From: http://0rz.net/6b0wW The New Orleans Hornets: The NBA’s Forgotten Team Aaron Bronsteter - 12th June, 2005 6:27 PM When you think of any NBA team, you usually think of one player or one focus that identifies that team. The Chicago Bulls are a team filled with youth that made the playoffs, the Cleveland Cavaliers are LeBron James, the Los Angeles Clippers, a team that has always struggled for identity has an aggressive Corey Maggette and a big man force in Elton Brand. One team that lacks such identity is the New Orleans Hornets. The Hornets franchise left Charlotte after the 2002-2003 season after several consecutive playoff years under coach Paul Silas. Since leaving Charlotte, they hired coach Tim Floyd, fired coach Tim Floyd, moved to the Western Conference, hired coach Byron Scott, traded their franchise player and decided to build the team around a high school-bred, mid-round NBA Draft selection in his first season. In the team’s first season in New Orleans, with new coach Tim Floyd and familiar faces like Baron Davis, Jamaal Magloire, Jamal Mashburn, David Wesley and P.J. Brown, the team was able to qualify for the NBA Playoffs as a 5th seed in the Eastern Conference. As a brand new commodity to the New Orleans community, the team had the 2nd worst attendance records in the entire league, showing that the team had either grown stale or that New Orleans was not ready for a basketball team. Changes had to be made and Hornets’ owner George Shinn knew it. Tim Floyd was fired after the Hornets lost to the Miami Heat in the first round of the playoffs and Byron Scott, the former New Jersey Nets coach who lead them to consecutive NBA Finals took over. While a coach with those credentials seems like a blessing, Scott’s leadership has always been in question despite having the title of one of the league’s best young coaches. Scott was known to have been berated by team leader Jason Kidd, who many felt was the true coach of the Nets on multiple occasions. This was an opportunity for Scott to prove that he belonged. The Hornets started their season horribly, losing their first eight games consecutively and winning their first game by a one-point margin over the Jazz. The win was followed by an additional eleven game losing skid, which contained the sidelining of Baron Davis and Jamaal Magloire. With their two key players injured and Jamal Mashburn already sidelined for the entire season, unsuspected players stepped up. Dan Dickau, acquired in a trade for veteran point guard and fan favorite Darrell Armstrong, was the team’s top scorer in 18 of the Hornets’ remaining 68 games. Dickau was an unlikely star based on his previous reputation of being an NBA bust after successful seasons at Gonzaga. Another player who stepped up at the end of the season was J.R. Smith. Smith won three consecutive Western Conference rookie of the month awards and had a nice showing at the NBA’s annual Dunk Competition with a stunning behind the back slam dunk. Smith’s best month was March, where he averaged over 16 points-per-game. The Hornets took Smith’s success as a sign of things to come for the franchise and their website bears the slogan “I Believe”. The slogan extends itself to more sayings like “I Believe in the Future” (with a photo of Smith), “I believe in the Birdman (Chris Andersen)”, “I believe in Hometown Heroes” (with a photo of P.J. Brown), “I believe in guys who hustle ” (with a photo of Dickau). In other words, the Hornets are placing their stake on youth and potential and veteran leadership, without any defined star. The reason that they lack this star is because they traded hobbled Hornets superstar Baron Davis at the trade deadline for Speedy Claxton and Dale Davis, in other words, cap relief. The Hornets want to start anew and Davis was no longer worth the aggravation of constant injury. Upon his arrival, Davis made an immediate impact for his hometown Warriors and helped them end their season with an 18-9 record. Without the defined superstar or face of the Hornets franchise and any sort of concrete direction, the team finds itself practically off of the NBA’s radar. The Western Conference is a place where only the strong survive and the weak get left behind. The Hornets are currently a team that risk getting left behind with low fan patronage and a lack of names to sew on the back of marketable jerseys. If you ask anyone around the world to name their twenty favorite NBA players, less than 1% is bound to name a single Hornets player. The team is currently rebuilding itself to attempt to compete with the big guns in the league and with horrible attendance figures for the last four seasons (both in Charlotte and New Orleans), the beginning of a 3-4 year process will be critical for the future of the financial viability of the franchise. With Magloire returning from injury and despite rumors of the Hornets shopping him, the team should be much stronger in the coming season. With some cap space and the 4th overall selection in the NBA draft, which will likely be used on Andrew Bogut, Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Gerald Green or Marvin Williams Jr., the Hornets have an exciting offseason to look forward to. Essentially, the Hornets’ new slogan, “I believe”, must be instilled within every fan of the team in order for their 2004-2005 league’s worst attendance to rise. The fans must believe in Byron Scott, the fans must believe that J.R. Smith will be as good as advertised, the fans must believe in the Birdman, in Magloire, in Dickau, in the team’s offseason draft picks and acquisitions and foremost in George Shinn and the Hornets franchise. While the team seemingly lacks any sort of direction, the preliminary pieces are in place and all that the Hornets need now are faith and patience. --

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