duncan228
05-11-2008, 04:35 PM
http://www.nola.com/sports/t-p/index.ssf?/base/sports-37/121048337548620.xml&coll=1
Hornets taking aim at big road win
Victory would provide 3-1 advantage with Game 5 set for N.O. Sunday,
By Teddy Kider
SAN ANTONIO -- Before the Detroit Pistons' victory at Orlando on Saturday, home teams in the second round of this season's NBA playoffs had gone 11-0. . That included the first three games of the Hornets' series with the San Antonio Spurs.
"You watch the Utah (win against the Lakers on Friday) night, when teams come home, they're just a little bit more energized, for whatever reason," Hornets Coach Byron Scott said Saturday. "It's going to be hard for a team to win on the road, it seems like."
Like the Pistons, the Hornets have an opportunity to buck the trend -- and take a 3-1 series lead -- tonight against the Spurs at the AT&T Center.
The home team has won almost every one of the Hornets' playoff games this season. The exception was Game 4 against the Mavericks in the first round, which the Hornets stole in Dallas and used to easily dismiss the Mavericks in five games.
The Hornets are hoping for the same result this series, after losing their composure, as Scott described it, during the second half of the Game 3 loss.
"I guess you've got to be a little worried about it," Scott said Saturday about his team's composure. "But to be honest with you, I don't think that will happen again. Every time it seemed like we had a little adversity or we lost our cool a little bit, we seemed to focus in, understand what happened and then just move on. So I don't see that really being a big problem Sunday.
"I think the biggest thing is just understanding when we watch the tape that they played better than we did."
The Hornets said Saturday before practicing that they allowed the Spurs to play a slower, half-court game, something Scott warned against before the game. One of the Hornets' keys in Game 4 will be re-establishing their transition game, Scott said.
And if the home team wins again tonight, there's always that home-court advantage for the Hornets.
"That means we've got two of the next three at home," Scott said. "So yeah, I feel good about that. That's not what I want to do, but if that's what it comes down to, then that's what it is. So we'll just regroup if that happens and get ready for Game 5."
STRESSING DEFENSE: Hornets forward Peja Stojakovic said Saturday that several of the Spurs' 11 3-pointers in Game 3 were uncontested. But Scott came prepared with statistics showing why the Hornets need to improve their interior defense, where Spurs guards Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili took over.
Parker had 31 points on 12-of-24 shooting, and Ginobili finished with 31 points on 11-of-22 shooting.
"(Ginobili) had eight attempts in the paint, (and) he scored seven of them," Scott said. "He was 4-for-14 from the field on 2-point shots and 3-point shots. Tony Parker was 9-for-16 in the paint. That's where big men shoot the ball most of the time -- 9-for-16. Between those two guys, out of the 42 points they had in the paint, they had 32 of them, their guards. So we've got to do a better job of keeping them out of the paint, forcing them to shoot contested jump shots. That's the bottom line."
Scott said his team should already know its defensive rotations but will go over them again in the final practice before Game 4.
"We will run through it so much today, they'll probably be sick of it," he said.
Hornets taking aim at big road win
Victory would provide 3-1 advantage with Game 5 set for N.O. Sunday,
By Teddy Kider
SAN ANTONIO -- Before the Detroit Pistons' victory at Orlando on Saturday, home teams in the second round of this season's NBA playoffs had gone 11-0. . That included the first three games of the Hornets' series with the San Antonio Spurs.
"You watch the Utah (win against the Lakers on Friday) night, when teams come home, they're just a little bit more energized, for whatever reason," Hornets Coach Byron Scott said Saturday. "It's going to be hard for a team to win on the road, it seems like."
Like the Pistons, the Hornets have an opportunity to buck the trend -- and take a 3-1 series lead -- tonight against the Spurs at the AT&T Center.
The home team has won almost every one of the Hornets' playoff games this season. The exception was Game 4 against the Mavericks in the first round, which the Hornets stole in Dallas and used to easily dismiss the Mavericks in five games.
The Hornets are hoping for the same result this series, after losing their composure, as Scott described it, during the second half of the Game 3 loss.
"I guess you've got to be a little worried about it," Scott said Saturday about his team's composure. "But to be honest with you, I don't think that will happen again. Every time it seemed like we had a little adversity or we lost our cool a little bit, we seemed to focus in, understand what happened and then just move on. So I don't see that really being a big problem Sunday.
"I think the biggest thing is just understanding when we watch the tape that they played better than we did."
The Hornets said Saturday before practicing that they allowed the Spurs to play a slower, half-court game, something Scott warned against before the game. One of the Hornets' keys in Game 4 will be re-establishing their transition game, Scott said.
And if the home team wins again tonight, there's always that home-court advantage for the Hornets.
"That means we've got two of the next three at home," Scott said. "So yeah, I feel good about that. That's not what I want to do, but if that's what it comes down to, then that's what it is. So we'll just regroup if that happens and get ready for Game 5."
STRESSING DEFENSE: Hornets forward Peja Stojakovic said Saturday that several of the Spurs' 11 3-pointers in Game 3 were uncontested. But Scott came prepared with statistics showing why the Hornets need to improve their interior defense, where Spurs guards Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili took over.
Parker had 31 points on 12-of-24 shooting, and Ginobili finished with 31 points on 11-of-22 shooting.
"(Ginobili) had eight attempts in the paint, (and) he scored seven of them," Scott said. "He was 4-for-14 from the field on 2-point shots and 3-point shots. Tony Parker was 9-for-16 in the paint. That's where big men shoot the ball most of the time -- 9-for-16. Between those two guys, out of the 42 points they had in the paint, they had 32 of them, their guards. So we've got to do a better job of keeping them out of the paint, forcing them to shoot contested jump shots. That's the bottom line."
Scott said his team should already know its defensive rotations but will go over them again in the final practice before Game 4.
"We will run through it so much today, they'll probably be sick of it," he said.