By Clay A. Smith

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Photograph by Jonathan Bachman

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Like most fans of the NBA I was taken aback by the news that Chris Paul had been chosen for the All-NBA SECOND team. That’s right, its not a misprint-SECOND! I was in jaw dropping awe. And like that, as is often the case in moments fervid despondency, I had entered the five stages of grief-without even knowing it.

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I denied it. “No, this can’t be right.” After all, how could Paul be on the Second team when he made the first team last year with stats that in comparison, weren’t as good as his numbers from this season?  In the 07′-08′ season Paul averaged 21.1 points a game with a league best 11.6 assists and 2.7 steals, but in 08′-09′ Paul averaged 22.8 points with, of course, a league leading 11 assists and 2.8 steals-making him the first man to EVER lead the NBA in assists and steals in back-to-back seasons.

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Then anger set in. “GRRRRRRR!” Every position on the All-NBA Team is accurately represented, EXCEPT, for the point guard position: At center Dwight Howard, at power forward Dirk Nowitzki, at small forward  Lebron James,  at shooting guard Kobe Bryant, and at point guard, DWAYNE WADE!?!?! Seriously? If Dwayne Wade is a point guard, someone needs to tell the incumbent Mario Chalmers, cause that kid’s mom has been telling people that her son plays point guard for the Miami Heat for a year now.

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After I calmed down I entered the third stage of grief: bargaining. “Alright hear me out…” It can’t be discounted that Wade as a combo guard can be moved interchangeably  between both point and shooting guard. And I’m sure his proponents will say  that he put up MVP type numbers on the way to earning his first scoring title with 30.2 points a game.

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However, in a league that is constantly preaching the team concept, it hardly seems fair that at a position in which efficacy is largely predicated on that very same imperative, its brightest star got snubbed for a guy with a “shoot first, pass second” mentality. When contextualized by comparison, in plain English, Wade is just a really good two guard.

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But for the sake of argument, lets move Wade to the shooting guard. Then who do we move to the  point- Bryant? If you’re seriously considering  Wade over Kobe for the two then think again, because while Wade may have dropped thirty a night in the NBA’s junior varsity (Eastern Conference), the Black Mamba  was “Doing Work” - leading his team to the second best record in the NBA.

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It just doesn’t compute. For the past two seasons Paul has personified what it means to be a point guard- drawing comparisons to greats like Isaiah Thomas and Magic Johnson. Still, for all my frustration, what was done was done — and no amount of bargaining would make a bit of difference. So after a mild bout with depression (”WHY!?!? WHY!?!? Why Lord do you hate the Hornets so?! Take me instead!”) I came to some to acceptance and realized, “Second team’s not so bad.”

by Clay A. Smith

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Photograph by Jonathan Bachman

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Two disappointing seasons from  the Hornets and the Saints have had New Orleans fans pining for the sweet release of the off season. Between the Saints farcically inept defense and the historical dismantling of the undermanned Hornets in the first round of the playoffs, its been a: remote throwing, hair pulling, head hanging, yell at the TV until the neighbors call the cops kind of year. Well New Orleans fans, you can rest easy. Mean old Chauncey Billups can’t hurt you anymore, and neither can the Saints horrific defense.

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One person who assuredly welcomed the off season was Hornets point guard Chris Paul . The Hornets’ work horse came up lame in the post season-stung by the injury bug. When Paul wasn’t winning gold medals in Bejing, he was grinding out an 82 game season that ended disastrously in a 63-121 point shellacking at the hands of the Denver Nuggets. For a season in which he averaged 22 points and lead the league in assists, with 11, and steals (2.8)  Paul was named to 1st Team All Defense.  The Hornets’ early exit from this years’ palyoffs prompted questions about head coach Btron Scott’s ability to effectively lead his team. But the Hornets are stand standing by Scott who will return for his sixth season with the team.

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The Saints have made it a priority to patch up a secondary that has been the joke of the NFL for years now and a short yardage running game that was instrumental in shortening their 08-09 campaign. The Saints got their first look at top draft pick Malcom Jenkins. The rookie saftey out of Ohio State stood out in his first minicamp practice and impressed the Saints coaching staff. Paired with recently acquired veterans Darren Sharper and Dan Morgan the Saints new look defense could do a complete 180.

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Conversely, with the leagues top offense there wasn’t much the Saints needed to tinker with offensively this offseason.  But with two under-sized running backs in Piere Thomas and Reggie Bush New Orleans was in dire need of a short yardage back. So in addition to revamping their “D” the Saints picked up two undrafted  rookie power backs with the hopes that they would compete to fill the void left by Deuce McAllister. Bruiser P.J. Hill is hoping to make big impact in Saints backfield along with fellow rookie Herb Donaldson. Hill, signed out of the University of Wisconsin, averaged over 1,000 yards in his three seasons in cheese country and Donaldson set a Missouri Valley Conference record with 23 100-yard rushing games.

121–63.

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Just let that sink in for a moment.

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This was, without a doubt, the worst professional basketball game played in the city of New Orleans by a team bearing the city’s name. It was awful, horrendous, ugly and cringe inducing. Chris Paul called it a “whupping”, David West labeled it “a systematic beating” and the crowd a New Orleans Arena was already pouring out before the third quarter ended.

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“I never thought anybody could win by 58 points in the playoffs,” Carmelo Anthony said after the game.

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You’ll have to excuse Anthony. The last time any team lost by this much was 53 years ago when the Minneapolis Lakers beat the St. Louis Hawks 133–75. Some other things that happened in 1956:

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• Dwight D. Eisenhower was elected to a second term as President of the United States.
• A young, hip-swerving kid from Memphis named Elvis Presley hit the music charts with the hit “Heartbreak Hotel.”
• Morocco declared its independence from France.
• Bob Barker made his television debut on the show “Truth or Consequences”.
• Fidel Castro, Che Guevara and 80 other men arrived in Cuba.

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The Hornets managed to claw their way back into their first-round series against the Denver Nuggets, winning 95–93 (thanks to two late misses by the Nuggets’ Carmelo Anthony). It was as an improbably a win as they come considering how badly the Hornets played in their first two games of the series and considering that the Hornets were trailing by as much as 16 in the first quarter of today’s game.

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It was when the Hornets were down double-digits early that the I noticed the Hornets had given out voodoo dolls to fans top of the free gold “Fan Up” t-shirts. Now, the voodoo dolls are definitely the most creative giveaway the Hornets have had all season. There’s only one problem: they’re adorned with Hornets colors and logos.

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Now, I’m no expert on voodoo, but the quick Googling I did on the subject confirmed that, if you want to put a hex on someone with a voodoo doll, you dress the doll to resemble the person being hexed, not as yourself. So it’s pretty confusing to see the jumbotron show pictures of voodoo dolls when the Nuggets shoot free throws (pictured below) and urging fans to squeeze their voodoo dolls to hex Denver. The only possible explanation is that the dolls had all-black backs, and black voodoo dolls are meant to repel negativity. But that doesn’t explain why they were used to hex the Nuggets.

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Today, though, New Orleans found a way to win, hex or not. But if the Hornets end up losing this series, New Orleanians will know definitively that their team was cursed. It’s just jarring to think the Hornets may have cursed themselves.

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(All that said, though, the voodoo dolls are still pretty freakin’ cool).

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Photograph by Jonathan Bachman

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Today we preview Game 2 of the Hornets-Nuggets first-round NBA playoff series with Gus Kattengell of WWL Radio and Brett Martel of the Associated Press.

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No piffy intro, just amazing commentary. Enjoy.

 

 Standard Podcast: Play Now | Play in Popup

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Photograph by Jonathan Bachman

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So the Hornets had a pretty dismal Game 1 of their playoff series against the Denver Nuggets, losing 113–84. Much of New Orleans’ woes were thanks to the man pictured above, Chauncy “Mr. Big Shot” Billups, who sank a Nuggets’ franchise-record eight three-point attempts and led all scorers with 36 points. The Hornets helped their own misery by shooting just 37.2% from the floor but, as the saying goes, it’s just one game.

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Today, Bradley Handwerger from WWLTV.com and Jeremy from the Roundball Mining Company join me on the Scuttlecast today and we discuss everything from Billups’ big night to what the Hornets can possibly look forward to the rest of this series.

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It’s incredibly compelling stuff and you should listen to it all. Multiple times.

 

 Standard Podcast: Play Now | Play in Popup

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Photograph by Jonathan Bachman

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Today on the Scuttlecast we discuss the Denver Nuggets and how they match up against the New Orleans Hornets coming into this best-of-seven first-round series. Joining us today is Niall Doherty of Hornets247.com and Jeremy from the Roundball Mining Company, a Nuggets fan blog.

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We break down the positional matchups in this series from the coaches to the ballboys (OK, not the ball boys) and try and predict how it will all end. It was a completely civil discourse between to rival team fans. Seriously. Enjoy.

 

 Standard Podcast: Play Now | Play in Popup

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Photograph by Jonathan Bachman

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The Hornets playoff matchup is set and they’ll begin their series against the Denver Nuggets on Sunday at 7:30 p.m. in the Mile High City. Joining me today to discuss the Hornets’ playoff chances are Bradley Handwerger of WWLTV.com and the Gambit intern Clay Smith.

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Today we discuss the Hornets final game of the season, an overtime loss to the Southwest Division Champion San Antonio Spurs, the return of center Tyson Chandler and how we think the Hornets will do in the playoffs. Clay gave us a run down of the top five stories to be reading about the Hornets today, here are the links:

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1. New Orleans Hornets will be at full strength for the first time vs. Denver Nuggets in Playoffs
2. The Spurs beat the Hornets; Hornets-Nuggets set of Round 1
3. Hornets lose in OT, will meet Nuggets in Round 1
4. The NBA playoffs are here: Our experts pick the first-round winners
5. Los Angeles Lakers did the Hornets a big favor for NBA playoffs

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 Standard Podcast: Play Now | Play in Popup

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Photograph by Jonathan Bachman

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With the Hornets wrapping up their regular season tonight at San Antonio and the playoffs just a couple of days away, we’d like to introduce a new feature on the blog: daily playoff podcasts. From now until the Hornets are eliminated, we will be giving you daily podcasts with all kinds of guests from the Hornetsphere. Today’s guests are Bradley Handwerger of WWLTV.com and the intern, Clay A. Smith.

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Today, we recapped the Hornets season as well as previewed their chances against the Spurs tonight and tried to guess who New Orleans’ first-round match-up will be. Clay did a rundown of the top five stories to be reading online about the Hornets right now. Here’s the list for you to read while you listen to us talking about the stories (Where’s Xzibit when you need him?).

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1. Inexplicably, New Orleans Hornets Still Capable of Not Showing Up
2. Consistency, Bench Will End Hornets Season Earlier Than Expected
3. The Rockets Beat the Hornets
4. Just In Case You Didn’t Feel Like Puking Right now
5. Chris Paul Mavericks Rumor

 

 Playoff Scuttlecast 1: Play Now | Play in Popup

by Clay A. Smith

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Photograph by Johnathan Bachman

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Their mantra is “Passion, Purpose, Pride.” But where was the passion when the Dallas Mavericks out rebounded them 54 to 38? Where was the purpose as they watched their two All-Stars, Chris Paul and David West leave it all on the floor - alone?  And where was the pride when Jason Terry, Brandon Bass, and Josh Howard skipped and flexed around American Airlines Center like their substitute teacher left the classroom?

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