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

[trekfan]

Man, what a blitz the Hornets are putting on the rest of the league. You guys are killing it. When is Gill expected to be back now?

As for the trades, eh, it happens. The Knicks trade was a lateral move for both teams, frankly, so no biggie there. The contract lengths are virtually the same for everyone.

The Blazers trade, yeah, that one wasn't great, but IRL Chandler has been benched for Alex Len (!) so, you can justify the trade sorta that way. Live and learn -- the NBA is a crazy league, there's bound to be a few head scratchers this trade season like there are every year.

[studbucket]

Quote: Originally Posted by trekfan

Man, what a blitz the Hornets are putting on the rest of the league. You guys are killing it. When is Gill expected to be back now? As for the trades, eh, it happens. The Knicks trade was a lateral move for both teams, frankly, so no biggie there. The contract lengths are virtually the same for everyone. The Blazers trade, yeah, that one wasn't great, but IRL Chandler has been benched for Alex Len (!) so, you can justify the trade sorta that way. Live and learn -- the NBA is a crazy league, there's bound to be a few head scratchers this trade season like there are every year.

Thanks! Gill will be back by the end of the month. So if he stays healthy, he'll be ready for the last 3 months.

I also think that the team may be better with Roberson starting, as the starting 5 has plenty of offense and having Sessions come off of the bench will cause less stagnation from the 2nd unit. When Gill comes back, both will be relegated to the bench.

Appreciate you following this. I admit I feel cheesy for reeling off 31 straight, but ~25 of them have been simulated and for my 6 wins, several of them have been really close games.

The Rising Stars game was also a ton of fun. The guys are so athletic, I got to play with Fletcher and Law, and I can see why you love Hollis-Jefferson; he's hyper-athletic.

[studbucket]

Steph Curry ran away with this year's three point contest, and it wasn't through his excellence. Everyone else couldn't get past 11 points. Video of the whole contest is below.

[studbucket]

The Slam Dunk Contest featured 3 Timberwolves players and Victor Oladipo. It was a much more entertaining affair than the 3 point contest, and Andrew Wiggins came away with the crown.

Enjoy the full video of the contest below.

[studbucket]

The All-Star Weekend wraps up with the main event. The rosters were pretty much as expected, with the only possible snubs being rookie sensations Karl-Anthony Towns and Joey Fletcher.

The starting fives were good, but it was a bit surprising to see DeRozan, Mourning, Nowitzki, and Hayward starting.

Ultimately the East cruised to an easy victory and DeMar DeReozan won player of the game, though John Wall, LeBron James, and Larry Johnson were also key contributors.

Here are the full highlights:

Note: I played half of the 1st quarter, half of the 2nd, none of the 3rd, and all of the 4th as the Eastern All-Stars.

[studbucket]

The trade deadline ended up being very quiet. All that happened was I denied 3 trades from happening because they made no sense for some of the teams.

[studbucket]

We just wrapped up the All-Star break, and there are two of Coach J’s former players that are really having an impact rookies Hope Law and Joey Fletcher. The rookie backcourt duo both were part of the rising stars game and are solid starters on Eastern Conference playoff teams. Chief Bing and Tommy Camper are still getting minutes on contenders and Paul Noonan, Wallace Anrin, and Romain Martin seem to be waiting for next season.

Joey Fletcher, PG, Knicks
Joey Fletcher has been a revelation for the New York Knicks this season and that 1-year contract they offered to the undrafted rookie is beginning to look like a mistake as teams around the league are lining up to sign him this summer. Through 49 games, he’s averaging 11.9 ppg, 9.2 apg, 6.7 rpg, and 1.9 spg. That’s a very solid starting point guard and he’s only a rookie. His shooting still needs to improve as he’s at 41.5% overall and 34% from deep. However, most impressive are his league-leading 5 triple-doubles.

Hope Law, SG, Hawks
Hope Law has settled into his role as the starting shooting guard for the Hawks and let Atlanta treat Kyle Korver as a nice-to-have. The rookie is shooting 41.5% from three and averaging 12.4 points per game through 45 games. He is doing well, though not quite to Joey Harper’s level. As a late first round pick, Law’s agent also took an unorthodox approach to the contract, taking the path pioneered by KJ MCDaniels last year. This means Atlanta is in the same predicament as New York.

Tommy Camper, C, Cavaliers
Tommy Camper has settled into being a regular player for the 2^nd place Cavaliers, but hasn’t had a huge impact for them…although he really doesn’t need to with the talent on the team. Serving primarily as a rebounder and defensive presence, Camper will look to test the market this offseason and go to a team where he can be more of a focal point in the offense.

Chief Bing, C, Rockets
Serving as the primary backup to Dwight Howard, Big has been relatively limited offensively (5.1 ppg) but is getting 10.2 rebounds a game and exceeding what is expected of a backup center coming off the bench.

Here is the previous report which gives some background on the free agent players. All three seem to be holding out for the offseason where they can get picked up.

Wallace Anrin, SF, Free Agents
Paul Noonan, SG, Free Agents
Romain Martin, SG, Free Agents

[studbucket]

The Hornets went into Milwaukee, hoping the game would play out similar to when these two teams had faced up in November. Milwaukee’s interior defense was tough, but Charlotte let Michael Carter-Williams build a brick house and hit the Bucks on the break and used ball movement to get some key open looks.

This time, both teams were missing some players. Kendall Gill was on the bench for this game but likely wouldn’t see the floor as the Hornets didn’t want to risk re-inury. Khrys Middleton wasn’t available for Milwaukee, which is a big blow for their chances as it allows Milwaukee to pack the paint and invite the outside shot.

And invite the outside shot they did, to great effect.

The first quarter started slowly, but within 6 minutes, fans could see exactly how this game would go:

• Michael Carter-Williams throws up a shot and probably misses
• Charlotte passes the ball around and hits an open three
• Greg Monroe gets a decent bucket or gets fouled
• The Hornets hit the Bucks on the break for easy buckets

Unfortunately for Milwaukee, outside of a few streaks from MCW and some beautiful moves from Greg Monroe, nothing really worked. MCW ended up shooting a woeful 11-30 from the field, including 3-8 from deep (which is better than Coach J expected). With Ramon Sessions sitting 5-6 feet off of him the whole game, Carter-Williams couldn’t help himself and launched shot after shot.

As a team, Milwaukee only shot 42% from the field, went 4-17 from three, and 14-25 from the line. Despite all the bricks they threw up and the height they had, they also couldn’t get any boards, finishing with 36 total rebounds (19 offensive) compared to Charlotte’s 54.

For Charlotte, it was once again a team effort, with Larry Johnson’s passing, Mourning’s rebounding, and the 3-point shooting from Dell Curry, Avery Bradley, and Ramon Sessions all being key contributions to another easy win for the runaway favorites in the East.

On the defensive end, Giannis Antetokounmpo was mostly anonymous thanks to Roberson, Johnson, and Curry (and MCW ignoring his teammates) and Greg Monroe didn’t have a rebound in the first half.

Coach J was very concerned about his team’s 29 turnovers this game, with Mourning and Sessions contributing a combined 14. With Gill coming back, the ball control should be better and Sessions and Roberson will see less of the floor.

Note: due to some issues with the Xbox App (I played this game using game streaming) I wasn’t able to record any clips from the game, so no highlights today.