New Orleans Hornets Pointed in Right Direction After Loss to Indiana Pacers
The New Orleans Hornets, in their fourth game of the preseason, have finally shown a significant amount of improvement across the board in a 98-101 loss to the Indiana Pacers.
This means that both the Hornet starters and the bench were in sync putting up conservative, yet decent numbers and without starting power forward David West, who is still out with a sprained wrist.
The Big Easy will be happy to know that their Hornets are pointed in the right direction in their quest for team chemistry.
After a huge presence in the first game against the Memphis Grizzlies, Trevor Ariza had disappeared in all subsequent games including the win over the toothless Heat, who had both Wade and James on the injured list.
Today against the Pacers, the old Ariza blessed us with his presence by going 6-of-11 in 30 minutes for 15 points. Ariza is pointed in the right direction.
Jason Smith, the young 7-foot forward (replacing David West) continued to show promising results by going 4-of-7 in 22 minutes for 14 points and nine rebounds.
This followed a good 33 minute effort against Chris Bosh and the Heat on Wednesday, where Smith went for 13 points and 8 rebounds. Not spectacular by any means, but a good showing of the future potential and expectations for Mr. Smith on this team.
Smith and Willie Green both came to the Hornets from the 76ers in late September of this year. Smith is also pointed in the right direction.
Guard, Marco Belinelli has been one of the more consistent pieces of the Hornets puzzle going for a respectable 16 points in 30 minutes to lead all Hornets scorers. Belinelli is also pointed in the right direction.
Point guard Chris Paul also had a decent outing, but certainly subpar by his talent zip code. In 29 minutes, Paul went 4-for-8 shooting that produced 12 points, eight assists, four rebounds and twosteals. CP3 is always pointed in the right direction.
Emeka Okafor went 4-for-8 with 11 points and 5 rebounds in 26 minutes. While his numbers are modest, the team must be able to rely on the center to grab more than just 5 rebounds, especially against a team like the Pacers. Okafor is almost pointed in the right direction.
Peja Stojakovic came off the bench going 4-for-7 for 11 points in 19 minutes. Stojakovic is a reliable shooter who is also pointed in the right direction.
Backup guard Willie Green contributed 10 points off the bench going 4-for-9 in 22 minutes, and is also pointed in the right direction.
Marcus Thornton was again a disappointment. He obviously needs a little bit of time to find the same groove he had as a rookie last year averaging 20 points a game after the All-Star break.
Thornton has tremendous upside which will come around sooner or later. Let’s hope for our sake it doesn’t take until this year’s All-Star break.
The Indiana Pacers went 10-of-22 from the three-point line. Tyler Hansbrough scored 19 points to lead all scorers, while ex-Hornet Darren Collison added 16 points and five assists for the Pacers.
Coach Williams should be happy with this loss because it did show that the units are working better together and as a team, and that they are all pointed in the right direction.
The Hornets take on the Atlanta Hawks today, as the Hornets continue to come together in their successful progression toward their quest for chemistry.
| Game | |||||||||||||
| Min | FGM-A | FTM-A | 3PM-A | Off Reb | Def Reb | Tot Reb | Asst | Stl | Blk | TO | PF | Pts | |
| Trevor Ariza, F | 30 | 6-11 | 2-2 | 1-4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 15 |
| Jason Smith, F | 22 | 4-7 | 6-6 | 0-0 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 14 |
| Emeka Okafor, C | 26 | 4-8 | 3-3 | 0-0 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 11 |
| Marco Belinelli, G | 30 | 5-14 | 6-7 | 0-4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 16 |
| Chris Paul, G | 29 | 4-8 | 4-7 | 0-0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 12 |
| Willie Green | 21 | 4-9 | 2-2 | 0-1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 10 |
| Peja Stojakovic | 19 | 4-7 | 1-1 | 2-3 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 11 |
| Aaron Gray | 16 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 2 |
| Pops Mensah-Bonsu | 14 | 1-2 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
| Quincy Pondexter | 12 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| D.J. Strawberry | 6 | 0-2 | 1-2 | 0-1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Marcus Thornton | 4 | 0-5 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Darryl Watkins | 3 | 0-1 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Joe Alexander | 2 | 1-1 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 |
| Mustafa Shakur | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| David West | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| DJ Mbenga | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 240 | 34-78 (.436) | 27-35 (.771) | 3-14 (.214) | 7 | 31 | 38 | 17 | 9 | 5 | 18 | 31 | 98 |
| Team Rebounds: | Technicals: 0 |
| Ejections: 0 | DQ's: 0 |
| Points off turnovers: | Team Turnovers: 0 |
| Fast Break Points: 9 | Points in the Paint: 42 |
| Biggest Lead: 3 | |
| DNP: | |
| Game | |||||||||||||
| Min | FGM-A | FTM-A | 3PM-A | Off Reb | Def Reb | Tot Reb | Asst | Stl | Blk | TO | PF | Pts | |
| Josh McRoberts, F | 26 | 3-5 | 2-4 | 0-1 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 8 |
| Danny Granger, F | 16 | 2-6 | 3-5 | 1-3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 8 |
| Roy Hibbert, C | 32 | 4-14 | 7-10 | 0-0 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 15 |
| Mike Dunleavy, G | 34 | 4-8 | 3-4 | 2-4 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 13 |
| Darren Collison, G | 34 | 5-12 | 3-3 | 3-5 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 16 |
| Paul George | 29 | 3-9 | 1-2 | 2-5 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 9 |
| Tyler Hansbrough | 19 | 6-10 | 7-8 | 0-0 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 19 |
| James Posey | 17 | 2-3 | 3-3 | 2-3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 |
| Jeff Foster | 11 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| T.J. Ford | 7 | 1-2 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| A.J. Price | 6 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Dahntay Jones | 5 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Lance Allred | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Solomon Jones | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Magnum Rolle | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Brandon Rush | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Lance Stephenson | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 240 | 31-72 (.431) | 29-41 (.707) | 10-22 (.455) | 10 | 31 | 41 | 22 | 7 | 5 | 18 | 24 | 101 |
| Team Rebounds: | Technicals: 2 Players: McRoberts (1) , Granger (1) |
| Ejections: 0 | DQ's: 0 |
| Points off turnovers: | Team Turnovers: 0 |
| Fast Break Points: 9 | Points in the Paint: 34 |
Biggest Lead: 18 BOX SCORE STATS FROM FOXSPORTS.COM |
