New Orleans Hornets' Pops Mensah-Bonsu Has Breakout Game vs. Memphis Grizzlies

The New Orleans Hornets in their 6^th game of the preseason and their second game against the Memphis Grizzlies are showing consistent improvement, as conservative as it may be. 

The game also marked the Hornets’ 5^th loss in 6 tries with two games left before the regular season schedule begins.

A second straight preseason loss (91-96) to the Grizzlies spoke volumes of the teams effort that simply cannot be reflected by the final score.  The Hornets outscored the Grizzlies in the first three quarters.

Unlike that first game where the starters were all clicking and the bench was nowhere to be found, the bench contributed across the board.

So both the Hornets starters and the bench are still in sync carrying over from their meetings with the Indiana Pacers on Friday and Atlanta Hawks on Saturday. 

Also like both those games, the Hornets went deep into their bench while their opponents played their starters.  Power forward David West and center Emeka Okafor did not play.

Trevor Ariza was a presence on “D” by grabbing 8 defensive boards for a total of 9 rebounds.  Unfortunately Trevor only shot 3-for-9 from the field with three turnovers in 33 minutes.  With that kind of time on the floor, Trevor must be more of an offensive force for the Hornets.

Backup center Aaron Gray had a good showing as well contributing 13 points on 5-for-6 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds.

Both starters Chris Paul and Marco Belinelli were abysmal from the field for a combined 8-for-29 shooting.  Paul did contribute 12 assists. 

While it is understandable that the starters will have their fair share of bad games, the fact that the Hornets went without two of their starters and the other three were almost ineffective on offense speaks volumes of their bench depth.

Pops Mensah-Bonsu had a surprisingly good game and certainly a breakout one for him by scoring 19 points on 8-for-13 shooting, 10 rebounds and 4 steals.  While the double-double off the bench was impressive, so were the four steals.  He was highly efficient on both ends of the floor.  

The Hornets have a crowded house and are in the process of trimming their roster.  Pops Mensah-Bonsu is one of the few remaining players that are being looked at through a magnifying glass,

“I’m trying to show Coach that I can impact a game whether its rebounding, deflecting the ball away or scoring, I got 10 rebounds, but for the minutes I played, I felt that I missed on an opportunity to get four or five more.’’

The power forward put on the type of show that on a consistent basis would allow him to start for any team, yet David West and Jason Smith are already locked at this position. 

Could Mensah-Bonsu be the Hornets version of Saints’ running back Chris Ivory? 

Let’s hope so.

Stats Source:  Foxsports.com

New Orleans Hornets

	Game
	Min	FGM-A	FTM-A	3PM-A	Off Reb	Def Reb	Tot Reb	Asst	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	Pts
Trevor Ariza, F	33	3-9	0-0	2-6	1	8	9	1	0	1	3	4	8
Jason Smith, F	17	5-7	0-0	0-0	1	3	4	1	1	0	1	6	10
Aaron Gray, C	25	5-6	3-3	0-0	5	3	8	1	0	0	2	4	13
Chris Paul, G	34	3-13	1-2	0-4	2	2	4	12	2	1	3	4	7
Marco Belinelli, G	29	5-16	0-1	2-7	1	0	1	1	1	0	4	5	12
Pops Mensah-Bonsu	32	8-13	3-4	0-0	4	6	10	1	4	1	0	4	19
DJ Mbenga	18	1-4	0-0	0-0	1	1	2	0	0	1	1	1	2
Willie Green	17	3-9	2-2	0-2	1	2	3	1	1	0	1	0	8
Quincy Pondexter	12	3-7	0-0	0-1	1	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	6
Marcus Thornton	8	1-4	2-2	0-0	0	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	4
Curtis Jerrells	8	1-3	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	2
Joe Alexander	2	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Peja Stojakovic	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
Emeka Okafor	0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
D.J. Strawberry	0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Totals	240	38-91 (.418)	11-14 (.786)	4-20 (.200)	17	26	43	18	12	4	16	29	91