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June 2009
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April 2009 ArchivesI'm paraphrasing, but after the Hornets fell yet again to Denver - this time keeping it within 25 points - Barkley opined on what happened to the Hornets between last year and this one. He said that last year, Paul got help as West and Chandler had career years and Peja played well, plus they had Pargo off the bench. This year he felt everyone but Paul fell off from the year before and he thinks that Chandler was both physically and mental... Kelly Dwyer of Yahoo! Sports basically has hit the nail on the head as to the Hornets struggles.. It's what I've been telling anyone who will listen. I don't think the Hornets have necessarily quit or aren't trying hard - though certainly that wasn't the case in the second half on Monday night. The problem is...they just a... It's pretty much open season on the Hornets, I wouldn't be surprised if Letterman and Leno are sharpening their pens. Ken Berger of CBS Sportsline.com has plenty of slings and arrows to send Among his more colorful: The Hornets have CYO-type facilities. Now, I get it, David West couldn't score and Peja can't shoot because they work out at the Alario Center. How did all the analysts miss this? ...ESPN's John Hollinger slammed the Hornets effort, their lack of class and much, much more. Few people escape his wrath and he's especially hard on David West. ...After a Game 3 that featured four players fouling out and three flagrant fouls, you should expect more of the same in Game 4, according to the Hornets and Nuggets, in a story in the Denver Post by Chris Dempsey. The quote that stood out to me was Tyson Chandler saying that the Hornets weren't getting any layups and the Hornets decided it was time for the Nuggets not to get any layup... You should read the story by Benjamin Hochman of the Denver Post on Chris Paul, but not just because Jim Henderson is quoted extensively. It shows Paul's special relationship with a New Orleans woman who was dying of cancer and about how he is the 'real deal' both on and off the court. ...Game 4 of the Hornets-Nuggets playoff series is not yet a sellout with over 1,000 tickets remaining, the team said Monday at 10 a.m. ...
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Chris Paul said he welcomed the physical play against the Nuggets, even the flagrant fouls. On several occasions during the game Paul flung himself into Nugget defenders and drew fouls. Chauncey Billups took down the Hornets' Rasual Butler, drawing blood from his nose for one of the flagrants. Tyson Chandler got another when he roughly fouled a driving Dahntay Jones and James Posey got one for fouling Chris Andersen, though Byron Scott took ex... John Hollinger puts the Hornets on a dubious list with the Jazz and Pistons as teams whose series are basically over. Now, the Jazz did take Game 3 from the Lakers, though not in convincing fashion, so maybe there's hope. ...At least, that's what the article in the Denver Post says. Now, to have any chance, you have to think that way, but I suspect if the Nuggets make a bit of a run and the Hornets get down big early, that confidence could wane. It will be interesting, I expect the Hornets to come out like a buzzsaw. ...Per the crack staff in the Hornets Media Relations Department: Here are the two (2) possible schedule scenarios for Monday, April 27. 1. If Game 5 is necessary in the L.A. Lakers-Utah series. Local Eastern Network Chris "Birdman" Andersen flew through the lane nearly untouched Wednesday night, clutching a rebound in midair before hammering down a two-handed dunk for Denver. It's a play that revved up the Nuggets' home crowd and sent New Orleans further into despair. And yet, according to Chris Dempsey of the Denver Post, the Hornets are happy to see Birdman succeed. Of c... If you're a Hornets fan - and I can assume you are since you're reading this blog - watching the team play Wednesday night had to have been dreadful. If you're a Chris Paul fan, it had to be even worse. At least normally you can rely on CP3 to come through with a full-out dominating game. But he wasn't last night and neither was David West, which makes it two games in a row for the forward to be less than All-Starrific. Hoopsworld.com's Travis Heath writes what we all down in New Orleans already knew - a healthy Tyson Chandler is a healthy Hornets. An ailing Chandler means an ailing Hornets. And with Chandler still ailing - his left ankle is still hurting - the Hornets have very little shot at doing everything they need to do to pick up a win. There's always next year, a common r... Chris Dempsey at the Denver Post said the Nuggets expect David West to be a little more, um, All-Star like tonight in Game 2 of the New Orleans-Denver first-round playoff series. West finished with only 12 points in Game 1, very unlike him. Kenyon Martin did a great job. But West has generally followed up poor games with good ones. Will tonight be that night? <... Chauncey Billups, a.k.a. Mr. Big Shot, lit up the New Orleans Hornets on Sunday night, accounting for 36 points and eight 3-pointers. Now, Hornets Head Coach Byron Scott has made the decision to put Chris Paul, a.k.a. CP3, on Mr. Big Shot, taking Rasual Butler, a.k.a. Sual, off of him. All of this comes courtesy of John Henderson of the Denver Post, who was a little put... We saw it all last night - Chauncey Billups is good. And when he's on, he's unstoppable. He hit 8 of 9 3-pointers against New Orleans in the Hornets' 113-84 loss in Game 1 of the Western Conference playoffs. And Chris Tomasson at CBSsportsline.com says that the acquisition of Billups is why Denver has such a good shot at moving on into the Western Conference semifinals.... The story a season ago was how few people were taking in Hornets games, especially early in the season. Well, that's not the case this year and, in fact, New Orleans had the biggest gain in walk-up attendance in the NBA. Not bad, New Orleans. Who says you can't support an NBA franchise? ...The Hornets only have a chance if both West and Paul have big games and neither were their normally sharp selves. The Nuggets Kenyon Martin was praised for his defense on West, who never got going. ...The Hornets are a fairly long shot to win the NBA title. Their longshot status comes in contrast to what they were at the start of the season, which was only 10-1. However, they seem to be a trendy pick to pull a first round upset. That seems strange, since if the season had extended another two weeks, they might not have made it at all. ...True Hoop, sort of an 'out there' basketball blog you can find on ESPN.com's site likes the Hornets upset chances against Denver, mostly because of a healthy Tyson Chandler. One scary note in the blog entry is that 'No matchups are good for the Hornets.' Let's face it, this team will only go anywhere if Peja and Rasual can get some respect for the ou... From the Hornets' PR staff: Individual playoff tickets for the first two home games of the first round will go on sale to the general public on Thursday at 10 a.m. Tickets start as low as $12 and can be purchased at Hornets.com, all Ticketmaster outlets, the New Orleans Arena box office or by calling 1-800-4NBATIX. Fans can still purchase playoff tickets before they go on sale to the general public by logg... I don't often read Bill Simmons. He's just not on my list of daily perusing. That said, he has a fairly readable column today about the NBA's MVP voting. He throws in voting for Least Valuable Player as a bonus. But the point is, he has Paul at No. 2 on the list. I don't think there's any arguing about LeBron James being this year's MVP. He has, quite ...
With Utah losing to Los Angeles last night, the Hornets are assured of no worse than 7th in the Western Conference. They're also assured of no better than 6th and no first round series against the Lakers. Here's now it plays out for New Orleans (A big BIG thanks to Lindsey Wyckoff with the Hornets' media relations staff and Jim Eichenhofer at hornets.com for putting this breakdown together). <...It all comes down to the final game for New Orleans. And the team could still play any number of teams. Only the Lakers have secured their spot at No. 1.
New Orleans will be seeded: Vincent Thomas at NBA.com says Chris Paul, he of the New Orleans Hornets, is every bit as good as LeBron James and Kobe Bryant. And yet, according to Thomas, CP3 isn't nearly as loved as he should be. Scratch that, loved by anyone outside of Thomas. He has already claimed that he has a man crush on the Paulster. Thing is, I agree. Ce... Chris Paul is stylish on the court AND off and he's featured in this week's Esquire, mostly touching on fashion tips and places to go in New Orleans. ...I can't say that I argue too much with this. Paul has been outstanding, but there is no question that these five players are far and away the top guys in the league right now and the Hornets record just isn't great this year compared to last year. I could see Paul as high as 2nd, but with a 49-31 record, I think the nod this year has to go to LeBron. Don't get me wrong, I wou... FINAL On Sunday, in the final home regular season game of the season for New Orleans, Paul and West again combined for 62 points. This time, though, they just enough help to count. The Hornets beat Dallas 102-92 in the last game in New Orleans Arena until the playoffs start. New ... Here's an interesting one: The Dallas Morning News is reporting that Mark Cuban and the Mavericks are in the market for Chris Paul and are willing to all but sellout to get him. The paper reports that Cuban offered to take the Hornets' two worst contracts off their hands in a package with Paul. Interesting. It's a good mo... FINAL The Hornets trailed by 10 heading into the fourth quarter and the Suns lengthened their lead to 14. But with about six minutes to play, the Hornets started a comeback. New Orleans' David West and Chris Paul got the deficit to four, but could get no... Julian Wright is an athletic player who can provide valuable minutes for the Hornets. But, in an NBA.com story, it's suggested Wright is at his best when he's not thinking about the next move and instead, reading and reacting. The second-year player out of Kansas certainly has improved this year, but Byron Scott needs more out of him. Hop... I've got to be honest - I don't really understand the Hornets nor do I understand the power rankings. I'm not sure how you have the Hornets in the top 10 (I'm speaking to you SI.com) after the way this team has played the past week. Two heart-stoppers against the dregs of the Western Conference, a loss to one of the West's worst teams and the not showing up in a playoff-type clash. But this team, for one reason or another, stil...
FINAL Instead, the Hornets lost their second consecutive game, falling at home to Utah 108-94. Utah swept the season series 3-0. The end came early. After the Hornets took a 12-10 lead with 7:34 to go in the opening quarter, Utah took complete control. The Jazz blitzed the Hornets with a 31-7 run from that... Chris Paul and David West had 74 points and hit 30 of 55 shots but watched as teammates hit only 10 of 38 and scored 29 points in a bad, bad loss to an outmanned Warriors team. Golden State had been in a woeful tailspin and was without its three top players and Paul and West had great nights. The Warriors also only played 7 players and still the Hornets couldn't keep up. Scott and Paul would likely say it was mostly defense that wa... Byron Scott says he's very confident in his team when the starting lineup is together. Unfortunately, that hasn't happened too often and who knows if it will again this season. Tyson Chandler will probably give it a go at some point, but if his ankle has major issues, who knows. ...As far as the NBA.com's Dance Team Bracket goes, the Honeybees have owned California. The bracket pits each NBA team's dance squad up against one another. First it was the LA Laker Girls, whom the Honeybees upset 62 percent to 38 percent. Then it was an 80 percent stomping of the Warrior Girls that put the team in the Elite 8. But yesterday, in a do-or-die matchup against the...
It's not that I think this. Far from it. But if you were to read the folks who cover the Dallas Mavericks, they're apparently viewing the Hornets as the team to slip up and allow their team to get out of the dreaded No. 8 seed. Their reasoning? James Posey is hurt. Peja Stojakovic is hurt. Tyson Chandler is hurt.... With the playoffs starting in less than a month and the Hornets all but assured of a spot, I figured I'd try to get some information from the organization about tickets. According to media whiz and all-around information genie Brittany Cranston, details aren't finalized yet for playoff tickets. She said the best bet for now would be to sign up for "BeeMail" at hornets.com. That gives you access to the "beemail presale." Cransto... Hornets officials said Wednesday afternoon that forward David West will be a game-time decision for New Orleans' game against the Los Angeles Clippers after injuring his left ankle in Tuesday's 111-110 win over Sacramento. West has a strained left ankle and had noticeable pain walking off the court following the win over the Kings. Still, he scored 40 points and also grabbed nine rebounds. A strain, as opposed to a sprain, is a... It's that time of year again and the Hornets franchise is trying to help out local high school girls. Just something nice they like to do. This is the press release from the Hornets: The Hornets will host their annual Prom Dress Giveaway on Saturday, April 4 at the Recovery School District's Welcome School (2239 Poydras St.) The morning session of the giveaway is reserved for junior and senior-level girls from Recovery... The Wall Street Journal didn't exactly come straight out and say we all should be wary in reading into Chris Paul's ridiculously high assist totals throughout his career. What it did say, however, was that buying into assists only isn't a good way to compare. That's because the rules in awarding an assist are vague and not necessarily well-spelled out by the NBA. ... |
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