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A DECADE OF WINNING WAYS The Hornets clinched their 10th straight season with a .500 or better record with their win at Atlanta on April 6 É the Hornets achieved their first .500 or better season during the 1992-93 campaign, their fifth season of existence, with a 44-38 mark É they have not finished with a losing record since then É only three teams in the NBA have longer streaks of .500 or better seasons (Utah, Seattle and Portland) É the following shows the NBAÕs top current streaks of .500 or better seasons:
SILASÕ LATE SEASON SURGE Paul Silas once again had his team ready for a late-season playoff surge É he has shown a knack for winning games late in the season, and had the Hornets winning when it counts again in 2001-02 É Silas took over as Hornets head man in the 50-game 1998-99 season and led the Bees to wins in 14 of their last 18 games to miss the playoffs by just one game É a year later, Silas pushed the Hornets to win 14 of their last 16 games (and the last seven games overall) to go from a 35-31 record to finishing the season 49-33 É last season, Charlotte was .500 (25-25) on Feb. 6 and went on to win 21 of their last 32 games, including a seven-game winning streak É this season, in what many call his best coaching job ever, Silas led the Hornets to 14 wins in their last 19 games É the following shows what Silas' teams have done in the final games of the last four seasons: 2001-02: Won 14 of last 19 games 2000-01: Won 21 of last 32 games 1999-00: Won 14 of last 16 games 1998-99: Won 14 of last 18 games P.J.ÕS POINTS + REBOUNDS = WINS P.J. Brown made 2001-02 his best season ever on the boards, finishing with career highs in rebounds per game (9.8), total rebounds (786), offensive rebounds (273) and defensive rebounds (513) É he finished the season ranked 10th in the NBA É Brown produced his best numbers of the season during the month of March (10.9 points and 10.1 rebounds in 15 games), and his increased scoring and rebounding was a big part of the HornetsÕ late-season playoff push É Brown was the team leader in point-rebound double-doubles with 17 É he recorded double-doubles in eight of his last 16 games played É BrownÕs double-doubles usually translate into a Hornets win, as the team was 12-5 (.706) when he recorded one É the following shows BrownÕs numbers during the HornetsÕ last 20 games compared to the rest of the season:
HORNETS HONORS Forward Jamal Mashburn was named Eastern Conference Player of the Month for March É Mashburn led the Hornets to a 10-5 record during March, which tied Detroit for the conferenceÕs best mark for the month, and represented the HornetsÕ best month of the season É Mash averaged 21.7 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.9 assists while shooting .403 (117-290) from the floor, .860 (74-86) from the free throw line and .500 (18-36) from three-point range É his selection marked the first time a Hornets player was been named player of the month since Glen Rice in February of 1997 ... two other Hornets were recognized for their achievements off the court - P.J. Brown was named the Central Division winner of the NBA Sportsmanship award (making him a finalist for the overall award at the end of the regular season), and David Wesley was named one of nine finalists for the NBAÕs Home Team Community Service Award. BD KEEPS GETTINGÕ BETTER AND BETTER In his first three seasons, Baron Davis has been able to show consistent improvement in almost all areas of his game, as evidenced by his first All-Star appearance... he finished second on the team in scoring (18.1 ppg, 4.3 more than his 13.8 average of last season) and led the Hornets in scoring 21 times and assists 72 times ... Davis recorded 33 double-figure assists games this season (he had 15 total coming into the season), and had 29 point-assist double-doubles (Charlotte is 28-11 all-time when he puts up double figures in points and assists) É the 29 point-assist double-doubles set a franchise record (previously held by Muggsy Bogues with 28 in 1993-94) É Davis has scored a career-high 38 points twice, and dished out a career-high 17 assists 3/30 at Cleveland É the following shows Baron's improvement over his three seasons in the league:
ONE OF NEW YORKÕS FINEST New York City native and Hornets forward Jamal Mashburn returned to the HornetsÕ lineup on 2/18 at MIL after missing 42 games with a lower abdominal strain É out since Nov. 17, Mash showed few signs of rust, averaging 22.5 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.4 assists while shooting 41.5 percent (247-595) from the floor and 87.5 percent (168-192) from the line in 39.9 minutes through 31 games after returning to the lineup É Mash scored 20+ points in the last 10 straight games of the season, and in 14 of the last 15 overall É his best game came Feb. 27 versus New Jersey when he went 15-20 from the floor and finished with 36 points (his highest total as a Hornet) in just 32 minutes - Mashburn outscored the Nets 19-18 by himself in the first quarter in the game É he scored 30+ points three times (including another 36-point outing 3/24 at IND) É after Mash went on the Injured List nine games into the season, Charlotte went 21-21 without him ... they went 19-12 after his return. ITÕS NOT THE PLAYOFFS WITHOUT THE PLASTIC MAN Stacey Augmon holds the second longest streak of playoff appearances of any player in the Eastern Conference É only Clifford Robinson (Detroit) has a longer streak of playing in the postseason than Augmon É while known for his defensive prowess, the veteran swingman has been giving the Hornets an offensive boost as well É he scored in 25 of the last 26 games and averaged 7.8 points over the last 11 games of the year É Augmon brings 57 games of playoff experience to the Hornets playoff roster (second most to Campbell) É he went to the Western Conference Finals with Portland twice (1999, 2000) É the following shows AugmonÕs streak of postseason play as compared to the rest of the players in the NBA:
BIG CAT UNLEASHED Back-up center Jamaal Magloire has played his best basketball as a pro since the start of 2002 É he scored a career-high 22 points Dec. 29 at Washington and then carried over his great play into the new year É over the last 53 games of the regular season, ÒBig CatÓ averaged 10.4 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.2 blocks while shooting .574 (178-310) from the floor É he also recorded eight double-doubles, scored in double figures 31 times, led or tied for the team lead in rebounding 11 times, and started eight games É he not only started the games, he produced big numbers É the following shows MagloireÕs numbers as a starter compared to coming off the bench:
MONEY FROM THE LINE Jamal Mashburn finished the season as the leagueÕs 11th best free throw shooter (shooting 87.6 percent from the line, 211-241) É at one point this season, he made 31 consecutive free throws, and had a streak of 27 straight free throws snapped in the 81st game of the season at Miami on April 16 É this season, Mash shot the highest percentage of any Hornets player since the 1994-95 season (Muggsy Bogues, .889) É the franchise record for FT percentage in a season is 92.3 percent (96-104) by Dell Curry in 1989-90. WHAT A DIFFERENCE Jamal MashburnÕs success on the court is directly related to the success of the Hornets É just take a look at his numbers in games the Hornets win versus games they donÕt:
GRAND LARCENY Baron Davis picked his opponentsÕ pockets with regularity over the last 13 games of the regular season, averaging 3.85 steals É Davis, who finished fourth in the NBA in steals at 2.10 per game, tied his season high of five steals four times in those 13 games É he recorded at least one steal in each of the last 25 games, and recorded at least two steals in 14 of the last 15 games (including the last 13 straight) É Davis ranks fourth in franchise history in steals with 439. KINGS OF THE ROAD The Hornets were one of the best road teams in the NBA during the 2001-02 season and were the second-best road team in franchise history É as a result of their superior play away from the Hive, they became just the second team (since the 1996-97 Miami Heat) to make the playoffs with a better road record than home record since the NBA adopted the current playoff format in 1984 É they surpassed last seasonÕs overall road win total by five games and finished one game behind the 1996-97 Hornets for the best road mark in team history É the following shows where the 2001-02 Hornets rank among the best road teams in franchise history:
CLIMBING THE CHARTS Elden Campbell, who completed his third full season with the Hornets in 2001-02, is beginning to make his mark among the franchiseÕs all-time leaders while he gets closer to several career milestones É Campbell is 19 points away from the 10,000th point of his career and achieved his 1,500th block April12 vs. CLEÉ he is the franchiseÕs second all-time leading shot-blocker (behind Alonzo Mourning) and has made his way into the top five in several all-time leaders charts this season É over the last few months, he has moved up on some of those charts and moved into the top five of several others É the following shows where Campbell ranks in several different Hornets all-time leaders categories :
STEPPING UP When Jamal Mashburn went down early in the season, his starting duties were his given to second-year forward Lee Nailon É Nailon responded by taking his game to a new level and keeping the Hornets afloat during MashÕs absence É his efforts did not gone unnoticed - he started for the sophomores in the Ôgot milk?Õ Rookie Challenge played at All-Star Saturday Night 2002 (eight points and six rebounds in 20 minutes) É over the first nine games of the season, Nailon was averaging 5.1 points and 2.6 rebounds in 13.4 minutes off the bench É after getting the call, Nailon upped his averages to 15.0 points and 5.0 rebounds in 32.2 minutes per game as a starter in 41 games É Nailon scored a career-high 27 points twice (Dec. 19 at PHI and Jan. 17 vs. PHI) and had 26 points and a career-high 11 rebounds on Dec. 6 at POR (two games after scoring 20 points on 10-16 shooting from the field on Dec. 1 at CLE - his 10 made field goals were also a career high) É he also scored in double figures in 34 of 41 games played as a starter É the following shows NailonÕs improvement this season:
START IT UP David Wesley missed 13 games with a cracked bone in his left foot and returned to the lineup on Mar. 1 at Boston É he responded with five points, four steals and three assists in 20 minutes, but those 20 minutes were off the bench, which ended his streak of 337 consecutive games started and marked the first time he has not started as a Hornet É although the Hornets won that game, the team has fared much better with Wesley as a starter rather than coming off the pine É the Hornets were 1-3 in his brief stint as a backup but finished the year with a 15-6 mark once he was re-inserted into the starting lineup É WesleyÕs numbers were much better as a starter as well É the following shows the difference Wesley makes when he begins the game on the floor instead of on the bench:
PRE & POST-BREAK This season the Hornets went into the All-Star break with a 23-25 record, winners of three of their last five ... historically, the Hornets have fared better following the All-Star festivities than during the first half of the season--the trend proved true again this season, as the Hornets went 21-13 after the break É the team has now seen an improvement in their record in the second half of the season in 12 of 13 seasons (no All-Star Weekend in 1998-99), with a 285-337 (.458) all-time record before the break and a 231-203 (.532) all-time record following the break. FINISHING STRONG George Lynch, acquired in a three-way trade during the preseason, sat out the first 36 games of the season recovering from surgery on Oct. 30 to repair a fracture of the fifth metatarsal in his left foot É he began his comeback slowly, but soon emerged as a key reserve for the Hornets É he started 18 games for the team, averaging 6.3 points and 5.4 rebounds while helping them to a 9-9 record É 17 of his starts came during a stretch from Feb. 1 to Mar. 8 É after that, LynchÕs minutes and production decreased É in the last two games of the season, however, Lynch stepped up in the absence of P.J. Brown (left ankle sprain) É he averaged 7.5 points, 9.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists during those two games, which included his 18th start of the year in the season finale.
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