New Orleans Hornets: The Losses Continue To Pile On With Loss To Dallas

This season has gotten off to a rocky start for the New Orleans Hornets as they drop their 6th straight to the defending champion Dallas Mavericks by a score of 96-81.  This game was different from the other losses as this game the Hornets never really lead or threatened at any point during the game.  Sure they cut into the lead at points, but were unable to get the stop necassary to be a threat.

The player of the game for New Orleans would have to be Al-Farouq Aminu, the youngster had the best game of his so far short NBA career.  Aminu recorded his first ever double double with 15 points and 12 rebounds to fill in very nicely for the injured Trevor Ariza.  He played very aggressively which is a definite plus for the team moving forward, with Ariza out for a few more games this would be a great opportunity for the 21 year old to prove himself.

At point guard Jarrett Jack struggled mightily going only 4-14 with 13 points, hitting on all 4 of his free throws as well.  The best point guard on the floor last night was the 28 year old rookie Carldell “Squeaky” Johnson.  Johnson saw 17 minutes of playing time and scored 9 points on 3-9 shooting, all three makes were from beyond the arc.  The New Orleans native showed he is capable of hitting from long range, and was very aggressive during his time time on the court so his playing time may increase after his performance and with the team continuing to struggle.

At the other guard we saw starter Marco Belinelli was almost a no factor in this game scoring three points in only 17 minutes of court action.  Grievis Vasquez and Jarrett Jack also got some time in at the two guard.  Monty has been playing multiple players at most of the position’s so with Belinelli’s recent struggles we have seen him move players even getting Trey Johnson more playing time off the bench.  Johnson only had 2 points, but we have been seeing more minutes the past few games from him.

At the four spot it was once again Chris Kaman starting with Carl Landry coming off the bench for the second game in a row.  Landry has stated that he prefers coming in off the bench, so it all works out for both players.  Kaman chipped in 10 points and Landry settled for 12 points in the losing effort.  Gustavo Ayon came in the game and saw some time but only grabbed a couple rebounds in his 7 minutes.  The other big man for the Hornets, Emeka Okafor started out good but outside the 1st quarter was not a factor with only 9 points and 4 rebounds.

Overall it was not a great performance, but there has been a bit of good news floating around the web.  It appears former Hornets All-Star Jamal Mashburn has expressed interest in buying into the Hornets as owner.  Right now nothing much is known, but it is exciting to know someone out there is interested in taking over this franchise.  But up next for New Orleans is the surging Denver Nuggets.  More than likely the losing streak will reach 7 games, I expect the team to play hard but will be severely overmatched in this one.  I would also like to wish the Smith family well as Jason Smith missed the Dallas game due to a death in the family.