bogues, and he planned to out-muscle and bully this Celtics team. The game was quite close in the first quarter, as the Hornets had their way on offense, led by Larry Johnson. However, Isaiah Thomas was also hot, knocking down several shots and keeping the Celtics alive.

The 2^nd quarter was where things turned around for the Hornets. ‘Zo, enraged by the zero shots he took in the first quarter, took over the 2^nd quarter, racking up 3 blocks, cleaning the glass, and getting Tyler Zeller into foul trouble over the span of just a few minutes. As a team, the Hornets stepped up to take away the perimeter and force the Celtics into the paint. The plan worked, as Charlotte went into halftime with a 19 point lead and never looked back.

The team rolled through the 2^nd half, getting Tyler Zeller to foul out, holding Thomas to just 6 more points, and keeping Marcus Smart from scoring a single bucket.

The Hornets get a 3-day rest before playing the Magic, Raptors, and Wizards over the course of 4 nights. Coach J told his team to enjoy the win and is planning on letting them rest up in the hopes they can keep up the active defense and fast break buckets.

[trekfan]

Re: December 12, 2015 vs Boston Celtics

^That's the way to show up former teammates. Nicely done. Sorry Muggsy

[megarover]

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

Thomas and Bogues could quite possibly be the smallest NBA backcourt ever. Would be about the size of a high school JV team

[studbucket]

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

Thomas and Bogues could quite possibly be the smallest NBA backcourt ever. Would be about the size of a high school JV team

I'd go with 7th grade team. Pretty sure I was 5'9"in middle school and our point guards were taller than 5'3".

[studbucket]

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

At the 0:45 second mark in the video above, you can see the Celtics' lack of height really hurting them. In 2 minutes, 'Zo gets 3 blocks on David Lee, Thomas, and Sullinger. Funny thing is: Bogues got an offensive board.

[studbucket]

December 13, 2015 Win @ Raptors

Feeling rested and having just locked down the Orlando Magic, the Hornets welcome Kyle Lowry and the Toronto Raptors to town. Looking at the Raptors, Coach J saw some obvious weaknesses down low and was hoping to feed ‘Zo all game. Once the game started, it turns out he had under-estimated Scola’s defensive ability and Mourning wasn’t going to just bully his way to buckets all game.

Instead, the Hornets got out on the break and got buckets in transition, especially from Dell Curry. The Toronto crowd saw a different side of the sharpshooter as he only went 1-4 from deep, but managed 26 points, mostly in the transition game. This marks Curry’s 2^nd straight game with at least 25 points, which has been key for the Celtics as they need a wing scorer to pick up Gill’s slack.

It was also the 2^nd straight game of 37+ points for Larry Johnson and another double-double for ‘Zo. Andre Roberson has continued his good start for the Hornets, picking up another 7 assists and playing strong defense.

After the game, Coach J was worried about his team’s defense. “We couldn’t slow down Derozan, Lowry, and Scola, letting them get easy buckets all night. I’m glad we won fairly easily, but I would rather win 100-90 than 120-110."

[trekfan]

Re: December 13, 2015 Win @ Raptors

^Larry Johnson is a sick, sick man. Nasty! Toronto just had their passports rejected, head back to Canada!

[studbucket]

December 21, 2015 @ Houston

Fresh off of 4 straight wins the Hornets find themselves half a game behind the Cavs in the East and heading into Houston to face the league-leading Rockets. Not only is this a big test for the Hornets, but Coach J gets to face off against former player, and Houston 6^th man, Chief Bing.

Coach J’s team was certainly outmatched at the guard spots and ‘Zo will have his hands full with Howard on both ends of the court. Once again, Coach would likely need to rely on Larry Johnson to create mismatches with the Rockets forwards while also trying to slow down the Rockets offense. Andre Roberson would likely end up seeing more minutes as a defensive specialist, although his shooting left a lot to be desired.

Ultimately, the game was a barn burner with both teams grabbing 10 point leads in different parts of the game, shooting the lights out, and playing suspect defense. In the end, it was a nerve-wracking, yet big statement, win for the young Hornets team on the road.

Both teams shot lights out in the first quarter, with the Hornets started fast and getting out to a 10 point lead. Sessions and ‘Zo were consistently getting pick and roll baskets, but Houston took advantage of Charlotte’s second unit and came roaring back.

The 2^nd quarter was back and forth, with Corey Brewer getting 19 points in the first half, and James Harden became a master distributor as the Hornets focused on him. The game was within 2 points at half, but the 3^rd quarter was a much different game. A sloppy quarter full of missed shots and turnovers, both teams only scored 19 points. Midway through the quarter, the Rockets were up ten before their 2^nd unit started to fall apart and the 3^rd quarter ended with Houston up 83-81.

The drama continued in the last quarter, as the fans anxiously watched to see who would step up to be their hero. Those hoping for it to be Harden would be disappointed, as he opened the quarter with a bad turnover and missed some key shots down the stretch. Both teams shook off the rust of the 3^rd quarter, and the first units went back and forth in entertaining fashion. The Rockets held the slight advantage until there was 1:30 left in the game, when the Hornets tied it up at 114.

With the pressure turned up on both teams, we didn’t see players step up, instead getting a sloppy 90 seconds with several players faltering. No gaffe was more apparent than Ty Lawson dribbling off the last 12 seconds for an average shot from 17 feet and ignoring James Harden.

The players were ecstatic with the win, and Coach J was proud of the resolve his team showed by coming back from down 10 on the road to the best team in the league.

Sitting tied with the Cavs at the top of the East, led by the double-double duo of ‘Zo & Grandmama, and getting Gill and Gibson back in 2 weeks, Hornets fans were sitting pretty excited for what was yet to come.

Here’s the sloppy last 1:30 of the game:

Chief Bing had a solid game with 7 points and 7 rebounds, but could have had a much larger impact as he only went 3-9 from the field.

[OliDegu2008]

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

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

[studbucket]

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

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]

2015 30 Game Update

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]

Re: 2015 30 Game Update

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]

December 30, 2015 win vs Clippers

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.

******