Hornets Sting Mavericks

The New Orleans Hornets were back at home against the Dallas Mavericks after suffering their first loss of the season at the hands of the Mavericks on Monday night in Dallas. Entering the game with the NBA’s best record at 8-1, it has been an exciting time covering a winning Hornets team and Wednesday night I enjoyed my best basketball shoot of the year thus far.

Basketball is a tough sport to stand out in sports photography, as for the most part you are in the same position for most if not the entire game, many of my colleagues utilize remote camera to catch various angles of the action, unfortunately I haven’t accumulated all of the gear necessary to properly shoot remote camera.

Last night I shot with my Canon Mark IV and primary lens 70-200mm f/2.8, my second camera a Canon Mark III with a 17-40 f/4 and I had my 400mm f/2.8 to change to if I needed to go tight on any action at the other end of the court.

In previous games I had been using a 70-200mm and 400mm combo, I brought out the wide on this night and set up on an inside position closer to the goal instead of my usual outside position near the bench and I came away pretty happy with the results of the night.

For this game I used the wide angle more than I had any other night, and for the most part you don’t have time to switch cameras for a play that is going to go inside so each time once the players entered my side of the court I would either stay with my 70-200 for tight action, or take my chances with a wide angle.

One of my favorite shots of the night was with the wide angle lens as seen below.

November 17, 2010; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Hornets point guard Chris Paul (3) drives and shoots during the second half against the Dallas Mavericks at the New Orleans Arena. The Hornets defeated the Mavericks 99-97. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

Chris Paul’s momentum carried him off the court where he collided with the television video crew.

November 17, 2010; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Hornets point guard Chris Paul (3) is knocked into photographers after a score during the second half against the Dallas Mavericks at the New Orleans Arena. The Hornets defeated the Mavericks 99-97. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

Paul scored on the play and when he got up I got several nice frames off as he celebrated the basket.

November 17, 2010; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Hornets point guard Chris Paul (3) reacts after scoring during the second half against the Dallas Mavericks at the New Orleans Arena. The Hornets defeated the Mavericks 99-97. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

November 17, 2010; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Hornets point guard Chris Paul (3) celebrates with teammate power forward David West (30) after scoring during the second half against the Dallas Mavericks at the New Orleans Arena. The Hornets defeated the Mavericks 99-97. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

The wide angle lens is great for capturing the atmosphere of the game and the action right under the basket, here are a few more frames I liked from the wide angle lens.

November 17, 2010; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Hornets center Emeka Okafor (50) dunks over Dallas Mavericks center Tyson Chandler (6) during the second half at the New Orleans Arena. The Hornets defeated the Mavericks 99-97. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

The shot below of Nowitzki as he drove towards the basket near me is cropped in tight to get the referee out of the frame.

November 17, 2010; New Orleans, LA, USA; Dallas Mavericks power forward Dirk Nowitzki (41) of Germany drives past New Orleans Hornets power forward David West (30) during the first quarter at the New Orleans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

Here is a shot I left wide as I shot in camera.

November 17, 2010; New Orleans, LA, USA; Dallas Mavericks shooting guard DeShawn Stevenson (92) drives past New Orleans Hornets shooting guard Marco Belinelli (8) of Italy during the first quarter at the New Orleans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

This photo of Carson Butler surrounded by defenders was used in an article by ESPN Dallas following the game.

November 17, 2010; New Orleans, LA, USA; Dallas Mavericks small forward Caron Butler (4) passes between New Orleans Hornets defenders during the first quarter at the New Orleans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

November 17, 2010; New Orleans, LA, USA; Dallas Mavericks shooting guard DeShawn Stevenson (92) shoots over New Orleans Hornets center Emeka Okafor (50) during the first quarter at the New Orleans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

Here is a shot of former Hornets center Tyson Chandler swatting away a shot by Hornets forward David West.

November 17, 2010; New Orleans, LA, USA; Dallas Mavericks center Tyson Chandler (6) blocks a shot by New Orleans Hornets power forward David West (30) during the second half at the New Orleans Arena. The Hornets defeated the Mavericks 99-97. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

Another good use for the wide was catching the Honeybees dance team performing at mid-court during a break in the action.

November 17, 2010; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Hornets Honeybees dancers perform during a game against the Dallas Mavericks at the New Orleans Arena. The Hornets defeated the Mavericks 99-97. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

While I used my wide angle more than I have in any other game, I still used the 70-200mm quite a bit as well, below are some of the shots taken with that lens.

November 17, 2010; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Hornets point guard Chris Paul (3) shoots between Dallas Mavericks small forward Caron Butler (4) and point guard Jason Kidd (2) during the second half at the New Orleans Arena. The Hornets defeated the Mavericks 99-97. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

November 17, 2010; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Hornets point guard Chris Paul (3) draws a charging foul from Dallas Mavericks center Tyson Chandler (6) during the second half at the New Orleans Arena. The Hornets defeated the Mavericks 99-97. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

November 17, 2010; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Hornets head coach Monty Williams and point guard Chris Paul (3) talk during the fourth quarter at the New Orleans Arena. The Hornets defeated the Mavericks 99-97. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

November 17, 2010; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Hornets point guard Chris Paul (3) draws a foul from Dallas Mavericks point guard Jason Kidd (2) during the second half at the New Orleans Arena. The Hornets defeated the Mavericks 99-97. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

November 17, 2010; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Hornets point guard Chris Paul (3) drives down the court during the second half against the Dallas Mavericks at the New Orleans Arena. The Hornets defeated the Mavericks 99-97. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

November 17, 2010; New Orleans, LA, USA; Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban reacts during a game against the New Orleans Hornets at the New Orleans Arena. The Hornets defeated the Mavericks 99-97. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

It was a close game throughout and in the final seconds I was in position for two huge turnovers that secured the Hornets win over the Mavericks.

First, as Dirk Nowitski drove to half court Hornets forward David West played tight defense knocking the ball away.

November 17, 2010; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Hornets power forward David West (30) steals the ball from Dallas Mavericks power forward Dirk Nowitzki (41) of Germany during the final moments of the fourth quarter at the New Orleans Arena. The Hornets defeated the Mavericks 99-97. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

The Hornets recovered the steal by West and were fouled giving the Hornets free throws, New Orleans only converted on one of two leaving 1.9 seconds and a two point lead. The Mavericks would have one more opportunity to win the game but an inbounds pass by Dallas was stolen out of the air by David West to seal the Hornets win.

November 17, 2010; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Hornets power forward David West (30) picks off the in bounds pass in the final seconds of a win over the Dallas Mavericks at the New Orleans Arena. The Hornets defeated the Mavericks 99-97. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

Well that is a look into my coverage from last night, here are a couple of screen captures from shots that appeared on the ESPN Dallas site last night.