Unexpected, this is. And unfortunate.
You know how much I love seeing the Hornets get media hype. You know it’s the mission on which this site was built.
But there’s such a thing as overhype. I know, unbelievable, right?
Even I was rolling my eyes at the torrent of articles last week talking about the meteoric rise of the Hornets, the Changing of the Guard, and how Chris Paul is the Next Coming of Whoever and the Savior of Basketball. Partly because, well, yeah, the Hornets are up-and-coming. Thanks for finally noticing. But I thought it was overhype. It was too much too soon.
I thought, “Well, the Hornets needed playoff confidence, so maybe it’s OK?” But there’s a difference between confidence and believing your own legend. And maybe the Hornets started believing their legend, a little too much. See, that’s the thing about the media. They’re not content with you and your story. They’ve got to spin it, they’ve got to enlarge it, they’ve got to shape it into something else more exciting. That story? That’s not you. It’s something they made, and then called by your name. But you’re in trouble now. Now the Spurs believe their own legend. And if you’re the Hornets, that is the very last thing you wanted to let happen.
You thought the Spurs were going to be content to win one game in their castle? You thought they were going to roll over for you? You thought this was going to be easy?
And now here we are, tied 2-2, with essentially a must-win Game 5 at home. Simply put, if the Hornets drop this game, I’m not sure I believe they can pull this out. I went on one of the forums last night and had to sign off in disgust. Supposed Hornets fans, bragging about how they’d picked the Spurs in 6 from the beginning? Why would you brag about that? Jesus. “Let me go on a fan forum and brag about my own total douchebaggery.” Yeah, no thanks. With fans like that, who needs enemies? Is this how it’s going to end, before it’s even over?
No. That’s not the way to go. That’s not the way the Hornets are going to go. Dropping 4 straight? That hasn’t happened all season.
It comes down to this.
Tell us what we have to do.
It’s come down to this before. And before, and before. If you were there, you remember. You know what the power of the mob can do. The Hornets are 17-1 at home going back to February. If you want us to boo, we’ll boo every time they’re touching the ball. If you want us to scream, we’ll scream. If you ask for gold, we will give you gold. (And, in fact, more gold shirts are on the schedule for Tuesday night.)
And so, here’s my message to the Hornets: We’re your home advantage. You created us. You made us, from 8,000 half-assed people in the lower bowl to what we are today. It’s your advantage. You earned it. Just like you earned the right to be in a best-of-3, this week, with the defending champions. Me, personally? I will do whatever it takes. But unfortunately, guys, I don’t get to be on the court playing the game. That part’s up to you.
I somehow feel arts and crafts time coming on… and you know what that means.
FAN UP OR SHUT UP.
We had damned well better dress our wounds quickly and carefully, because the Champs smell blood now. They are going to come out and try to take us (the crowd) right out of the game early. These are NOT the Dallas Maverick choke artists. We got taught a serious lesson last night, and it was probably one we needed to learn to be honest. Based on what the preseason expectations of what this Hornets team was supposed to do, even if we drop the next two games and the season comes to an end, its still a success. Our guys would have gained alot of experience and alot of respect from folks around the league.
I just have one wish, can Charles Barkley PLEASE go back to picking against us again?
I actually had that thought about Charles Barkley last week… makes me damn nervous. After saying all spring the Hornets should have more love, that lovefest last week had the look of a jinx if I ever saw one.
I thought the Hornets were going to be the ones smelling blood. Offensively, if the shots aren’t falling, they’re not falling. But being a step behind on defense? That’s related to your aggression, and it wasn’t enough.
Personally, the thing I’ve said all year was that playoff experience means zilch for us, but if we don’t make jumpers: We. Will. Lose. I’ve always said how our team has weak interior offense, and because Predrag is wrapped up quite well, it limits how much we can spread the floor, further compounding on our shot selections. CP is limited to taking over the game himself, but he’s limited when he can’t get the team involved, as noted by his assist count. Although I’ve heard ‘pick your poison’ against CP, it’s pretty obvious that one poison is more effective than the other.
As for defense, I never really knew our D was so tough (reminder that Hornets had like… 1 game on network TV until after the ‘Break), but it’s been breaking down heavily. But it’s not man-man, it’s rotation. I personally am a big advocate of man-man against the Spurs, because when Popovich runs plays off in the middle, we end up clogging the paint and leave some random stray player out on the open, whether 3 or just a long jumper. That’s killed us the last two games, as you know.
And I completely agree with the above statements of respect. I’ve always loved repping the Hornets because nobody in Texas cared for them (Charlotte or New Orleans), so it’s weird seeing bandwagon fans here and there.
One more thing, Reggie showed a little *too* much excitement for the Spurs yesterday. I think I know who he put his money on.
That’s the thing Hornets fans know about CP, Mark. “Scoring CP” isn’t going to cut it, because that’s not the amazing talent of CP. Cut out the assists and you cut out what makes him better than a good player: a great player. He’s not “the next whoever it is this week” because of scoring. Just not who he is.
I know he made some huge errors in the 2nd quarter, but I gotta think part of the answer is more Julian Wright. Those guys looked energized in their garbage time. Except Bonzi still can’t hit a shot inside, for whatever reason, and Pargo… oh, he hit some threes, but how many million shots did he have to take to get them? I thought going small with Pargo led to some horrific mismatches after Tyson got in foul trouble. Seems like B Scott can’t trust any of the backup big men, and you’ve got to think that’s going to become a priority in the offseason.
I don’t know what the answer is, because I don’t coach basketball. Getting fired up by the crowd and staying that way can’t hurt though. And somehow, which is a statistical anomaly if you have any kind of common sense, those jumpers seem to fall at home.
Being on the road in a playoff situation REALLY gets under your skin, so that’s why I’ve been professing that it’s the elite teams that win on the road.
I, too, think JuJu is going to complement our team very well, but he’s still young. Hell, our whole team is young, but I noticed even when we were in the game in the first, our whole team hesitated with shots. Not really with DX (I agree with him stepping in to his mid-range game), but more out of fear or something. Hesitation isn’t a prob, but when you’re hesitating because you’re not confident, shots will not fall. Hopefully the fans CAN energize our team and provide some much-needed confidence.
Good news is that statistically we are still in this series; something we need to keep in mind, despite the blowout (we blew them out twice!). We’re not down 0-4, right? So regroup, and re-up on some hard work. Geaux Hornets, woo woo woo!
Peja missed layups early, and he’s got the most playoff experience of any Hornet… and just look at the Celtics. There’s definitely something to the playoff road jitters.
Hell, if you average our two wins and their two, we blew them out by MORE.
I’m gonna BOOOO when the Spurs have the ball. I’m gonna BOOO if a hornet is called for an offensive foul. I’m gonna cheer when the Hornets get a stop or score points. That’s about it.
Hell yeah. The boo power will rejuvenate the Hornets. They’re going to feel the crowd, see the gold, and take it to the Spurs.
The boys wont be able to hear me, so you all gotta represent for me too.
GEAUX BEES!
we need to boo so much. I’m going to be hoarse by tomorrow night. EVERYONE needs to boo. I hope the fire marshals allow us to oversell the building. we need as many bodies in their as possible. 18,500 anyone?
They better ask the fire marshals, because you know what we need? ……………. THE RING OF FIRE!
I Belive BeeScee(Byron Scott) Is going to come up with some answer to the spurs defenese. He might some way free the 3 pt line in the offensive end, in addition I believe man on man is what he might do for the defensive end. T.C. can guard duncan by him self bruce bowen and ginobili is who we should be afraid. of I look forward to seeing Peja actually score some buckets. I’m not worried about the lost saturday, i’m going to the game with the same heart i had in the first series.
OK, peeps time for us to FAN UP and make them Texicans rue to day they crossed into the Hive. We gots to make this a poisonous place for them thar Spurs!
My voice is shot.
Mine too. But, ah, was it worth it.