March 31, 2006

Bob Licht

College basketball fans wish they could have portended a certain mid-major’s stunning run through the NCAA tournament. Just as NBA fans in Louisiana and Oklahoma are rubbing their eyes in disbelief over the hard-to-be cold hard fact that their hometown team is thinking about the postseason, not the lottery.

Yes, March was maddening for the Hornets. Once in the sixth playoff spot in the Western Conference, the team lost 11 of 12 in the month and 12 of 13 overall. Still, Byron Scott’s underdogs remain in the playoff race. Thanks in part to the nice start in the New Year (19-9 in January and February), and in part to the inconsistent play of Sacramento and Utah, the Hornets were still in the pennant race with less than 20 days remaining in the regular season.

And this is amazing because the Men in Teal were not on anybody’s radar at any time heading into the 2005-2006 season.

Back in October, nobody predicted the Hornets would be in the Western Conference playoff race as the season entered its final month. Be honest, you can’t name one person who thought the team would stay in the race past Christmas.

This was not pessimism, it was realism. Most of the signs pointed to a long, long season.

The Hornets were coming off of an 18-win season. In 2004-2005 they won once in November and once in December.

Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans and the team was forced to temporarily relocate to Oklahoma City starting in late September.

General manager Allan Bristow resigned for health reasons prior to the start of the regular season.

Top big man reserve Chris “Birdman” Andersen was dismissed from the NBA for violating the league’s anti-drug policy. But those of us following the entire Hornets story began to sense that some change was ultimately going to serve the organization well.

For instance, three teams passed on the best player in the NBA Draft last June, leaving Chris Paul there for the taking with the number four pick. The Hornets could hardly contain their joy when their turn came. They needed a point guard after unloading injury-prone and attitude-challenged Baron Davis and his maximum-salary contract to Golden State last season.

Then, in part because they were under the salary cap, the Hornets got involved in the largest deal in league history. They acquired forward Rasual Butler and guard Kirk Snyder without giving up any draft picks or anyone on their roster.

They also acquired athletic forward Desmond Mason from the Milwaukee Bucks for center Jamaal Magliore. In that trade they also secured the Bucks’ upcoming first-round draft pick.

Thanks to Milwaukee (first pick), Atlanta (second pick), and Utah (traded with Portland for the third pick), the Hornets now have the best young point guard in the game. Thanks to cap space the Hornets added talent to a team that lacked it just a few months earlier. Thanks to Milwaukee (again) the Hornets not only increased their athleticism, but gave themselves more chances to improve in the June draft with another first-round pick.

Regardless of what happens on draft day though, the Hornets are still alive in the playoff race with less than three weeks remaining in the regular season. Seven months ago that was about as likely as George Mason University making it past the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Like the Patriots, the Hornets are playing with house money as they try to extend their improbable season into the playoffs.