The New Buzz: Hornets are going to the 2011 Playoffs
Chris Paul (photo. Zach Wolfe)
After being brutally beat down by the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the 2009 NBA playoffs — during which they tied for the worst single-game loss in postseason history in a 121–63 drubbing in Game Four while shooting 31.5% from the field and 13.3% from the three-point line — the New Orleans Hornets went about a rebuilding process.
In the aftermath of a highly unsuccessful end to disastrous ’08-09 season that included a mid-season attempt to trade starting center Tyson Chandler for expiring contracts, the Hornets were widely perceived to be looking to trim the payroll. After acquiring center Emeka Okafor from the Bobcats in exchange for Chandler that offseason — while trading Rasual Butler, Antonio Daniels, Hilton Armstrong and Devin Brown for draft picks and hopes to clear cap space — the plan ending up backfiring on the Hornets. The financially-motivated trades diminished the Hornets’ roster depth in ’09-10, which in turn became a significant problem late in the season, as both Chris Paul and Peja Stojakovic were lost to injuries for significant stretches of time.
Indeed, the Hornets overcame the bad start to the season and advanced as high as sixth place in the Western Conference, but in late-January Chris Paul hurt himself again trying to save an errant pass going out of bounds. Despite returning for a stretch late in the season, the injury effectively ended Paul’s season. The lone highlights of the remainder of the season were the stellar performance of rookie guards Darren Collison and Marcus Thornton. Collison achieved the longest stretch of games with at least 18 points and 9 assists (seven in a row in February) for a rookie since Oscar Robertson. As for Thornton, he dropped 37 points (including a franchise-record quarter of 23 points) on Cleveland back in February. Both made the NBA’s All-Rookie Teams, a first in franchise history.
With rumors flying around that Chris Paul wanted to be traded this offseason — which new head coach Monty Williams later denied — the Hornets sent James Posey and Collison to the Indiana Pacers in a four-team deal that brought Trevor Ariza to New Orleans in hopes of keeping Paul content. Ariza’s acquisition is quite an endorsement of him by the Hornets, who are trying to prove to Paul that they are serious about building a contending team sooner rather than later. With Ariza, the Hornets get a player who can stretch defenses (136 three-pointers last season), defend both guard and forward positions (6-foot-8, 210 pounds), and display his athleticism running the floor.
Hornets forward David West has played a vital role for this team since 2003, yet continues to receive minimal love from fans and pundits alike. With career averages of 15.7 points and 7.2 rebounds per game, West’s numbers are solid, but his style is unspectacular. His name, like his game, isn’t sexy but it’s effective. He’s nearly automatic from mid-range, and works a deadly pick-and-roll with Paul to free himself up for open jumpers.
The city of New Orleans belongs to the Saints — who cast a pretty big shadow with their Super Bowl trophy — but with a healthy Paul, Ariza to run alongside him, West’s silky smooth jumper and Okafors defense, look for the Hornets to get back into playoff contention.
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September 2nd, 2010 at 12:18 pm
George W Kush Sr says:
While I do believe that Ariza makes them better, I fail to see how this certifies them being in the playoffs within a still very stacked West.
September 2nd, 2010 at 12:22 pm
dagwaller says:
Eh. I don’t see much of an endorsement as to why the Hornets are going to the playoffs? Maybe a quick write-up on who the Hornets will be replacing in the West?
September 2nd, 2010 at 12:25 pm
Blaze says:
you see ariza in LA before he signed with houston? with kobe and pau getting all the attention the man was just raining down wide open threes at a crazy rate in the 09 playoffs…
mans goin to a team where cp3 and d west and even thornton will be gettin all the attention,,, cp3 will give the man open looks and he will cush them
hornets back in those playoffs this year
prolly to lose to the lakers or the thunder…
September 2nd, 2010 at 12:33 pm
Andrew Macaluso says:
The Hornets are going to the playoffs because of Ariza, that’s the endorsement. A lot of people don’t like Ariza’s game, but he’s going to shine in NOLA.
September 2nd, 2010 at 12:52 pm
cameronismyname says:
agree. ariza as the 3rd or so scoring option is where he shines.
September 2nd, 2010 at 1:02 pm
MP3 says:
I agree, the past few seasons they could beat anyone on any given night & i don’t expect that to change this season. Bringing in Ariza, Bellinelli, & Pondexter were MAJOR upgrades to their wing spots. Okafor should get back to his usual numbers & Peja has to still healthy. This team can definitely push for a playoff spots. My only 2 ?s are can Craig Brackins contribute immediately & is Mustafa Shakur a legit backup PG. Collison was brought in to replace what they lost when Pargo left & now DC is gone. I hope Mu makes the best of this chance.
September 2nd, 2010 at 1:14 pm
cameronismyname says:
@ Mp3
Shakur was signed to a non-guaranteed contract. He’s looking more like he’s going to be the 3rd string PG with the 2nd string yet to be signed. Of course, that could change.
Also – getting rid of a Mo Pete, Posey, and Julian Wright over the offseason is addition by subtraction in my opinion. Those three were soaking up salary and not producing at all.
September 2nd, 2010 at 1:24 pm
JA says:
They have a solid starting 5, with nice defensive/offensive balance – which not a lot of teams have. Their bench however is very thin/unproven/Peja, which will more than likely hold them back.
September 2nd, 2010 at 1:28 pm
Crew Dizzy says:
I’m a fan of Ariza and like the fit in NO, but they’re not going to the playoffs. Yes, the West, Paul, Ariza trio is nice and Thornton is a good 6th man ,however, they lack depth on the front line which is crucial in the Western Conference. Besides Thorton. ,if he’s 6th man, they don’t have a bench. I think the Suns, Grizzles,Rockets, and pontentially the Clippers could all be better than the Hornets.
September 2nd, 2010 at 1:48 pm
Toot says:
Is this a joke?
The Hornets are going to be one of the 5 worst teams in the league and fighting for one the #1 pick come next summer.
September 2nd, 2010 at 2:34 pm
Ross says:
Ha Ha Ha. How about no. No shooting guard. Ariza is an ok player who fits in with their ok line up. West is not the same west and Okufor hasn’t been good since UCONN. Paul will play well as he auditions for teams, but this team will not make the playoffs.
September 2nd, 2010 at 2:58 pm
Andrew Macaluso says:
@ Ross
How has Okakor never been good? He’s averaged a double double for his career (13.3 PPG, 10.3 rebounds). As for David West, I don’t really see how he isn’t the same West when his game has been the same since 2003.
September 2nd, 2010 at 3:04 pm
youwrong says:
@Ross
no shooting guard?! marcus thornton is was a complete steal from last year’s draft. picked 43rd and averaging over 20ppg the last couple of months of the season. belinelli, ariza, and pondexter can all play the two as well. sure, the depth isn’t proven to be amazing yet, but you should read articles before you post.
September 2nd, 2010 at 3:06 pm
AllThatJazz / Amar says:
Last year’s West playoff teams:
LAL — better than Hornets
PHX — ditto
DAL — ditto
DEN — ditto
UTH — ditto
SAS — ditto
POR — ditto
OKC — ditto
Some of those teams got better, some got worse. Houston features in the mix this year as well (health an issue, of course).
So that’s 9 teams that could be better than New Orleans. Unless they change the format of the playoffs, I would request some more information on how they are making the playoffs, please.
I’m not hating, so don’t Melo out and run away from constructive dialog.
Which two of these 9 teams will the hornets beat out?
September 2nd, 2010 at 3:08 pm
AllThatJazz / Amar says:
I see last statement of article and title of article are different. I give you that they should be in contention. That we can agree upon.
September 2nd, 2010 at 3:17 pm
Bizz says:
@ Ross
Marcus Thornton JUST MADE ALL NBA ROOKIE TEAM ALONG WITH DARREN COLLISON…. that’s their 2 guard you goof.
September 2nd, 2010 at 3:21 pm
Andrew Macaluso says:
@ AllThatJazz
Portland is one of most talented teams in the NBA, but they can’t seem to shake injury issues which is why I’m not so high strung on them just yet.
The Mavericks are another team to consider due to the fact that they have the habit of choking as a whole.
I do agree that the Hornets will need to strengthen their bench a little bit, possibly with another veteran or two. There are still players available who can help their team.
September 2nd, 2010 at 5:08 pm
AllThatJazz / Amar says:
@Andrew M
I think the hornets have a good shot at the playoffs, Ariza will be a really good fit (better than in H-town). Injuries seem to mess up a number of teams every season (portland, utah, houston and new orleans – just at different parts of the season for each squad), that’s really the ultimate factor in deciding the West (where last year you needed 50 wins to make it into the playoffs). Thanks for replying!
September 2nd, 2010 at 6:33 pm
Andrew Macaluso says:
@ AllThatJazz
Houston is another example as well. I wouldn’t say the Hornets are injury prone since last season was the first time that Chris Paul has had a serious injury and missed a significant amount of time.
September 2nd, 2010 at 6:45 pm
j says:
Phoenix and Denver, especially with the Melo trade stuff. Phoenix just lost arguably their best player. People dont realize how efficient amare was on o, just a beast. I like Warrick, but hes not nearly as good. For Denver, a healthy Kenyon was much more important than people realize as was shown in the playoffs. I know it sounds hypocritical, but the drama around denver will be difficult to deal with.
I actually dont believe that OKC wil lbe a top 4 team in the West. They had no injuries last year and that wont be replicated.
Then throw in all of the random injury issues, and our big exprings and we could be as high as a 2 seed or as low a where we were las year.
Kidd’s play in Dallas is a ticking time bomb, as is Yao’s foot. Also Aaron Brooks is a great scoring pg but a terrible distributor.
September 2nd, 2010 at 8:25 pm
K Dizzle says:
Some of these posts are straight hot garbage.
Hornets will get in cuz Random Team A “might” have injury issues?!? WTF?
Let’s be real for a sec.
Compare these startin 5s:
Baron CP3
E Gordon Thornton
Gomes/Aminu Ariza
Griffin West
Kaman Okafor
and that’s just the Clippers…
How the hell the gonna just leapfrog LAL, San An, Pho, Por, OKC, Den, Uta, Dal, Hou…
The east may be top heavy, but anybody in the west can get you on any given night. The Warriors roll out Curry, Monta, D Lee. Even the young Kings got Reke, Landry, Cousins. There are no more soft teams in the west.
If the only reason the Hornets are gonna make the playoffs are if Portland or Houston “has injuries”, then that’s a jacked up reason. Everybody improved out west so how is Ariza gonna put New Orleans over the 9th seed?
Like we know how CP3′s legs gonna be and what about West’s back that always acts up.
Injuries ain’t a good enough reason.
September 3rd, 2010 at 10:48 am
Saints Fan says:
@ AllThatJazz / Amar says (AND ALL y’ALL)
LAL — better than Hornets
PHX — ditto
DAL — ditto
DEN — ditto
UTH — ditto
SAS — ditto
POR — ditto
OKC — ditto
Hornets weren’t as bad as you all are giving them credit for. Finished 8 below .500 “WITH” – (1) NO head coach! enough said on that (2) CP missed games 35 last season, give them 15 of those games as wins and the Hornets are looking at 50+ wins.
Let’s say our Super Bowl champion saint loose Drew Brees and Sean Peyton…if they had a 8-8 season that would be a great year. I know apples and oranges, but you get my point.
Next year I think the Hornets have a year very similar to the 2007 season where they flew under the radar for a long time until other teams REALLY began to take them seriously. Playoffs yes, maybe a round 2 exit.
September 6th, 2010 at 6:17 am
James Grayson says:
@KDizzle: Looking at that comparison…
CP3>Baron Davis
Marcus Thornton=Eric Gordon
Trevor Ariza>Gomes
David West (This season)=Blake Griffin
Emeka Okafor<Kaman
But I think that CP3 is so much better than Baron Davis that Chris' leadership and overall ability makes the Hornets that much a better team.
I understand you're trying to poke holes in the Hornets lineup but the Clips aint one of them.
For the Hornets to make the playoffs teams like San Antonio, Dallas, Phoneix and Denver are going to have to crumble, and each and every year teams do. You can't expect last year to be an exact replica of this upcoming one, that just isn't how sports work.
Every year teams crumble after high expectations and others rise up from low ones. I don't think it's unreasonable to think that a team like the Hornets can't get right back into the thick of the action with a healthy team.