Huge media showing in New Orleans
New Orleans notebook
For a typical Hornets regular season home game, the team’s basketball communications department generally accommodates approximately 50 to 60 media members. With the Hornets playing the first professional sporting event in New Orleans on Wednesday, that number ballooned to over 200.“We’ve fielded more media requests overall and from national media for this game than many Hornets playoff games in past seasons,” said Hornets communications manager Dennis Rogers.
About 50 national media personnel were credentialed for the Los Angeles Lakers-Hornets game, including three well-known ESPN faces, Marc Stein, Ric Bucher and Rachel Nichols, as well as TNT’s David Aldridge. NBA TV recently picked up the game and is broadcasting it live. NBA TV will also have pregame and postgame coverage.
While the number fluctuates depending on the opponent and importance of the game, most Hornets home games draw less than a handful of national media writers or broadcasters.
Hornets.com caught up with Marc Stein after Hornets shootaround Wednesday to get the well-respected NBA writer’s thoughts on the Hornets. Stein was attending his second Hornets game of the season, after being on hand for the club’s regular season opener in Oklahoma City:
Q: What has been the biggest surprise to you about the Hornets this season?
Marc Stein: That they might be a playoff team. I don’t think anybody saw that. I know Byron Scott says he expected that, but he must have known a secret that no one else knew. I don’t think anyone was looking at these guys as a playoff team. And in terms of Chris Paul, everyone said he was the most NBA-ready rookie, but obviously he was more ready than anyone thought. With the way the NBA’s changed now, guard play is so huge. You put Paul and Speedy Claxton together, and you can see the impact.
Q: What is your opinion on the chances of the four Hornets who are in contention for NBA awards (Chris Paul, David West, Byron Scott and Speedy Claxton)?
MS: Chris Paul is a lock, obviously. I’m not going on a huge limb there.
On Byron Scott for Coach of the Year:
Byron has got to be one of the four or five (candidates) for Coach of the Year. Every year I always say that I hate (voting for) the Coach of the Year, because it’s the hardest one to pick. I think he has a shot at it, but Mike D’Antoni, Avery Johnson, Flip Saunders and Byron are the main four. That’s a pretty tough crew to beat out. Then they are guys like Gregg Popovich and Rick Carlisle that no one’s even really talking about. I don’t just try to look at the (win-loss) record; I look at the role of the coach too. There’s no question that with this being such a young team, Byron sets the leadership pace for the group. He obviously has a huge role as a coach here. He didn’t get enough credit for what happened in New Jersey, so I hope now he’s going to get some credit for the job he’s done. He was not treated right in New Jersey, by the public perception of his role.
On David West for Most Improved Player:
It just depends on what the voters are looking for. Do you like a guy like West, who makes a big numbers jump? Or a guy like Tony Parker, who goes from good to great? At this point, I’m leaning toward Boris Diaw, because this guy was a backup in Atlanta and now he’s a starting center and triple-double threat every night for Phoenix. But West is in my top three right now.
On Speedy Claxton for Sixth Man of the Year:
That one comes down to Speedy and Jerry Stackhouse. I give Speedy a pretty good chance there, because Stackhouse missed the first 26 games of the year. I would probably say Speedy has the second-best chance out of the four Hornets (NBA awards contenders) to win something. Chris Paul is money in the bank, obviously.
Q: In terms of noteworthy stories around the league, where do the Hornets rank in your opinion?
MS: The whole story of going from New Orleans to Oklahoma City and what this team’s been through is one of the main five stories in the NBA. No question about it. It’s never happened before, so there is nothing to compare it to.
For a typical Hornets regular season home game, the team’s basketball communications department generally accommodates approximately 50 to 60 media members. With the Hornets playing the first professional sporting event in New Orleans on Wednesday, that number ballooned to over 200.“We’ve fielded more media requests overall and from national media for this game than many Hornets playoff games in past seasons,” said Hornets communications manager Dennis Rogers.
About 50 national media personnel were credentialed for the Los Angeles Lakers-Hornets game, including three well-known ESPN faces, Marc Stein, Ric Bucher and Rachel Nichols, as well as TNT’s David Aldridge. NBA TV recently picked up the game and is broadcasting it live. NBA TV will also have pregame and postgame coverage.
While the number fluctuates depending on the opponent and importance of the game, most Hornets home games draw less than a handful of national media writers or broadcasters.
Hornets.com caught up with Marc Stein after Hornets shootaround Wednesday to get the well-respected NBA writer’s thoughts on the Hornets. Stein was attending his second Hornets game of the season, after being on hand for the club’s regular season opener in Oklahoma City:
Q: What has been the biggest surprise to you about the Hornets this season?
Marc Stein: That they might be a playoff team. I don’t think anybody saw that. I know Byron Scott says he expected that, but he must have known a secret that no one else knew. I don’t think anyone was looking at these guys as a playoff team. And in terms of Chris Paul, everyone said he was the most NBA-ready rookie, but obviously he was more ready than anyone thought. With the way the NBA’s changed now, guard play is so huge. You put Paul and Speedy Claxton together, and you can see the impact.
Q: What is your opinion on the chances of the four Hornets who are in contention for NBA awards (Chris Paul, David West, Byron Scott and Speedy Claxton)?
MS: Chris Paul is a lock, obviously. I’m not going on a huge limb there.
On Byron Scott for Coach of the Year:
Byron has got to be one of the four or five (candidates) for Coach of the Year. Every year I always say that I hate (voting for) the Coach of the Year, because it’s the hardest one to pick. I think he has a shot at it, but Mike D’Antoni, Avery Johnson, Flip Saunders and Byron are the main four. That’s a pretty tough crew to beat out. Then they are guys like Gregg Popovich and Rick Carlisle that no one’s even really talking about. I don’t just try to look at the (win-loss) record; I look at the role of the coach too. There’s no question that with this being such a young team, Byron sets the leadership pace for the group. He obviously has a huge role as a coach here. He didn’t get enough credit for what happened in New Jersey, so I hope now he’s going to get some credit for the job he’s done. He was not treated right in New Jersey, by the public perception of his role.
On David West for Most Improved Player:
It just depends on what the voters are looking for. Do you like a guy like West, who makes a big numbers jump? Or a guy like Tony Parker, who goes from good to great? At this point, I’m leaning toward Boris Diaw, because this guy was a backup in Atlanta and now he’s a starting center and triple-double threat every night for Phoenix. But West is in my top three right now.
On Speedy Claxton for Sixth Man of the Year:
That one comes down to Speedy and Jerry Stackhouse. I give Speedy a pretty good chance there, because Stackhouse missed the first 26 games of the year. I would probably say Speedy has the second-best chance out of the four Hornets (NBA awards contenders) to win something. Chris Paul is money in the bank, obviously.
Q: In terms of noteworthy stories around the league, where do the Hornets rank in your opinion?
MS: The whole story of going from New Orleans to Oklahoma City and what this team’s been through is one of the main five stories in the NBA. No question about it. It’s never happened before, so there is nothing to compare it to.
