Hornets Memorable Games

[yosemiteben]

Thought we might get some interesting discussion about some particularly memorable games from the Hornets. What came to mind for me is Sacramento last season. We played them twice (11/23/15 and 1/25/16), and both times the game were unbelievably entertaining.

In the first matchup, we were at the time 5-8 after a series of tough opponents to start the season and SAC, who was 5-9 at the time, looked like an easier win. As the game unfolded we got our ass handed to us through three quarters - at the 3rd quarter break we were down 91 to 74. Then that miracle of a 4th quarter happened where we scored 38 points (21 from Kemba alone) to force OT (thanks a lot Rudy Gay), then stole the win.

Watch on YouTube

In the second matchup, we were on a West coast road trip and were missing Batum, Cody, Lamb, and Big Al, so we started Kemba, Lin, PJ, Marv, and Hawes. Kemba decidedly did not take over this game, as he shot 5-25 from the field. Frank also responded to one of the few games where he was guaranteed significant PT by shooting 1-10 from the field. We also were completely unable to stop Cousins, who finished the game with 56 points on 21-30 shooting. That was another game were we fell behind early - we were down 10 at half - then came roaring back with 42 (!!!) third quarter points. We remember this game mostly because of Troy's late game antics, but Marv owned that third quarter with 16 points in the quarter (7-9 FG). Then of course Troy was on fire for 8-11 from three.

Watch on YouTube

Those were two of the best regular season games to watch last year.

[Liver_Pooty]

The collapse against Boston where Allen nailed a three at the buzzer. Heart breaking.

[amcoolio]

I was at the game where Melvin Ely airballed but Gerald Wallace caught it and dunked it in at the buzzer for the win

[fatlever]

I was at the game where Melvin Ely airballed but Gerald Wallace caught it and dunked it in at the buzzer for the win

Me too!!! I think that was my 2nd ever Bobcats game, season before I got season tix.

[fatlever]

I was at the game back in 1990? when Dell Curry hit the 3 from the corner to beat the Warriors. He talks about that game a lot on air, about how Muggsy blew off the play called by coach and ran it for Dell.

[LamarMatic7]

I was at the game back in 1990? when Dell Curry hit the 3 from the corner to beat the Warriors. He talks about that game a lot on air, about how Muggsy blew off the play called by coach and ran it for Dell.

Seems like this is the game. It sure is the 89-90 season:
http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/198911170CHH.html

(you had the chance to see Uwe Blab AND Manute Bol in person)

You can read the first sentences of the Charlotte Observer recap on this one page, but you have to pay to see the full article.

IN YOUR FACE, WARRIORS CURRY HITS AT BUZZER FOR 2ND WIN
Charlotte Hornets point guard Muggsy Bogues probably could have counted the 14 seconds of his team`s last possession Friday with the beating of his heart. Here was Bogues, ordered to deliver the ball to a shooter as quickly as possible. Here was Bogues finding no shooter. Here was the Charlotte Coliseum digital clock showing only a second left. And finally, here was Dell Curry, setting up ridiculously open as Bogues finally passed. Curry launched a three-pointer with no...

and you're right. Dell sure talks about that game a lot.

[fatlever]

I was at the game back in 1990? when Dell Curry hit the 3 from the corner to beat the Warriors. He talks about that game a lot on air, about how Muggsy blew off the play called by coach and ran it for Dell.

Seems like this is the game. It sure is the 89-90 season:
http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/198911170CHH.html

(you had the chance to see Uwe Blab AND Manute Bol in person)

You can read the first sentences of the Charlotte Observer recap on this one page, but you have to pay to see the full article.

IN YOUR FACE, WARRIORS CURRY HITS AT BUZZER FOR 2ND WIN
Charlotte Hornets point guard Muggsy Bogues probably could have counted the 14 seconds of his team`s last possession Friday with the beating of his heart. Here was Bogues, ordered to deliver the ball to a shooter as quickly as possible. Here was Bogues finding no shooter. Here was the Charlotte Coliseum digital clock showing only a second left. And finally, here was Dell Curry, setting up ridiculously open as Bogues finally passed. Curry launched a three-pointer with no...

and you're right. Dell sure talks about that game a lot.

Yup, that's the one. I went to a few games in that 89-90 season, maybe 7-8, plus 2 or 3 others when I worked with the guy who recorded the games on VCR in the bowels of the arena, to give copies to the coaches, refs etc... That's when I got to go into the locker room before a couple of games and had a chance to shoot some shots on the floor.

I think I went to 5 games that first year in 88-89, first game I ever saw for the Hornets was against the Jazz. Malone kicked our ass. (38/17)
http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/198901090CHH.html

Got to see my guy Fat in person in 89-90, had the chance to shake his hand after the game in the tunnel, but I was too shy, didn't want to be disappointed if he blew me off.
http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/198912090CHH.html

[LamarMatic7]

I was at the game back in 1990? when Dell Curry hit the 3 from the corner to beat the Warriors. He talks about that game a lot on air, about how Muggsy blew off the play called by coach and ran it for Dell.

Seems like this is the game. It sure is the 89-90 season:
http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/198911170CHH.html

(you had the chance to see Uwe Blab AND Manute Bol in person)

You can read the first sentences of the Charlotte Observer recap on this one page, but you have to pay to see the full article.

IN YOUR FACE, WARRIORS CURRY HITS AT BUZZER FOR 2ND WIN
Charlotte Hornets point guard Muggsy Bogues probably could have counted the 14 seconds of his team`s last possession Friday with the beating of his heart. Here was Bogues, ordered to deliver the ball to a shooter as quickly as possible. Here was Bogues finding no shooter. Here was the Charlotte Coliseum digital clock showing only a second left. And finally, here was Dell Curry, setting up ridiculously open as Bogues finally passed. Curry launched a three-pointer with no...

and you're right. Dell sure talks about that game a lot.

Yup, that's the one. I went to a few games in that 89-90 season, maybe 7-8, plus 2 or 3 others when I worked with the guy who recorded the games on VCR in the bowels of the arena, to give copies to the coaches, refs etc... That's when I got to go into the locker room before a couple of games and had a chance to shoot some shots on the floor.

I think I went to 5 games that first year in 88-89, first game I ever saw for the Hornets was against the Jazz. Malone kicked our ass. (38/17)
http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/198901090CHH.html

Got to see my guy Fat in person in 89-90, had the chance to shake his hand after the game in the tunnel, but I was too shy, didn't want to be disappointed if he blew me off.
http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/198912090CHH.html

do you have any pronounced memories about the guys on those first Hornets teams? whether it's their playing style, some good performance (or a bad one) or just some random stuff they did in a game.

how about your favorite rather obscure guy from those teams, which had their share of journeymen, bench guys.

[fatlever]

I was obsessed with Ralph Lewis during that first year. Yes, the same Lewis who was our assistant coach under Silas. He was the random scrub that I pulled for. I'd cheer for garbage time so he could get in the game.

Our trio of bigs that first year was so pathetic - Hoppen, Cureton and Kempton. Harter was a moron for playing Ricky Green and Michael Holton ahead of Bogues all year.

That 2nd year there was a dude who vowed to sleep on top of a billboard on Charlotte's busiest road (Independence Blvd) until the Hornets won two games in a row. Dude was up there for a while.

Getting in and out of the parking lot was a nightmare. It was a massive parking lot (I think I've read biggest lot in country at the time) that funneled into/out of a single entry point onto one road (Tyvola). It could take an hour to get into and out of the parking lot. Most games we'd just stay in our seats for an hour after each game. They would do a wrap up show at center court, so at least you had something to watch. Most of the time we just walked around and collected plastic souvenir cups. I had so many Hornets cups over the years, I'd throw away 20 at a time.

[LamarMatic7]

Our trio of bigs that first year was so pathetic - Hoppen, Cureton and Kempton. Harter was a moron for playing Ricky Green and Michael Holton ahead of Bogues all year.

Original Hornet Mike Holton just appeared on the In All Airness podcast:
http://inallairness.com/air072-michael-holton-ncaa-championship-finalist-nba-cba-veteran-coach-and-broadcaster-podcast/

Hornets talk from about 50:40.

[OmegaAtrocity]

Gonna start with a couple of heartbreakers from the 2013-14 season. We lost to a horrible Boston team late in the season that ended up making us the 7th seed and face the super Heat instead of being the 5 seed and taking on the Wizards (I think, it's been a minute). I'll never forget that. We could never beat the Hawks that year, I remember Pero Antic banked in an absolutely ridiculous 3 at the buzzer to send it to overtime where we lost.

On the good front, most of them came from last year lol (I was 8 when the OG Hornets left and we didn't get the old games on tv). Those 2 Sacramento games were great and the home Spurs game obviously was incredible.

[Johnstarks]

I mean the obvious answer is the Zo shot against boston in ... 93?

Other memorable ones have to be the enormous comeback in their first game being the hornets again vs the bucks...Kemba game winner or to force ot ?

The Kurt rambis buzzer tip to beat the Bulls the first year was insane

I think the Glen rice month of terror in 97 where he averaged 40ppg in january? Should count. And his incredible Allstar game performance.

Other than that probably the blown game 6 opportunity at home vs the bucks.

Or the no call when Jordan fouled someone near the buzzer on a drive to knock the hornets best team ever out in round 1 during his comeback year

[chabber]

Or the no call when Jordan fouled someone near the buzzer on a drive to knock the hornets best team ever out in round 1 during his comeback year

Yeah that was Hersey Hawkins he fouled.


My favorite game has always been this one.

Watch on YouTube

MJ keeps hitting daggers but we find a way to win.
This win kept he Bulls from having HCA over the Knicks in the playoffs.
LJ played an amazing game and was rolling around on the floor at one point which had the crowd going crazy.
LJ crazy layup at 6:48 in the video being the highlight of the game.


Going from games to moments.

One of my favorite moments that I remember too was a game in Seattle. Zo was the only one between 2 guys and the goal on a fast break and he blocked them both. I want to say it was Kemp and Payton but it's been so long I can't remember. That was either 93 or 94.

Similar moment was Crash getting a couple blocks against the Bulls and then taking a charge.

[Johnstarks]

I watched that video and that was clearly a great game. But ithe does really illustrate how much better the talent and gameplay are today that the 90s. It's just nostalgia trying to claim the 90s were better. I mean you watch a guy who was an athletic beastie Larry johnson in his era drive to the hole and barely leave the ground. It makes you wonder if he'd even be a very good player today against gazelles like kawhi, durant, and simmons. He could shoot a bit so I think he'd survive in this era but he's certainly no blake griffin athletically or as a passer. And his post game would be much easier to defend thanks to the difficulty of entry passes now that youre alowed to double team.

I enjoy seeing the postplay and the moves and the 1 on 1 for a few plays... but the team oriented ball movement league is just so much more interesting and unpredictable that the constant iso plays and the hard doubles.

I mean watching kawhi knife thru a defense, kobe twist his way thru multiple defenders, lebron power his way thru a zone, John wall make impossible baseline passes on the baseline....

That's all much more exciting than bj Armstrong making a simple entry pass into jordan and having him post up a smaller Kendall gill and make a turnaround jumper.

Look at the jordan dunk on mourning. Yes that's an incredibly cool poster or image for a 9 year old. But I much prefer today's game where he would have had to drive past mourning or make a brilliant pass to a cutter instead of just having a wide open lane because defenders weren't allowed to load up on him.

We saw Tyson Chandler and a Carlisle team defensive gamepln completely neuter lebron in the finals. We saw a spurs ball movement completely destroy miami one year. We saw Chris anderson make miami an unstoppable force one year. We saw golden state overcome lebron with a smallball lineup one year....Boston nearly take out a significantly better lakers squad by zoning the heck out of kobe. these are all things that weren't really possible in the 90s since you could just throw it to jordan and let him go 1 on 1 every play and usually win. I mean if we bring back the old illegal defense era lebron has 7 straight titles right now in all likelihood. It's possible the spurs had a chance with kawhi. How in the world would that be more interesting than him going 3-4 in all very dynamic series?

Also guys could play so many more minutes because of the lack of player movement back then. You weren't running tirelessly around screens, getting out in transition, or running endless series of pick and rolls to make the defense scramble because you didn't need to in order to run efficient offense back then. You could just get the ball to a scorer and get out of his way. A lot of time to rest on the possessions your man wasn't involved in the offense. They didn't even have decoys back then becuase you didn't need them. The weakside guys might as well be chatting about lawn care because their entire job was to get their defenDer out of the way

The game has just evolved so much and it really shows in how uneducated most of the old timers like barkley or Oscar Robertson sound when they try to speak about the game today. Some people lIke Kerr and west have continued to learn and adapt to the changes while others like Phil jackson remain stuck in old ways. Even jordan has adapted a little bit realizing the old ways are outdated and can't work in the modern era. We really saw the hornets adapt with the batum and williams addition and the benching of jefferson to go towards a modern offense and look at the outstanding results

[Mystical Apples]

Recently watching Bulls-Hawks from I believe 1991 was an alarming experience. Non-existent rotations, Oreb crashes and leaks, and a gross number of early clock step-in 2's and iso post dumps. And hilariously an offensive violation for too many players beyond the 3P line.

[Johnstarks]

Wait, what rule was that??


Yeah the 90s game was just a completely different sport. They would get absolutely slaughtered playing that style today against a team who had modern defense and offensive sets. That's why the Americans started getting beat in the early 2000s until they adapted playing styles.

Post dumps were efficient offense back then because usually only the shooting guard could hit 3s and he was typically a non effective ballhandler so he couldn't get his own shot. Most centers were the cartwright or Ewing stiff athlete types with bad knees not guys who you could run aggressive pick and roll schemes like Stoudemire or griffin.

Also you really couldn't deny entry passes back then because you weren't able to front the big men as they'd have free reign underneath as you were not allowed to have a help defender until that man received the ball.

[Mystical Apples]

Wait, what rule was that??


Yeah the 90s game was just a completely different sport. They would get absolutely slaughtered playing that style today against a team who had modern defense and offensive sets. That's why the Americans started getting beat in the early 2000s until they adapted playing styles.

Post dumps were efficient offense back then because usually only the shooting guard could hit 3s and he was typically a non effective ballhandler so he couldn't get his own shot. Most centers were the cartwright or Ewing stiff athlete types with bad knees not guys who you could run aggressive pick and roll schemes like Stoudemire or griffin.

Also you really couldn't deny entry passes back then because you weren't able to front the big men as they'd have free reign underneath as you were not allowed to have a help defender until that man received the ball.

Believe it was a clear out rule of not overloading the weakside on a 2-man game. Which of course was patchwork on top of illegal zone defense.

[Braggins]

We saw Tyson Chandler and a Carlisle team defensive gamepln completely neuter lebron in the finals. We saw a spurs ball movement completely destroy miami one year. We saw Chris anderson make miami an unstoppable force one year. We saw golden state overcome lebron with a smallball lineup one year....Boston nearly take out a significantly better lakers squad by zoning the heck out of kobe. these are all things that weren't really possible in the 90s since you could just throw it to jordan and let him go 1 on 1 every play and usually win. I mean if we bring back the old illegal defense era lebron has 7 straight titles right now in all likelihood. It's possible the spurs had a chance with kawhi. How in the world would that be more interesting than him going 3-4 in all very dynamic series?

[Johnstarks]

Yeah I mean you see Jordan just score at ease over smaller defenders all game and think he's the best of all time. But just imagine what lebron would have done being guarded 1 on 1. Bigger, stronger, faster... a much better finisher at the rim. And unlike Jordan he could shoot 3s.

It wouldn't even be entertaining to watch lebron go 1 on 1. I can appreciate sustained greatness as much as the next guy but I prefer to watch lebron overcome all odds and beat the Warriors in a team game instead of him just dismantling his defenDer en route to 8 straight titles.

In my previous post I forgot about the year the Celtics knocked him oit. He'd obviously probably have that title too if garnett and thib's weren't allowed to play that perfected zone.

I guess you could argue he would have beat the spurs in 07 too given the way he dismantled the Pistons that year singlehandedly