Hornets rising in power rankings
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
By: Jim Eichenhofer, Hornets.com
On the strength of a five-game winning streak, New Orleans (37-22) has moved back into the top 10 of various national media power rankings this week (note that several of these polls and comments were released prior to Mondays victory at Philadelphia). Heres our weekly look at a handful of national websites assessments of the Hornets:FoxSports.com (8th, up 3 spots): Even though David West made the All-Star team, he hasn't been dominant this season - until now. He's averaged 29 points and 10.5 boards during the Hornets' current five-game winning streak.SportingNews.com (8th, up 3 spots): Perhaps no one is happier to see Chandler back than David West, who is averaging 28.8 points and 10.4 rebounds since Chandler's return.SI.com (9th, up 2 spots): They have a pretty good opportunity to leapfrog several teams in the standings early this month. After beating Sacramento, Detroit, Milwaukee and New Jersey last week, their schedule over the next two weeks includes games against Philadelphia, Oklahoma City, Washington, Milwaukee and Chicago.NBA.com (10th, up 1 spot): The Hornets have won four straight with Tyson Chandler back in action, including Friday's escape over the Bucks, where Chandler saved them with a game-winning tip-in. The last three wins have come by a total of just seven points though, and their statistical improvement has been minimal.ESPN.com (10th, up 1 spot): The whole Tyson Chandler rescinded-trade saga only gets juicier: He has averaged 11.5 points and 12 boards in four games since returning after the canceled deal with OKC and an ankle issue. The Hornets won all four.