Charlotte vs Philly 3/2 7PM EST

[phillycheese]

Yes, I see a lot of PG pounding the ball to get himself an open look. I see a lot of pnr with the ball handler looking to create separation to shoot and not necessarily to pass. I'm starting to see a lot of post play early in the shot clock with no passing out. I want to see more of what you posted.

[phillycheese]

This team has shown me they can win at least one series. It's not going to be easy but the potential is there. With MKG it would have been a surer bet, but this team is good. They share the ball, they have shooters, they have a go to guy and several facilitators. No shot blocker so they need to swarm. And they match up well with all teams except for Cavs. Sorry, our expectations don't match.

[Flip Murray]

This team has shown me they can win at least one series. It's not going to be easy but the potential is there. With MKG it would have been a surer bet, but this team is good. They share the ball, they have shooters, they have a go to guy and several facilitators. No shot blocker so they need to swarm. And they match up well with all teams except for Cavs. Sorry, our expectations don't match.

i'll be the first to admit a loser's mentality

[lin is ok]

I think the Hornets are trying to push for a Player of the Week/Month or Most Improved Player for Kemba. Hence the high minutes and usage even when we're winning comfortably. This will be a good week and good month to go for it. We're playing some weak teams. Good for team's exposure, I guess. Come to think of it, Kemba didn't only not make the all-star game, he didn't get an invite to Team USA training camp. Maybe there are not a lot of people out there who think high of him.

Maybe the perception of the old bobcats/last year's hornets will take time to wipe away for years of bad performance.

[lin is ok]

Win by 20, on the road, on the 2nd night of a back to back, people complain that we didn't win it the right way (or something, something).

Kemba scores 30 on 21 shots and people complain about him shooting too much or not passing enough (or something, something).

Kemba plays too many minutes (or something, something).

We won the games we were supposed to win, both blowouts, and we played well in both games (outside of a bad stretch in the 3rd quarter tonight). Seems people just want to complain to be complaining.

How about some more posts about what we did right these last two nights? Nah, it was the Suns and Sixers, who cares.

Cody holds his own (or even outplays Noel), who many people like to complain about us not drafting, yet nobody talking about Cody playing well tonight, but his first bad game, pitchforks for Cody.

how about looking at what went right in the hornets/cavs victory.

[Diop]

Cody holds his own (or even outplays Noel), who many people like to complain about us not drafting, yet nobody talking about Cody playing well tonight, but his first bad game, pitchforks for Cody.

that's a storyline I forgot about, we picked Cody over Noel. Glad he didn't crap the bed

[LamarMatic7]

lol box score shows Elton Brand DNP - Gastroenteritis; which is medical speak I think for Old Fart

really? the funny subtext is also the fact that he hasn't played yet this season. as if anyone on that coaching staff needs a reason to DNP him.

[yosemiteben]

how about looking at what went right in the hornets/cavs victory.

In the Philly game thread? This is the perfect response to demonstrate the inability of Lin fans to focus on a very nice team win because they can't get over their favorite player not playing enough.

We won every quarter tonight. We had a 9 point lead going into the fourth quarter against a scrappy team, then closed them out in the 4th.

[Liver_Pooty]

Lol someone bringing up the Cavs game again. Shocker there.

[13th Man]

"(Kemba's) definitely controlling the game and Coach is definitely going through him," Charlotte guard Jeremy Lin said.

Still a fan favorite, Lin was cheered almost every time he touched the ball, and fans were clamoring for his autograph.

Lin holds the record for most 3-point made at Wells Fargo Center.

Why does it seem like such a distant memory?

[BlackOutBuzz]

To be fair, some of the Lin guys were baited a bit last night by non-Lin fans...so I didn't mind the pushback in this situation.

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

[bws94]

The reason for the complaints about the win last night is a feeling this style of play won't work against the better teams and it is good to start now playing and executing and being used to a better style of play when playing better teams. And I don't know who noticed but the starters did not build the lead in most of the game, and gave it away in the 3rd. I also feel the bench was a strongpoint earlier in the season and that big weapon has been diluted the way Cliff hasn't really let that unit play with each other. I guess that's the result of a tighter rotation but sometimes, bench guys come in and beat other benches and just keep playing well and when that used to happen Cliff would ride them longer. He doesn't seem to do that much anymore.

I think Lamb is showing good signs and as soon as he gets on a roll, he's out. Lin I'm not worried about it is just that the Lin/Lamb connection, so potent early on, has been diluted and Lamb seems to get it going more with Lin on the floor with him.

I know the starters are acclimating Lee and that makes a lot of sense to have him playing with them many minutes. But it also makes sense to get the bench sharper too and get the style of play up to the level where it is most competitive to the strongest opponents.

If we win against the Pacers, fantastic. But 2 wins already on their floor, I think they'll be pretty hungry for a win tomorrow at TWAC.

[fatlever]

The reason for the complaints about the win last night is a feeling this style of play won't work against the better teams and it is good to start now playing and executing and being used to a better style of play when playing better teams. And I don't know who noticed but the starters did not build the lead in most of the game, and gave it away in the 3rd. I also feel the bench was a strongpoint earlier in the season and that big weapon has been diluted the way Cliff hasn't really let that unit play with each other. I guess that's the result of a tighter rotation but sometimes, bench guys come in and beat other benches and just keep playing well and when that used to happen Cliff would ride them longer. He doesn't seem to do that much anymore.

I think Lamb is showing good signs and as soon as he gets on a roll, he's out. Lin I'm not worried about it is just that the Lin/Lamb connection, so potent early on, has been diluted and Lamb seems to get it going more with Lin on the floor with him.

I know the starters are acclimating Lee and that makes a lot of sense to have him playing with them many minutes. But it also makes sense to get the bench sharper too and get the style of play up to the level where it is most competitive to the strongest opponents.

If we win against the Pacers, fantastic. But 2 wins already on their floor, I think they'll be pretty hungry for a win tomorrow at TWAC.

Last night certainly wasn't the prettiest of wins and the mid-3rd quarter was really ugly. Both Kemba and Batum had a bad spell in that quarter and settled for some bad shots as the offense stopped moving.

However, I think its going largely unnoticed that we won a game on the road on the 2nd night of a back to back by 20 points in the end. I always expected this to be an ugly game. We have not been good on the road this year and we have been awful on the 2nd night of back-to-back games under Clifford. Even though we were playing Philly, I never expected this to be an easy, pretty win, like the game at home vs the Suns. Outside of that mid 3rd quarter stretch, I thought we were pretty good offensively and the numbers show it. Philly hung around longer than expected by making a lot of 3s.

I really don't understand why anyone would be worked up about how we won this game. Would we have won last night vs a better team? Probably not, or at least it would have come down to the last few possessions, but then again, I'm not sure I would have expected us to beat many teams on the road on the 2nd night of a back to back game w/out playing flawless ball.

The most important things from the last two games are we got two wins, no new injuries, Jefferson got some more minutes to get in shape and find some form, Lee had plenty of minutes to get used to the team.

[bws94]

Great points, fats. We both are making valid points I think. It should be a different game tomorrow night and certainly teams can play down to their opponents. Our energy was good for B2B. Philly played a heck of a lot better than the Suns, so at least we got an entertaining game and had to sweat just a little, lol.

[Roy Tarpley]

Fats, you make some good points. I tend to be a constructive critic, always looking for ways to improve so for me, it's also about how you win instead of just the fact of winning.

In the Philly game, no one was criticizing effort, which might be too demanding for a road game on a back to back. My criticism was of rotations/minutes, which has nothing to do with road games or back to backs. In fact, in a back to back, why not rest the starters a bit when we're up big? We were up 15 pts with 4 minutes to go, I think the starters could've come out then. I can see that Cliff is very conservative on this so maybe not a big deal.

Not sure why lots of people are up in arms when a few people make constructively critical points in ways that they think could further the team. If people are just happy with wins, regardless of what type of wins, then I guarantee that it's a recipe for a quick first round exit. You've already explained that just making the playoffs is good enough for many Hornets fans so I won't push on this. I just think that the coaching has to get to the next level to beat a team like the Hawks or Heat or Celtics and make the second round.

[euphorbus]

[quote="Roy Tarpley"In the Philly game, no one was criticizing effort, which might be too demanding for a road game on a back to back. My criticism was of rotations/minutes, which has nothing to do with road games or back to backs. In fact, in a back to back, why not rest the starters a bit when we're up big? We were up 15 pts with 4 minutes to go, I think the starters could've come out then. I can see that Cliff is very conservative on this so maybe not a big deal.

I just think that the coaching has to get to the next level to beat a team like the Hawks or Heat or Celtics and make the second round.[/quote]

If you read page four of the thread, you can see that right in the middle of the third quarter, the team became nonchalant. That's when people were complaining. That's when I wrote that it was time to insert Hansbrough--or other high-energy players like Lin and Jorge--because the starters were wearing down. It is utterly dismaying that Coach Clifford has not learned the best way to use his personnel on a night-to-night basis. The one thing I will give him credit for, apart from managing the team through a rash of injuries, is that he does tend to keep a hot hand in the game, a tendency that has saved the Hornets more than once.

Now extend that reasoning to the whole season. You ride your horses into the ground the way Coach Clifford is doing, and you invite two very bad hombres into your house: injuries or a late-season collapse. I will not name names because it's bad luck, but you all know exactly what I am talking about.

[TinmanZBoy]

Fats, you make some good points. I tend to be a constructive critic, always looking for ways to improve so for me, it's also about how you win instead of just the fact of winning.

In the Philly game, no one was criticizing effort, which might be too demanding for a road game on a back to back. My criticism was of rotations/minutes, which has nothing to do with road games or back to backs. In fact, in a back to back, why not rest the starters a bit when we're up big? We were up 15 pts with 4 minutes to go, I think the starters could've come out then. I can see that Cliff is very conservative on this so maybe not a big deal.

Not sure why lots of people are up in arms when a few people make constructively critical points in ways that they think could further the team. If people are just happy with wins, regardless of what type of wins, then I guarantee that it's a recipe for a quick first round exit. You've already explained that just making the playoffs is good enough for many Hornets fans so I won't push on this. I just think that the coaching has to get to the next level to beat a team like the Hawks or Heat or Celtics and make the second round.

even the Warriors probably would not sit their starters or closing group at that point... this is NBA, teams can make a run, be it is 76ers...

[amcoolio]

Again, Clifford likes to make a point my punishing the starters for poor play by leaving them in in a blowout. He wasn't doing it for stat padding. The starters played without urgency for pretty much the entire game, so he left them in there until they did.

[Liver_Pooty]

I've watched this team blow way too many leads. No lead is safe with them.