Maybe it’s just me but I can’t stand it when fans from other teams come into our house and cheer more for the other team than the home team. Last night, of course was no exception. The Lakers reached Charlotte, NC for the Kobe Bryant farewell tour. The result was a 108-98 victory for the Hornets.
Over the past 11 years, Time Warner Cable Arena has not been a place that generated “home court advantage” for the home team. It may be an arena in Charlotte, but there has always been a bit more “roar” for teams like the Knicks, Celtics, Clippers, and Lakers. Believe me, I can understand. When my mom and I would stand in line for Hornets tickets back in the early 90s, we were picking teams that we wanted to see play. We always wanted to see Michael Jordan play (we never got that chance). We wanted to see Shaquille O’Neal play (didn’t happen). We even wanted to see Dominique Wilkins play (the year we got tickets to see him play with the Celtics, he went overseas to play). So for anyone that was fortunate enough to see Kobe play his last game in Charlotte last night, congrats to you. Along those same lines, however, I have to draw the line somewhere. For all of those guys that I wanted to see play back in the day, at no point did I plan on cheering for their team. I wanted to see those guys play, and I wanted to see MY team beat their team.
With that said, I am always ashamed when we have a game at Time Warner Cable Arena, and the fans for the other team are louder than the fans for the home team. Over the Bobcats years, I could kind of understand it. There was some really bad basketball played in the arena, and there were only a few times where the team was worthy of being cheered for loudly (I cheered loudly regardless because they were my team…and I was cat crazy). I really thought that with the return of the Hornets name, and the winning record at home this season especially, the Hive would actually switch gears and we would reap the benefits of the “home court advantage”. Now granted, Kobe Bryant was an incredible player over the course of his career, and I can understand the arena showing him respect. I mean, even the team owner recorded a 2 minute congratulations video that was played on the scoreboard. I’m OK with ALL of that. What I am not OK with is Kobe chants in the 3rd quarter when the game is close. Support the home team. Get that loud for Kemba, for Cody, for OUR Charlotte Hornets! I’m just funny that way. I know it is baby steps to get to that point, but it still irks me.
Kobe was not very Kobe-like in the loss last night. He did score 20 points off of 5-20 (25%) shooting, and he was the high scorer for the Lakers. However, the man of the hour was Kemba Walker. Kemba rained on Kobe’s parade, pouring in 38 points on 14-25 shooting (56%). Add in his 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks, and he’s easily the Sprite Player of the Game. Oh yeah, Kobe had 4 rebounds and 2 assists.
Kobe is very much a shadow of what was the Hornets #1 draft pick back in 1996. A player drafted with the “pre-arranged” trade that would send him to LA for Vlade Divac. Kobe’s agent said that Kobe playing for the Hornets was “an impossibility”. Roughly translated, that meant that there was no way Kobe would play for Charlotte. It was basically, the Lakers or else. Kobe only worked out for the Lakers, and the Hornets didn’t even have him on their radar to pick. 5 minutes before the pick was made was when the Lakers told Charlotte who to draft. The rest is history.
Let’s get back to the game information. Kemba had some help last night to pull off the victory. When you can get 5 guys into double figures in a game, the results are usually pretty good. Cody Zeller was in beast mode, hitting 8 of 10 shots for 16 points. He also grabbed 8 rebounds and 2 assists. Next in line was Nic Batum with 15 points off of a “Kobe-like” 7-17 shooting performance. He also grabbed 5 rebounds, 11 assists, and a steal. PJ Hairston is slowly sputtering to life for the Hornets. He gave us 13 points, and an assist. Jeremy Lin rounds out our double-figures guys with another consistent game. He contributed 13 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, and 2 blocks. Marvin Williams was almost invisible on the scoring side of things with only 2 points, but his 11 rebounds and 3 assists were definitely needed. Frank Kaminsky continues to progress his NBA game as he contributed 6 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, and 2 blocks in 20 minutes of game play. I have to say that I have been pleased with his progress thus far. I will say, however, I have concerns about Al Jefferson. Last night was his second game back from his calf strain and 5-game suspension, and I have NOT liked what I have seen so far. He was 1-4 from the floor, and he hit 1 of 2 free throws, totaling 3 points, 4 rebounds and 2 turnovers. I’ve heard that he’ll have to play himself back into form, but I just don’t know how much time we can give him at this point. Cody hasn’t been terrible at the center position (I actually believe what he brings is what the center position of the future will be in the NBA), Frank is showing progress, and even Hawes has been better than many have expected. I don’t know why, but I think that Al’s best days in Charlotte are gone and he may become part of a trade by the deadline. If the pieces coming in are greater than him going out, Charlotte will have no choice but to pull the trigger. I could be completely wrong, and Al bounces back to “year 1 Al” and blows everyone’s minds with double-doubles for the rest of the year. I hope that happens, but I fear that it will not. This is just my opinion. It is just something to file away in your memory bank as the season progresses.
Jeremy Lamb was a player that I didn’t mention above. In 12 minutes, he was 1-3 from the floor and 0-1 from the foul line. His 2 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, and 2 steals were greatly appreciated, but I do believe he’s in a bit of a funk. It was definite that he would cool down from the red-hot start he had here in Charlotte, but now he has to stabilize and find his spot on this team. With PJ playing better and him slumping, that SG/SF position is completely up for grabs. Strong offense and defense are keys for us to win games, so one of those guys has to step up and stay consistent. The one that can show consistency will secure some extra playing time.
I think I may have come across as scolding to our Hornets fans. I don’t really mean to, but I will say that the Hornets are playing some of the best basketball that we have ever seen them play. We have a home game against the Clippers on the 30th, an away game against the Raptors (I believe we should let Al bang on Biz a bit in this one), back home to face the Thunder, then road games against the Warriors, Suns, Clippers, and Denver. The guys are going to need a strong push as they head out on the road, and with some solid games against the Clippers and Thunder at home, we should be ready to make some more noise in the NBA on our 4-game road trip. Let’s finish out 2015 strong and swarm our way through 2016.
By the way, the Hornets announce the new D-league team name and logo, colors, etc. today, so keep your eyes to the net for that announcement.
Let’s Go Hornets!
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