Harnessing the power of the mind is one thing. Harnessing the power of the body by using the mind is something else altogether. The concreteness of purpose and strength of mental discipline in professional athletes is something that is stunning in its scope. Tonight, despite my many past admonitions of mistakes and mental lapses, I acknowledge the vast physical and mental superiority of the players I am about to watch. While I watched I had these thoughts:
- The Hornets opened up this game moving the ball really crisply. 17 points in the first 9 minutes, and you have to wonder if PJ was given a wake up call by not having his option picked up. He never looks lazy, but tonight he looked aggressive. (Team finished the first quarter with 37!!!!!! points.)
- Lin is the only player on the team who consistently attempts to get all the way to the rim. I like his aggressive nature. We have a lot of drive and kick players who only want to kick, so Lin is a nice change of pace for this team.
- HOT! This team had a first half that you dream of. They hit 8 3’s, had 17 assists, finished the first 24 minutes with only 2 turnovers, and only allowed 47 first half points. That is a coach's dream right there!
- Zeller was bloodied tonight by a Joakim Noah elbow. Got him right in the nose/forehead and that thing bled like a sieve! He was looking energetic tonight before that blow sent him to the locker room. But no fear! He got 8 stitches and was back in the second half.
- You have to approve of the risk that the Hornets took in signing Jeremy Lamb to a contract extension yesterday. He is a scoring guard with length, and the Hornets know that he can be a scoring cog off the bench without batting an eye. Lamb was FIRE against the Bulls, basically scoring whenever he wanted to, and finished with a team high 20 points
- The new guys were all great tonight. Lamb is documented above, Lin as well. Hawes made up for some of his terribleness against the Hawks with some nice offensive play, and Batum really looked like a number one/two option for much of the night.
Overall, the Hornets just dominated this game. They out shot, assisted, rebounded, stole, and blocked the Bulls. The movement was crisp, and it made the defense look good on a night where they gave up 100. The teams were simply moving too fast for the defense to be solid. There are always things to work on, but the Hornets have to be encouraged by this offensive explosion as they move forward in the season.
P.S. Remember that shooting thing? The Hornets shot 14 for 23 from 3 point range tonight.
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