No, seriously. I challenge you.
That was nothing less than a masterful ass-kicking from start to finish. I think most Hornets fans were concerned about the fact that, going back to the last 10 games before the playoffs started, we haven’t seen consistent play throughout four quarters. Well, we saw what it looks like tonight.
It cannot be stopped.
Chris Paul. Again. 32 and 17 with 5 rebounds and 3 steals. Five other Hornets in double digits. West knocking down 11 of 17 (damn, it didn’t seem like he missed that many). And seriously? Did they watch the tape on West? How was he left alone for those couple of mid-range jumpers? Peja is just dirty. No, dirty. That shot where he waits… waits… and then after the defender flies across him and into the crowd, just sloooowwwly goes up and buries the dagger.
Giant Peja heads on sticks: whatever drugs the Hornets’ staff were on when they came up with that idea, I want in. In the 4th Quarter there was actually what resembled a Native American dance of sorts at center court with the Peja heads. To the tune of “Shout!” You can’t make this stuff up.
2-0. This thing is rolling. There’s still room on the wagon. Get on it now.
HypeMeter: The press conference is on NBATV right now. I laughed out loud at the question that was just asked of Byron Scott. “Coach, is there any way to defend your team when you look like that on offense?” LOL again at CP3 and D West coming in together, joking back and forth the whole way. “No, no, they said Haier, like the commercial, but I thought they were saying ‘on fire’…” (I have no idea what this conversation was about or where it started, but it was funny.)
Weak spot. Foul trouble, if the Mavs would be 5 points closer and we would have the first 5 with 4-5 fouls it would’ve been a lot harder for us to pull off.
Peja heads on sticks are the stuff of legend.
I, too, can give some areas the Hornets need to improve on after this game, but I’m a masochist.
But the Mavs weren’t 5 points closer. And the first 5 didn’t have 4-5 fouls. So while the Mavs themselves have proved that taking a 2-0 lead can get you a 2-4 drubbing, I’m going to go ahead and agree with ticktock on this one. While there is no such thing as a “perfect” game in real application, there weren’t any weakspots in last night’s Hornets game. Points for improvement, sure. Always. But weakspots? Nope. Good job Bees.
“Giant Peja heads on sticks: whatever drugs the Hornets’ staff were on when they came up with that idea, I want in.” FOR REAL!!… those things crack me up.
Not really a weakness, but more of a concern: We, especially Chandler, need to get our tempers under control. Once you have 7 Technical fouls in the playoffs, its a 1-game suspension, and TC already has 2. Other than that, I got nothing.
Doesn’t West also have 2? If this ends up being a long playoff run, it could become a concern.
I guess you could find weak spots. For one thing, imagine if Pargo/Peja/Mo Pete’s shots hadn’t been falling. But overall, it was one of the greatest whole-game performances the Hornets have put together. And this is sure a great time for it.
The Hornets played with great poise and patience last night. Now the big challenge is to do it in Dallas for games 3 and 4. And it’s great that Chris Paul is already accepting this challenge. I don’t think CP3 will settle for a split in the Big D. His mindset is to have a killer instinct and don’t let the Mavericks have a chance in winning.
By the way, great site, mW and ticktock6. I am based in Toronto, Canada and have followed the Hornets closely this season, especially with former Toronto Raptor Mo Pete joining the team this season. Like the way the Hornets play and CP3 is a legend in the making.
Go Hornets!
I can assure you that no chemical enhancements were used to come up with the idea for those giant Peja heads, Mikey!
I heard today that Peja’s agent and some of Peja’s friends think those things are hilarious though.
I wonder if they told Peja about them before hand or if suddenly he makes a trey, trots back down court, and there they were…?
But Jim, were drugs involved in the spinning Bonzi head? This is what I must know.
mW– If I looked up and there was a giant head of myself on a stick I’d die laughing and not be able to finish the game. Perhaps Peja is a little more mentally focused.
ticktock6- Technical Foul count: DX (1), Ceiling Fan Repair Man (2). VERY big problem, if you ask me. Even Kobe’s not that bitchy. We’ve got at least 14 more game before the chip, so chill the F out. We’ve had this discussion before, and if we have to bring it up again, I might have to take said Peja-sticks and shove it up someone’s ass.
Personally felt our defense had room for improvement. I know it’s almost impossible to shut down a team to 0% FG, but 50 beyond the arc shows there needs to be better rotation. Mavs had 10 offensive boards, we had 4 (to be fair, all of our shots were falling though). Dirk was certainly attacking the basket with 15 FT attempts, so we need to be careful about him in the paint. Still no answer to Brandon Bass’s 100% FG-FT shooting.
Chris Paul 3 TO in the third. Completely unacceptable (which is sarcasm, but there appears to be no formatting button to convey that). I think that gives him a 5.67 AST/TO ratio? Pathetic.
I know you guys will have retorts for my concerns, but remember, I’m going by stats and not by memory. I didn’t really watch until it was over, which I concede, was quite early.
After a 67-51 start, defense is bound to slip a little. It’s human nature. Nonetheless, the Hornets came out strong in the third and ended that period up by twenty points. I’m sure that’s what allowed the Mavs to go 8-15 in the 4th quarter. No one cared as much by then, especially as we kept our throats on their necks offensively. The Mavs can’t make a run if we keep scoring. And at one point in the fourth that lead was 28. So I think the defensive was stellar this game. It got the win. Was it perfect? Of course not. But weak? No way.
Oh, and Mark, RE the techs, sure there is totally concern about those for both D-West and Tyson. But I’d chalk that up to “series weakpoints” not “game weakpoints”. Neither impacted the outcome of THIS game.
mW,
I don’t think they told Peja that there would be giant likenesses of him being carried around on sticks during home games. Maybe mostly because he would’ve been like “Uh, what?”
I don’t know if they thought through the possibility that it would startle him and throw him off his game. Maybe if Peja has a poor shooting game he can keep that alibi in his back pocket as an excuse to the media. “You know guys, I was feeling good out there, up until I saw these three guys running frantically around the arena holding gigantic pictures of my face on a piece of wood.” Haha.
ticktock,
Maybe I have been on something during the games, but I have never seen the spinning Bonzi head that you are referring to. I asked someone who told me that they put it up on BuzzVision after he scores and whatnot, but I guess I always miss it. I will have to get back to you on how they came up with that idea (and after the random testing results come in).
mW~ Yeah, I just went overboard on weaknesses. I just want to remind that each game compounds on each other, but it’s actually deeper than series weakness. This’ll impact our whole playoff run.
Also, I really didn’t watch until the end, so statistically, those were the weak points I addressed. If I were coach, I’d still address those things, albeit with less significance than if we lost the game.