New Orleans
Hornets
Southwest
| Team Rating | |
| Offense | Defense |
| 111.9 | 108.3 |
| 5th Overall | 13th Overall |
Statistics through 1/25/09
W
26
L
14
PCT
.650
GB
7.5
CONF
17-8
DIV
5-1
HOME
14-5
ROAD
12-9
LinksStatistics | Tickets
|
Category | Grade | ||
 PF David West (20 ppg, 7.1 rpg), SF Peja Stojakovic (13.3 ppg) and C Tyson Chandler (8.8 ppg, 8.3 rpg) have all seen their output drop since last year's breakout campaign.
|
b |
||
 PG Chris Paul (21.2 ppg, 11 apg, 5.4 rpg) is the league's best floor general and continues to amaze nightly. SG Rasual Butler (9.7 ppg) has a solid 3-point range.
|
b+ |
||
 Made a point of improving in the offseason and the work has paid off. Hornets rank third in points allowed (93.0), but FG% against and rebounding have been shaky at best.
|
b+ |
||
 F James Posey (10 ppg, 4.8 rpg) has been as stable and versatile as advertised. G Antonio Daniels hasn't quite filled the Jannero Pargo role. Other reserves have been spotty.
|
c+ |
||
 Inconsistency, especially at the offensive end, has been a concern for Byron Scott. Hasn't been able to find a consistent scoring complement for CP3.
|
b |
||
b
Summary
Somewhat inconsistent play from Stojakovic and Chandler has been overcome by Paul's brilliance and West. Posey has been the lone bright outside of the starting lineup, which helps explain the team's second-quarter struggles. New Orleans often finds itself down at the half because of an underperforming bench.
A big plus has been the team's performance away from home. Not only do the Hornets have a winning record outside of the Big Easy, they own road wins over the Lakers, Mavericks, Blazers and Pistons in January alone.
The Hornets still own one of the best starts in franchise history and remain near the top of the West, even if they hit midseason slightly off last year's 56-win pace. The reason why New Orleans has its sights on another Southwest title and a trip to the NBA Finals, more so than last season, is CP3. -- Art Garcia
Explanation of Marking System
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