New Orleans 104 | Dallas 93
Wednesday night in the Hive hosted the arrival of Dallas' Golden Calf: Jason Kidd. Supposedly, Cuban has been after Kidd since the Mavs went rigor mortis (the first time) and lost to the Heat in the 05-06 finals. Well Mr. Cuban, your prize has arrived. You traded your only defensive player worth anything in the post and an up-and-coming star at the point for it, but I'm sure it was worth it. Actually, that last statement highlights the lows and highs of this deal. Devin Harris, as good as he was (or could be), was not among the elite in the West, and while he does an excellent job on the fast-play-makers ( CP3 and Tony Parker), he has trouble running an offense that develops slowly and revolves mostly around isolations. He's a great player, but it's hard to play like a true point guard in that system. Also, the move to the East should help his development since he'll be among the upper tier of point guards with Billups and... well, Billups for sure. Calderon can come, too. So... Jason Kidd adds excellent passing ability (to a team totally devoid of it) and an intangible known as experience. Acquiring Kidd for Harris was good. Losing Diop in the process will hurt them because Dampier is washed up and the lack of imposing big men will force Dirk to play harder and more like the seven-footer he is... of course, Dirk hates this idea (not that he could play harder if he wanted to). So, Dallas becomes a small team. They got a little faster in the process, but ultimately, I don't think this is the solution to the present (and certainly not to the future).
So, the game. CP3 played out of his mind (I'll repeat his stats because they bear repeating: 31 points, 11 assists, 5 rebounds, and 9 steals). He set the franchise record for steals in a half (7) and was only 2 shy of the NBA record of 11. Every time he touched the ball in the fourth quarter a MVP chant would break out. They started out low, but eventually the whole stadium was belting it out at the top of their lungs (unintentional comedy moment: the moment these chants reached their loudest was after a offensive rebound and put-back by Paul... but Uncle Bowen had been fouled on the first shot... so, as the roof is about to fly off due the chanting, we have Ryan Bowen trying to take free-throws... I would have loved for Sir Charles to walk in at that moment [thinking the chants were for Bowen] just to hear his reaction).
The Mavs actually played pretty sloppy for most of the night. You could tell Kidd wasn't quite in sync with them yet: he passed out of bounds a lot and managed to facilitate most of CP3's steals. Nevertheless, he put up an 8,5,6 night with 3 steals so Mavs fans should take solace in knowing he hustled and that those first three numbers are only going to increase. In fact, by trading Diop, Cuban may have accidentally ensured that Kidd continues his triple-double reign.
Additionally, Peja and D. West contributed 18 a piece, Bobby Jackson knocked down 17 from the bench.Actually, he shot from the court, but... I'm not even going to finish that joke. All in all, we had a solid night against a slightly off-kilter team, who happens to be a major contender from our division. Sweetness.
***
Welcome to the show, Jeff Bower. About midday, the Hornets released a statement verifying the rumors that had been flying all morning about a three-way trade with Houston and Memphis. The trade looks something like this:
HOU to NO: Mike Jackson (2 years, $13 million), Bonzi Wells (expiring, $2.3 million)
HOU to MEM: Draft rights to Malik Badiane, cash considerations
NO to HOU: Bobby Jackson (1 year, $6.1 million)
NO to MEM: Marcus Vinicius (expiring, $700,000)
MEM to HOU: Draft rights to Sergei Lishchuk
So, what does this mean for the Hornets? Well, for starters, it means adding to veteran scorers who should provide a pretty good boost from the bench (alongside Pargo, Ely, and Armstrong). Jackson has fallen off the map lately (and that contract seems unnecessarily large), but hopefully Byron can reign him in. Speaking of reigning in players, Bonzi Wells is certainly the Wild Card in this equation. Byron and Paul are stern enough in their resolve to win; if they can get Bonzi to learn and accept his role, we should be golden. Wells will also clear a little more cap space for us this summer when we re-sign Paul. It isn't much (because he'll no doubt pull a max deal), but every little bit helps. Honestly, we won't have any clue until we see them play in our system. Oddly enough, the first time we'll have the chance to see that will be Friday's hosting of... the Rockets. Strange.
Well, here's to hoping that Bower knows what he's doing... (I think he does, in case anyone cares).
Showing posts with label Memphis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Memphis. Show all posts
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Sunday, February 10, 2008
I'll take Mike Miller for 3
New Orleans 112 | Memphis 99
Let's face it. No one is really surprised by this win. We had a slight scare when we found out that Tyson still had the flu and Mo Pete was out for... well, we don't know why he was out, but he was. The we remembered that Mo averaged a less-than-whelming 7 points in January (to Peja's 18), and Tyson's absence on the boards probably wouldn't hurt too much now that Darko leads the Grizz's Pau-less big men. And then, after all of that, we remembered we were playing Memphis.
Our boys practically hurled themselves out of the gates, leading the Grizz 16-2 after 6 or 7 minutes. Memphis then proceeded the cut the deficit to 2 before the end of the quarter. The game continued in this manner (Hornets build up a big lead, slowly throw it away, then wake up to start the cycle over) until the fourth quarter when CP3 and company kicked it into high gear. Despite dishing out 16 assists, Paul only notched 2 points on 1 for 10 shooting, making this his lowest point total all season (it should be noted, however, that other than a 6 point [losing] effort against Utah and an 8 point [winning] effort against the Clippers, Paul has scored in double figures in every other game this season). D.West continued to show the world why he was a formidable All-Star selection by putting up a 30/10, and Peja dropped 26 point while going 6 of 12 from beyond the arc. These numbers reinforce what Curry and I have said all season: For the Hornets to win, they need 2 of the starting 5 to put up strong numbers. Done. CP3 takes a night off on points, no problem. Mo Pete drops off the map for a month, piece of cake. As long as someone steps up (and they have been), we're golden.
Which leads to my next topic: wouldn't it be great if could add one more piece to our arsenal to better ensure that someone (or 2 someones) steps up every night? Absolutely. And now that everyone and their mom is trying to make a power play in the West, why not join the fun? I don't think we need to shake up our core, but a slasher/forward/jump-shooter could really bolster our success... or even a dependable big man off the bench so we don't have to rely on the Uncle Bowen at power forward strategy. So who do we go for? My vote goes to Mike Miller. He's a proven threat beyond the arc and is good for 15-20 per night as a starter. Plus, who wouldn't be afraid of a Paul-Miller-Stojakovic-West-Chandler lineup? Ooooh, I just got goosebumps writing that.
(I should note here that, for those of you who know me, I have an inexplicable man-crush on Miller, Kevin Martin, and Matt Barnes. You shouldn't ask questions, you should just go with it. I only mention this because I know some of you are thinking that I only want this trade to happen because of said creepy obsession. But seriously, tell me this trade doesn't make sense... oh wait, I haven't told you who we're giving them.)
According to ESPN's trade machine (a wonderful invention, I might add), any of the following trades would bring Miller to the Hornets and keep both teams under the cap:
a) Rasual Butler, Bobby Jackson
b) Rasual Butler, Morris Peterson
c) Julian Wright, Bobby Jackson
d) Hilton Armstrong, Bobby Jackson
Obviously A would be the best option because it keeps our starting 5 intact. But we have to figure that in Memphis' rebuilding efforts they would obviously want someone who could at least be a respectable starter. B solves this problem, but I have a feeling that Mo Pete's 4 year contract is not that appealing to anyone considering his contributions so far. C and D offer young talent and actually clear more cap room for Memphis. If we went this route, it's simply a question of who Bower's willing to part with and who Memphis would want. I think we'd do better in the long run with Hilton (if we could develop him into a usable big man), but I would hate to see JuJu go. Either option is acceptable if it means bringing Miller to the Crescent City. To seal the deal, I'm pretty sure we'd have to offer a draft pick (first round, this year or next) which, again, is completely acceptable. Both teams win in this scenario. New Orleans gets another quality scorer to help make a deeper playoff push, and Memphis gets cap space, young talent, a contract that will end sooner than Miller's, and a future pick to help them rebuild. Done and done. Of course, given their front-office's ingenious business sensibilities, we could possibly end up with Miller and a future pick for Ryan Bowen and Hugo.
By the way, I think our attendance woes are finally over. Last night's game featured 17,200 people. It was only our second sellout of the season... but it was against Memphis. We can definitely blame the first one on LeBron's presence, but Memphis... really? I think all of those fans came to see their hometown's finest. Unless Rudy Gay is a bigger draw than I'm aware of. Add that to the hype surround next weekend's All-Star game (and the plethora of Hornets involved in the event) and I'd say we're set...
Then again, I have been a fan of New Orleans sports long enough to know that nothing is certain. I'm just hoping that being romantic about the whole thing will actually solve the problem. Ask me how that's going for my life in general. Actually, you should probably just go to the games instead.
Let's face it. No one is really surprised by this win. We had a slight scare when we found out that Tyson still had the flu and Mo Pete was out for... well, we don't know why he was out, but he was. The we remembered that Mo averaged a less-than-whelming 7 points in January (to Peja's 18), and Tyson's absence on the boards probably wouldn't hurt too much now that Darko leads the Grizz's Pau-less big men. And then, after all of that, we remembered we were playing Memphis.
Our boys practically hurled themselves out of the gates, leading the Grizz 16-2 after 6 or 7 minutes. Memphis then proceeded the cut the deficit to 2 before the end of the quarter. The game continued in this manner (Hornets build up a big lead, slowly throw it away, then wake up to start the cycle over) until the fourth quarter when CP3 and company kicked it into high gear. Despite dishing out 16 assists, Paul only notched 2 points on 1 for 10 shooting, making this his lowest point total all season (it should be noted, however, that other than a 6 point [losing] effort against Utah and an 8 point [winning] effort against the Clippers, Paul has scored in double figures in every other game this season). D.West continued to show the world why he was a formidable All-Star selection by putting up a 30/10, and Peja dropped 26 point while going 6 of 12 from beyond the arc. These numbers reinforce what Curry and I have said all season: For the Hornets to win, they need 2 of the starting 5 to put up strong numbers. Done. CP3 takes a night off on points, no problem. Mo Pete drops off the map for a month, piece of cake. As long as someone steps up (and they have been), we're golden.
Which leads to my next topic: wouldn't it be great if could add one more piece to our arsenal to better ensure that someone (or 2 someones) steps up every night? Absolutely. And now that everyone and their mom is trying to make a power play in the West, why not join the fun? I don't think we need to shake up our core, but a slasher/forward/jump-shooter could really bolster our success... or even a dependable big man off the bench so we don't have to rely on the Uncle Bowen at power forward strategy. So who do we go for? My vote goes to Mike Miller. He's a proven threat beyond the arc and is good for 15-20 per night as a starter. Plus, who wouldn't be afraid of a Paul-Miller-Stojakovic-West-Chandler lineup? Ooooh, I just got goosebumps writing that.
(I should note here that, for those of you who know me, I have an inexplicable man-crush on Miller, Kevin Martin, and Matt Barnes. You shouldn't ask questions, you should just go with it. I only mention this because I know some of you are thinking that I only want this trade to happen because of said creepy obsession. But seriously, tell me this trade doesn't make sense... oh wait, I haven't told you who we're giving them.)
According to ESPN's trade machine (a wonderful invention, I might add), any of the following trades would bring Miller to the Hornets and keep both teams under the cap:
a) Rasual Butler, Bobby Jackson
b) Rasual Butler, Morris Peterson
c) Julian Wright, Bobby Jackson
d) Hilton Armstrong, Bobby Jackson
Obviously A would be the best option because it keeps our starting 5 intact. But we have to figure that in Memphis' rebuilding efforts they would obviously want someone who could at least be a respectable starter. B solves this problem, but I have a feeling that Mo Pete's 4 year contract is not that appealing to anyone considering his contributions so far. C and D offer young talent and actually clear more cap room for Memphis. If we went this route, it's simply a question of who Bower's willing to part with and who Memphis would want. I think we'd do better in the long run with Hilton (if we could develop him into a usable big man), but I would hate to see JuJu go. Either option is acceptable if it means bringing Miller to the Crescent City. To seal the deal, I'm pretty sure we'd have to offer a draft pick (first round, this year or next) which, again, is completely acceptable. Both teams win in this scenario. New Orleans gets another quality scorer to help make a deeper playoff push, and Memphis gets cap space, young talent, a contract that will end sooner than Miller's, and a future pick to help them rebuild. Done and done. Of course, given their front-office's ingenious business sensibilities, we could possibly end up with Miller and a future pick for Ryan Bowen and Hugo.
By the way, I think our attendance woes are finally over. Last night's game featured 17,200 people. It was only our second sellout of the season... but it was against Memphis. We can definitely blame the first one on LeBron's presence, but Memphis... really? I think all of those fans came to see their hometown's finest. Unless Rudy Gay is a bigger draw than I'm aware of. Add that to the hype surround next weekend's All-Star game (and the plethora of Hornets involved in the event) and I'd say we're set...
Then again, I have been a fan of New Orleans sports long enough to know that nothing is certain. I'm just hoping that being romantic about the whole thing will actually solve the problem. Ask me how that's going for my life in general. Actually, you should probably just go to the games instead.
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