Knicks @ Hornets (11/11/15)

Time Warner Cable Arena was hoppin’ on Veterans’ Day as the Knicks came into town. The crowd was into the game, it was exciting late, and that is all you can really ask for! Also, there was dunking and trampolines, which trumps almost all other halftime entertainment. I thought these things:

• Batum: really lived up to expectations on the offensive end tonight. It is unrealistic to expect a guy with career 11 ppg average to suddenly be a 20+ ppg scorer consistently, but tonight he was really cooking as the focal point of the offense, and he finished with a very important 24.
• The BENCH!!!: How happy are we about these offseason acquisitions? It is unreal! Lin and Lamb are scoring seemingly at will right now, and Hawes, even though he is consistently failing the eye test, has some excellent +/- numbers right now. Those three are really keeping the ball moving and consistently heading through the cylinder. The bench crew played huge minutes in the 3rd and 4th quarters, helping the Hornets fight back from a double digit deficit to a tie game midway through the final period. Lin in particular was spectacular in the 4th quarter. Clifford left Kemba, Al, and PJ (All of whom struggled greatly) on the bench for the entire 4th quarter, letting the hot bench keep the game competitive. I like the idea of tracking Zeller+Lin+Lamb scoring. Last night they had 51, tonight they combined for 43 points.
• Rookie Report: Kaminsky saw some extended playing today, which means he was on the floor for 10 minutes. I saw some positive things! He had three steals and an assist in those short minutes, which are great things for a big man to do. I keep hoping those minutes will grow and reach the 15+ minute mark sometime this season.
• Of course, Turnovers: This really helped Charlotte to keep this game close. The Knicks turned the ball over 16 times, and the Hornets only gave away possession 5 times during regulation. That careful possession of the ball is stellar, and shows a concerted effort to be conscientious about where the ball goes.
• Free Throws: This was bad, and falls mainly on Cody Zeller’s shoulders. He missed 7 free throws, and the team missed 11 free throws together. Really left some important points out on the court, as the freebies should be going down at a higher rate. We have to hope that Zeller is not too deep in his own head right now, as his shooting in general has really dropped from his good stretch in the middle of last season. Granted, his role has changed, but he really needs that jumper to fall, even if it is from three point range. (BUUUUUT, Zeller redeemed himself with the game winner)

What a game! Such drama! Almost so depressing…...This was a huge win for the Hornets. The Knicks are much improved from last year, both in roster and in execution, and they are going to be fighting the Charlotteans for a playoff spot all year. Porzingis really deserved that win, but hey, sometimes you catch a .01 second break.

Hornets @ Timberwolves (11/10/15)

The Timberwolves are short a couple of people tonight, so the Hornets seemed like they were in a good position to pick up a win. What followed was: a sport game. I had these larger, bigger picture thoughts.

• Bench Play: Very impressive showing from Batum and the bench group for the entire game. For starters, Zeller, Lin, Lamb, Batum and assorted came back from a 12 point deficit to lead by one at the end of 1. They kept up that energy for the entire game. That bench trio ended the game with 51 combined points, and were three of the four highest scorers for the Hornets.
• 3 pt shooting and Turnovers: The Hornets actually shot quite a bit worse than the Wolves, hitting 8 threes at 30%. The Wolves hit 9 threes at 47%, but that was not the difference in the game. The bigger impact was the 22 Timberwolf turnovers. The Hornets turned the ball over too much as well, with 16 TO’s, but the Wolves turnovers came at really inopportune times. Big difference, and ultimately one of the deciding factors in the victory.
• Lack of athleticism: besides Zeller on the front line, the lack of bounciness hurts the rebounding numbers against athletic teams. I think this will be an ongoing concern. Zeller had 3 of the team's 4 offensive rebounds, and was consistently the only person on the glass on the offensive end. On the defensive end, the Hornets gave up 10 offensive rebounds, and you have to think part of that is Towns, Payne, Bjelica and Dieng just being more athletic than Jefferson and Williams.
• Big man rotation: Hawes is shooting with zero confidence right now. His plus/minus numbers were solid, but he is not able to score the ball with any confidence right now. Many other people have been suggesting this, but I am officially on the “Zeller and Kaminsky as the main backups” train. At least Kaminsky has confidence in his shot, and he is a reasonably clever passer as well. I can only assume that he hasn’t gained Clifford’s trust on the defensive end.

Nice win for the Hornets tonight. It was fantastic to see the bench carry the scoring load when the starters have an off night. Lamb began the second half with the starters, and it will be interesting to see if that is a permanent move. PJ Hairston did not play at all in the second half, and only 8 minutes total. Jeremy Lin said before the game that this was a time for the team to make a statement, and they seem to have done that. They will move forward with another win under their belts, and the San Antonio loss one further day in the past.

Thought while reading

I am currently reading Robin Hobb's book Fool's Errand. Concurrently, I have been reading the subreddit for fantasy on Reddit.com. Those two verbs intersected tonight, and I wanted to share a thought or so about them.

1. Robin Hobb has been accused by certain redditors of bringing her reader along too slowly in the plot of her novels. She is completely unafraid of narrative and simple, everyday things happening to her characters. In Fool's Errand, I reached page 153 before anything of great and lasting plot importance entered into the novel. For some readers, that would mean that this book has been boring and slow. For me, it means that Hobb is unafraid to be inside of her character's head. Fitz, the main character in her previous 3 novels and this one, is a broken man who has experienced the greatest of tragic adventures in his life. He hangs onto sorrow and guilt, withdraws himself from the world, and experiences small pleasures like an ordinary person. Reading about his life is interesting to me because Hobb has made Fitz into a person. He is not simply a vessel of action, or a conduit for the plot to flow through. He is a man who has thoughts and experiences that must be understood to fully realize him. I love that.

2. In much the same way, I think that this idea is applied by fantasy authors in more instances than is perhaps normal when compared to authors of other genres. Lets consider two authors: R.A. Salvatore, and Robert Jordan.

• Salvatore is the author of the Drizz't Do'Urden series of fantasy novels. There are a million of them, and Salvatore is seen in some circles as less than a literary genius. His writing does have simple D&D and hack and slash elements in it, but in the course of his publishing career he has stayed with the same characters for 25+ books. That has given him the time to let them change, to experience tragedy and triumph, and to share those emotions with the reader through narrative. These books were a large part of my formative years in reading as I learned that character development and action can go hand in hand.

• Robert Jordan has been criticized for the slow middle-third of his Wheel of Time series. I couldn't be more confused by people who feel this. All of the hundreds of pages that Jordan supposedly "wastes" in the middle 3-5 books is spent following characters through decisions both big and small. These decisions change their lives, allow us to know the characters more fully, and therefore allow us to be drawn completely into their world.

I cannot express more strongly how much I love that, or how important that is to readers. Literature is more than metaphors and veiled allusions. Literature is living vicariously (in a good way) through characters that make you feel and experience emotions that are important to the human experience.

Hornets @ Spurs (11/7/2015)

As Jon Bois would say (he of Breaking Madden fame) “It's College Football Saturday!” As the rest of the sports world watches the Alabama-LSU game, we Hornets fans watched them trot into the arena in San Antonio to face the Spurs. They haven’t beaten the spurs in an eon or two, but hoped to fare better this time, coming off of two decisive victories over the Bulls and Mavs. My thoughts:

• It must be a rule that a team has to have an atrocious alternate. The Spurs yellow-camo-sleeved uniforms tonight were really awful. Note: Every Hornet’s uniform is awesome.
• Another trend that I mentioned last game was the 1st quarter hot hand. Tonight it was Kemba Walker. He was very aggressive starting out, especially in his forays to the rim, and finished the quarter with 12 points.
• No major revelation here, but when you turn the ball over, you tend to lose. The Hornets had 15 turnovers, which is egregious, but is more than they would like to average. Perhaps that is a byproduct of running more and passing the ball more, but you would like to see that number go down.
• Spurs are so good at executing. They shot 55% in the first half, and just move the ball so crisply. They are especially good at making the extra pass. Example: assist numbers (35 assists on 45 FG. WOW)
• As hope still lingered in my breast, the 2nd half of the third quarter happened. The Spurs ran a blitzkrieg  and were suddenly up 17 at the end of the third quarter. Manu Ginobili, Patty Mills, and David West dominated the Hornets second unit. This was absolutely the story of the game. The Hornet’s bench had no punch, and the Spurs’ bench looked like All Stars. Hopefully this is a scoring blip for the Hornets, and not a trend of struggling to hit shots and get stops.

Negative: We couldn’t get a stop tonight. The bench couldn’t score. There just didn’t seem to be a ton of fight from this team tonight; when the Spurs got hot, the Hornets just didn’t respond.

Positive: Uh...Frank got some nice burn at the end there. Kemba scored the ball really well, and the starting five generally looked decent.

Moving Forward: PJ Hairston needs to find some confidence in his shot. Remember the D-League, PJ? Score the ball! This team also needs to dedicate itself to the defensive end of the floor. The Spurs are a fantastic team, but they shot over 55% from the floor, which is well above a league average mark.

Hornets vs Mavericks (11/05/2015)

Behold! The mighty shall journey to the land of dust and desert. To the land of cows and cactus. They shall face the mighty, struggle, and they shall overcome (They did!). I watched the Mavericks and the Hornets, and I had these thoughts:

• The Hornets always seem to have one hot hand in the first quarter lately. The last couple of games it's been Nicolas Batum, and this night it was Al Jefferson. He finished the opening period with 11 points on six shots. Really nice showing for him as he looked bouncy early, and late. He finished the game with an incredibly efficient 31 points on 18 shots.
• The shooting. It was pretty poor from 3 pt range (I have slight issues with Batum’s shot selection. Likes to dribble into them a lot.) The team finished with 6 three point baskets on 27 attempts (22.2%)
• The energy of Marvin Williams this season has been awesome, and it's really a testament to him working so hard in the off-season. I was an advocate of Cody Zeller being a starter again, but Marvin has really earned his minutes. He is leading this team in 3 pt makes, and in rebounding. He has turned himself into a great offensive stretch 4 for this team. (I still want a rim protector though.)
• Speaking of a rim protector, Powell killed us at the rim in the first half. BUT, the Hornets dominated points in the paint 58 to 36.
• Bench scoring came totally from 3 people. Zeller had 11, Lin had 7, and Lamb scored 16. Those were the only bench points, period. I don’t think it is a terribly big deal, as Hawes played 18 minutes in a supporting role, but the more the ball can be moved around the court, the better.
• Final Note: Zeller almost got killed for the second game in a row. That young man does not care about his body. Last game Noah tried to give him the people’s elbow, and tonight Deron Williams shoved him in the air on a fast break. Ouch.

Summary: The Hornets won their second game in a row! They are looking pretty smooth on offense, and the added fire power is definitely a big reason for that. The team really took control of this game during the 3rd quarter, where they outscored the Mavericks by 10 and never gave up that lead. The Hornets will try to continue their excellence against the very excellent San Antonio Spurs next.

Let me know what you think! Any thoughts on my thoughts?

Bulls vs Hornets (11/3/2015)

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.

Hawks vs Hornets (11/01/2015)

I attended this game at Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, so I have fewer thoughts than normal. However, in the midst of the spilled tears and sadness at the hands of the Atlanta Hawks, I have couple of thoughts.

• Marvin Williams is really holding on to his starting job so far. This afternoon, he hit 5 3’s and had 3 blocked shots. Pretty solid outing for him, and he is the leading three point shooter on this team so far.
• I know that real sports writers like Zach Lowe have commented on the Hornets color scheme and court design already, but it really is amazing. The beehive court combined with purple and teal really is one of the great color schemes in the League. Unlike the Hawks new unis, which are atrocious.
• It is always fun to be in an arena. The players look more athletic, the noise drives you to hysterical levels, and some dancers are better than no dancers! (My wife refuses to be the timeout dancer for me)

The Hornets have started out 0-3, and Coach Clifford talked after the game about players being organized and having to know what they are doing on the court at all times. There are definitely some large negatives with this team, but the season is still young, and the hope that this team will gel and become a team that can legitimately win games against talent still lives on.