Hornets Hype

• Hoops Addict got David West to talk about Michael Eric Dyson, the media, and Byron Scott (although he doesn’t really bite on that one, haha) in a nice interview
• Twitter suspended the fake (and BRILLIANT) Devin Brown for “suspicious activity” yesterday … and there was much sadness
• My fun report (with pics!) about Chris Paul’s bowling event (no spoilers, though) should be up soon
• Dime Mag has Marcus Thornton listed as one of their Top 5 Second Round Steals
• As a resident of New Orleans who experienced Hurricane Katrina, I think we all should be concerned about the devastation in Haiti following the earthquake. Personally, I will always remember the people who sent me checks or donated clothing (try living in Boston in winter without any socks and see how that goes for you… of course I didn’t bring socks when I evacuated, I barely wear socks here) or furniture (we had an empty apartment with one mattress until a lovely couple I didn’t even know donated us their extra stuff). So if you have anything extra to spare, consider donating to Yele (Wyclef Jean’s foundation), or you can make a $10 donation to the Red Cross by texting “HAITI” to “90999? (it’ll be added to your phone bill). I am sort of sketched out by the Red Cross, however, because I believe they are not guaranteed to use your money for a specific disaster. So alternatively, you might want to consider Doctors Without Borders, Unicef, or even, to keep it basketball related, Sixer and native Haitian Samuel Dalembert’s foundation. He personally gave $100,000 and is apparently matching any donations made at the Sixers game tonight.

A lot of people aren’t particularly impressed with the Hornets winning seven out of their last eight games. The margin of victory, until last night’s blowout of the Clippers, was never more than five points during their six game win streak.

And there was much rejoicing.

The numbers do not reflect a significant improvement on offense or defense. The streak might end up being just a bunch of fool’s gold. And it’s true, they’ve been close, up-and-down, streaky games, and sometimes it just seemed like an accident that when the 48 minutes were up, the Hornets were on top.

If that’s an accident, it’s the sort of accident championships have been based on. Am I saying this is a championship caliber team? No way. But what I’m saying is there are a lot of teams in this league that are more or less equal in terms of talent/record/whatever. And it is the small, almost accidental things that put teams over the top of each other in the standings. You can break down stats and make arguments, but it just is. There is no such thing as “you didn’t deserve to win that game.” There is only “you won that game,” or “you didn’t.”

Meanwhile, don’t look now but, although he started about an assist and a half behind him last month when he came back from his injury, last night Chris Paul tied Steve Nash to lead the league in assists with 11.2. His jumper has started to come back on, as well. And he and Emeka Okafor have really started to click in the last few weeks. David West and James Posey, two players who started out the year below expectations, have turned it up a few notches during this streak. Peja’s been having some sweet first halves. Marcus Thornton is, wonderfully, back to his crashing, shot-swishing self that was on display in November. Last night he actually got an and-1 on one of his drives to the basket. The poor kid gets mugged under the basket on a nightly basis and rarely gets calls– such is the life of a second rounder– and yet he’s always back at it, crashing the boards and trying his best to finish amongst a lot of guys a lot taller than he is.

And– at the risk of going all Bill Simmons on you– the team looks like they like each other again. A few games ago, after a particularly vicious block, I saw David West reach over and give Okafor a back-of-the-head slap that almost send him into next week. Bobby Brown, say what you like about his shot selection, is infectious in his excitement when he leaps around the bench after a big play. Players are talking on the floor. Everyone on the team was messing with Posey when they announced on the jumbotron that it was his 33rd birthday last night. Chris Paul is smiling as he weaves in and out of the ranks of his competitors on his way upcourt— shut up. I’m just playing. Of course he’s not.

And now I remember how much I love pulling for this team. I’ve seen them shine, I’ve seen them fall, but damned if it’s not fun to see them climb.

Whoo!

As I sit here and reflect on Hilton Armstrong’s trade to the Kings, I think of all the times I said, “Yeah, right. Who would trade for Hilton? We’d have to pay them to take him.” And yet, here we are, and someone has indeed traded for Hilton Armstrong. I guess I’d just like to say–

Wait, what? Oh, we did pay the Kings to take him. Oh.

Just kidding, it’s always sad to see a player go. But I’m glad it was a player who wasn’t currently contributing. This is actually a much better small get-under-the-luxury-tax move than the Devin Brown trade that didn’t go through. (Things you thought you’d never type…) And really, I have to admit I kind of felt personally betrayed by Hilton. All the times I stuck up for him, all the times I said, “MAYBE THAT WAS HIS BREAKOUT GAME!!!” every 20th game where he put up 8/8 or something… all for naught. It’s sad. I guess Hilton will always remain the poster child for why you should never draft a big guy for size and then hope he “gets it” later.

Since he really hasn’t played in the last few weeks, my last memory of Hilton will be him dunking at the open practice we went to in early December, hamming it up and leaping around being goofy for the fans. The crowd loved it.  But I’m glad that will be my last memory of Hilton in Hornets colors– it’s a nice way to go out.

Here’s hoping he’ll be able to find whatever he was missing in Sacramento.

P.S. I’m not really horrified by this trade, if you look at the current mood below, I just really wanted to use that face one more time before I have to change it.

Link: Ticktock6 smacking down some peeps about this trade elsewhere for LOLZ.

It’s funny, I spent so much time getting hyped up for “THIS IS THE .500 GAME GUYS, AND WE HAVE THE KNICKS/RAPS/CRAPPY TEAM!” only to have the team continue to lose. And then the Hornets end up getting to .500 in about the most unlikely and unpredictable way possible: 1) On the road, where they were 2-13, B) Against the Jazz (yes, I consider the Jazz the most unlikely road win, even over the Lakers. The Hornets have put together some great wins in LA). And then they actually went into OKC and put in a nice balanced effort last night to string together their first road win streak of the season and a 4-game win streak overall.

It wasn’t until about ten minutes after the game ended that I realized the Hornets were a winning team for the first time this season. I think At the Hive put this aptly when he observed that this year the Hornets have “a very random resilience.” I don’t know if it’s having young rookies with fresh legs come off the bench or Byron Scott getting fired or what, but the Hornets aren’t caving and getting steamrolled when things aren’t going their way quite as badly as they were in the beginning of the season or even last year. They’re winning games they aren’t supposed to win. They’re taking care of business at home. They’ve got to be up there at the top of the list in terms of the percentage of close games they’ve played in/won this season. (Hello, stat people? Does this observation have validity?) And they’re winning games against teams that are ahead of them in the standings, ie: the teams they need to beat to grab a playoff spot. And they have the Nets this Friday.

And… oh, what the hell. Go team.

P.S. I’m going to be at Chris Paul’s bowling event this afternoon. It’s being taped to air on ESPN in February, so I can’t tell you who won or anything. But check my twitter @ticktock6 for updates!

Just kidding. With Emeka Okafor’s chef. But this article was probably the first feature I’ve read from a mainstream media all season that didn’t focus on doom and gloom and how much the Hornets suck. I really do offer them props for that. It was very refreshing to just read about a guy on the team. No drama.

Check out the rest of the feature.

Devin Brown scores a career high 30 points in the Hornets win at Utah in a wild & desperate bid to make me take him seriously

Where do we go from here, Devin? Where do we go from here?

Let me lay this out there. I get a lot of enjoyment out of my neverending mockery of you. A lot. I know it’s sort of irrational, in a “what did this guy ever do to you?” type of way. And I know that I am all about loving my team, and indeed you are, in fact, on my team. That is a conundrum. But hating you gives me pure amusement, and I think that is rare enough in life that you can understand why I am loath to let something as insignificant as your newly rediscovered ability to play basketball take all the fun away from me. Your name is like a swear word to me, always uttered in its entirety. You are neither “Devin” nor “Brown” to me, but instead some special amalgamation: “wtfdevinbrown.”

Why you, Devin Brown? It’s hard to say. I suspect it probably started when you shot 15% from three last November. I also suspect you are something of a scapegoat. “How come the Hornets sucked so badly last night?” “Because Devin Brown turned the ball over three times.” “Why is it raining and forty degrees outside?” “Probably because Devin Brown is somewhere in the city, lurking.” “Why did the toaster catch on fire and fill the apartment with smoke?” “I blame Devin Brown.” Etc. Oh yeah, and your stupid shoes with the velcro strap that you always leave flapping like a 6th grader who thinks he looks cool? … They suck too. And you look like a ninja turtle (if only DB and Bonzi Wells had been on the team at the same time. The photoshoppings could have been mind-blowing, I tell you. Mind-blowing.)

But there are also real things. Devin Brown is one of those infuriating players who has a great game every … well, honestly, it used to be every 8th or 10th game, but this season it’s been more like every 4th or 5th. And while, sure, I was glad superficially when he contributed something, because, hey, I think the Hornets have enough players dragging down their roster who contribute practically nothing, I also experienced a sinking feeling whenever Devin Brown had a good game. Because I knew deep down inside that it was just justification for Byron Scott to hand Devin Brown more minutes. Minutes that, last year, I thought would be better off given to Mo Pete (one of my favorites) or Julian Wright (youth) and, this year, Marcus Thornton (LIL BUCKETS!!!)

Devin Brown is also infuriating in that, if I compliment him, before I am finished typing the comment (“You know, Devin Brown is act– WHAT. THE. FUCK.”) or have closed my mouth, he has flailed up into the air and thrown the ball away out of bounds or taken a long two after having at least 4 seconds with no defender remotely in the same zip code to stare at his feet. Or charged someone. Or… failed in some other egregious way. (Devin Brown does have a knack for failing quite spectacularly, I have to give him that. You won’t not notice a Devin Brown turnover. Oh no.) On the flip side, if I rag on Devin mercilessly, he usually hits his threes. And the more I hate on him, the better he plays and the more I am incensed.

An actual tweet about Devin Brown.

So, I ask you, what is my motivation for ceasing my sheer irrational hatred of Devin Brown? There is none. The more I hate, the better he is. Do you really want me to stop now? Of course you don’t. And so, in answer to the several people who commented or @ replied me on Twitter and asked if I was going to stop hating on Devin Brown, hell no! It’s like a way of life, okay? You can’t just change it, just like that. Look, I have made hating on Devin Brown into a pastime, nay, an art form. You can’t ask me to give that up because– yeah, yeah, yeah, you scored 30 points. The Hornets won in Utah. The team is .500 for the first time all year. I saw you, Devin.

Just keeeeeeep walking, Leonardo………. Oh, and well played.

A little background: The Hornets held a 94-93 lead over the Rockets with 43 seconds left when Carl Landry ran over James Posey and subsequently fouled out. Rick Adelman was apparently incensed about this and made a few cutting statements to the media after the game. I have to say the officiating was pretty bad in this game– probably the worst I’ve seen at a home game this season– but it was also evenly bad. There were plenty of unbelievable calls that had the home crowd yelling and booing as well.

I know this is a floppers’ league, but come on. Can we at least pretend not to be so obvious about it?

From the AP recap:

Landry said he didn’t run over Posey intentionally and that Posey “tried to flop a little bit.”

Posey said he’d recognized the play Houston was running and moved into Landry’s path.

“He didn’t even slow down and he just ran me over and I was able to get the call,” Posey said. “It was just one of those heady plays, just saving it for a stretch like that.”

But the quote in Landry’s home paper is a little different:

When Landry ran over James Posey while looking to post up — the call that most infuriated the Rockets and fouled Landry out of the game — the Rockets had gone more than two scoreless minutes, putting Paul in position to adroitly guide the Hornets through the final minutes.

“I knew (Posey) was going to be there,” Landry said. “I tried to flop a little bit and get the call to go my way. They were at home. I guess it didn’t go our way.

The NBA: Where Complaining Because the Other Guy Is a Better Flopper Than You Happens.

• January 2009: Tracy McGrady is very nearly voted into a starting All Star Game slot over Chris Paul. Tyson Chandler gets hurt. David West gets hurt. Hilton Armstrong gets hurt (not usually a noteworthy thing in itself, but noteworthy in combination with the former two items, meaning the Hornets were almost entirely without big men).
• February 2009: Chris Paul gets hurt. Tyson Chandler and David West continue to be hurt. The Hornets trade Tyson Chandler. Then untrade Tyson Chandler.
• March 2009: Peja gets hurt. Tyson has, as aforementioned, still not been traded…. but is still hurt.
• April 2009: Hornets go 2-6 heading into the playoffs, causing them to fall to the seventh seed. But otherwise, nothing important happens this month, especially on the 27th.
• May 2009: Hornets fans are in a state of stunned shock as it is revealed that Devin Brown has a player option for 2009-10. Some other teams play some playoff games somewhere and stuff.
• June 2009: The Hornets draft DC and Marcus Buckets. Oh wait, these were good things. I guess this was a good month for the Hornets, then. Perhaps unironically, the month in which the least actual basketball was played.
• July 2009: The Hornets trade Tyson Chandler. Again. And sign some underrated guy who will never actually play for the team. Because–I know you won’t be able to guess this one– he gets hurt.
• August 2009: Hornets trade Rasual Butler for our new best friend, Cap Space.
• September 2009: Emeka Okafor gets hurt. If you were going to say, “Wait, the season hasn’t actually started yet!” … you would be right.
• October 2009: The Hornets rookies look great in preseason, and are, of course, promptly benched by Byron Scott.
• November 2009: Hornets lose a bunch of games. Byron Scott gets fired. Chris Paul gets hurt. (To add to the fun, those last two things happen within a day of each other! Good. Timez.) The national media writes 15,761 million posts and articles about how Chris Paul doesn’t smile, even though Chris Paul has never smiled on the floor. And then 365,298 posts about how the Hornets should trade him, preferably to _____ (insert beat writer’s local team).
• December 2009: Hornets have three consecutive chances to get to .500 against teams worse than them. They fail three consecutive times. Hornets, showing a real knack for capping off the Worst Year Ever in a way that pretty nicely sums things up, trade Devin Brown to the T-Wolves for cap space. And then it gets taken back. Oh, and just to bring things full circle, Tracy McGrady is very nearly voted into a starting All Star Game slot over Chris Paul. Again.

"No, no, no. Go past this. Pass this part. In fact, never play this again."

Did I miss anything? I think we are all in agreement when I say, “Here’s to 2010!”

Hornets Hype: Specializing in Awkward Situations Since 2007

Oh, you thought I was gonna post about the game? Nah. The Hornets won. ‘Cause they were at home (12-3). It was good times.

The talk on the Twitterator is there might be a deal in the works to send Devin Brown to Minnesota for Jason Hart (who is a non-guaranteed contract and would be waived —–> cap space), or some similar deal possibly involving another team. Update: Or some other Hornet for cap space??

Update Again: Nope, it’s on the T-Wolves website now. Brown for Hart.

Updated Update 12:20 PM: Now it’s gone! The plot thickens!

I think, in honor of this deal, whether it goes down officially or not, we should all compile a list of Things Cap Space Will Do Better/Worse Than Devin Brown.

I’ll start. Cap space will turn the ball over fewer times per game. Who wants to go next?