Hornets lead the Western Conference....

Mr. Fundamental · Post #41 » by **Mr. Fundamental** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 12:57 am

ienefitted from a easy schedule but the kicker is that they get the job done against those teams. Any team can beat any team in the nba, are hornets the number one team in teh west? I personally dont think so but are they playoff bound and a team most teams wouldnt like to see in the playoffs... yes. They are a very solid team that plays in the toughest division in basketball they have played dallas twice im preety sure they are done with the grillizes or one game remains the only team they havent really played yet is san antonio but thats the only other team that is better then them. The Northwest divison does not scare me at all or any other division in the nba so that being said Hornets are legit and they are in the playoffs. Them and portland have pushed out the Jazz and the Rockets. They play the Clippers next and then the Spurs on the back to back so that should be a good test.

Post #42 » by **NO-KG-AI** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 1:07 am

Batronuj wrote:-= original quote snipped =-

Right here, and Chris Paul has been better this season, still interested to see whether he can take a team out of the first round of the playoffs much less the WCF. Guess we'll just have to wait and see.

And if we get to play Houston and GS, we will coast to the WCF.

Bulls_Dynasty6 · Post #43 » by **Bulls_Dynasty6** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 1:10 am

JordansBulls wrote:I still can't believe New Orleans is #1 in the West right now and that they don't have any national tv games on TNT, ESPN for their remaining schedule.

That's because no one would have thought they would have been this good. If anybody knew they would achieve this success, I'm pretty sure they would have scheduled quite a few games. I know they can reschedule a game to be on national TV, but that would be a long process.

Pai Gow · Post #44 » by **Pai Gow** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 1:12 am

NO-KG-AI wrote:-= original quote snipped =-

And if we get to play Houston and GS, we will coast to the WCF.

Don't kid yourself, you won't coast through anyone.

Post #45 » by **NO-KG-AI** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 1:13 am

AKsWill wrote:-= original quote snipped =-

Don't kid yourself, you won't coast through anyone.

Don't kid yourself thinking the Jazz are on some championship level.

AxnJxn00 · Post #46 » by **AxnJxn00** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 1:15 am

Jazz are the 9th seed and Hornets are the 1st seed, I don't understand where Jazz fans are coming from here? (And don't give me weak SoS BS)

kookie_819 · Post #47 » by **kookie_819** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 1:18 am

AxnJxn00 wrote:Jazz are the 9th seed and Hornets are the 1st seed, I don't understand where Jazz fans are coming from here? (And don't give me weak SoS BS)

Jealousy/Hornets & Paul hate/Homerism?

That's all I can think of. The Hornets have been playing better than the Jazz, and Chris Paul has been playing better than probably almost all the PGs in the NBA (except maybe Nash), Deron Williams included.

The only argument Jazz fans have is the whole WCF thing from last year, and they should realize that they have more talent than the Hornets.

I see the Hornets, if they get a top 3 seed, in the 2nd round. I don't see them better than the Spurs, Mavs, or Suns in the playoffs.

Pai Gow · Post #48 » by **Pai Gow** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 1:21 am

NO-KG-AI wrote:-= original quote snipped =-

Don't kid yourself thinking the Jazz are on some championship level.

Nobody said we were, in fact most Jazz fans figured we didn't stand a chance against San Antonio in the first place ESPECIALLY considering our history, but don't pretend like the Hornets have already made it the second round and are licking their chops, the West is just too deep and too good for the Hornets to stroll through anybody I would be extremely SHOCKED to see them get out of the first round if they had to play Phoenix, Spurs, Dallas, Houston, Utah and to some extent the Lakers and Nuggets. I could be wrong, I'm sure you think I'm wrong, but you shouldn't care either way cause I'm just a homerish fan of a team that is out of the current playoff picture..

Pai Gow · Post #49 » by **Pai Gow** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 1:22 am

AxnJxn00 wrote:Jazz are the 9th seed and Hornets are the 1st seed, I don't understand where Jazz fans are coming from here? (And don't give me weak SoS BS)

All Jazz fans are doing is pointing out our opinion, sorry I forgot I lived Iraq and that was frowned upon.. :noway:

Post #50 » by **NO-KG-AI** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 1:41 am

Fair points, but I would be licking my chops with GS or Houston, considering recent history

carrottop12 · Post #51 » by **carrottop12** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 2:50 am

All I am saying is the Hornets are #1 in the West right now, and that is way over their head. Anyone who thinks otherwise is kidding themselves.

They will fall below the the Mavs, Suns and Spurs, and that will stick them in a 4/5 match up against a very good Northwest team be it the Jazz or the Nuggets. And I just don't see the Hornets beating either of those teams 4 games out of 7. And if you don't think playoff experience matters, you kidding yourself. If you don't think the Jazz are better served from their 3 series last year, and that Denver hasn't learned a lot from playing the Spurs every season you've got a few things to learn.

And by the way, you're two games away from being in 6th place in the West.

sarah42 · Post #52 » by **sarah42** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 3:10 am

why will they fall below those teams? they beat dallas already. the beat phoenix twice, once on a back to back after beating golden state when both games were on the road and david west didn't play that game because he was hurt.

they blow out the bad teams, figured out how to win at home after getting used to the crowed, are a great road team, and really only had about a few losses that were not competitive.

and chris paul isn't the number 1 option. if you watch him play, you'll realize that he can go the first three quarters without scoring a whole lot, but give him the 4th quarter in a close game and he will mostly likely out perform the other teams best player. he is a past first point guard.

to me david west/chris paul are kinda equal in who should score and things like that - but paul is the guy they look to during the 4th quarter for each possession - either to score or to get an assist. they have a great two man game with tyson/paul in the 4th and if tyson is taken away, paul scores or kicks it out to shooters.

there starting five is balanced, and their bench is playing better the last two weeks after their coach called them out.

what makes them legit is their defense. its brutal what they did to portland last night, totally took away brandon roy - scored only 14 points - defense doesn't go away

thats why no one wants to face them in the playoffs. gsw, nuggets, and even the suns will hate playing agaisnt them.

imo, the team that can defend and are top 5 defensively are the hardest to win against : celtics, detroit, spurs, hornets and i think if houston gets it together will be hard to win against - those are the series that can go 7 games. yes i knew tmac hasn't gotten out of the first round, but i think houston is still one of the best defensive teams right?

Angry Jimmy · Post #53 » by **Angry Jimmy** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 3:10 am

Batronuj wrote:
And by the way, you're two games away from being in 6th place in the West.

And if the season ended today the Jazz would be watching the playoffs at home.

Although any team that loses to the Knicks and the Heat, doesn't deserve to make the playoffs.

sarah42 · Post #54 » by **sarah42** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 3:19 am

did jazz fan say that playoff experience matters? yeah cuz the jazz had a lot of playoff experience before last season and look where it got them now!

please. only paul and west haven't had playoff experience in their starting lineup - but the rest of the starters have and so have many of the reserves. coach scott got those nets teams to get to the finals - and he's won himself - so he knows how the playoffs can be.

the utah jazz flat out don't win away from utah which isn't a good thing for a team wanting to get into the playoffs, and are also putrid defensively. so again what?

somethng tells me lack of playoff experience won't matter much to chris paul - he rountimely is clutch during the fourth quarter. most of the close games they've won was because of what he does in teh final minutes - scores, assist, steals yells at his teammates to correct a mistake - true leader

Pai Gow · Post #55 » by **Pai Gow** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 4:03 am

Interesting seeing people take shots at Utah while we're down right now, it'll be interesting to see where you guys will be at the end of February.

2poor · Post #56 » by **2poor** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 4:18 am

I feel like Nostradamus here with Jazz fans in a pro-Hornets thread AND on the defensive.

Sometimes, "I told you so" just isn't enough. All in good fun though, I think if anything the lack of hype the Hornets have gotten because of all the other stories around the NBA have helped keep us humble. Nobody is expecting anything and we all realize that the second half of the season is going to be brutal...but we're seeing the team we were so convinced could do well and could win do just that.

Really hard to convince us that this team is going to just magically crumble so that the stars can align or whatever BS. They've shown absolutely nothing to suggest that they're doing anything but getting stronger. The record is indicative of that. Watching them is indicative of that.

Playoffs are a toss-up. I'll just say that the many of the things the Hornets are excelling at right now are the kinds of things you have to have to win playoff games: defense, take care of the basketball, close out games, win on the road. I think those four things alone will keep them in games regardless of opponent.

sarah42 · Post #57 » by **sarah42** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 4:28 am

AKsWill - in the playoff race. see there is a difference btw utah and the hornets. one team can win on the road - the other can't.

one team is a great defensive team, the other is putrid.

this team, despite losing almost every starter for a lot of games - anywhere from 10 games to the whole season for each starter - was only 3 games out of the playoffs, and were competing in the last weeks.

you really wanna bet against a team with chris paul as the pg and david west and tyson chandler as their front line to miss the playoffs? this team needs 11 more wins and they'll surpass last years total wins!

even if they go .500 the rest of the way, they'll end up with 49 wins or so. thats enough for a playoffs spot. i doubt they care about home court, since they can win on the road - oh something utah can't do very well!

Pai Gow · Post #58 » by **Pai Gow** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 4:31 am

sarah42 wrote:AKsWill - in the playoff race. see there is a difference btw utah and the hornets. one team can win on the road - the other can't.

one team is a great defensive team, the other is putrid.

this team, despite losing almost every starter for a lot of games - anywhere from 10 games to the whole season for each starter - was only 3 games out of the playoffs, and were competing in the last weeks.

you really wanna bet against a team with chris paul as the pg and david west and tyson chandler as their front line to miss the playoffs? this team needs 11 more wins and they'll surpass last years total wins!

even if they go .500 the rest of the way, they'll end up with 49 wins or so. thats enough for a playoffs spot. i doubt they care about home court, since they can win on the road - oh something utah can't do very well!

Who said they were gonna miss the playoffs?

Post #59 » by **NO-KG-AI** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 4:38 am

I have to add to my earlier comments that I don't think the Hornets are the top team in the West, and I think the Jazz are better than 9th.

jzmagik · Post #60 » by **jzmagik** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 4:38 am

CP is amazing but I don't think their legit contenders yet, this is gonna be the first year he leads his team into the playoffs so experience is gonna be a factor.