Game 1: Hornets @ Suns
by Rohan on Dec 26, 2011 2:05 AM CST
in Game Threads
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Print| 2011-12 NBA Regular Season | ||
|---|---|---|
|
|
 |
|
| 0-0 | vs | 0-0 |
| December 26th, 2011 | ||
| US Airways Center | ||
| 8:00 PM CST | ||
| TV: CST, NBALP |
||
| Probable starters: | ||
| Greivis Vasquez | < | Steve Nash |
| Eric Gordon |
> | Jared Dudley |
| Trevor Ariza | = | Grant Hill |
| Carl Landry |
= | Channing Frye |
| Emeka Okafor | = | Marcin Gortat |
Your Pregame Moment of Zen
This season should be the end of an era for the Phoenix Suns; with almost $30M coming off the books in the Summer of 2012, the Suns are likely to watch Steve Nash and Grant Hill leave, barring a late change of course to a more Dumarsian team building strategy. New York would seem to be a perfect destination for the Suns' point guard though Nash, unlike certain other All-Star point guards, has refrained from making trade demands privately (and denying them publicly).
Last year, Phoenix struggled tremendously on the defensive end. The team ranked among the worst defensive rebounding units in the league and failed to prevent opponents shooting high percentages from the floor. Their historic offenses of the late 2000s also gave way to a less efficient incarnation in 2011.
Phoenix will need to rebuild before putting its next title contender on the floor, but when exactly that process will start is anyone's guess. For this season, the Suns could maybe challenge for an 8th seed but will likely be a one and done team if they do indeed make the postseason.
The Opposition
Check out Bright Side of the Sun for Phoenix Suns' coverage.
Subplots
- For many years, the Chris Paul-Steve Nash pairing made this one of the more intriguing matchups in the league. Tonight, Steve Nash squares off against, presumably, Greivis Vasquez. This could well be intriguing in its own right, but in more unpleasant fashion.
- The Hornets get tomorrow off as a travel day to return to New Orleans before taking on the Boston Celtics for their home opener.
- How the front court rotation shakes out will be interesting to watch. Kaman figures to get big minutes and offensive possessions behind Emeka Okafor, but will Gus Ayon get minutes at center? How about Lance Thomas at power?
- The Saints play Toney Douglas' brother, Harry Douglas, at the same time.
- The Minnesota Timberwolves open their season against the Oklahoma City Thunder (who beat Dwight Howard's (and Glen Davis'!) Orlando Magic yesterday) at 7:00 CST.
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Weird feeling
Usually I’m all about winning but now I’m just looking for signs we’re going to be ok in the future. Funny how that just seems to take the pressure off the game and can just sit back and enjoy it.
true
also, just got home from cp3’s debut ha
by Rohan on Dec 26, 2011 2:25 AM CST via Android app up reply actions
What did you think?
CP looked decent, but as long as this offense is run, this Clipper team won’t make a ton of noise. The offense doesn’t let CP be the distributor he is. He basically won the game on his jump shot.
Reppin' the Lafayette Hornets fans.
I Think
The Clippers need to play at a much slower pace to maximize Chris Paul’s potential. He’s played at some of the slowest paces in the league the last few years and he wasn’t really able to stay healthy even in that. They played Billups 38 minutes last night too. I’m not sure if I trust Vinny’s offense with the weapons he has.
As for CP3 not being a distributor yet… I’m not concerned with that. He’ll grow into the offense; remember he’s only been there for about a week (give or take). So he’s got plenty of time to get more comfortable and, given all of that, I thought he looked great.
"You play to win the game."
by MrWayneKeller on Dec 26, 2011 12:04 PM CST up reply actions
Guys
3 new roster starters? 2 weeks of training camp? Obviously, it’ll take some time for the team to gel. Not to mention Chauncey is trying to acclimate himself at playing SG.
Look at the warriors, same 5 starters and just a new coach yet they only score 86. 86 from the Warriors!
when you hear the Clippers, it’s not going to be a joke anymore. I can guarantee you that -BG32
thought
the clippers offense is hilariously bad.
chauncey stole possession after possession, and I think there were a grand total of ZERO blake-cp3 pick and rolls. maybe one with deandre. maybe its just early and they don’t have their real offense yet, but taking it out of pauls hands that much is ridiculous regardless.
by Rohan on Dec 26, 2011 12:58 PM CST via Android app up reply actions
I don’t see that Billups-Paul backcourt working out long term. A lot of what I have read indicates that Billups isn’t really happy with and unsure of why the Clippers claimed him at all. He is clearly the type of guy that would rather run an offense than be a cog in it. Winning make keep him quiet but I don’t see it working.
Ed Snider is a crotchety old fuck.
That is all.
Will be interesting to watch
I think Mo Williams works better as a starter there – he concedes to Paul a lot more, and he can hit the three very well
You are right.
I think with Mo being slightly younger he is a little more willing to adapt and is used to yielding to better players (Lebron, Blake, Paul)
Ed Snider is a crotchety old fuck.
That is all.
Billups yesterday was just hilarious
He was literally DEMANDING the ball from paul before CP3 even crossed half court
I got a laugh...
every single time. It was the point of uncomfortable.
It’s interesting because while I want to see Paul do well and have success, because the Clippers are the new it team I kind of want to see them totally fall flat on their faces.
Ed Snider is a crotchety old fuck.
That is all.
Billups
Billups is a proven winner who has championship on his resume. He averaged 17ppg last season and he is clearly in very very good shape—better than some of the young guys around the league.
It’s quite reasonable that he’ll get to see a lot of the ball, even with CP on the roster.
Did you watch him yesterday?
Just atrocious shot selection. 6 for 19 was actually a rather kind final line, given the nonsensical, early shot clock, long heaves he was tossing up. Being a “proven winner” is not an excuse in the slightest.
I did watch him
I did watch him, though I didn’t watch every minute of the game.
He was outplaying Monta ellis, GS’s best scorer and player.
Ellis Had a Bad Game Too
"You play to win the game."
by MrWayneKeller on Dec 28, 2011 4:49 PM CST up reply actions
Uh-oh
We’re already concerned with Minnesota games? Can’t that at least wait until Spring?
I'm Pumped For the Opener
I’m just excited to have basketball back. And excited to have the game previews up! Unfortunately for me I work 2-11 tonight so it’s going to be on everyone else here to pull the team through victory. I’m trying to find a more consistent app for my phone to pull a score up since the NBA Game Time app inexplicably stopped working. Wish me luck. Anyways, I really disagree on Okafor and Robin Lopez being equal (you may have an argument with Brook Lopez, even, but I’d still disagree with you) and I’m not so sure that Frye is equal to Landry either. I’m worried if Vasquez is going to start tonight since he just got to the team yesterday. I’d imagine that Squeaky gets the start tonight (take that for what it’s worth) and hopefully the team makes it without Jarrett Jack for the suspension. Going to be interesting to see how the team responds every time we watch them play this year. I’m just happy to have them back.
Go Hornets!
"You play to win the game."
There’s a new NBA Game Time app if you search in the app store.
by abraves on Dec 26, 2011 12:47 PM CST via iPhone app up reply actions
For Android?
I looked and wasn’t able to find it.
"You play to win the game."
by MrWayneKeller on Dec 26, 2011 1:14 PM CST up reply actions
just
dl’d the android game.time app myself
by Rohan on Dec 26, 2011 1:22 PM CST via Android app up reply actions
don't know yet if it'll work in game though
by Rohan on Dec 26, 2011 1:23 PM CST via Android app up reply actions
Yeah, I Had It Last Year
Tried using it this year (even during the preseason) but no games would pop up. It was weird. So I went to update it and it said the app could not be found any longer.
"You play to win the game."
by MrWayneKeller on Dec 26, 2011 1:25 PM CST up reply actions
woops
meant to put in gortat at that spot (think they’re about even)
by Rohan on Dec 26, 2011 1:01 PM CST via Android app up reply actions
Makes More Sense
"You play to win the game."
by MrWayneKeller on Dec 26, 2011 1:14 PM CST up reply actions
Interesting Hornets team
No premier players, but overall better depth (at least I hope).
Look forward to seeing Gordon, Aminu, Vasquez, Kamen, Squeaky.
At least I won’t have to see Mo Pete and Willie Green hoist up three pointers (CLANK)
"I have had a perfectly wonderful evening, but this wasn't it." Groucho Marx
I think Landry is better than Frye
But center spot and SF is equal.
overall yeah
but I think in this matchup frye should have a relatively easy time floating to free space for his jumper
by Rohan on Dec 26, 2011 1:03 PM CST via Android app up reply actions
reading throught everyones comments it seems the mood is a lot like ours on brightside
really excited to have BBall back
Just hoping our team doesn’t come out looking like hell (and by hell I mean Dallas yesterday)
Dallas looked really bad
Tyson Chandler leaving is really going to hurt that team.
by njennings on Dec 26, 2011 4:58 PM CST via Android app up reply actions
I don't know if he's a bad luck charm, but I do know...
my favorite part tonight will be not seeing Carter in a Suns uni.
Oh yeah I bought the stupid thing to.
Question though my direct tv says it’s on three channels, the lague pass channels standard and HD but also on FS Phoenix. I checked it out and sure enough it was on there to. Now theoretically could you just get the Direct TV Sport Pack and then watch all the regular season games that way? Alot cheaper.
IT'S GOING DOWN!!!
"I'm not a businessman, I'm a business, man" ~Jay-Z
"Sleeping on me probably in the coffin" - Tyga
Rally Squirrel will steal yo gurl.
SANI BOOOOOY!!!
I'd like to see EG take more shots...
"I'm not a businessman, I'm a business, man" ~Jay-Z
"Sleeping on me probably in the coffin" - Tyga
Rally Squirrel will steal yo gurl.
SANI BOOOOOY!!!
So I missed most of the first quarter...
how do they look?
Ed Snider is a crotchety old fuck.
That is all.
Some scrappers I like so far,
The good thing about being a defense of minded team is it’s there for you more often then not. Not like offense which comes and goes.
Am I the only one...
that wishes the Hornets went back to uniforms without pinstripes?
Ed Snider is a crotchety old fuck.
That is all.
Morris is looking good.
very aggressive rebounding… We could use some.
"I'm not a businessman, I'm a business, man" ~Jay-Z
"Sleeping on me probably in the coffin" - Tyga
Rally Squirrel will steal yo gurl.
SANI BOOOOOY!!!
General Greivis
The General looks good tonight, playing extended minutes in the 2nd to give Marco and the Commish some rest. Landry’s face-up game is looking stellar and Gordon needs to be more selfish when he gets the rock. Besides that I’d say both our centers need to get in game shape (I think they’re committing “fatigue fouls”) and get JJ back and we’ll be ok. Defense looks good as always, just need to shore up those offensive boards
Squeaky looks good.
He could make a good hustle player off the bench. If he continues this trend, he’ll stick around with the team, IMO.
"I'm not a businessman, I'm a business, man" ~Jay-Z
"Sleeping on me probably in the coffin" - Tyga
Rally Squirrel will steal yo gurl.
SANI BOOOOOY!!!
Nice finish by the Commish
"I'm not a businessman, I'm a business, man" ~Jay-Z
"Sleeping on me probably in the coffin" - Tyga
Rally Squirrel will steal yo gurl.
SANI BOOOOOY!!!
Did not look to good on Offense that half.
I think we will start clicking on offense pretty soon. This team look deep.
These guys are playing hard
I like the effort. Screw the guns at ESPN for their hate (or should I say lack thereof, since we don’t exist on television).
This team looks deeper than last year, that’s for sure. We just need some more offense. Other than that, I think this team will fare decently this season, especially in the latter half.
Reppin' the Lafayette Hornets fans.
Giving up too much on the offensive glass (36%)
But also holding Phoenix to really, really low shooting (38% eFG) and forcing a few turnovers (18%). The overall defensive effort has been excellent.
Offense has been about league average.
They'll get it together
But man, they had a damn lot of turn over from last season. Maybe they won’t get it together??
Reppin' the Lafayette Hornets fans.
Hugh Weber
Just retweeted the Timberwolves tweet: “#Twolves fall in home opener 104-100 to Thunder”
lol
Reppin' the Lafayette Hornets fans.
Haha
I just started watching the Hornets game – I was watching the T-Wolves game until this… T-wolves looked good; I’m kind of concerned about our draft pick.
I guess that's fair
But taking the favorites to win the Western Conference down to the wire is somewhat concerning. I guess that’s muted since the Thunder were on the back end of a home-road back to back, though.
Good trade by Demps.
Those who questioned the move for Q-pon: silly.
Reppin' the Lafayette Hornets fans.
Haha, I couldn't tell who it was
But a Sun was pushing against Kaman while a free throw was about to be shot, and Kaman kind of gave way, and the Sun fell right into the lane before the free throw went up, and the refs didn’t particularly care.
COMMISH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"I'm not a businessman, I'm a business, man" ~Jay-Z
"Sleeping on me probably in the coffin" - Tyga
Rally Squirrel will steal yo gurl.
SANI BOOOOOY!!!
by OnPointLikeCP3 on Dec 26, 2011 10:34 PM CST reply actions
GEAUX HORNETS
1-0!!!!!!
ALL ABORD THE TRENT RICAHRDSON TRAIN!!!
by dcbucsfan on Dec 26, 2011 10:42 PM CST via Android app reply actions
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