New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets Basketball: Early 2006 Season Analysis
After starting 2-30 last year, the Hornets were on pace for the worst record in NBA history. As the season progressed and Mashburn and Davis were traded, New Orleans’ youngsters began to play well. Now, with David West and Chris Paul on the team, continuity is starting to return to the Hornets franchise. So much so, that they are actually competing this year.
The team is rebuilding with a wide variety of flashy rookies. Chris Paul has emerged as a candidate for Rookie of the Year. He is not afraid to shoot, which is also his weakness, as he sometimes borders on being a ball hog. JR Smith is in the mold of Jason Richardson, but he has to take control more often. His leading scorer is the only one from any team to come off the bench: Speedy Claxton. Claxton showed little talent in Philadelphia and Golden State, but now he’s coming out on top. PJ Brown is the minimum veteran any rebuild needs and he’s playing very well for them. Chris Anderson is a Bo Outlaw-type hustle player, who we don’t see enough of in basketball. And David West is a productive outside shooter.
The Hornets still have a lot to work on. The score for one should go to one of the starters, preferably JR Smith. The leading scorer shouldn’t have to wait to get in. They rank 24th in scoring as they don’t have a wide scale offense. Nobody shoots the 3 worse than NO/Oklahoma City. But that hasn’t stopped Bostjan Nachbar, Chris Paul and JR Smith from getting 3 that look good.
The most surprising portion so far for the Hornets has been the attendance. To be honest, New Orleans didn’t have much more time to contain the Hornets anyway. In Charlotte, the Hornets had the worst attendance in the NBA, moved to New Orleans and had the second worst attendance in the NBA. The money just wasn’t coming fast enough. But in Oklahoma City, they are 7th in attendance! What’s even more surprising is that fans have had less time to order tickets since the team officially moved to Oklahoma in September. It’s amazing what support can do for a mediocre team; the Washington Nationals held first place for three months last year.
The Hornets are up in rebounding and points allowed. Byron Scott has really turned last year’s 18-win team into a formidable opponent. As for how well they can do this year, they can at least compete. For them, no game will be a freebie. And the move to Baton Rouge at the end of the year could affect his internal clock. They are not likely to continue like this, but the least you can expect from a team like this is that they will play hard.