<font color="Red"><font size="3"><u>Away Team</u></font></font> <font color="Teal"><font size="3"><u>HOME Team</u></font></font> Date: Friday, December 26, 2003 (12.16.03) At: New Orleans Arena Time: 8:30 PM (ET), 6:30 (PT) TV: CST, NBATV : 8-22 Quick fact: Atlanta Hawks are 2-8 in their last 10 and won their last game against the Celtics. Previous 3 games <ul>[*] December 23rd, Win 93-88 vs Boston Celtics[/list] High Pts: S. Abdur-Rahim 25 High Reb: N. Mohammed 9 High Ast: J. Terry 7 <ul>[*] December 20th, Loss 92-103 @ New York Knicks[/list] High Pts: S. Abdur-Rahim 20 High Reb: N. Mohammed, S. Abdur-Rahim 9 High Ast: J. Terry 6 <ul>[*] December 19th, Loss 86-98 vs Sacramento Kings[/list] High Pts: J. Terry 25 High Reb: S. Abdur-Rahim 10 High Ast: J. Terry 5 <u>New Orleans Hornets</u>: 18-11 Quick fact: Baron Davis is scoring greatly and leading the Hornets in points in their last 4 games. Hornets are just 5-5 in their last 10, but still 2nd in their division. Previous 3 games <ul>[*] December 23rd, Loss 86-97 @ Cleveland Cavs[/list] High Pts: B. Davis 27 High Reb: P. Brown 14 High Ast: D. Wesley 7 <ul>[*] December 20th, Win 94-89 vs Memphis Grizzlies[/list] High Pts: B. Davis 25 High Reb: J. Magloire 13 High Ast: B. Davis 12 <ul>[*] December 18th, Loss 90-101 vs Sacrament Kings[/list] High Pts: B. Davis 23 High Reb: J. Magloire 13 High Ast: B. Davis 6 Probable Starters Frontcourt <font color="Red">Theo Ratliff</font>.<font color="Teal">Jamaal Magloire</font> <font color="Red">Shareef Abdur-Rahim</font>.<font color="Teal">P.J. Brown</font> <font color="Red">Stephen Jackson</font>.<font color="Teal">George Lynch</font> Backcourt <font color="Red">Dion Glover</font>.<font color="Teal">David Wesley </font> <font color="Red">Jason Terry</font>.<font color="Teal">Baron Davis</font> IMPORTANT: Notes for the game <ul> [*] Play as a team, you have the talent to win. Pass around, make good shots, try to get Terry and Shareef into the game asap. [*] Just beat the Celtics, shot 47% while holding the Celtics to 39%. Play great D and contain Baron Davis [*] Get to the line, get the easy points to take off pressure on the offense. [/list] NO Hornets <ul> [*] Let Baron Davis play his game, keep the ball in his hands and let him create. [*] Rotate offense and rebound. More rebounds = more chances of scoring. [*] Do not let Terry and Shareef get hot early in the game, gain control to start of the game and let Baron Davis set the tempo. [/list] Current Team Leaders <ul>[*]Points: Shareef Abdur-Rahim (20.4)[/list] <ul>[*]Rebounds: Shareef Abdur-Rahim (9.5)[/list] <ul>[*]Assists: Jason Terry (5.1)[/list] New Orleans Hornets <ul> [*] Points: Baron Davis (23.7) [*] Rebounds: Jamaal Magloire (9.4 [*] Assists: Baron Davis (8.4) [/list] Key Match-up <font color="Red">Jason Terry</font> vs <font color="Teal">Baron Davis</font> The X factor How well will B. Diddy and the Hornets play after struggling in their last 10? MVPlaya's Predictions I think the Hornets will pill this one off, the Hawks line-up have the talent but their chemistry and team play isn't great. I predict Baron Davis to take control through-out the whole game to lead the Hornets to a victory. Don't underestimate the Hawks tho, they just beat the Celtics and can very well beat the Hornets if they can contain and stop Baron Davis. Victory goes to: NO Hornets Who will be the MVPlaya? If Hornets win: Baron Davis. He has been playin like a MVP, best PG in the league right now and is leading the Hornets in scoring and assists. Expect Baron to have a good - great game against the Hawks. If Hawks win: Shareef Abdur-Rahim. He should be gettin more credit, he avgs almost the same points and rebounds as Jermaine O'neal. If the Hawks win, I expect Shareef to pull down a double double with 21+ points.
Great preview MVPlaya, I'm really impressed. One of the best I'v seen.:thumbsup: I also have to go witht the Hornets no doubt. The Terry/Davis matchup should be great.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">NEW ORLEANS (Ticker) -- David Wesley needed just one quarter to put away the Atlanta Hawks. Wesley nailed four 3-pointers in scoring 18 of his season-high 32 points in the first 12 minutes as the New Orleans Hornets cruised to a 109-79 thrashing of the Hawks. New Orleans won for just the second time in six games as Wesley did most of the damage. He nailed three 3-pointers in a 17-4 tear that gave the Hornets a 23-10 advantage with 4:31 left in the first quarter...</div> Full ESPN.com Recap Full ESPN.com Box Score <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">NEW ORLEANS, Dec. 26 (Ticker) -- David Wesley needed just one quarter to put away the Atlanta Hawks. Wesley nailed four 3-pointers in scoring 18 of his season-high 32 points in the first 12 minutes as the New Orleans Hornets cruised to a 109-79 thrashing of the Hawks. New Orleans won for just the second time in six games as Wesley did most of the damage. He hit three 3-pointers in a 17-4 tear that gave the Hornets a 23-10 advantage with 4:31 left in the first quarter. "It's a pretty good night," Wesley said. "You can't beat that. It was feeling really good. Nearly every shot that came off my hand was in a good rhythm." Wesley, who made nine of his first 12 shots, added his final 3-pointer of the first quarter for a 30-16 advantage with just under a minute to play. New Orleans led by as many as 19 points before settling for a 53-37 cushion at intermission...</div> Full NBA.com recap NBA.com Box Score Looks like I predicted right about the winner, but not right about how badly the Hawks would lose. Wesley had a monster game, shooting 5-7 threes and 13-18 for the game scorin 32 points. Baron Davis also added with 21 points 8 ast, 4 stls, and 4 BLOCKS (somethin is wrong with the Hawks if you're gonna let Baron Davis get 4 blocks). The Hawks seemed to be gettin killed the whole game, so the startin line-up was limited in minutes. No one on the team got over 30 min of playin time, and everyone (except 3 people, 1 over 10 minutes) recieved over 20 minutes of game time. Hawks have the talent, but can't use it. Their next game will be against Detroit tomorrow (another preview) and expect them to get murdered in that game. PS Thank you Rudeezy and jump for the comments.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting allnet:</div><div class="quote_post">I have done a preview for the Hawks v Pistons game..in the Pistons forum CLICK HERE</div> Nice, but thats not gonna stop me from doin one
The Hawks benched their starters and put in their backups for the rest of the game after the half, so I am not surprised that Wesley was able to score thirty-two points. With all things considered, how hard can it really be for an NBA veteran to score thirty-two points on Travis Hansen and Boris Diaw when he's getting the ball on almost every posession. An interesting fact which I picked up off of Sportscenter is that Wesley's career high in points marked the twenty-third time this season which a player has matched or surpassed his career high in points against the Hawks. That fact speaks volumes about the intensity of the Hawk's defense. However, this stat could be inflated with the kind of guys who scored two points last season and then scored four points against the Hawks. I'd like to see how many players recorded their career high against other teams this season. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">If Hornets win: Baron Davis. He has been playin like a MVP, best PG in the league right now and is leading the Hornets in scoring and assists. Expect Baron to have a good - great game against the Hawks.</div> Although David Wesley is getting all the attention for his career-high night, I'd say you were dead on with this prediction. Although Wesley led the team in scoring, Davis still recorded twenty-one points and a game high eight assists along with four steals and four blocks. As you pointed out, unless your opponent's point guard's name is Magic Johnson, you should be embarrassed to see your whole team accumulate less blocks than the opposing team's point guard. <div class="quote_poster">Quoting MVPlaya:</div><div class="quote_post">If Hawks win: Shareef Abdur-Rahim. He should be gettin more credit, he avgs almost the same points and rebounds as Jermaine O'neal. If the Hawks win, I expect Shareef to pull down a double double with 21+ points.</div> Although Abdur-Rahim averages more points per game than Jermaine O'Neal, that stat is missleading. Is it harder to score on a team with Reggie Miller, Ron Artest, and many other natural scorers or on a team with Theo Ratliff, Boris Diaw, and Travis Hansen? My point is that it's harder for O'Neal to get the attention that Abdur-Rahim gets on offense. Also, you have to look at blocks. Blocks are one of those stats which you can not improve at by being on a crummy team. You really have to work to get blocks. It's a mark of a good defensive player. O'Neal gets about two more blocks per game than Shareef Abdur-Rahim, which is a large margin. The bottomline is that the two players are somewhat comparable, but Abdur-Rahim is a whole level under O'Neal. Also, great preview, MVPlaya. I look forward to your Pistons preview.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Wave:</div><div class="quote_post"> Although Abdur-Rahim averages more points per game than Jermaine O'Neal, that stat is missleading. Is it harder to score on a team with Reggie Miller, Ron Artest, and many other natural scorers or on a team with Theo Ratliff, Boris Diaw, and Travis Hansen? My point is that it's harder for O'Neal to get the attention that Abdur-Rahim gets on offense. Also, you have to look at blocks. Blocks are one of those stats which you can not improve at by being on a crummy team. You really have to work to get blocks. It's a mark of a good defensive player. O'Neal gets about two more blocks per game than Shareef Abdur-Rahim, which is a large margin. The bottomline is that the two players are somewhat comparable, but Abdur-Rahim is a whole level under O'Neal. Also, great preview, MVPlaya. I look forward to your Pistons preview.</div> Sorry for no Pistons preview, ran out of time. As you said its harder to score, Rahim takes less shots than J O'neal, which means he shoots a better % since they both basically avg the same points.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Purple N Gold:</div><div class="quote_post">Hmmmm....I wonder who's style you did for the preview? :mrgreen:</div> A mix of ice breaker, you, and I lol
