Hornets @ Bobcats – Pick of the Day
New Orleans Hornets @ Charlotte Bobcats
Hornets (-2)
Tuesday, February 20th – 7:00 PM ET
The Charlotte Bobcats look to vastly improve over the second half of the season, while the Hornets have playoff hopes in the West. Expect this game to be chalked full of young athletic players, and their highlights.
Bottom Line: I like the youth in Charlotte, but I can’t see them winning more than 2 out of 10 games against the Hornets, even if the games are in Charlotte. Chris Paul is too good of a leader, and the Hornets, though they too are young, have more strengths on offense. Paul struggled just before the All Star Break, but he should be healed after getting a nice 5 day rest. Expect the Hornets to capitalize on Charlotte’s mistakes while limiting their own turnovers. Even with the absence of a true scorer, the Hornets still have Paul, David West, and Raual Buttler… 3 players, that when given a chance, can drive and dish, post up and hit jumpers, and bust threes, in that order. Look for an 8-10 point win out of the Hornets.
Look for Charlotte to improve, but not this year!
As reported early Monday morning, the Chargers have hired Norv Turner to be their next head coach. Believe it or not, I think the Chargers will be solid next season, even when looking at Norv’s obvious failure thus far as a head coach in the NFL. First of all, the Chargers’ young nucleus will make if very difficult to fail, and offenses under Turner have only improved because of his ability to teach details and understanding to his skill players. LT, and most of all, Phillip Rivers will both grow under the guidance of Turner. Also, often failure is the best teaching tool, so I expect Turner to be much improved this year. All of these things are important, and I think they’ll really help the Chargers improve, but the biggest thing is the signing of Ron Rivera, from the Chicago Bears, to help out with the defense. He’s not the D Coordinator, but you can bet his input will be heard on and off the field in San Diego.