Bringing Back the Buzz: Zo & '92-93 Hornets

[studbucket]

The Hornets were missing Kendall Gill. Andre Roberson could fill in nicely on defense and Dell Curry was shooting better, but they just lost handily to both the Heat and the Grizzlies. Teams were able to focus on Mourning and Johnson, trying to force the other players to beat them. Without a dynamic 3^rd player (on both ends of the court), the young Hornets just got swallowed up and barely generated any offense. Against Memphis, ‘Zo scored 7 points and Charlotte went 31-90 from the field.

Next up was the second game of a back-to-back: a home game against the Celtics. This was a game that had the whole town talking. They weren’t excited for the Celtics though. They wanted to see Muggsy Bogues against his former teammates. However, this wasn’t the Muggsy they were used to seeing. Coach Stevens had decided to use a very unorthodox approach, starting Muggsy at the 2 and letting Isaiah Thomas continue to handle the point. Surprisingly, it had been working OK with the Celtics 5^th in the East at 13-10, looking like they were on track to make the playoffs on the strength of a competent and deep roster.

Though deep and competent, Coach J saw a team he could push around. He knew why he got rid of Bogues, and he planned to out-muscle and bully this Celtics team. The game was quite close in the first quarter, as the Hornets had their way on offense, led by Larry Johnson. However, Isaiah Thomas was also hot, knocking down several shots and keeping the Celtics alive.

The 2^nd quarter was where things turned around for the Hornets. ‘Zo, enraged by the zero shots he took in the first quarter, took over the 2^nd quarter, racking up 3 blocks, cleaning the glass, and getting Tyler Zeller into foul trouble over the span of just a few minutes. As a team, the Hornets stepped up to take away the perimeter and force the Celtics into the paint. The plan worked, as Charlotte went into halftime with a 19 point lead and never looked back.

The team rolled through the 2^nd half, getting Tyler Zeller to foul out, holding Thomas to just 6 more points, and keeping Marcus Smart from scoring a single bucket.

The Hornets get a 3-day rest before playing the Magic, Raptors, and Wizards over the course of 4 nights. Coach J told his team to enjoy the win and is planning on letting them rest up in the hopes they can keep up the active defense and fast break buckets.

[trekfan]

^That's the way to show up former teammates. Nicely done. Sorry Muggsy

[megarover]

Thomas and Bogues could quite possibly be the smallest NBA backcourt ever. Would be about the size of a high school JV team

[studbucket]

Quote: Originally Posted by megarover

Thomas and Bogues could quite possibly be the smallest NBA backcourt ever. Would be about the size of a high school JV team

I'd go with 7th grade team. Pretty sure I was 5'9"in middle school and our point guards were taller than 5'3".

[studbucket]

At the 0:45 second mark in the video above, you can see the Celtics' lack of height really hurting them. In 2 minutes, 'Zo gets 3 blocks on David Lee, Thomas, and Sullinger. Funny thing is: Bogues got an offensive board.

[studbucket]

Feeling rested and having just locked down the Orlando Magic, the Hornets welcome Kyle Lowry and the Toronto Raptors to town. Looking at the Raptors, Coach J saw some obvious weaknesses down low and was hoping to feed ‘Zo all game. Once the game started, it turns out he had under-estimated Scola’s defensive ability and Mourning wasn’t going to just bully his way to buckets all game.

Instead, the Hornets got out on the break and got buckets in transition, especially from Dell Curry. The Toronto crowd saw a different side of the sharpshooter as he only went 1-4 from deep, but managed 26 points, mostly in the transition game. This marks Curry’s 2^nd straight game with at least 25 points, which has been key for the Celtics as they need a wing scorer to pick up Gill’s slack.

It was also the 2^nd straight game of 37+ points for Larry Johnson and another double-double for ‘Zo. Andre Roberson has continued his good start for the Hornets, picking up another 7 assists and playing strong defense.

After the game, Coach J was worried about his team’s defense. “We couldn’t slow down Derozan, Lowry, and Scola, letting them get easy buckets all night. I’m glad we won fairly easily, but I would rather win 100-90 than 120-110."

[trekfan]

^Larry Johnson is a sick, sick man. Nasty! Toronto just had their passports rejected, head back to Canada!

[studbucket]

Fresh off of 4 straight wins the Hornets find themselves half a game behind the Cavs in the East and heading into Houston to face the league-leading Rockets. Not only is this a big test for the Hornets, but Coach J gets to face off against former player, and Houston 6^th man, Chief Bing.

Coach J’s team was certainly outmatched at the guard spots and ‘Zo will have his hands full with Howard on both ends of the court. Once again, Coach would likely need to rely on Larry Johnson to create mismatches with the Rockets forwards while also trying to slow down the Rockets offense. Andre Roberson would likely end up seeing more minutes as a defensive specialist, although his shooting left a lot to be desired.

Ultimately, the game was a barn burner with both teams grabbing 10 point leads in different parts of the game, shooting the lights out, and playing suspect defense. In the end, it was a nerve-wracking, yet big statement, win for the young Hornets team on the road.

Both teams shot lights out in the first quarter, with the Hornets started fast and getting out to a 10 point lead. Sessions and ‘Zo were consistently getting pick and roll baskets, but Houston took advantage of Charlotte’s second unit and came roaring back.

The 2^nd quarter was back and forth, with Corey Brewer getting 19 points in the first half, and James Harden became a master distributor as the Hornets focused on him. The game was within 2 points at half, but the 3^rd quarter was a much different game. A sloppy quarter full of missed shots and turnovers, both teams only scored 19 points. Midway through the quarter, the Rockets were up ten before their 2^nd unit started to fall apart and the 3^rd quarter ended with Houston up 83-81.

The drama continued in the last quarter, as the fans anxiously watched to see who would step up to be their hero. Those hoping for it to be Harden would be disappointed, as he opened the quarter with a bad turnover and missed some key shots down the stretch. Both teams shook off the rust of the 3^rd quarter, and the first units went back and forth in entertaining fashion. The Rockets held the slight advantage until there was 1:30 left in the game, when the Hornets tied it up at 114.

With the pressure turned up on both teams, we didn’t see players step up, instead getting a sloppy 90 seconds with several players faltering. No gaffe was more apparent than Ty Lawson dribbling off the last 12 seconds for an average shot from 17 feet and ignoring James Harden.

The players were ecstatic with the win, and Coach J was proud of the resolve his team showed by coming back from down 10 on the road to the best team in the league.

Sitting tied with the Cavs at the top of the East, led by the double-double duo of ‘Zo & Grandmama, and getting Gill and Gibson back in 2 weeks, Hornets fans were sitting pretty excited for what was yet to come.

Here’s the sloppy last 1:30 of the game:

Chief Bing had a solid game with 7 points and 7 rebounds, but could have had a much larger impact as he only went 3-9 from the field.