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Hornet Henry’s Mailbag, Part 3
September 8, 2006
OK, Hornets fans, let’s make some (offseason) noooo-ooooise! The Hornets’ preseason opener is roughly a month away and the boys will lace ’em up for keeps starting the first of November in Beantown. Even though we are in the midst of a dormant portion of the Hornets calendar right now, to judge by Hornet Henry’s inbox, you guys are already in midseason form. Per Hornet Henry’s friendly request in my previous column (Aug. 23), several of you came through with a Hornets haiku – even staying true to the conventional five-seven-five syllable haiku format. The following are my favorite haikus written by Hornets fans. The first one alludes to what is expected to be a high-octane, Hornets fast-break attack this season. The second discusses a certain power forward’s knack for delivering in a big way when the game is on the line. The third haiku was penned by yours truly and touches on a subject near and dear to my heart: a certain legendary former Hornets sharpshooter. “Run Hornets Run” by Jen Chandler rejection Another Hornets fast break Paul to Mase, slam dunk CP grabs rebound First one to hoop gets two points So many options “Mr. Clutch” by Jarius Time is running out Get the ball to David West Only needs five-tenths Rockets, Wizards, Bucks All beaten by Dave’s jumper Don’t leave him open “Ode to Dell Curry” by Hornet Henry The man, Dell Curry Quickest release in the league Did he ever miss? Give him some daylight Mark it in the book, three points No one could stop him Mailbag Here are some of the most interesting e-mails – along with my responses – sent over the past few weeks. You can tell me your thoughts on the Hornets by sending an e-mail to hornethenry@hornets.com. D WEST IS HORNETS’ BEST Hornet Henry, Let me start off by saying I am a huge Hornets fan, and really love what they did during the offseason. All summer, I have seen, and heard about everything that has to do with the Hornets. The one person I have heard very little about is David West. The Hornets’ best player. Yes, best player. I know, what about Chris Paul? Don’t get me wrong, Chris is a great player. He is not the best player. West averaged 17.1 points a game. Over seven rebounds a game. A 51-plus field-goal percentage. This, in an average of 34 minutes. Let’s not forget his three game-winners. And remember, when West missed those games because of his child’s birth, the Hornets lost. When Chris missed games because of the ribs and shoulder, the Hornets won. David West should be the Hornets go-to guy, period! But the minute he starts to heat up, Byron (Scott) takes him out of the game. He is very capable of averaging 22 to 24 points a game, if given the minutes. Maybe more. He is rarely double-teamed. He has gotten in foul trouble early, because no one else would fight under the boards. Thank goodness for Tyson and Hilton. Look, every team has their go-to guy, with a very good guard. The Hornets could too, if Byron will just let it happen. Let’s not forget, David West was the NCAA college player of the year. So, let’s all start showing him the respect that he deserves. I think players, coaches and fans would be pleasantly surprised, if he was allowed to do what he is capable of. Please Henry, tell Byron, to make him the go-to guy. Just my opinion, but I feel, had the Hornets made the playoffs last year, David West would have been first in voting for Most Improved Player, instead of Boris Diaw. Hornet Henry, please tell me your thoughts on this. – John Wow, that was a pretty interesting argument. Well played, John. I agree with your contention that David West has been somewhat overlooked during this offseason by the media and possibly some fans. While everyone has been focused on big-name Hornets pickups such as the Serbian Sensation, Ty Lob and Bulldog Bobby, as well as the Teal Towers™ – rookies Big Ced and The Hilt – it’s easy to forget that we already had one of the emerging power forwards on our team. At least Hornets.com hasn’t forgotten about him. I don’t know if you saw this, but they did this “NBA’s Most Underrated Players” article recently and a couple of them mentioned West on their lists. (Incidentally, here’s my list of Most Underrated Hornets of all time: Dell Curry, Kenny Gattison, Vlade Divac, Johnny Newman and David Wesley). David West was the Hornets’ best and most consistent scorer last season, the team’s most clutch offensive player and their best rebounder (by a slim statistical margin over PJ Brown). I would hesitate to call him the club’s best player, though. Chris Paul galvanized the entire franchise with his all-around contributions and unselfishness, a trait that permeated through the team and something I Bee-lieve you must have from your point guard to excel in today’s NBA. I think you will see that type of team-first approach become even more prominent now that we’ve added quality fellas such as Peja Stojakovic and Bobby Jackson – both of whom were integral pieces of the old Sacramento teams that loved to pass the ball and play together. I think Chris Paul made the entire Hornets roster better last season; his ability to see the floor and distribute the ball enabled many Hornets to get better looks at the basket than they would have otherwise. The combination of CP3 and West was lethal, especially with Big Dave’s ability to step out and drain 18- to 20-foot shots all night. Likewise, D West made things easier for ROY 2006 by giving him a reliable scoring option, the best one the Hornets had. They developed a pretty good point guard-power forward combination. Regarding your argument about games the Hornets won without Paul and games the Hornets lost without West, I think you’re comparing apples and oranges a little bit there. For one, the Hornets had an outstanding backup point guard in Speedy Claxton who made sure there was not a huge drop-off when CP3 was injured; Speedy played extremely well when he was asked to put in big minutes. Conversely, the Hornets’ depth in the frontcourt was not nearly as strong for most of the season. I wish I could give Lord Byron my opinion on who he should play and who should get more shot attempts, but as I’ve written previously, Hornet Henry is not a candidate for an assistant coaching position with the team. Considering that West was second on the team in minutes per game (34.1), I don’t think we can complain too much about him not getting enough PT. Plus, you also have to factor in that some of the times he was taken off the floor last season, it was due to early foul trouble. He seemed to have a propensity to pick up two personal fouls in the first quarter last season, an area that I’m sure he will improve upon as his career progresses. My theory is that the addition of Tyson Chandler and the other new faces in the frontcourt will help D West curtail his foul trouble, because the Hornets are now a much better interior defensive team with more shot-blocking ability. – HH WHY GO BACK TO THE BIG EASY? Hornet Henry, It may not be a politically correct question to ask in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, but from the franchise’s perspective, what would be the advantage of moving the Hornets back to New Orleans following the 2006-2007 season? Since the team has been moved to the Big Easy, they have found it anything but easy to fill their arena’s seats with fans. In 2002, the year the Hornets came to Louisiana, the team ranked in the lower half of the league in home-game attendance at No. 19 of 29. The following two seasons in New Orleans, the team made up the bottom (second-to-last in 2003-2004 and last in 2004-2005). With this drop in attendance, the Hornets saw their winning percentage cut by over half. However, after coming to Oklahoma City last year, the Hornets were in the top 10 in the NBA in total attendance at home. Furthermore, they saw their winning percentage back on the rise and nearly made the playoffs. Moreover, throughout last season, Coach Scott credited many of the close wins to the fans at the Ford Center for keeping the team in the game. Additionally, as shown in an article on Hornets.com, the Hornets sold over 10,000 season tickets in OKC in just 10 days. The team only averaged 14,221 in attendance the year preceding the move to Oklahoma, and this year there will be nearly that many season-ticket holders. I am baffled when I look at these stats – they are nearly as impressive as Chris Paul’s rookie campaign last season. Which brings me to my next point: With all of the player movement the Hornets have been involved in over the past year, there is only one player left on the team from the Hornets’ days when they were strictly called the “New Orleans Hornets.” Do you know who that is? David West, the player who nearly won Most Improved Player in the NBA in the year the team came to Oklahoma City. The only other player that may have ties to New Orleans is Brandon Bass, who is from Louisiana. The remaining members of the team have the majority of their experience as Hornets in the Ford Center. I don’t mean to step on any toes by bringing up these points or asking these questions, but from an outsider’s perspective, I can’t see the advantage of returning the team to New Orleans. Can you give me the scoop from a man on the inside? – Terry A great e-mail Terry, and you make some interesting points. I think there are a few misconceptions out there that many people have on this subject, including some members of the national media who comment on it frequently. Here’s what I know about the situation and my opinion on the Hornets and the return to New Orleans: 1) In terms of whether or not there is an “advantage” for the Hornets to return to New Orleans, I think that is actually a non-issue. It’s not a matter of advantage. The Hornets and the NBA have said repeatedly since last September that the goal for the franchise is to return to New Orleans. I believe them. The team and the league are both doing everything in their power to make sure that the Hornets enjoy a smooth transition back to the Big Easy. 2) Sure, relative to the rest of the NBA, attendance was low in New Orleans, especially in the second and third years that the Hornets were there. However, after there was huge roster turnover midway through the third year in New Orleans, attendance began to increase as the club brought in more players that New Orleans fans identified with – including some underdog-type guys such as Dan Dickau. In the summer of 2005, the Hornets were starting to turn the corner in terms of season tickets and overall tickets sold. Then Hurricane Katrina happened. 3) Your facts about Oklahoma City are all accurate. I think fans there bought tickets partly to prove that OKC is a legitimate major-league market. They certainly proved their point, buying ducats at a rate of 1,000 season tickets per day for the first 10 days they were on sale. Incredible. I think a lot of Oklahoma City ticket buyers eventually became big fans of the Hornets because of how well the Hornets played last season. The better the Hornets played – particularly over the first 60 or so games of the season – the louder and more supportive the fans became. The fans of Oklahoma deserve a standing ovation for the type of support they provided to the Hornets last season, there’s no doubt about it. However, in my opinion, the primary reason for the Hornets’ increased win total was the play of NBA Rookie of the Year Chris Paul, Most Improved Player runner-up David West and Sixth Man of the Year runner-up Speedy Claxton, the savvy coaching moves of Lord Byron, along with notable contributions from several others. Keep in mind that the Hornets also doubled their road-win total from the previous season, improving their away record from 7-34 in 2004-05 to 14-27. 4) Your issue about Hornets players having no ties to NOLA has been brought up by some fans, but I don’t know if that’s much of a factor, in reality. Of the 14 players on the current roster, only seven are returning members of the Hornets. For the vast majority of the squad, they’ve spent all or most of their basketball careers in other uniforms. For them, New Orleans and Oklahoma City are BOTH new locations. The bottom line on this whole deal is that as a longtime Hornets fan, I like to focus more on the fact that this is one of the best Hornets rosters ever assembled. I can’t wait to see them play together for the first time. Can we please tip off the season already? – HH YOU CALL THAT A SHOOTING GUARD? WE WANT A REAL SHOOTING GUARD Hornet Henry, Love the roster. It would be even better if they had a real shooting guard. – Gwendolyn Gwendolyn, in Hornet Henry’s humble opinion, I Bee-lieve people are getting a little too hung up on positions when they talk about the Hornets’ lack of a “true” shooting guard. Peja Stojakovic has never been a shooting guard in name during his NBA career, but he possesses many shooting-guard traits, particularly his ability to consistently drain shots from the perimeter. I think the Hornets will be fine playing the 6-foot-10 Peja at shooting guard and 6-5 Desmond Mason at small forward on the offensive end; Mase is more of a slasher who scores closer to the basket, while Peja is comfortable firing from long distance. Conversely, on the defensive end, Mase is more athletic and a better defender than Peja, so those two guys will often have to flip-flop their positions at that end. Many times Mason will end up being assigned to two-guards when the opponent’s shooting guard is a more dangerous scorer, allowing Peja to slide over and guard the opposing small forward. – HH That should do it for this edition of Hornet Henry’s world famous column. Once again, I had a great time fielding and responding to some of your e-mails. Until next time, Hornets fans, whose ball is it? HORNETS BALL!
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