What do you get when you cross the league's best point guard with an All-Star power forward and a Top-10 center?
It's hard to say. After 25 games, the Hornets are as much of a mystery as they were entering the season. Picked to finish anywhere from third to 10th in the west by experts, the team has lived up to nearly every expectation.
After starting the season by losing eight of their first 11 games, the Bees have rebounded rather well, winning nine of 14, despite missing Paul for a stretch of games.
It's reasonable to throw the first 18 games or so out the window for a number of reasons:
—Byron Scott coached the first nine games.
—Chris Paul was hurt for the initial stretch under Jeff Bower. He came back for game 19
—Emeka Okafor missed the entire preseason and was notably out of rhythm with the team early on.
Game 19 was the first time all season that the Hornets had their coach, center, and best player all together on the court and familiar with each other.
Since then, the Hornets are 5-2. Their notable home wins came against the Pistons and Nuggets, with losses to the ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NBA
Article written by Joe Gerrity
New Orleans Hornets Buzz: Contenders or Pretenders?
December 19th, 2009 by Joe Gerrity Leave a reply »
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