Hornets - Taking care of our business

by Seth Pollack on May 6, 2008 7:45 AM MDT

Two games in and the Hive is doing what we could not. Pounding the Spurs and boy does it feel nice.

This series is far from over and you can bet that Pop is going to have his team ready to fight in game 3 after losing the first two on the road. The Hornets though are looking very good and exposing the Spurs main weakness - lack of offensive depth and appearantly some form of unpleasant odor .

Coach of the Year Byron Scott has put together a game plan that has the lane packed and Timmy denied. He is daring the Spurs aging role players to beat him and they simply can't. This was the defensive adjustment that our dearly (soon) departed Suns coach refused to make until game 4.

I worried going in to the series that the Spurs would simply key in on Paul and the Hornets would grind to a halt. But the Hornets have shown more balance and versatility in their attack then I thought possible. Learning the lessons and adjusting their game, they are running less pick and rolls (which the Spurs defend so well with their great team D) and going more to isolation matchups that are in their favor. Again, an adjustment that G.W.D'Antoni didn't make until he was already down 0-3.

Most importantly however, the Hornets are playing with passion and fire and coming out with a chip on their shoulder. They understand from Chris Paul to Melvin Ely that to beat the Spurs they are going to need to bring it for 48 minutes. They understand that a better collection of talent stepping on the floor isn't going to get it done.

They play together and they play for each other and its been a joy to watch.

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Great games

Hornets are showing that the Spurs are old and do not have enough firepower.

Egad. What does that say about the Suns?

Wondering what the skip-2-my-loo to do next with my empty summer

by ZonaFlash on May 6, 2008 9:11 AM MDT reply actions

The west is not getting any easier..

This looks bad for our Suns, but I’m having fun watching CP3 and his crew do their thing.

"Basketball doesn't build character. It reveals it"

by PanamaSun on May 6, 2008 9:15 AM MDT up reply actions

It was shocking how many times manu

turned the ball over in this game.

Wondering what the skip-2-my-loo to do next with my empty summer

by ZonaFlash on May 6, 2008 9:17 AM MDT reply actions

I totally want to see Peja, choke artist

get another chance at the Lakers, and maybe win this one.

Wondering what the skip-2-my-loo to do next with my empty summer

by ZonaFlash on May 6, 2008 9:18 AM MDT reply actions

Trades

Anyone else wondering how unfair life is ? I mean, Mike James and Bonzi Wells have a shot at a chip out of nowhere…

Frustrating

by lobsang on May 6, 2008 9:28 AM MDT reply actions

Wells

That’s what I kept wondering as I watched last night.

Bonzi couldn’t cut it even though he was reunited with Adelman, and look at hime now! Role player getting 10 points and hustling all over the court.

Why can’t the Suns get guys like that? Why can’t they motivate guys like that?

I saw a post somewhere (maybe not here) saying something like, “Look, better coaches (Byron Scott notwithstanding) have just beaten Mike D’Antoni. There’s no shame in that.”

My gut response is that Scott is a good coach. He took the Nets to two Finals, losing to the Lakers (not his fault) with essentially the same squad that, since then, is struggling to reach .500. I always respected him as a player (while hating the Lakers) and think he’s done a great job. Going into the playoffs, I thought the Hornets might fall prey to the “happy-to-be-here” mentality that bit the Suns in the butt in 2004-2005. That does not appear to be happening.

These guys are frightening.

Mmmmm ... Guinness

by JSun on May 6, 2008 11:06 AM MDT up reply actions

That was my post on coaches

I was comparing AJ to D’Antoni, and saying they both just got out-coached by Hall-of-Famers the last 3 years (Nellie, Riles, Pop), and excepting Byron Scott from that list. He certainly might end up there someday if he keeps going the way he has.

Going into the Spurs series, I really thought the champs were running out of gas, but obviously they had enough left to handle the Suns and make it a short series to boot. I think we’re watching the Hornets go with some of the same plans the Suns had, only they’re actually executing them. This series isn’t over, but the Hornets sure look good right now, don’t they?

by SoCalSun on May 6, 2008 11:32 AM MDT up reply actions