GT: Hornets vs Bulls Mon Feb 8 7PM EST

[Braggins]

I was going to wait til I finished watching the game to post but Zeller and MKG hitting back to back 3s was just too much.

[TTNN]

BTW, we have both Batum and MKG playing at SF, oh, maybe also Marvin, currently all three are starting, and someone will need to play with second team anyway. What I'm saying is that, either MKG or Marvin play with 2nd team will be better than Batum.

coach's system is always to have two playmakers in any lineup... Lamb can do a little playmaking, but it is not his strength...
i can see coach take out either Frank or Hawes and put Marvin or MKG in, but I don't see coach take out Nic or Kemba from the second unit...
Nic is an above average defensive player, i don't think coach will excuse him on defense because he has to shoulder more on offense, he has to defend, i am pretty sure coach would be on him if he was slacking on defense... when MKG was injured, coach wanted PJ to take on the other team's best wing in the first three quarters to save Nic's energy, Nic will take on the other team's best wing down the stretch 4th quarter... heck, you rarely see PJ played in 4th anyway...

To have two ball handler on the floor at the same time make sense, if they actually share the ball, that enhance the ball movement and makes the offense less predictable.

However, with Batum and Kemba playing in the second team while dominant the ball, that defeat the purpose of having two ball handler on the floor. What does it help if only one ball handler is used even you have multiple ball handler on the floor? If the team play that way, might as well give the ball to Lin and let Kemba and Batum rest a bit more.

[Braggins]

So despite the game being a blowout most of the way through, Cliff finally got his 9-man rotation. No Roberts, Daniels, Hansbrough, or even PJ; and four of the rotation players had under 20 minutes. Could be Cliff trying out a playoff-like rotation right before the break.

Gonna be interesting when Al returns...

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I have a feeling Al is going to get Spencer's minutes when he gets back... and the way Spencer is playing lately, I'm not even sure that is a good thing.

I'd rather use Hawes most of the time and I am far from a fan of Spencer Hawes. Al is going to kill the second unit spacing and they won't be able to defend with Lamb, Frank, and an out of shape Al on the court. I'm skeptical Al will even be able to score well against 2nd units after he comes back. He is always completely awful for a while when he returns from an injury. We need to just forget about him the way Golden State did David Lee last season and maybe use him occasionally at the end of the season and in the playoffs if he can get into shape. I can't wait to see the Lin fans erupt in the game threads when Al starts shooting through double and triple teams while Lin is somewhere on the court completely wide open.

[TinmanZBoy]

BTW, we have both Batum and MKG playing at SF, oh, maybe also Marvin, currently all three are starting, and someone will need to play with second team anyway. What I'm saying is that, either MKG or Marvin play with 2nd team will be better than Batum.

coach's system is always to have two playmakers in any lineup... Lamb can do a little playmaking, but it is not his strength...
i can see coach take out either Frank or Hawes and put Marvin or MKG in, but I don't see coach take out Nic or Kemba from the second unit...
Nic is an above average defensive player, i don't think coach will excuse him on defense because he has to shoulder more on offense, he has to defend, i am pretty sure coach would be on him if he was slacking on defense... when MKG was injured, coach wanted PJ to take on the other team's best wing in the first three quarters to save Nic's energy, Nic will take on the other team's best wing down the stretch 4th quarter... heck, you rarely see PJ played in 4th anyway...

To have two ball handler on the floor at the same time make sense, if they actually share the ball, that enhance the ball movement and makes the offense less predictable.

However, with Batum and Kemba playing in the second team while dominant the ball, that defeat the purpose of having two ball handler on the floor. What does it help if only one ball handler is used even you have multiple ball handler on the floor? If the team play that way, might as well give the ball to Lin and let Kemba and Batum rest a bit more.

I would not say Kemba and Batum dominate the ball when they share the floor with lin, i have not checked their usage rates for a while, the last time I checked Kemba was 26, lin was 22, Batum ~20...so they are far from dominating the ball...
the whole purpose with two playmakers on the court is the hornets usually attack on the second PnR when the defense has rotated, mismatched being created...
and if you watched the first half of this game, Lin touched the ball in every offensive possession and he brought the ball up when shared the court with Batum in second quarter... coach clifford even called a horn set for lin, he did not shoot well, did not create much but he moved the ball, defended well...

[MPM]

Good game - should've won easily and won easily.

Great example of why Kemba's shooting #'s are up - 10:45 mark in the 3rd – Batum collapses D, quick outlet to Kemba for the 3.

[LofJ]

It is amazingly awesome to see both MKG and Zeller taking and making 3 pointers. We had to wait a few years for the work to bear fruit, but it's finally coming together. Great job guys!

[BobsBuddy]

I agree about the threes made by MKG/Zellar,but remember Bulls had several players hurt. Also without Noah and Pau in the paint our bigs are going to look good. Also Kemba's 30 would have been reduced dramatically if Rose had played. That being said it still was a win. I still think we should trade Kemba for Ricky Rubio or Isiah Thomas and Cody for a true center like Timothy Mosgov or Gorqui Dieng we still win games like this only by 25-30points.