No more Hornets games left !!!

You see, the first italian Sixers blog is trying to stay positive even in these hard times… 

After the blow out at the Wachovia center of some days ago, Hornets kicked our asses for the second time, this time at home, for a 95-76 loss, Sixers’ fourth consecutive, that keeps us at the bottom of the Atlantic division with a 2-6 record (25%).

I know this post comes around 36 hours late but I didn’t want to break the streak of Sixers games that I watched and commented, so here are my impressions – and I hope you will forgive my delay. For a nice (& hard) recap immediately following the game read what Brian from Depressed fan explained here.

As for three points barrage that New Orleans threw on us, all I have to do is “copy & paste” what I wrote following Toronto’s game or the first game vs the same Hornets. Don’t bother finding, here is the text:

“if you think our perimeter defense sucked vs Toronto (remember? Raptors shot 9/18 from downtown) then find an adjective to describe the 10/20 from three point land that we allowed tonight. Partials for the Hornets were 5/9 in the first half and 8/12 at one time in the third…”

So now it’s Toronto going 9/18, Hornets 10/20 and Hornets again 11/20… and counting ???? We play Portland tonight, is the list going to be updated ? Is there a coach that gets paid to fix that ???

Even more remarkable, this time a single player (Mo Peterson) managed to connect 4 times from downtown in the first f’n quarter, for a total of 18 points in 12 minutes. He finished with 6/9 (27 points) and the “funny” thing is he missed another couple of shots when he was wide open.

Question: who was guarding Mo Peterson? Answer: Willie Green for most of the time. The matchup (or should I say mismatch?) had another embarassing moment in the third quarter, when Green dumbly fouled Peterson while the former Raptor was attempting another three pointer: it’s exactly the action you can see in the picture, that led to a 7 point lead (66-59). 

But I won’t be too hard on Green, even if you know I dislike him. Yes, he was HORRIBLE on defense and added a terrific 7 turnovers to that (many stupid, like this is big news..), but he kept us alive in the second quarter and at the begininning of the third, while some more celebrated teammates were missing dunks (Iguodala) or bricking ill advised shots (Carney). Also he was Sixers’ best scorer and you have to respect that he went 3/3 from three point in a game where we struggled (and I’m being nice) to put the ball in the damn basket.

I put the blame more on Iguodala: you can even have 2/15 nights but if you are the leader of the team and the supposed-to-be franchise player, you have to understand that if your jump shot is not falling, you have to DRIVE TO THE BASKET instead of setting up for outside shots.

I am also getting tired of seeing Rodney Carney being so frenetic and not letting the game come to him. Hopefully Korver’s injury will open new opportunities for Rodney so that he can show us something. Right now, he’s showing he’s not an NBA player, let’s be honest.

Flashes for the others:

Andre Miller was ok (cut the forced shots too) but it’s clear he struggles vs quick opponents like Chris Paul (what a player !). Not saying other PGs will limit him easily, though… 

Louis Amundson: 0 points, 1 rebound and 5 fouls in 12 minutes. Get him a one way flight to the Syrian League as soon as possible. Where are his fans now? “Energy guy”… puhleeaze !!!!

Jason Smith: very, very good again. He will start before the end of the season. We have a player here.

Reggie Evans had a couple of nice low post moves (!!!) but when he collects more points that rebounds it’s a sign that things are not going “the right way”.

Sammy Dalembert was ok and I learned after the game that he was playing injured. I hope he recovers well (and soon) because withouth him it’s going to be way, way tougher.

HORNETS NOTES: David West is a wonderful player, with an impressive set of offensive moves, that include a sweet jumper and a nice use of the left hand; Byron Scott a way underrated coach., that is doing a great job in a “small” franchise, without getting enough credit. 

Hey, it actually seems that nobody cares even in New Orleans: 8.300 fans announced at the arena, the lowest number ever… you think Hornets’ opponent has something to do with that dubious record?

Sixers face the Blazers tonight at the Wachovia center and Sixers4guidos hopes to watch the game live and post a comment sooner this time. GO SIXERS !