Just hype it. To hype with all the negativity. People are hypin’ pissing me off. What the hype is wrong with us? I thought we were basketball fans. Nope. It’s the end of the world. End days are here.
Trade David West. Our bench sucks. Tyson can’t play any more. Hilton and Julian are busts. Stop shooting, Devin! A Kiwi? Posey is overrated. Peja costs too much. CP made a mistake once! Who’s Ryan Bowen? Mo and Rasual aren’t starter material. Yeah, Ely got a ring by wearing a suit to the Finals. Antonio Daniels, right. Does this team have a player under 30 other than Paul? They just can’t draft. This team has no heart, no hustle, and no offensive flow. Oh, yeah, and Byron Scott is a horrible coach. That about cover it?
Okay. Now take a deep breath. And calm the hype down. Historically, New Orleans is a football town, I get it. In the NFL, every single game matters. The NBA is not the same. Yes, yes, every year some team makes or misses the April-May dance by a game, or loses a coveted seed by a game. Whatever. The best NBA teams, from the GMs, to the coaches, to the players, know it is not a sprint, but a marathon. The key is putting your team in the right position to be in the right place come the end of the year. Position. Not game. It’s about many games, not any one. Certainly, guys can’t take games off, and no one wants to lose a game, but it happens. Shooters go cold, fouls don’t get called (or do the other way), and there’s nothing you can do about it. It’s chaos. It’s a microcosm. Let’s not fool ourselves into thinking that professional athletes are somehow active agents of change who have complete control over their destinies.
As many have pointed out, no one has control over their destiny. That’s why it’s destiny. You know they feel just as helpless at times, just as unable to change what is happening around them. They’re just normal folks. Besides, who’s reading this blog at home, or better yet, work, and can honestly say they’ve never milled through the day or half-assed their way from nine to five? Go ahead, cast the first stone. Yes, yes, these guys get paid millions. Yeah, well, they won the genetic lottery, sour grapes, much? Here’s my point, they are people. Imperfect people. Real people. So maybe their kid is sick, maybe they’re having relationship troubles, maybe it’s just the flu. Sometimes it’s just not your day. It’s sure as hype not the end of the world.
But what about the fans? The majestic blogosphere. What’s our excuse? Isn’t this supposed to be fun? Didn’t we love this game once? (It’s faaAAAAaannntastic!) Yet, all I read all over Hornets blogs (I gave up on the boards a long time ago) is the same anti-hype I spouted above. Listen. I’m telling you. It’ll be better tomorrow. Just wait. It’s stupid to overreact to any one game, good or bad. If there is something we can definitely learn from Spurs and Lakers fans–who incidentally, we have seen cumulatively go to the Finals 8 of the last 9 years (and won 7 of those 8)–it is to wait for the real season to begin. The Playoffs. Because once you’re there, anything can happen.
Yes, positioning and all that is important. But the Knicks made the Finals as an 8 seed once, and they’re certainly not the only non-1-through-4 seed to make it. So let’s be patient. Let’s allow this team to gel from its multiple injuries and absences and jostling rotations and see what happens. I, for one, am pretty hyping sure we’ll be pleased with the result.
So from the sounds behind this composition, I leave you with the words, by Chris Cornell, from Soundgarden’s “Blow Up The Outside World”:
Nothing seems to kill me no matter how hard I try
Nothing is closing my eyes
Nothing can beat me down for your pain or delight
And nothing seems to break me
No matter how hard I fall nothing can break me at all
Not one for giving up though not invincible I know
Believe.
Not backing down
I myself did not bring it yesterday at work.
That’s right. I admit it.
Excellent point. I alluded to this in that post I did last year in the Finals about why I identify more with a flawed player who succeeds as opposed to the Kobes of the world. The reality is that most of us are just not like that. And it’s unrealistic to expect that of others all the time.
But! But! Babble! Babble!!!! BABBLEBABBLEBABBLE!!!!!!
I’m sorry, Im still feverish.
Nice. We will come back from this, and the bandwagon is gonna be just as heavy come the playoffs
I think so.
btw, I got an office party to go to Friday night (open bar!), so if somebody wants my tickets for the Raptors game, hit me up and we can make the exchange at the hive tonight!
It is not because I don’t believe, but I like to get boozed up for free!
We 100% fully approve of getting boozed up for free. If anyone wants the tix, feel free to drop a comment!
Flexible payment options: I do give away my tickets at work when I can’t go, so they are free. However, I do accept donations in the form of beer. Lovely Section 117 seats. Not on the back row :-p
Good elaboration from your comment on 247. I’ve never esteemed coach Scott too much, and it was pretty evident (and likely supported) by the Blazers game. So it shouldn’t have came as a surprise from me.
But honestly. Would you prefer a nonchalant ‘eh, whatever’ from the fans after a loss? A non-passionate-tell-your-kids-after-a-little-league-loss ‘we’ll get ‘em next time’? Seriously. The ‘anti-hype’ certainly isn’t necessarily fun to hear, but it’s encouraging that people are watching and wanting the team to succeed, is it not?
It would be encouraging if the “anti-hype” were at least educated. Not what’s been spewed forth recently.
Btw, the Shit List can be changed now. Chris Paul is a starter now!
I want to see who’s new and on top of the list.
I will probably have a new iteration of the list out by the weekend. And also maybe another entertaining little addition to the site.
I’m leaving the office…. nobody wanted free tickets?
Too late?
Never sat in anything but the 300’s.
*Excellent* post… excellent.
@Mark: no, I’m not advocating blasé fans, just ones who don’t panic at every little thing and who understand a bad game of a bad stretch does not mean the team and/or player and/or coach should lose our support. They’re our team. Constructive criticism is one thing, but we should have the Bees’ back, generally speaking.
P.S. This post was a reaction to the cumulative negativity that has been swirling around for a while now, not just commentary on reactions to one or two games.
Yeah, it was too late. Gave ‘em to some non-season ticket holders who were in my section tonight.
If I may, I would like to constructively criticize. Considering Posey (and I’m referring to him because I love him and his “potential”) has an average of 9 points and plays for about 30 minutes in a game, I would normally consider it a safe bet that he will make that, or very close. So, when he only went 1 for 13 against Denver and grinned after a couple of the misses, I did wonder, “what is so ‘HYPING’ funny?” Okay, maybe it was an off night and he just had to laugh at himself. I give my baby a pass (he did get 6 points & 9 rebounds and the hornets won.) I await the next game, knowing that he will be better. Besides, how can I be upset with a guy with a beautiful smile? In the next game (warriors), he scores only 2 points (off of free throws). Ok. He only took 2 shots; it’s hard to score when you don’t shoot. So, maybe it just wasn’t there and he was hesitant after the last game. He did get 6 rebounds. I pretended not to notice the 2 turnovers. After all, everyone makes mistakes. Here, honey, another pass. Next game, it’s on. Right? Nah. Only 2 points once again. Ok, he did have 2 blocks. But, I have to admit at this point I’m wondering “What the HYPE?!!!!!!!!” I get it. It was the haircut. Could it be that a fresh fade throws a players’ game off? Next game (blazers; and we definitely can use those 9 points tonight more than ever), I just know that he is going to GO OFF! NOT. 28 minutes. 0 points. 3 blocks (clap, clap.) But, ZERO points. So, yeah, I have to admit to being very tempted to trade Posey from my fantasy roster. Ok, I would have traded him but he was worth less than I paid for him. Since my stock had already taken the hit, I gave him another pass. Okay. I just needed to vent. {I am exhaling.}
My question now is, when healthy and not coming off of an injury, what is considered a bad stretch? How many games of mediocre performance can a player have before it is “acceptable” for a fan of the team to want to see that player sit on the bench? And, most importantly, can getting a fresh fade mess up a player’s mojo? If so, does it generally come back when the hair grows back?
BTW- I’m not quitting the hornets or Posey (even after tonight’s performance 1 of 6, he did hit his free throws.)
mW, man, it seems like I’m trying to counter everything you say, but remember, I feel you man. This is the same organization that recently went through a 18-64 season, and I still damn well remember that.
But it boils to expectations, which everybody set extremely high at the beginning of the season. Even when we struggled against Golden State for the first game, people starting finding faults. That’s only attributed to overly high expectations. Folks don’t realize what the Hornets are really doing, what we’re running, our style; and these same folks don’t remember that 18-win season.
Of course, this coming from the fan who doesn’t really like the coach, heh. Aside from that, it’s all just frustration, at least from me. The league gave us a workable opposition in March, so that’s when we’ll have to see if the Bees can capitalize and rest up for the stretch.
Trina,
These are excellent questions. I myself have maintained that Peja’s shooting slump can be directly connected to the fact that he appears to be tanning this year, whereas he was superpale by this time last season. I think maybe he needs to be pasty to shoot the three ball well. So it’s entirely possible in Pose’s case that it could be the fade. It’s a good theory. And I am totally feeling your pain, as I also am a huge Posey fan.
But I have to agree that there’s a certain point you reach. I think he should have come out for Julian after the fourth foul. Whatever “it” is, he just doesn’t have it right now. He doesn’t even look confident shooting. I was at the game tonight, and he was still sitting on the bench at the end of the game after everyone else had gone in the locker room. He knows.
Where’s my sad Posey face?
ticktock6,
The fresh fade was the most obvious conclusion, ya know. But hey, maybe all Pose needs is someone to hug him (while whispering words of encouragement and appreciation) for a change. Maybe, just maybe, 1 hug can change the world. Okay, okay, maybe not the whole world, but definitely our part of it. And, in the end, that’s all the matters!
And, you are definitely onto something with the Peja (to tan or not to tan) theory. I’m all for Pasty Peja. Ghostly Peja would be even better. Sometimes, he does seem to magically become wide open behind the 3pt line.
The football analogy was spot on, especially since the Blazers chokefest was the first time I heard our fans discuss the Hornets with the same stomach-churning despair that we commonly use for the Saints. It is a marathon, and this is really disappointing, but let’s not hype it to the outhouse yet. This Bulls game was a “stinky diaper” game, one we need to get rid of ASAP. The judge ain’t gonna send the team to Angola for playing bad defense tonight, although it might’ve crossed his mind….
The key is to get into the playoffs. Right now the Western Conference is a game of musical chairs, with 9 teams fighting for 8 spots. The Hornets can beat any of these teams, so the key is simply to get in, and to do that we especially need Chris Paul healthy. Talk about a marathon, with the Olympics, that’s Chris Paul this year. If we can’t beat the Bulls and T-Wolves without him, we’ll steal some wins after the All-Star break.
The biggest problem I’m having lately is that we look old and tired right now. Posey has played some heavy minutes. I have been shocked all year that we play so slowly, frequently we don’t get deep into our offense until less than 10 seconds are left on the shot clock. Our pacing is among the slowest in the NBA, and that doesn’t go with my idea of the strengths of a CP3 team. I think buried in this is how much we need an active, sprinting Tyson Chandler in transition because when Tyson runs after misses, even trailing, we always punish teams. Chandler and West play good D together, and opponents worry so much about Chandler dunking on their heads in pick’n'roll that it opens every other option on offense that much more. We need the big fella!
Take a deep breath, y’all and get ready for Krewe du Vieux. Let’s get our guys healthy and wreak some havoc when they are back. We’ll address our lack of a #2 scorer who can get his shot whenever he needs to, like Pargo or Bobby Jackson, either via trade or in the offseason. Until then admire the raging hustle of Ryan Bowen and hype his invisible stats contribution to the passion & pride of a still dangerous team. We lose this bad when CP is hurt, it only makes him look more like the MVP when we get healthy and start ripping wins in a row.