reNew Orleans
Clubbin' with Rasual Butler
Just going to keep a thread going for this one and add plays if I do play a game.
I'll try to break it down for yas... as objective as possible. This may not be completely organized, just going to ramble about thoughts. And I haven't really watched much of the Spurs all year, even during this post season so you can take that into account but you'll probably pick up a lot on the Hornets, I've seen them in basically every game this year except about 6 or so I know this team inside and out. If you want to use my last post as a sign as I dont know em, fine... Hornets choked at the end, Mavs just caught fire suddenly, that happens from time to time. But I feel like I capped Hornets games pretty well.
The Spurs are the team to beat obviously. You see it on ESPN, all the analysts are saying SAS except Stephen A i think which pisses me off that he would be on the Hornets because hes a idiot. Anyways the Spurs know that CP3 is going to be they key for my Hornets. The Spurs probably have some extra motivation heading into this series as well. Two of their three largest deficits this year? given to them by the Hornets of course. But still you know what to expect in general from the Spurs. Bowen should be manning up Peja or CP3. Peja of course caught fire as the Mavs series went on, I don't know his overall 3PT% but it was 62.5% going into game 5 so thats not too shabby. Anyways Manu is still recovering, as so he says, from his ankle injury that obviously hindered him in the last couple of games in Round 1. He can be a mismatch that needs to be taken advantage of if healthy. Parker is certainly able to do nearly anything he wants. He'll have to slash to the basket, but it depends on how the Hornets defense ends up playing (as a team) as to whether he can get inside and create. Thats what these guys do and we know they want to slash and kick out to shooters or go to Timmy inside and that'll certainly a target for them. They know we have a thin front court, they'll try to attack it to get Tyson in foul trouble. Pop was asked whether or not he'd use a hack-a-??? and he just responded saying whatever is legal within the rules is fair basically. Well I can see him wanting to hack Tyson all game long, it's probably not been mentioned but I suppose if we are down and we ever throw the ball inside that they'll do that. Luckily we don't give the ball to him much. The Spurs have also said they need to shut down everyone else besides CP3. That'll be tough to accomplish but our starters haven't exactly played as well as I would have liked to see them play in the 1st round, of course Peja is first in mind because we thrive on 3's. When we are at home there is nothing like a PEJA 3, you've seen the big PEJA-ON-A-STICKS during the 1st round. Like I said before Bowen has shut him down time and time again. Timmy/Fabricio/Kurt are going to have to defend that pick and roll well to start things off, I don't know how well either can step out on the perimeter to defend the mid range shot of D. West or to slow Paul down. Im not very familiar with the defenses the Spurs use either but I imagine they like to play man with Bowen on the floor. Tony Parker did rest up on Thursday during practice. He complained of being sore but you know the guy just blocks it out of his head, and he has to stay with CP3 and Pargo when he's defending either. Anyways you know the Spurs need Timmy/Parker/Ginobili to win this series and Ginobili has to get healthy in a hurry. Finley really struggled vs us this year so its crucial that they find another option for the Hornets to atleast respect.
Now to my Hornets. We lack all the experience in the world right? THIS is what counters it and it's the fact that we play some of the best TEAM ball in the league. I think it makes a significant difference actually... Sure we count on CP3 to carry the load but he is a distributor first/scorer second. That makes trouble for defenses all day because that allows him to get inside and make the little floaters or jumpers in the lane because everyone thinks hell pass. The playoff experience we do have, well its important but Pargo and Bonzi... both bench players are the ones with it. It pails in comparison to the Spurs but they have it, they know what has to be done. Pargo does take some terrible shots, but I've learned to accept it and its part of his game. Defenders have to be ready when guarding him because hell either try to blow right by you or pull up immediately, you don't know what to expect when guarding him. D-West will have to calm down, last series he looked as if he was forcing too many shots inside at times and he has to be confident in his jump shot and take it when its there instead of his pump fakes. CP3 has told him before, time and time again to take it so I'm sure hes been reminded. We play a good team defense, we like to trap and rotate one man to make you try and shoot an outside jumper. When we get our offense going, we often do this to frustrate you and we have one of the best team defenses in the league in my opinion. It's also important for us to make the Spurs turn the ball over. If I've learned anything all year is that we struggle if we dont do 2 or 3 of the following: Make 3 pt shots, rotate on defense, get fast break/transition baksets, get O-rebounds. Those are our keys. Anyways our bench was a HUGE reason why we went 4-1 vs the Mavs. The Spurs bench is definitely deeper but Bonzi and Juju both provide defensive options and Bonzi can play down low. Jujus long arms, If we decide to do this, he can disrupt manu or tony parker, and I feel like that could be huge. otherwise he'll have to try and make guys who aren't used to handling the ball turn it over. These guys can score off the bench but we'll definitely need 1 of the 3 to step up, but if they continue to contribute on defense like they have lately then offensively we should be alright. Pargo has stepped it up big time, and appears to be able to run the offense for an extended period of time, giving Paul important rest. The team chemistry is great, you can't deny that. Mo Pete, dont' know what his stats were in round 1 but he was making some shots for us and thats nice to see because he really became a waste of space. We just have to stay within ourselves, the players have to stay in their roles and I believe we can take this series. We know they Spurs aren't going to beat themselves, but we are actually very similar to the Spurs in the fact that we play team ball and are a team that relies on executing offensive sets, whether you're offense relies on the pick and roll or driving and creating. I know the Spurs will make it tough for us and probably will come out in the 1st quarter and knock us right out. We better be prepared because I can completely see being torched early like the Spurs did to the Suns a couple of these games. Pargo is the x-factor, bonzi's played well vs the Spurs before.
you can make the argument that the Hornets didnt play a very good team, but you also know the Suns don't play Defense and the Hornets do, with a better PG than the suns
this is going to be a very physical series, and I know as soon as the bad calls start coming the fans are going to be raucous in the Hive. The organization has done a GREAT job in getting fans to the games and keeping them involved. A lot of the fans may not understand when you should cheer/etc and are just hoping on the bandwagon but they make sure to keep them involved. Some of the sound board operators are pretty dumb though, they dont seem to know when to get the fans involved like starting chants when we are about to shoot FTs, still they are keeping fans involved and the team feeds off it.
Of and don't forget the fact that both teams are in the same division, they know each other inside and out, this will be a chippy series, bad calls will ignite both home courts, we were one of the best road teams this year, we can handle the pressure even if we haven't been in the playoffs, Byron Scott is a great coach and has informed the troops plenty of times. You won't see a 4-0 or 5-1 series... it's going to be long and intense for both teams.
Fans are just pumped about this game, we know we have to defend homecourt. Thats all I have to say.
This extra home game is very important. I really don't think the Spurs can take 2 from us at home. I also believe we can take one from the Spurs. With that being said... I think this goes 7 games, 4-3 Hornets. I don't see it going less than 7 either so 4-3 Hornets or Spurs, I just don't think it'll go less and should make up to be one of the BEST series this year.
Plays:
Series - New Orleans Hornets +120 (waiting to see if I can catch +125)
New Orleans Hornets -3 (waiting to see if I can catch -2.5)
I'll try to break it down for yas... as objective as possible. This may not be completely organized, just going to ramble about thoughts. And I haven't really watched much of the Spurs all year, even during this post season so you can take that into account but you'll probably pick up a lot on the Hornets, I've seen them in basically every game this year except about 6 or so I know this team inside and out. If you want to use my last post as a sign as I dont know em, fine... Hornets choked at the end, Mavs just caught fire suddenly, that happens from time to time. But I feel like I capped Hornets games pretty well.
The Spurs are the team to beat obviously. You see it on ESPN, all the analysts are saying SAS except Stephen A i think which pisses me off that he would be on the Hornets because hes a idiot. Anyways the Spurs know that CP3 is going to be they key for my Hornets. The Spurs probably have some extra motivation heading into this series as well. Two of their three largest deficits this year? given to them by the Hornets of course. But still you know what to expect in general from the Spurs. Bowen should be manning up Peja or CP3. Peja of course caught fire as the Mavs series went on, I don't know his overall 3PT% but it was 62.5% going into game 5 so thats not too shabby. Anyways Manu is still recovering, as so he says, from his ankle injury that obviously hindered him in the last couple of games in Round 1. He can be a mismatch that needs to be taken advantage of if healthy. Parker is certainly able to do nearly anything he wants. He'll have to slash to the basket, but it depends on how the Hornets defense ends up playing (as a team) as to whether he can get inside and create. Thats what these guys do and we know they want to slash and kick out to shooters or go to Timmy inside and that'll certainly a target for them. They know we have a thin front court, they'll try to attack it to get Tyson in foul trouble. Pop was asked whether or not he'd use a hack-a-??? and he just responded saying whatever is legal within the rules is fair basically. Well I can see him wanting to hack Tyson all game long, it's probably not been mentioned but I suppose if we are down and we ever throw the ball inside that they'll do that. Luckily we don't give the ball to him much. The Spurs have also said they need to shut down everyone else besides CP3. That'll be tough to accomplish but our starters haven't exactly played as well as I would have liked to see them play in the 1st round, of course Peja is first in mind because we thrive on 3's. When we are at home there is nothing like a PEJA 3, you've seen the big PEJA-ON-A-STICKS during the 1st round. Like I said before Bowen has shut him down time and time again. Timmy/Fabricio/Kurt are going to have to defend that pick and roll well to start things off, I don't know how well either can step out on the perimeter to defend the mid range shot of D. West or to slow Paul down. Im not very familiar with the defenses the Spurs use either but I imagine they like to play man with Bowen on the floor. Tony Parker did rest up on Thursday during practice. He complained of being sore but you know the guy just blocks it out of his head, and he has to stay with CP3 and Pargo when he's defending either. Anyways you know the Spurs need Timmy/Parker/Ginobili to win this series and Ginobili has to get healthy in a hurry. Finley really struggled vs us this year so its crucial that they find another option for the Hornets to atleast respect.
Now to my Hornets. We lack all the experience in the world right? THIS is what counters it and it's the fact that we play some of the best TEAM ball in the league. I think it makes a significant difference actually... Sure we count on CP3 to carry the load but he is a distributor first/scorer second. That makes trouble for defenses all day because that allows him to get inside and make the little floaters or jumpers in the lane because everyone thinks hell pass. The playoff experience we do have, well its important but Pargo and Bonzi... both bench players are the ones with it. It pails in comparison to the Spurs but they have it, they know what has to be done. Pargo does take some terrible shots, but I've learned to accept it and its part of his game. Defenders have to be ready when guarding him because hell either try to blow right by you or pull up immediately, you don't know what to expect when guarding him. D-West will have to calm down, last series he looked as if he was forcing too many shots inside at times and he has to be confident in his jump shot and take it when its there instead of his pump fakes. CP3 has told him before, time and time again to take it so I'm sure hes been reminded. We play a good team defense, we like to trap and rotate one man to make you try and shoot an outside jumper. When we get our offense going, we often do this to frustrate you and we have one of the best team defenses in the league in my opinion. It's also important for us to make the Spurs turn the ball over. If I've learned anything all year is that we struggle if we dont do 2 or 3 of the following: Make 3 pt shots, rotate on defense, get fast break/transition baksets, get O-rebounds. Those are our keys. Anyways our bench was a HUGE reason why we went 4-1 vs the Mavs. The Spurs bench is definitely deeper but Bonzi and Juju both provide defensive options and Bonzi can play down low. Jujus long arms, If we decide to do this, he can disrupt manu or tony parker, and I feel like that could be huge. otherwise he'll have to try and make guys who aren't used to handling the ball turn it over. These guys can score off the bench but we'll definitely need 1 of the 3 to step up, but if they continue to contribute on defense like they have lately then offensively we should be alright. Pargo has stepped it up big time, and appears to be able to run the offense for an extended period of time, giving Paul important rest. The team chemistry is great, you can't deny that. Mo Pete, dont' know what his stats were in round 1 but he was making some shots for us and thats nice to see because he really became a waste of space. We just have to stay within ourselves, the players have to stay in their roles and I believe we can take this series. We know they Spurs aren't going to beat themselves, but we are actually very similar to the Spurs in the fact that we play team ball and are a team that relies on executing offensive sets, whether you're offense relies on the pick and roll or driving and creating. I know the Spurs will make it tough for us and probably will come out in the 1st quarter and knock us right out. We better be prepared because I can completely see being torched early like the Spurs did to the Suns a couple of these games. Pargo is the x-factor, bonzi's played well vs the Spurs before.
you can make the argument that the Hornets didnt play a very good team, but you also know the Suns don't play Defense and the Hornets do, with a better PG than the suns
this is going to be a very physical series, and I know as soon as the bad calls start coming the fans are going to be raucous in the Hive. The organization has done a GREAT job in getting fans to the games and keeping them involved. A lot of the fans may not understand when you should cheer/etc and are just hoping on the bandwagon but they make sure to keep them involved. Some of the sound board operators are pretty dumb though, they dont seem to know when to get the fans involved like starting chants when we are about to shoot FTs, still they are keeping fans involved and the team feeds off it.
Of and don't forget the fact that both teams are in the same division, they know each other inside and out, this will be a chippy series, bad calls will ignite both home courts, we were one of the best road teams this year, we can handle the pressure even if we haven't been in the playoffs, Byron Scott is a great coach and has informed the troops plenty of times. You won't see a 4-0 or 5-1 series... it's going to be long and intense for both teams.
Fans are just pumped about this game, we know we have to defend homecourt. Thats all I have to say.
This extra home game is very important. I really don't think the Spurs can take 2 from us at home. I also believe we can take one from the Spurs. With that being said... I think this goes 7 games, 4-3 Hornets. I don't see it going less than 7 either so 4-3 Hornets or Spurs, I just don't think it'll go less and should make up to be one of the BEST series this year.
Plays:
Series - New Orleans Hornets +120 (waiting to see if I can catch +125)
New Orleans Hornets -3 (waiting to see if I can catch -2.5)
