Hornets: 4-8 (33.3%) in their last 12 games Lakers: 8-4 (66.7%) in their last 12 games Hornets: 7-13 (35.0%) in their last 20 games Lakers: 14-6 (70.0%) in their last 20 games Yahoo Sports on the Lakers (31-31) @ Hornets (21-41 -- 33.9%) game last night: "Many fans and broadcasters were quick to call this win the much-needed, much-anticipated "gut check" moment the Lakers have been looking for since their 1-4 start. Unfortunately, a narrow win against a young upstart team when they're supposed to be a title contender doesn't qualify as such. ... It's a shame that anyone in purple and gold is relegated to celebrating a win against a sub-.500 team" ------------------------ Dwight Howard had one of his best games as a Laker... it's only the 8th time this season he had 20 or more points plus 15 or more rebounds and Kobe Bryant had arguably his best game in at least the last four years. it's only the 9th time in the last 4 years he has scored 42 pts: 2012-13 42 @Hornets (12 assists, 7 rebounds) W 42 @Cleveland (2 assists, 5 rebounds) L 2011-12 48 v Phoenix (3 assists, 5 rebounds) W 42 v Cleveland (3 assists, 5 rebounds) W 42 @Clippers (4 assists, 7 rebounds) L 2010-11 42 v Phoenix (9 assists, 12 rebounds) W 2009-10 44 v Warriors (11 assists, 4 rebounds) W 44 @ Memphis (3 assists, 3 rebounds) L 42 @ Chicago (3 assists, 2 rebounds) W also, it's only the 5th time in the last 6 years that Kobe has put up 30 or more points plus 10 or more assists... 2012-13 42 pt /12 ast -- @Hornets W 2011-12 none 2010-11 32 pt / 11 ast -- v Houston W 30 pt / 12 ast -- @ Sacramento W 2009-10 44 pt / 11 ast -- v Warriors W 2008-09 36 pt / 13 ast -- v Indiana W 2007-08 none
a 108-102 loss to the Lakers is a lot better than say, the Hornets 121-63 loss to Denver on Apr 27, 2009
Maybe, but you could probably just chalk that up to a bad game where no one was hitting shots. In last night's game, they lost a 25pt 4th Q lead with the kicker being, as islstl said, the 20-0 run to close the game. Pretty pathetic.
Handwerger: Williams leading Hornets to bottom with excuses, questionable decisions NEW ORLEANS — Tom Benson paid $338 million for this? One of America’s richest men, valued at more than $1 billion, had to be wondering Wednesday, sometime between the 6:47 mark of the fourth and the final buzzer when his Hornets failed to score a single point, what the hell that was he had just witnessed. He wouldn’t have been alone. Up 25 points at one point and leading by 17 a third of the way through the final 12 minutes, New Orleans was inexplicably outscored 25-2 and lost to the Lakers 108-102. If you thought Monday night’s embarrassing loss to Orlando was the trough of the season, you were wrong. So painfully wrong. In fact, the floor apparently hasn’t been set. And coach Monty Williams is leading a sinking ship to another lottery pick. Well, Williams might be in charge of it but he’s certainly not leading it. He has made enough questionable excuses lately that, metaphorically, they are acting as anchors. And they’re bringing the Hornets down. His excuse for sitting rookie Anthony Davis – the defensive playmaker the team drafted No. 1 overall – on the bench for all of the fourth quarter against the Lakers? “With his shoulder and some of the ailments he has had, I’m not going to put him on Dwight in a situation like that,” Williams said. “That’s not fair to him.” Well how else will Davis learn if he’s not given the opportunities to overcome what’s wrong ? it’s not so believable that Davis wouldn’t have been able to help in some fashion. There’s no hurt in thrusting him into the game at some point, even if just to see. And if he can't match with Howard, match him against another player and leave Lopez in. Williams blamed the lack of ability to get anything done in the final 6:47, when his Hornets were outscored 20-0 and turned the ball over six times, on the club’s youth and inexperience. “We’ve got to go through this stuff,” Williams said. “As bad as it feels, you’re not going to go to the next level without going through some tough stuff. And we all feel sick about it but it’s the nature of progression in the NBA. You’re going to go through times like this before you elevate to where you want to go.” Sixty-two games into the season, that smacks of excuse and the proverbial head-in-the-sand mentality. As Kevin Bacon’s character in Animal House says when the riot breaks out during the parade, “Remain calm! All is well!” No, nothing is well. The Hornets have given up fourth quarter leads three times in the past nine games and lost by 45 points at Oklahoma City, the franchise’s second-worst loss. That may be youth, but it’s also a combination of questionable coaching and a team that has a couple of talented players bogged down with a roster nearly full of reserves. And besides - the youngsters weren't the ones in the game in crunch time. Williams’ background is as a defensive coach but for much of the past two years, either his system is too complicated or he has lost his players. But while that has been happening, his team has lost –if it had any – an offensive identity. When it’s time to score points, when games are close, this team retracts into its shell. And they haven’t ever improved in that area. Against Los Angeles, it was a 20-0 run by the Lakers that put New Orleans away. Against Orlando, it was 17-5. And against Dallas, it was 8-0 in the final 55 seconds. Williams has gotten a pass for much of the past two years, and, in a way, deservedly so. But it’s now obvious the Hornets are regressing under him, not progressing. It might now be the time for Benson to take a closer look at the head coach to make sure he is the right man for the job or if he has the right people around him. While Williams was just extended this year, few around him should feel safe. After all, Benson does have $338 million invested in this product. http://www.wwltv.com/sports/Handwer...excuses-questionable-decisions-195797721.html
I had so much hope for him, too. It's really a double-whammie for any Hornets fan. You lose, at home, when you had such a great 2-3 quarter start. Again, finishing the game on the short end(if this even qualifies as having one "end" at all) of a 20-0 run. Plus, the wanning hope that we had our coach for the long haul just took a huge knock, at least in my book it did. Hornets won 21 games last year. Let's say we finish with 30 wins for the year, to end up going 30-52. Hornets went 21-45 (.318 win percentage) last year. 30-52 would be a .36585 win percentage. That's only a .04785 improvement. I definitely think he should get another year. I mean, what do we really have to lose? If we can't get to .500 by next year, then we have to start thinking about some changes, right?!
Comments from the Boston Globe's Gary Washburn on New Orleans' victory over the Celtics last night: "A disastrous loss for the Celtics, who go get outscored 7-0 in the final 1:32 and allow Anthony Davis to tip-in the game winner with 0.3 seconds left off an Eric Gordon miss. A terrible loss for the Celtics" " The Celtics are 6-for-23 shooting in the second half and are visibly frustrated." " the Celtics are in trouble. They look confused offensively" " the Celtics look disheveled on offense and confused on defense." " The theme tonight is Celtics build nice lead, Hornets rally." http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/extras/celtics_blog/2013/03/updates_from_ce_168.html From ESPN: Anthony Davis was nearly too ill to suit up. Instead, New Orleans' first overall draft choice sent the Boston Celtics out of the Big Easy with the sick feeling that accompanies a lost lead in the dying seconds. ... The Hornets won the teams' only other matchup this season, 97-78 in Boston on Jan. 16. NBA.com: TURNING POINT: The Hornets trailed big early in the third when a 9-0 run turned into that 31-9 spree that gave New Orleans home. Davis started it with a layup. A Vasquez jumper and free throw cut the 13- point deficit to eight. Gordon then converted a layup and a jumper and New Orleans was down only 60-56 with 7:03 to play in the third quarter. ... NOTABLE: The Hornets swept the season series with Boston 2-0.
