Preview: Hornets at Cavaliers, February 23rd
2010-02-23
Relevant Statistics:
Pace: Hornets 94.8 (17th) vs. Cavs 93.2 (25th)
Offensive Efficiency: Hornets 104.5 (13th) vs. Cavs 108.6 (4th)
Defensive Efficiency: Hornets 105.1 (18th) vs. Cavs 101.2 (7th)
Notes:
-The key matchup tonight is Mo Williams vs. Darren Collison. The UCLA rookie has been enjoying an insane month, averaging 20.7 points and 8.8 assists in February. He’s scored 24 or more points in five of his last six games. Meanwhile, Mo looked sluggish and out-of-whack on both ends against the Magic. If Mo’s back, things should be good.
-Hickson may be out tonight, and Jamison is getting the start. It was probably the right move to put him in the starting lineup even if Hickson was good to go. Also, tonight might be Leon Powe’s first appearance. (Update: Hickson has been medically cleared, according to Bob Finnian.)
-David West playing pick-and-pop should be a good test for how Jamison’s going to do in Mike Brown’s help-and-recover system. He also has to keep West off the line. West has shot 28 free throws in the Hornets’ last two games, both wins.
-Don’t leave Peja.
-The Hornets don’t defend the paint or the three-point line very well at all. We’ll see if the Cavs can get back to their offensive gameplan against this team.
Alright, that’s all for now. Let’s see if the Cavs can end this losing streak tonight.
Where is the Jamison hater at? I know it still hasn’t been enough games, but he was on here immediately after the Charlotte game and I haven’t seen him in these last two.
Ryan, did you see when MB put Delonte and Lebron on Thornton? He’s adefensive minded coach, and there’s no reason to deny it. I’m not sure what the point of that is anyways.
Kyle, I agree completely. However, when Shaq was sitting we didn’t have all that much of an inside advantage on them. Not to keep harping on this, but having Z back will help against those smaller/weaker frontcourts. Jamison could also be used down low more, as well.
Ryan, they put 4 guys on him. What do you want Mike Brown to do? Suddenly make Delonte and Mo and Parker better than they really are?
Kyle, they are also right at the bottom of the league in 3 point defense too. The Cavs got every single shot they wanted tonight…after the warriors, the hornets might be the worst defensive team I’ve seen this year.
Win or lose, there is no reason we should take this many 3’s against a team that is this weak on the inside.
When your solution to a guy scoring 23 points on you in a quarter is to put Anthony Parker on him, you are not a defensive minded coach.
Looking better now with 4th coming up. Think I’m falling for Antawn. OK, his D’s still slack but the boy’s got hops.
Can’t see us losing this one unless we let Thornton/Collinson back on a rip.
Cleve failed to do anything that would be considered defense in that 2nd quarter. 40 points, 71% shooting, and 21 fast break points? Absurd. Although even though NO was that hot, Cavs still only down by 3. NO can’t be that hot in the 2nd half, right?
Yeah, looking like it’s a real low scoring affair. Delonte and AP are making Thorton look like Kobe.
I like this one to be low scoring tonight and here is why: Cleveland will really clamp it down on the defensive end tonight after 3 straight losses, allowing more than 100 points in each loss. The Hornets will continue playing tremendous defense here as they’ve allowed just 94.5 points/game in their last 4 contests overall. Cleveland gives up just 94.2 points/game at home this season. The last 6 meetings in this head-to-head series have all seen 199 or less combined points. With no Chris Paul still for New Orleans, their offense has certainly struggled in comparison to when he’s… Read more »
The cavs are killing the hornets… finally found a stream here http://www.andromedanet.com/tvtuner_ps9d.html
thank god go cavs!
I wonder if Hickson is going to play at all. I hope so, but we’ll see. So far in the first 4 minutes our offense is lookig much better, but the Hornets are hitting shots too.
And Mo to the rack! At least he seems to have some energy and some fire in this one.
OH NO, NOT THE BEES, THEY’RE IN MY EYES