Congrats to Paul, West and the rest of the Hornets

[Kori Ellis]

Nice game. The Hornets are damn good and fun to watch. And props to their crowd, they did a great job booing the Spurs in the second half :lol

Spurs can't keep living and dying by the 3. I'm sure they'll get it together, but there's nothing like getting rolled to start a difficult road trip :madrun

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

Absolutely.

CP3 won't get the MVP but he should - he has lifted this team from obscurity to real contention. West, Chandler, Mo Pete, Peja, all play their roles well, and even their bench guys add something (usually energy and fouls :lol ).

Comprehensively beat us tonight.

And props to the NO crowd for finally getting out to watch their great team.

[DAINTX]

THAT was an old-fashioned ass-whuppin'!

[Nikos]

The Spurs just look like shit this year. No where near as good as in the past on defense, and even a notch below on offense. They are literally all Duncan, Ginobili, and Parker on offense. And their defense isn't super elite like in the past.

Just a subpar regular season for them. Their worst in a long time considering the expectations and the fact that none of the big three + Bowen (and his D) have fallen off.

Dissapointing regular season to say the least. Hopefully they can get decent position so they don't have to play the first round on the road.

[Duncanoypi]

I'm watching the game..and damn!....the Hornets cant miss a shot!...unbelievable!

[barbacoataco]

I was surprised again at how much better David West has been getting. In the past if a team put an aggresive defender on him, he struggled to get his shot. But recently he is playing on an elite level. Everyone knows Paul is good, but West is key to this team.

[Nikos]

West is just a real good player. Borderline All-Star type, not much different than a Ginobili or Parker at his respective position. Not great, but all-star worthy and a solid second fiddle on an excellent team.

[urunobili]

Props to them... anyhow i get the feeling that if we meet them in the playoffs... West won;t average double digits against us...

[Spurologist]

CP's game is unreal. He had total control over the game.

Spurs couldn't get any rhythm on offense. CP only has on less assist than the entire spurs team. Shots just weren't falling but the spurs compounded the problem by shooting some more. 3-18 will never get it done. Plus D. Stoud/Thomas don't look to be fully themselves yet.

Spurs couldn't play any worse and will rebound against Detroit on friday

[Obstructed_View]

That was pretty gutless all around. How many gutless performances in a row is that? Five? Six?

[jmard5]

Very true. Hornets did well tonight against the Spurs.

Props to them.

[itzsoweezee]

david west is a monster. i hope we don't face new orleans in the playoffs. no one on the spurs can guard that guy.

[td4mvp21]

I'm sorry but people have been saying we are going to "get it together" for months and it's March and we still have serious problems to work out. Have the Spurs ever played this shitty in March? I'm not going to discount the 11 game win streak but that was against mostly shitty teams. Yeah, we beat the Mavs and the Hornets, but there were 5 shitty teams inbetween each of those, at least. We indeed played better than we did in January but January was so fucking bad it's hard to call that 11 game win streak "great". We still had problems with consistency during the streak, both with defense and offense, but mostly offense. Now it's a combination of both.

If anything, we can't beat the good teams consistently. Our offense sucks against good teams, our defense sucks against good teams. All they do is clog the paint and we're through. This feels like 2004 all over again. It does the Spurs no good to beat the shitty teams. All we are doing is giving confidence to the strong Western conference teams that we will probably face in the playoffs. I'm not really sure who we can beat in the playoffs right now. To see us play this sorry against good teams is fucking disappointing. Even in Monday's win, we had to come from behind, at home! I was hoping the Spurs would do good over this stretch to prove that they are the best team in the West and they are ready to compete in the playoffs. But I was sorely disappointed. All I've seen is apathy on the Spurs part-they don't seem to give a shit about competing against the best of the best, and that is scary and pathetic all at the same time. We play the Pistons, back to back at 76ers, and then at home vs. the Celtics. We could be, and probably will be, looking at a 4-game losing streak. That would put us in the bottom of the conference midway through March. Truly sad to see on the Spurs' part, because you would think they would play liked they gave a shit this late in the season. You can say "It's just a regular season game" or "The Spurs will be fine!", but you should look at the last 4 games and then rethink what you just said. The Spurs shouldn't be losing this much in March to good teams. This is when we start to come alive. And all we are doing is sinking further into the bottom of the conference. Expecting 4-0 over the last 4 would probably be wishful and a bit too much, hell I would take 2-2 if the Spurs showed any ounce of competitiveness and consistency, playing a full 48 minutes, trying to get wins. I haven't seen that.

I won't give up on them but I'm beginning to think we are not going to repeat. I hope I couldn't be any more wrong. Until I see changes, I won't think any differently. We have a fucking brutal schedule despite the past 4 the rest of the way and the Spurs have absolutely no time at all to fuck around. Get it together if you want to repeat Spurs.

/rant

[TampaDude]

That was pretty gutless all around. How many gutless performances in a row is that? Five? Six?

WERD...if the playoffs started this week, the Spurs would get swept in the first round.

Props to the Hornets...they were unfuckingstoppable tonight...the Spurs have a lot of work to do...a LOT of work...

[Spurs1234]

I think if you look in the west, its very competitive right now, and no one is really beating teams on the road, teams are really get up for each other and really defending their home court...perfect example, we beat denver and the hornets on our court and then they turned around and beat us. The west is just that good this year. But in the end, it will come down to 7 game series, where the smartest and best executing team will win. I'll take my chances with the old tired spurs.

[timaios]

Last game Hornets played before Spurs was Saturday @Rockets

Meanwhile Spurs played sunday @Suns and monday vs Nuggets... 2 tough games on a back to back.

So, 3 days of rest for a young team VS 1 day of rest for an old team.

Spurs were tired ! And Hornets full of energy. That was the big difference.

The stat :
Tony Parker : 2-3 3pts
Other spurs players : 0-15 3pts

AND Hornets played a GREAT game !!!

[SenorSpur]

West is just a real good player. Borderline All-Star type, not much different than a Ginobili or Parker at his respective position. Not great, but all-star worthy and a solid second fiddle on an excellent team.

Check it. West WAS an all-star this year. Dude was just as unstoppable in the earlier game in New Orleans. No one on this team seems capable of stopping him. In fact, no one on the Spurs seems capable of stopping him, Paul or any of the other Hornets.

[SenorSpur]

I'm sorry but people have been saying we are going to "get it together" for months and it's March and we still have serious problems to work out. Have the Spurs ever played this shitty in March? I'm not going to discount the 11 game win streak but that was against mostly shitty teams. Yeah, we beat the Mavs and the Hornets, but there were 5 shitty teams inbetween each of those, at least. We indeed played better than we did in January but January was so fucking bad it's hard to call that 11 game win streak "great". We still had problems with consistency during the streak, both with defense and offense, but mostly offense. Now it's a combination of both.

If anything, we can't beat the good teams consistently. Our offense sucks against good teams, our defense sucks against good teams. All they do is clog the paint and we're through. This feels like 2004 all over again. It does the Spurs no good to beat the shitty teams. All we are doing is giving confidence to the strong Western conference teams that we will probably face in the playoffs. I'm not really sure who we can beat in the playoffs right now. To see us play this sorry against good teams is fucking disappointing. Even in Monday's win, we had to come from behind, at home! I was hoping the Spurs would do good over this stretch to prove that they are the best team in the West and they are ready to compete in the playoffs. But I was sorely disappointed. All I've seen is apathy on the Spurs part-they don't seem to give a shit about competing against the best of the best, and that is scary and pathetic all at the same time. We play the Pistons, back to back at 76ers, and then at home vs. the Celtics. We could be, and probably will be, looking at a 4-game losing streak. That would put us in the bottom of the conference midway through March. Truly sad to see on the Spurs' part, because you would think they would play liked they gave a shit this late in the season. You can say "It's just a regular season game" or "The Spurs will be fine!", but you should look at the last 4 games and then rethink what you just said. The Spurs shouldn't be losing this much in March to good teams. This is when we start to come alive. And all we are doing is sinking further into the bottom of the conference. Expecting 4-0 over the last 4 would probably be wishful and a bit too much, hell I would take 2-2 if the Spurs showed any ounce of competitiveness and consistency, playing a full 48 minutes, trying to get wins. I haven't seen that.

I won't give up on them but I'm beginning to think we are not going to repeat. I hope I couldn't be any more wrong. Until I see changes, I won't think any differently. We have a fucking brutal schedule despite the past 4 the rest of the way and the Spurs have absolutely no time at all to fuck around. Get it together if you want to repeat Spurs.

/rant

I agree. This is not to sound melo-dramatic. I really think there are serious issues here, if you look at how this team has fared against the top-tier teams in the West. Bad losses against BOS, PHX, NO and DEN. I don't want to hear shit about how this team is tired and having to play B2B games. A veteran team doesn't need motivation against top-tier competition. Thus far, I've not seen anything to indicate this team is truly capable of repeating.

[1Parker1]

Apparently, the Spurs have lost 12 of their last 16 games against opponents above .500.

[T Park]

Just like in 05.

[ShoogarBear]

Spurs can't keep living and dying by the 3. Bingo.

I keep sayign to myself they're holding something in reserve, still trying to fit the new pieces in, will get better when Barry gets back, etc.

I might be able to accept the offense looking flat if the defense was starting to look like Spurs Playoff Ball. But that ain't happening, either.

[td4mvp21]

:lmao @ comparing this team to the '05 team. The '05 team dominated the league the entire season, including the top teams in the league. I believe our record vs. .500+ teams that year was the best in the league, or close to it. We aren't the best team in the NBA, unlike in '05.

[Manu_Ginobili]

Nice game. The Hornets are damn good and fun to watch. And props to their crowd, they did a great job booing the Spurs in the second half :lol

Spurs can't keep living and dying by the 3. I'm sure they'll get it together, but there's nothing like getting rolled to start a difficult road trip :madrun

Pop gave up the game by keeping Horry, Finley and the Mighty Mouse on the floor...

[The Franchise]

Damn I wanted the Spurs to piss on them tonight!!!! I can't stand the Whornets. :ihit :dizzy :ihit

[SpurOutofTownFan]

Absolutely.

CP3 won't get the MVP but he should - he has lifted this team from obscurity to real contention. West, Chandler, Mo Pete, Peja, all play their roles well, and even their bench guys add something (usually energy and fouls :lol ).

Comprehensively beat us tonight.

And props to the NO crowd for finally getting out to watch their great team.

If there's any team that has improved a lot from one season to the next it's the hornets. You are right, 2 years ago they were the worst team with Atlanta. And you see they were able to get together some players and make them play high level BB. Look at Peja, he was a dead body at Sacramento, far away from days of glory and a declining career. Chandler never got any respect before this year and I always thought he was a solid player playing in a terrible terrible team. I can keep going on.

[Don Quixote]

I was at the game tonight, and we Spurs fans didn't have much to cheer about after halftime. The N.O. crowd was great -- for the first time ever against the Spurs, the Hornets played a masterful game, and the Honeybees looked mighty fine.

Worse, however, was that it appeared that the Spurs were getting the majority of the calls. Even so, they still got whupped. I didn't understand all the crying over the calls on the part of the Hornets fans, however. They were still winning by double-digits.

Lastly, I appreciate the home crowd getting behind their team and all, booing whenever the Silver & Black had possession. But I was saying by the 4th Q, "c'mon already, you guys are winning! You're acting like you're the first team to ever have a bad call go against you."

Pics to come!! ...

[Obstructed_View]

The Hornets were the most injured team in history a couple of years ago. Everybody knew they had talent.

[ShoogarBear]

The Hornets were the most injured team in history a couple of years ago. Everybody knew they had talent.Not everybody.

http://www.timvp.com/me.jpg

[genomefreak13]

The only good thing that I can attribute to this loss is the realization of the flaws to the spurs' game. It's noteworthy to note that Pop was zeroing on this even before the end of their winning streak. I guess he might have already figured out the problem. Giving the solution however is different thing.

I think the spurs was forced to play out of their game. The score itself is an indication of this. The Hornets was able to reach 100 pts against us. Gone were the days when we were playing the ugliest games in the NBA. Now we have the tendency to play pretty. Not that its a bad thing, but its just isn't our thing. There's a reason why Pop was very conservative in playing Ginobili as a starter. First, we need scoring from the bench. Second, he dictates an offensive type of play. I think we need to get back our fire on defense rather than offense. I know our offense also need some improvement - but again that's not really our thing.

There is also a big problem on reliance on the outside shots tonight. I think we need to get back on the big fundamentals of our basketball. Go inside-out most of the time rather than taking preference on the outside shots and drive-ins. Right now Ginobili is our leading scorer and not Duncan. In the past, for our offense to work efficiently we need to make Timmy the constant scoring threat. Our open shots are coming out from double teams as well as dish out from the post. Now we have the tendency to play from the wings (since ginobili has become our scoring threat).

Hornets is an offensive team and we played their game. We took a lot of outside shots to cover our deficiency in defense but to no avail. To stop them we need them to play our game - a slow pace, low scoring, physical and defensive type. From now on the first thing that must come to Spurs mind must be dictating the phase of the game.

The bottom line is - Everything must start and end with Duncan. If we can't score that not a big problem but if we can't play defense we're doomed.