Hornets Hype

This is excerpted from the Minnesota Star-Tribune:

Byron Scott won three NBA championships when he played for the Lakers and he coached the New Jersey Nets to the NBA Finals twice. He is a worldly guy who can talk intelligently on a variety of subjects.

But if you want to see his head explode, just ask the New Orleans coach if he has a team policy on tweets and tweeting.

“A what?” he asked, his eyes widening…

[...] “Who did? Charlie Villanueva?” Scott asked, unaware of the latest issue inside an NBA locker room. “No, I don’t have a policy on that. I don’t know what the hell tweeting is.”

When told he has a player who tweets, Scott cautiously said, “O.K. …” When told it was Chandler, he said, “I know he has a blog. Is that the same thing?”

Of course not, silly.

“Oh, hell,” Scott said, “I don’t know.”

But if you want to really laugh, read the article to see what Kevin McHale said. And, by a series of alarming coincidences, Hornets 247 also has a post today on Twitter and who Hornets fans should be following. No worries, Coach, Tyson hasn’t Twittered during a game yet. But you might wanna tell him to keep his clothes on after big wins, and stop dropping snarky jokes about the OKC debacle. Haha…

A huge story in the NBA this year is the international effect on the game.  Big free agents going overseas, us bringing back the best of those countries, creating a unique state of flux in international talent.  Although USA has again come to dominate the FIBA scene, there is an unprecedented international appeal for the sport, and even multinational blogging (visit our links to Chinese and German Hornets sites on the right under “All Hornets International,” and let us know if you’re aware of any more).  But no international story has been bigger than China.

First of all, there was the Olympics, which was a smashing success.  China proved to be a great venue, the world showed it could field a lot of talent, and it was a lot of fun to watch a variety of teams, not just the U.S.  Also, there was the outcry about how Chinese voters influenced the All-Star starting line-ups; but, when you leave it to democracy, you have to accept how the people vote.  I just love how excited another country is about the NBA, which, in the end, will only be good for basketball.  Lastly, there was the interesting story of ex-Hornet, Bonzi Wells, going to Shanxi Zhongyu, averaging 34 points a game, hitting 50 and 40 points routinely, pulling down over 10 boards usually, and being nicknamed “His Majesty.”  Great stuff.

And what else?  Oh yeah, China loves HornetsHype.com.  That’s right.  China wants to know more about Rasual “Phoenix” Butler.  China wants to know why Chris Paul should be MVP.  If you don’t believe me, check out these links:

• http://bbs.hoopchina.com/563864.html
• http://bbs.hoopchina.com/567096.html

There it is.  Yao may be huge in China. So is Yi.  But the most populous country in the world is hungry for Hornets news.  Believe it.  Welcome to the Hype, China, we love your interest in the NBA.  It’s faaaaAAAAaaantastic!

The guys have the NBA Dance Team Bracket. This is for the ladies.

Tournament Rules:

1. It’s a freaking tournament for who’s the hottest team. There are no rules. Just kidding.

2. Teams were seeded based on where they were in the standings on Wednesday. The top two teams, the Lakers and the Cavaliers, received a bye. I didn’t seed according to hotness, although by coincidence the Lakeshow and the Cavs are pretty good-looking.

3. There is no East/West. The first round will consist of four divisions. Each one was named after a random hottie who happened to be in that part of the bracket.

4. If there’s someone on a certain team that I overlooked, or who only looks good from certain angles, or who only looks good to you but you feel you can make a persuasive argument, please post a picture in the comments! Hotness is meant to be shared.

5. If you’re a female NBA blogger or sports blogger, feel free to drop your link in the comments! I’d like to put together a link list, or maybe post one a day. Let’s celebrate ladies in sports blogging as well as hotness.

6. Voting will stay open until the entire round is over. Of course you can still vote if you’re a guy. It’s not like I can check.

And now, on to the matchups…

[More]

Fact.  Hornets are 7-1 in games decided by 3 points or less.  Fact.  The Hornets are 7-3 in their last 10, as good as any other Western Conference team as I write this.  Fact.  CP3 is as good as any MVP candidate.  So the T-Wolves took us to the buzzer.  They are, in fact, a professional basketball team.  Give them credit, they hung around the whole game and gave themselves a chance to win.  But the Hornets, who were outscored 24-11 at one point in the 4th, turned it around and finished on a 9-3 run and made the home crowd happy.

Early, it looked like a blow-out.  The Hornets ran out to an 8-0 lead and forced a time out.  They built the lead and kept it around ten most of the first quarter.  Then Byron starting subbing in the backups.  First Posey for Julian.  Then Marks for Hilton (who started in place of Tyson).  Then Mo in place of Butler.  They caved and gave up a lead, right?  Wrong.  They held their ground, and actually built the lead.  And as for Mo?  Ended up with 8 points (on 50% shooting) and 2 boards in 15 minutes.  A welcome bench contribution.  More than that, Mo was all over the floor on both ends, and helped space out the floor again, as defenders had to respect his 3-point shooting ability.

The surprise?  The starters came back in and gave up a run that let the Wolves close to 4 at the half.  Rick Kamla would be happy.  Then the third quarter.  Slow start, where we built the lead back up, but D-West struggled, clanking shots, looking frustrated, and ultimately getting into full trouble, and being shown the bench.  Or more accurately, the large blue bouncy ball that he sits on to keep his back loose.  The crowd was behind him, though, hollering at the refs, as he failed to get call after call; in the end, thought, the refs dictated that he’d be the one sitting, not shooting free throws.  

When we were at our best, we had great ball movement, finding Hilton and Marks underneath the rim, Mo cutting, Posey backing smaller defenders down, and Rasual with his little stutter-step stop jumper.  Also of note, Julian finally started to get aggressive, and used quick first step to penetrate and to break to the rim, and then kick out to the open shooters, finding both Mo and Rasual on such plays, each of whom nailed the deep shot.  (The Kid ended up with 6 pts, 3 bds, 2 asts, 1 steal, on 50% shooting in 15 minutes.)  And CP?  Well, he was CP.  He was all over the place, drawing fouls, driving hard, and putting the ball in the hoop through sheer force of will (I’ll take his 26-10-4-5 and raise you).  But CP’s jumper failed him in the late third and early fourth. Then, when West finally got back from his foul-induced exile in in the fourth, he was still cold.

So what happened?  Defense.  As much as Minnesota seemed unstoppable to start the fourth, they failed to score in the last several possessions as the Hornets clamped down, got the stops, and pulled down all the rebounds.  On the other end, we finally got into the penalty and D-West did what even on his worst of nights he can do: nail free throws (he’s 89% on the season; what’s your 4 forward hit at?).  And then, when it mattered most, and Kevin Love had again hit two free throws, with the clock running down, and the game on the line, CP penetrated deep through the Minnesota defense, the entire squad collapsed on him, and somehow, somehow, he found DX under the rim on a tough bounce pass around those defenders and West had only to dunk it home to take the lead.  The crowd exploded.

But there was 12.4 seconds left.  So we played defense, again.  Game-winning defense.  And that, that, is what makes me believe that this team can do something come May.  Any team can win.  But not every team can grind out a last minute win when it looks like the team that you kept around all night takes a late lead and is going to make you pay for doing so.  But the Hornets did.  So I believe.  So should you.

I submit for your consideration the following conversation that took place during the first half of the Hornets/Rockets game:

Ticktock6: Hey, I wonder if T-Mac made the trip. Probably not. After all, this is New Orleans. He might get shot.

mW: Yeah, I know, man. All those shootings that go on at the W.

Ticktock6: It’s a dangerous place. That W is like the wild, wild West.

I know what you’re thinking. It’s been over a year since Tracy McGrady made those comments about being scared to go to the All Star Game in New Orleans (the best part about that article, by the way, is how Rafer Alston chimes in and agrees with him, saying, “I’m scared right now, only because of the situation down there now. Right now, it’s pretty unsafe,” like anyone ever asked Rafer Alston to go to an All Star Game. Yeah you right, Skip. It’s like motherf***in Baghdad down here, BE AFRAID!). The rest of the world has pretty much forgotten it. But McGrady’s still on our $#*tlist. When am I gonna let it go? Oh come on, you know the answer is, like, never.

Especially not after this morning’s news that Rockets forward Carl Landry was shot in the leg late last night following Rockets @ Hornets. Oh, T-Mac, it was so wise and prescient of you to be worried about getting shot in New Orleans. You are clearly a prophet for our age….. BUT WAIT! Landry was actually shot when he stopped at a fast food restaurant at around 4 AM, after the Rockets’ flight back from New Orleans landed in Houston sometime after midnight last night.

OK, no seriously, it’s not funny. Someone being shot is never funny. And I am glad Carl Landry is all right. But…

I’m not saying… I’m just saying.

HornetsHype: Being Huge Assholes in the Name of New Orleans Patriotism Since 2008

Woe. There is no hype. There is anti-hype.

I’m not really going to talk about the Rockets game. There are plenty of other places you can take part in the meltdown. I’m not going to complain about the officiating because, while it was bad, it was so not the reason we lost that there isn’t any point. I was gonna have Pose write you some sad haikus, but unfortunately he and I aren’t speaking right now.

Anyhow, I just wanted to give you the heads up on some upcoming stuff:

1. NBA.com just unveiled its 2009 NBA Dance Team bracket. The Honeybees are up against the Lakers Girls, and amazingly, the picture they chose to represent the team is way better than the Lakers’ one. I think they might have a chance…. So, OK. I didn’t think anyone really paid attention to this stuff. Come to find out, mW takes it quite seriously. He even visits the team’s website to peruse the girls. But only, he informs me, in the case of tiebreakers…

……………… right.

2. Inspired by the NBA Dance Team bracket, I’ve decided to roll out the First Annual NBA Hot Baller bracket. Yes! I’ll probably be starting Thursday or Friday. That means all of you who are dudes can just scroll on by and roll your eyes, while all 5 of us female basketball fans vote for the hottest team in the NBA! I don’t think I’m going to bother with actual seeding based on looks, because that would be highly subjective. I’ll do the matchups based on actual team seedings as of tomorrow. And then, you know, let things play out where they fall. Also, in most cases it’s not going to be only one guy per team. Teams will be represented by their very best. Sorta like the dance team bracket, where you put your three best-looking girls in the front of the photo while hiding the unfortunate-looking ones in the back…

3. Thursday night is Casino Night, which is basically a season ticketholder event where you can mingle with the players… Well, or they’ll deal you a game of blackjack or something. There are prizes and food, and we’ll be there hopefully taking pictures, which we’ll post up. It was fun last year, but we got there a little too late to see some of the players, like Chris Paul, who put in his appearance early. I coulda met David West… we were like two ships passing in the night– OK, lurking by the buffet table– but he kinda looked like he wanted to stay incognito.

I’m out like the Hornets’ fourth-quarter offense…

Stop me if you’ve heard this one: the MVP race is a three way contest.  Be it the writers at NBAtv, ESPN, Yahoo, or wherever: it’s all about Kobe, Lebron, and Dwyane.  What about the guy who came in second in the MVP voting last year, Chris Paul?  Never mentioned.  These major media outlets run through highlights, and someone almost inevitably says something like “CP is playing is out of his mind, and he’s not even in the MVP conversation,” with a tone that’s somewhat apologetic.  But then they move on.  They have bigger markets to address, after all.

I guess the first thought might be that CP is having an off year.  Wrong.  Higher FG%, FT%, higher rebound rate, more steals per game, and more points per game on less shots than last year.  Oh, but his assists are down 0.6.  But he still leads the League in assists per game.  Don’t believe me?  Check out Basketball-Reference.com.  A great site.  (I got the numbers below from there too.)  Maybe the lack of discussion of CP3 for MVP is the Hornets record?  Nope.  We’re only a few games below last year’s pace, and well ahead of Wade’s Heat.  Okay, so forget this year and last.  There are no answers there.  So ask yourself a more pertinent question.  Is CP3 having an MVP-caliber season?  I figured the best way to find the answer was to compare his stats this year to those of past MVP point guard seasons.  Any predictions on how CP will stack up?

You hear now and then that Chris broke one of Oscar Robertson’s records.  Well, Oscar won the MVP in 1963-64.  Byron also likes to call CP a six-foot Magic Johnson; MJ won the MVP three times: in 1986-87, 1988-89, and 1989-90.  And, of course, the most recent point guard to win the MVP, was Steve Nash, back-to-back in 2004-05 and 2005-06.  So how does CP stack up?  Pretty damn well.  Not the best year ever by a point guard, but certainly within the spectrum of MVP-caliber play.  Let’s get to it.

One caveat must be given.  Oscar Robertson played in a different era, with different rules.  For starters, you’ll see he has no 3-point shooting stats.  There was no 3-point shot back then.  Also, they didn’t break the boards down into offensive and defensive, and didn’t count turnovers or steals. I’ve compared percentages and per game stats because obviously CP hasn’t played a full season yet this year.  The immediate impression that jumps out is that CP’s year is better really than either of Nash’s MVP seasons (something which the below stats will clearly confirm).  The other initial impressions are that Magic Johnson has some awesome years and the Big O played lots of minutes.

Minutes per game to me mostly means how important that guy is to their team.  One could suggest that CP’s longer minutes give him more time to accrue stats, but Nash and Magic played on higher paced teams.  (Yes, I know pace-adjusted stats are all the rage, but I’ll leave those to the real stat masters over at atthehive and hornets247 for now.  Plus, they don’t always work with guys as old as Oscar, as they didn’t keep all the same stats to input into the equations.)  Field goal percentage.  CP may be in the middle bottom of the pack, but he’s over the 50% threshold, which not many guards surpass.  His “weakness” if he can be said to have one, from looking at these stats, is 3-point shooting (one thing Nash excelled at), but CP’s kind of been on a slump from there lately, and he has 20 games to pull that  number up.

Free throw shooting?  CP may only come in at fifth here, but considering Duncan, Shaq, and Wilt have all been MVPs, well.  Yeah.  86% doesn’t sound too bad.  Rebounding, again mediocre, but notice that the only player his height, Nash, CP beats hands down.  Magic had 9 inches on Chris and Oscar had five.  Not bad, really.  Surprisingly, CP actually is only fifth at assists per game, as well.  You’d expect our little basketball wizard to be higher up, right?  Well, I’m going to cheat a little here and go to pace-adjusted stats.  We don’t have them for Oscar’s MVP season, but the best in his entire career was 37.8%.  Magic for his MVP years: 47.2%, 48.6%, and 45.5%.  Steve N with 49.2% and 44.4%.  How about Chris Paul this year?  54.8%.  Let me say that again.  54.8%.  By far the best.  You know how people say if CP played for D’Antoni, he’d average 20 assists a game?  Well, we need to start recognizing in the popular media the difference between pace and recognize CP’s greatness at any pace.

Now, the second set of stats make Chris’ case even more.  First, they show that CP is the master thief among MVP point guards.  Also, CP held onto the ball much better than any of these other guys.  Not surprisingly, thought, he’s not the best shot blocker.  Chris commits a few more fouls than anyone but Oscar, but as long as he’s not on average in foul trouble, which he’s not, who cares?  Magic and Oscar definitely kill CP in scoring, but CP crushed Nash.  Although, in fairness, Stevie was definitely the most effective scorer, as shown by True Shooting % and Effective Field Goal Percentage.

My final observation: CP dominates Hollinger’s Player Efficiency Rating.  Not only does he annihilate Nash, and handily beat the others, but he’s posting the highest PER ever for a point guard.  And guess what?  The guy who currently holds that distinction?  Chris Paul from last year.  And no one’s talking about this guy for MVP?  Seriously?  The case is clear.  CP3 is an MVP.  Not only that, but here’s a bonus stat.  Chris is in only in his fourth year; Oscar won the award in his fourth.  However, Magic won it in his 8th, 10th, and 11th seasons; and Nash won it in his 9th and 10th.  CP is just starting to peak.  Think about it.

The only remaining question is, then, is CP as good as Kobe, Lebron, or Dwyane this year?  One difficulty in making this determination is that they have different style games.  It’s like trying to explain why Nash beat out Shaq in 2006.  How do you really quantify what each one brings in comparison?  It’s apples and oranges.  Two 2 guards, a 3, and Chris at the 1?  You just can’t look at the same criteria for each one, but have to balance the overall impact of each player on his team, in some sort balancing test of shifting priorities.

Nonetheless, somewhat inexplicably, for “analysts,” all anyone ever says is that Chris doesn’t score as much as these guys!  If it was, Allen Iverson would have 4 MVPs and Tracy McGrady 2.  Yet, anyone who’s ever watched Chris play more than once or twice knows that he doesn’t try to dominate the game by scoring as much as these other guys.  That said, Hornets fans have seen him go off in a quarter for more than 20 on multiple occasions, just because he can, and the situation dictated it.  

But it’s not all about scoring.  It’s about making your team better.  CP knows it’s a team sport, and that even if he scores 50 or gets a triple double (the latter of which he leads the League with the most so far this year), and his team isn’t playing well, his team won’t win.  All that matters to Chris is winning, not personal stats, and his goal is a championship, nothing more, nothing less.  But along the way, he deserves to be mentioned by the rest of us as an MVP candidate.  And I say, as an MVP, period.  Here’s what some other people have to say:

• John Hollinger, ESPN;
• Dave Berri, The Wages of Wins Journal;
• Alejandro de Rios, The Gambit; and
• Rob Fitz, Celtics 17.

I know this much, Chris Paul’s stats this year compare favorably to those of past point guard MVPs.  Not just All-Stars.  MVPs.  So anyone that doesn’t at least put him in that conversation is crazy.

This is a public service announcement for the national basketball media. You are allowed to talk about Rasual Butler. No, seriously. I officially give you permission.

I’ve been mulling over this post in my mind for some time, thinking, “Damn, we should really do a post on the resurgence of ‘Sual this year,” but the moment it leapt to the forefront of our priority list was when I was watching the NBA on TNT last week. I’ve already ranted a bit on Charles Barkley’s rather uninformed comments about the team, but what really got me was how dismissive he was of Butler. Actually, he didn’t even seem to know that he was starting for the Hornets. And never mind the disparaging snarky comments I’ve heard from several different announcing teams, “Well, I guess you have to wonder with the Hornets how far you’re going to get when you have Rasual Butler starting, ho ho ho.”

OK, freeze. Rewind.

Last season around this time was when Byron Scott finally gave up on Butler. Hornets fans breathed a sigh of relief. Finally we could stop cringing as #45 launched up brick after brick. It was almost inexplicable, how a player’s shot could so thoroughly desert him. It was like Devin Brown in November/December of this season, but worse. (If you want a full perspective on how bad I am talking about, at one point Brown was shooting 15% from three. So we are talking bad.) Butler didn’t even suit up for the playoffs. He only played in 51 games, for an average of 17 minutes per game, most of those minutes in the beginning of the season before it became apparent how brutally awful of a year he was having. He averaged 4.9 points per game over the course of his truncated season. Add an offseason gun arrest into the mix, and Hornets fans were left wondering if there was a way to trade a guy who had zero value and made $3.6 million.

OK, stop. Fast forward.

In 2008-09 the man Hornets fans have begun to refer to as “The Phoenix” is starting for the Hornets. (Helpful hint to the national media, who seem to be having trouble locating him: He is the dude out in the corner who is not Chris Paul, David West, Tyson Chandler, or Peja Stojakovic.) He plays a career high 30 minutes a game and averages 11.2 points. The fact is, Rasual Butler is doing a better job than Morris Peterson (8.0 PPG) ever did last season. And in 2009, he has absolutely been lighting it up.

Check this: Over the Hornets’ last 10 games, ‘Sual Bop is averaging 18.2 points per game on .496 shooting. Your resident fact checka is here to inform you that that’s a better percentage than Kobe Bryant and Ray Allen are currently shooting over the same 10 game split.

So he’s not one of the top shooting guards in the league. Like, whoo. Who does your team start at the 2? OK, don’t answer that question. I realize the Hornets have a different situation than many NBA teams. The fact is that not every team has a Chris Paul, whereas there are many dominant shooting guards in the league. Of course if you’ve got one, the offense is going to be run through him. So when you go to evaluate a guy like Rasual Butler, who effectively plays the role of the 4th or 5th wheel on the Hornets, as opposed to other 2 guards who are a bigger part of the offense, you will need to make some adjustments. At the Hive has done the numbers on this, analyzing where Butler fits in with other shooting guards when you adjust for usage rate. (The answer is 2nd in the league, behind Utah’s Ronnie Brewer, making ‘Sual a pretty efficient dude for the touches he gets.)

Too bad he’s like the Invisible Man over here.

I’m not asking you to proclaim him the next big star or anything like that. I’m just asking you to recognize that here’s a guy who, at the age of 29, is quietly playing the best basketball of his life. But you know, maybe it’s OK that everyone’s not talking about Rasual Butler. You just go right ahead and leave him open to swish shots over your head. Maybe it’s enough that Hornets fans recognize and appreciate him. And honestly, we might understand him a little more, and on a little deeper level, than the average NBA observer anyway. His success this year, while uplifting, means more to us than to you.

In New Orleans, we know a little something about rising from the ashes.

I should get one. What would it look like?

Kinda slow on the uptake, a little depressed, and with a goofy “it wasn’t me!” grin? Why, Pose, why?

We need to put an APB out on the Hornets bench. Like now. Lost: one bench. Age: 23-33. Height: 6′8″ish, on the average. Ethnicity: mostly African American, with a touch of Iowa and Kiwi. Last seen: In the second quarter, looking sheepish. If found, please return to Verizon Center, 601 F Street NW, Washington, DC. Before tomorrow afternoon if possible.

But since it’s always nice to end with something funny after you talk about something horrifyingly bad, here: go  over to Ball Don’t Lie and caption this photo of Shocked!DWest.

I’m going to flat out say this: I haven’t read the Charley Rosen “Deron Williams is better than CP” column.

I know, right? Amazing self-restraint… or is it just that I find it difficult to summon up the will to care about a piece of writing I know isn’t backed up by statistical fact, written by a guy — who works for Fox– who has had a penchant in the past for watching one Hornets game a year (usually a blowout loss) and making sweeping generalizations based on that one game? I think Rosen spent most of last season on my $#*tList. Because I have a deep and abiding hatred for him? No, because he just sucks. “Williams goes left better than Paul”? Is this basketball, or fucking Zoolander?

I dunno. You go read it if you want. Or instead you could check out this post by Rob Fitz of Celtics 17 to see how Chris stacks up to Magic and Stockton. Or you could just look at this:

2006
Paul:
16 points
8 assists
5 rebounds
2 steals
2.3 TO

Williams:
10 points
5 assists
2 rebounds
1 steal
1.8 TO

2007
Paul:
17 points
9 assists
4 rebounds
3 steals
2.5 TO

Williams:
16 points
9 assists
3 rebounds
1 steal
3.0 TO

2008
Paul:
21 points
12 assists
4 rebounds
3 steals
2.5 TO

Williams:
19 points
11 assists
3 rebounds
1 steal
3.4 TO

2009
Paul:
21 points
11 assists
5 rebounds
3 steals
2.9 TO

Williams:
19 points
11 assists
3 rebounds
1 steal
3.4 TO

FG% on 2-point jump shots this season:
Paul 47.4 percent, Williams 47.2 percent.

FG% on 3-pointers this season:
Paul 34.1 percent, Williams 31.9 percent.

FG% on inside shots this season:
Paul 63.1 percent, Williams 56.5 percent.

And 1’s this season:
Paul 31, Williams 19

(Thanks, Hornets Report and Hornets 24/7.)

When will it end? When? When? (UPDATE: Apparently never. Whatever. Ryne Nelson can’t really hide the fact that he’s laughably biased against Chris Paul at this point. In fact, I don’t even know why I linked to that. It killed brain cells. It literally had nothing to add except, “Haha! I found someone who thinks I’m not wrong.” UPDATE TO THE UPDATE: Hollinger knows.)