Hornets Hype

Word from the All-Star game. It was awesome! Although the first three quarters were largely controlled by the East, the Western All-Stars kept it continuously close. Which in basketball, especially NBA basketball, and even moreso all-star NBA basketball, means you can always make a run. CP3 came in later than we expected, coming out after both Iverson (the starter) and Nash. Unfortunately some people were booing these guys. I understand we all wanted CP in the rafters, but let’s keep it positive. This day is about all of these guys. (Ours just happen to be the best!) The cool thing was that though the PA didn’t unleash the trademark “Woo” that accompanies a CP score, the upper Nola crowds did it themselves. We were all doing it even on announced assists. I listened to a later telecast. You could hear it.

D West had an average game and proved he belonged there, but didn’t stand out, unfortunately. It was his first such game, however, and a huge honor. I think you could see he was not used to playing with these guys and wasn’t sure how to react sometimes. Byron’s Princeton system is more exact than most others, except for maybe the Lakers’ triangle O. But CP3 came through big time. He took over the fourth quarter and made it close when no one thought it would be. If pundits were calling it one of the best finishes ever, it was because of CP. MVP chants rained down and even the commentators across the board were saying had the West pulled it out, he probably would have gotten the nod. So despite the ultimate loss, it showed CP3 not only deserves to be an All-Star, but a legitimate MVP candidate.

They were just going to pull up those logos off the floor of the arena anyway…

I do, anyway. Good thing the All Star Game is tonight. The elusive Mr. West has been flying under the radar this weekend, as usual, but not tonight. (To the left, a rare glimpse of #30 in his natural habitat. I think he’s been the least photographed All Star.)

And now, a roundup of articles about the Man of Mystery:

* David West talks about poverty in New Orleans

* Talks about New Orleans’ recovery (video)

* In the Times Picayune

I know D-West doesn’t really care about his personal HypeMeter. But that’s all the more reason Hornets fans should bring the hype for him. I am still keeping an eye out for that jersey, in size small small small. Double West on the front and back just radiates coolness. I could rock a D-West jersey. We have many things in common. No, seriously.

• David West was Class of 2003. Me too! Class of 2003 represent.
• He has a tattoo of his alma mater’s logo. And so do I! Of course it’s a different school, different color, and different location on my body… but that matters not.
• He’s 6′9″. I could be 6′9″ if I was wearing heels and standing on a box that was a foot tall.
• D-West majored in communications. I majored in English, a similar field.
• D-West gets 19.8 points per game. I can talk about Battlestar Galactica for 19.8 minutes straight.
• If I wanted, I could wear nothing but sweats and Adidas pants for a week, just to be like D-West. Watch me.
• Through years of putting myself through graduate school with crappy jobs, I too have perfected the art of looking angry yet saying little.

See? I told you.

The Saturday Skills Competition was awesome, albeit not the Hornets day to shine. Nonetheless, it was New Orleans itself which shined. The first event, Shooting Stars, featured four teams, each which had to make six shots in order, each further back than the former, culminating in a half court shot. No Hornets, as it featured a current NBA star, WNBA star, and NBA legend (retired) from San Antonio, Detroit, Chicago, and Phoenix. San Antonio won. And as it wasn’t said in ANY other outlet I saw, it was the WNBA player, Becky Hammon, who carried them in the first round, and fully pulled her part in the finals to win. That woman can shoot!

Next up was the Skills Challenge, featuring our very own someday-MVP, Chris Paul (picture above). There, competitors had to make a lay-up/dunk, dribble around several obstacles, make a serious of passes, shoot from the free throw line, pass again, and then sprint through more obstacles before making a final lay-up/dunk. Chris dazzled in the first round, to the delight of many Hornets fans, but unfortunately got ousted in the finals by the perfect (and record-breaking) performance by arch-nemesis, Deron Williams. Well guess what, we’ll see what happens on the 29th. Look to see CP3 rebound.

Next up was Peja in the 3-Point contest. Despite being a two-time champion in this event, he started off cold, missing from his usual money-spot in the corner. But then he got hot, passing several competitors, but missed the 2-point ball after making all the other four in the final rack, meaning he fell just below two other players, which proved his undoing, when last year’s champ, Jason Kapono blasted past everyone, knocking out Peja. Kapono went on to win the contest handily. Although we were disappointed, we dare the other five guys in the contest to do that with the game clock expiring and a seven footer in their face like Peja does. We know you’re still the best, Peja.

That left the dunk event, also with no Hornets. Boo. They tried to get Julian Wright in it, to no avail. As ticktock6 pointed out, the only bummer about this amazing event was that it was all gimmicks. So here is our shot out to Jamario Moon, who probably pulled out the most athletic dunk with his first round bounce-down jumping 360 catch and full bring back tomahawk slam that started it all. Dwight Howard, however, was the ultimate winner. And deservedly so.

Hypemeter: although the Hornets didn’t win any events, New Orleans won them all. And so we’re proud of that!

They went with the dark look for the game. The lights were dimmed the whole time. I knew there was going to be a lot of kids at the game, but I didn’t expect quite so many. They gave away tickets for the entire lower bowl. Then they gave the kids free jerseys, so it was like a sea of pink.

A couple of new additions: Notice the stage off to the right and the snazzy LCD screen in front of the scoring table. Sections 106-108 are all press tables. I gotta say, it’s weird when your entire section has been transformed into a press box. (Actually we sit a little to the right of this, but still.) Sort of lets you know where you rank in the grand scheme of things.

Chris Paul was one of the first players to arrive at the game. I think everyone was still down at the convention center waiting for the Celebrity Game and other events to wind down, because it was only toward halftime that people started trickling in to the game. CP3 sat with Deron Williams and, I think, his brother at center court the whole game.

Md2020 said it had to be a record when Daniel Gibson kept sinking 3 after 3 after 3. He had 33 points, every single one of them a three pointer. It got to the point where it was just ridiculous. Like, “Is this happening?” ridiculous. The score was 136-109 sophomores. You could make an argument that he singlehandedly won the game. The rookies actually hung close for the first half.

This was my first All Star event, not counting the Jam Session on Wednesday. It wasn’t the most star-studded event, but for 20 bucks it was a good deal. I gotta agree with those who say there isn’t a bad seat in the house. (Left: Here’s me All-Starring it up in the Big Easy Balcony.) As far as celebrity sightings, all of the ones we saw were waaaay down below, except we did see Ahmad Rashad by the Abita stand. (Our usual bartender from the main concourse was up top last night and told us when she said hi that you couldn’t buy any alcohol on the lower level because of the kids.)

Speaking of which, we thought the cups just said Budweiser, so we pitched the first two. Then we realized they had the All Star logo on the other side. Pretty cool collectible! So if you go make sure to buy draft beers and snag a couple of the cups. It’s a sweet little All Star Weekend freebie to put on the shelf next to your umpteen millionth Mardi Gras parade cup.

Most of the All Stars arrived fashionably late to the Rookie Challenge game last night. In fact there weren’t a lot of people in attendance who weren’t kids. The entire lower bowl was filled with local kids all in matching pink jerseys. Still, it was kind of cool watching Daniel Gibson nail eleven 3’s on his way to being named MVP of the game. I hate to say it, but Peja’s got his work cut out for him. Kid was hot.

Here are some of the spectators. The zoom on my camera isn’t that great, and we were up top, so you will notice that I have neatly labeled the people in the front row. Because otherwise you probably wouldn’t be able to figure it out.

I’d skip right on over to here for Hornets.com coverage of the All Star Weekend, which is right now featuring All Star Diaries from David West and Peja Stojakovic (man, despite this blog’s families having originated in Croatia and Poland, that one still gives me pause… and believe me when I say, we’ve got enough Eastern European extraneous letters around this here apartment to float alphabet soup).

I thought this article was going to be the same old crap, but it ends on an up note and for that I respect them.

T.P. Watchdog Effort: Seriously respectable sports section today. CP3’s picture was in it no less than four times. I think only three pages didn’t have Hornets content. Of course, much of it was All Star content, but they did a good job with the Hornets-oriented All Star articles. T.P. Watchdog… keeping the media responsible & buzz-friendly since 2007.

Went to Hornets night at the Jam Session on Wednesday. If I had kids or was the kind of person who doesn’t mind waiting in lines to participate in contests and activities (I’m not), it would have been more fun. But the store rocked. Picked up two T-shirts, the mug (with the crawfish All Star logo!), and the bead (indecent to live in New Orleans and pay for a bead, let alone $8 for a bead, but come on… All Star bead!) I was disappointed you couldn’t buy a West West jersey in small sizes. In fact, they should have had an altogether better selection of stuff for the Hornets all stars. That’s what the people were there for. Give the people what they want!

All Star coverage on ESPN right now is mildly hilarious. CP3 calling Deion Sanders old, a chef from Galatoire’s cooking stuff up on the spot, and Amare Stoudamire is currently getting his tarot cards read. You should turn it on.

This blog has tickets to the Rookie Game, the Skills Competition, and the All Star Game on Sunday night. So watch for updates on famous people sightings! (But don’t get your hopes up. I am notoriously bad at spotting famous people. I once poured water for Peyton Manning without looking up under the baseball cap, no joke.)

Err…or flag support?  Can we get TickTock6 in here for a grammar check?  Any way, heading into the All-Star Break here in New Orleans, the Hornets are guaranteed at least a share of the NBA’s Western Conference.  Outstanding!  And to top things off, our friend who stayed with us during Mardi Gras got us a Hornets flag as a thank you present!  Here’s the picture of it in our front window, proudly supporting our team.  (And although the pictures wouldn’t show it, it looks great at night too, with light shining through it from the apartment).    So bottom line, we’re hyped and the rest of Nola should be too!

This was one of the better early crowds I’ve seen this season. I attribute this to the Pre-Game Buzzfest outside the arena, which was helped out by the solidly temperate weather. If you haven’t been to a Buzzfest, you should. Dollar beers! The next one is scheduled for Friday, February 22nd, and the party starts rolling at 5:30.

Alternatively, you could buy season tickets for next year. Because that nets you free beers. And we all know the only beer better than a dollar beer is a free beer.

We hung our “THE BACK ROW BELIEVES” banner in its usual spot, but felt weird about it when we realized our fellow season ticket holder neighbors had been replaced tonight by a row of strangers. Well, guys, we believe, and since you’re sitting here, you’re gonna have to by default.

Chris Paul and David West did the intro for the game. Hilarious. CP thanked the fans for their support and said what an honor it is to be in the All Star Game (slightly disingenuous since they weren’t voted in, but I bet half the people in the crowd didn’t know the difference). Then he goes, “I’m sure D West wants to say something to y’all,” and holds out the mike, cracking up because he knows full well D West is freaked out by the idea of saying something to the crowd and is going nowhere near that mike. He shakes his head and throws a salute instead. Classic.

Hello, makeover! The arena is now sporting snazzy signs over every vendor. Signs with cute New Orleans-y names. Clearly this is being added to spice up the arena for the upcoming All Star Game. I hope we get to keep the upgrades when the NBA leaves. The concourse also now sports a couple of much nicer-looking bars.

The Hornets looked a bit lax after pulling out to an early 14-point lead. Playing without Tyson Chandler and Morris Peterson, they still never looked like they weren’t in control of the game. Final score Hornets 112, Grizzlies 99.

HypeMeter: As we speak, the headline on CNN/SI is “All That Buzz,” with a giant photo of Angry David West (might actually be slightly scarier than Angry Chris Paul, due to the size factor).

T.P. Watchdog: Times Picayune Sunday print edition has the better part of 5 pages devoted to the Hornets/All Star Game. Right on. Good job, friends. (See, I can bestow praise where praise is due.)

And one final note.

This was the first sellout of 2008. I like to think of it as the first sellout of the new era. I see a distinct, marked difference starting with the last three crowds. This dates back to the Spurs win, which I believe was the start of something special. If you were there at the Denver game the Monday after… you know you thought, “Wow.” I hope in the future we will be able to point to that game and say, “That’s when it started. And we never looked back.” I hope the hype is rolling, rolling like the Hornets are rolling and can’t be stopped. I hope the word spreads, that there is something happening with this team and this season that you don’t want to miss.

I hope.

And what keeps me hoping is this: Last night we saw New Orleans Arena sell out. And it wasn’t Kobe, it wasn’t LeBron. The Memphis Grizzlies? Please. The Grizzlies got nothing.

17, 231 people came last night to see the Hornets.