If you participated with the Cats Crazies in years past, or had the distinct honor to sit near them, you might have heard the opening portion of this article’s title. We always had little mini-cheers for all of the players back in those days. Any time Gerald Henderson made a great play, we would yell, from the Hendo to the wall. If we were doing it last night, we would have been pretty hoarse today.
Gerald Henderson stepped up HUGE last night in the win over the Toronto Raptors. His game high 31 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists let us all know what Henderson is truly capable of. A perk for Henderson, as well as the rest of the team, is having stability in the coaching staff. When the head coaching spot is a revolving door, it makes it equally hard on the players to be able to settle in with a coach, learn what they want, learn their schemes, and truly be able to give it their all. Gerald Henderson has always been one to give it his all, but last night, though 4 points off of his career high of 35 showed us all just what he can do. He was 13-20 from the floor (that’s 65%). Welcome to the show Hendo. You may not be draining 3s, but I’ll take your drives, hook shots in the paint, and every other jumper you took. Great work my friend.
Don’t get me wrong, you can look down the box score and see that yet again, it was a team effort in the victory. This one, though, came without, Al, Lance, Cody, PJ, Pargo, & Taylor. Cody dressed, but had a strained shoulder, so he was a last minute scratch for the game. Again, everyone that played scored. Gary Neal’s 1 point was a disappointment again, as well as his 2 turnovers. I really hope either he gets back on track, or gets moved. We got plenty of wings. I know a few years ago, he was really lighting things up in the playoffs, but he’s not been that guy for several games this season. Time will tell.
Back to the game highlights though. Again, 4 starters were in double figures. Kemba had 29 points, 8 assists, 7 rebounds, 3 steals, and no turnovers. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist is turning into a double-double machine, scoring 10 points, 12 rebounds, and 3 assists. Marvin Williams had 13 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 assists. Bismack Biyombo had 6 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 blocks.
As for the bench:
Brian Roberts: 5 points/2 assists/1 rebound/1 steal
Jason Maxiell: 6 points/2 rebounds/1 assist/1 block
Noah Vonleh: 2 points, 3 rebounds/1 steal
It was a great night folks. We out-rebounded, out-assisted, and just plain out-hustled the Raptors last night. It was a fun night to be a Hornets fan, and to see this unit having fun and winning games. The beginning of the season seemed like the guys were working hard and not having fun. The result was losses. Last night was a legitimate win against the 2nd place team in the east. Best part was that we weren’t even at 100%.
Our Hornets can get complacent. We have the Knicks on Saturday. That’s a game we HAVE TO WIN in order to be taken seriously. With only 3 games played last night and us beating the #2 team, folks will take notice and start watching to see how good we really are. Last night was crucial for us, and the best thing to see is the coaching staff smiling, the players on the bench smiling, everyone talking during timeouts to be sure they are on the same page before they go back out on the court. I think the chemistry is coming back. The question that remains is how Al and Lance will fit, once they are back. Sometimes chemistry is the most important thing.
Let’s Go Hornets!
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