id rather play ANYONE than new orleans...

[poop]

for some reason these guys always give the spurs a damn hard time. even without Chandler (who gets like 20 dunks vs the spurs) and their key shooters.

West always becomes Karl Malone when he plays us.

right now we are matched up against them.

i think we would win, but it will take a hell of alot out of us just like last year.

id rather play dallas, houston, portland, utah, or denver than the Hornets, what do you think

[TampaDude]

Plus it's hard to win playing 5 on 8.

[urunobili]

another full of poop thread... :td

[MaNu4Tres]

As long as Tim's knee's improve to some degree and if Pop gives Bowen and Gooden the minutes of Udoka and Bonner/ Oberto I could give a rats ass who we play.

[poop]

another full of poop thread... :td

oh brother...so whats wrong with this thread?:rolleyes

go sit on your thumb and rotate you shit smeared ass.

[HarlemHeat37]

I would love to play New Orleans..

we've looked better than them in every game this year..the 1st game and this last game were the exact same game..they give us PLENTY of open looks that we didn't make..they're playing with fire..eventually, the shots will go down..

[G-Nob]

I'll take an opening round vs. the hornets with home court. Popovich knows its a possibility which is why he didn't tip his hand last night.

[TampaDude]

I'll take an opening round vs. the hornets with home court. Popovich knows its a possibility which is why he didn't tip his hand last night.

Yeah...CIA Pop...that's it...sure... :lol

[xtremesteven33]

We beat a Better New Orleans team last year without HCA and with a weaker Spurs team.

We could beat them easier with HCA and a better spurs team.

[TampaDude]

We beat a Better New Orleans team last year without HCA and with a weaker Spurs team.

We could beat them easier with HCA and a better spurs team.

True...there is NFW the Hornets take 4 of 7 from the Spurs with the Spurs having HCA.

[superbigtime]

Bring em on. I love to hate them.

[jag]

We beat a Better New Orleans team last year without HCA and with a weaker Spurs team.

We could beat them easier with HCA and a better spurs team.

This.

[Blake]

maybe it's just me, but I'd rather play nola than the lakers.

[SenorSpur]

I would love to play New Orleans..

we've looked better than them in every game this year..the 1st game and this last game were the exact same game..they give us PLENTY of open looks that we didn't make..they're playing with fire..eventually, the shots will go down..

I'm so down with that. If you're the big boys, you can't run from any matchup. The Hornets kicked the Spurs ass up and down the court during the regular season last year. Every victory, by the Hornets, was a blowout - including a terrible loss on at the AT&T Center. The Spurs looked over matched at various points during their epic 7-game series, but the Spurs overcame the young Hornets and took the series in 7.

I still believe the Spurs can and will prevail against this team in another possible 7-game series. As a bonus, I believe another series loss to the Spurs would cause the Hornets a great degree of self-doubt. They would bound to start questioning their mental and physical makeup - sort of what happened to the Suns. Frankly, I'd love to see that happen too.

However for that to happen, Pop is gonna have to get his head out and give Bowen and Hill the minutes at their respective positions.

[crc21209]

New Orleans Hornets of last year > New Orleans Hornets of this year.

[crc21209]

I'm so down with that. If you're the big boys, you can't run from any matchup. The Hornets kicked the Spurs ass up and down the court during the regular season last year. Every victory, by the Hornets, was a blowout - including a terrible loss on at the AT&T Center. The Spurs looked over matched at various points during their epic 7-game series, but the Spurs overcame the young Hornets and took the series in 7.

I still believe the Spurs can and will prevail against this team in another possible 7-game series. As a bonus, I believe another series loss to the Spurs would cause the Hornets a great degree of self-doubt. They would bound to start questioning their mental and physical makeup - sort of what happened to the Suns. Frankly, I'd love to see that happen too.

However for that to happen, Pop is gonna have to get his head out and give Bowen and Hill the minutes at their respective minutes.

:toast Hell yeah. Agreed. Although we were down 2-0 and 3-2 last year to them I never really was worried at all. You knew the Spurs were going to come out fighting in Game 7 in New Orleans. Never count these guys out. The worst look I've ever seen in these guys faces was in 05' Game 4 of the Finals being blown out in Detroit and Tim with that deer in the headlights look. That was the one night I was seriously down and thought maybe these guys can't beat them...but they pulled it out and took the NBA title from the defending champs that year..if they can do that...ANYTHING is possible...ANYTHING. :flag:

[Yuixafun]

With Robert Horry gone who puts the hit on D-West :p:

[mark of a champion]

N.O. will not get out of the first round no matter who they play. They peaked last year and will continue to decline given the strength of the West. I say let's knock them out early.

Denver would be an easy matchup as well since they don't play defense and cannot get past the Spurs if their life depended upon it.

The seeding is going to come down to the last few games of the season so it's a crapshoot as far as 3-7 seeds. We just need to concentrate on playing team defense and hold on to that 2nd seed. Once the playoffs start you will see a different gear from the Spurs. They just know how to get it done and are relentless no matter who they play.:flag:

[mark of a champion]

Also, Chris Paul is a little crybaby shit who really needs his ass kicked, on the court and literally. If the Spurs are the one to do it... even better.

[Ice009]

Don't be soft. Trying to avoid any team is not what I am interested in doing. You play who you're scheduled to play and then you beat them.

If you're trying to avoid a team then you shouldn't even bother showing up for the playoffs because you won't win anything like that.

[angelbelow]

anyone but*

[samikeyp]

maybe it's just me, but i'd rather play nola than the lakers.

+1

[easy7]

maybe it's just me, but i'd rather play nola than the lakers.

+2

[ILoveOranges]

Plus it's hard to win playing 5 on 8.

[exstatic]

NO shot 32-33 from the FT line, and SA shot 7-29 from downtown. Who sees that happening 4 times in 7 games?

Spurs would win in 5. NO is a mental mess after the Chandler trade/non-trade and won't be focused. SA wins the first two at home, steals one in NO, and closes out in SA game 5. That's how we usually dispose of inferior opponents.

NO 2008 >>>>>>>>>> NO 2009

[baseline bum]

This.

You sure the team was weaker last year? Right now, Tim seems like he's moving even worse than he was back in '06 with the plantar fasciitis. On paper this team is definitely better than last year's, but I think a Duncan injury drastically changes that.

[tmtcsc]

holy shit...where's the emoticon that moves its head from side to side in disgust? Fuck New Orleans. They suck. Yesterday, we sucked more. I'd rather be us than them, even with a gimpy Tim.

[Josepatches_]

You sure the team was weaker last year? Right now, Tim seems like he's moving even worse than he was back in '06 with the plantar fasciitis. On paper this team is definitely better than last year's, but I think a Duncan injury drastically changes that.

+1

This team can't be better than last year's one if TD is hurt.

[duncan228]

The other side.

Thinking About a Hornets-Spurs 1st Round (http://www.atthehive.com/2009/3/30/815597/thinking-about-a-hornets-s)
by atthehive

Last night's win was huge, not only because it was a win, but also because it was a potential first round preview. What can we take away from it?

* Byron Scott knows how to guard Tim Duncan. In the last 10 Duncan-Hornets matchups (starting with last year's playoffs), Duncan shoots 42% from the floor. If you remove a 10-13 domination in Game 3 of the playoffs, he's shot 38% over that span. Considering that this is perhaps the greatest PF in NBA history we're talking about, one that shoots 51% from the floor, and one that we typically single cover with the likes of Melvin Ely and Hilton Armstrong... it's pretty impressive. Duncan's rebounding numbers do go up slightly, but a 10% drop in shooting is a 10% drop in shooting.

* Ginobili scares me more than any SG in the league, other than Dwyane Wade. Every time he drives the lane, it's a guaranteed trip to the line. His step back three is slowly climbing back up to the 40% level of the last two years.

* The way to beat the Spurs is the transition game. It's ironic, since they have possibly the best transition D in the league. But CP's game gets so bogged down in the half court that not having running opportunities is brutal.

* Hilton Armstrong is playing the best ball of his life, and we'll need it against the likes of Drew Gooden (who mysteriously stopped getting minutes in the 2nd half). Can you imagine this new version of Hilton off the bench behind Chandler?

* One of the best ways to attack a team that packs the paint is to run motion and have a guy dart in and out of the paint, off screens. Our best screen runner is Mo Pete, but he only got 5 minutes last night. Some of that was because of the successful Antonio Daniels-Chris Paul backcourt, but I'd also like to see him cut into Butler's minutes when Butler struggles from the floor. I mean... that's one of the advantages of having multiple three shooters. One of them struggles, you bring in the other. Force feeding the struggling shooter while leaving the other on the bench all game makes little sense.

* Julian Wright on Ginobili. This has to be the matchup. Even if it forces JuJu to the bench, we need to do this if we draw S.A. in the first round.

* With all the Deron Williams hype, people are forgetting Tony Parker. For my money, Parker's been the better player this year- about as efficient from the floor, a less adept creater but also significantly better with turnover rates. He makes Chris Paul work really hard on the defensive end, and at times you can see the result on the offensive side too. Williams is a tough cover too, but he doesn't make his defender run around nearly as much as Parker.

In many ways, I think I'd rather the Hornets face San Antonio in the first round over some of the other teams. I don't mean that as disrespect to the Spurs; at this point, they are clearly the superior team. But New Orleans has had a ton of experience facing the Spurs- with this last game, the two teams have played 14 times over the last two seasons. There's no element of surprise, no real need for additional game planning. The Hornets know exactly what they need to do to beat the Spurs. And of course, there's no shame in losing to Tim Duncan. Chris Andersen? Now that would be another story entirely.

[Cant_Be_Faded]

All things considered, the Hornets do not scare me this year. Spurs will beat beat any team they face in the playoffs this year except LA.

[Thomas82]

All things considered, the Hornets do not scare me this year. Spurs will beat beat any team they face in the playoffs this year except LA.

I think we can even beat LA if we can start clicking on all cylinders.

[Slippy]

With the amount of open looks the Hornet gave up on the perimeter it's hard to get worried about them. Spurs simply failed to capitalise. If anything the hornets took bit of a gamble on our shooters particularly in the 4th and it paid off. Can't see it happening in a play-off series how-ever.