Hornets Hype

I had meant to post this a couple weeks ago. It’s something David West did for EA Sports. I really liked it ’cause I think you’ll agree it’s a little more of D West than we usually see.

The Beastitude of a True Fighter

A lot of us die-hards were dealing with disillusionment in the aftermath of Friday’s loss to the Knicks. I think it was the point when some of us finally said goodbye to this season’s playoff hopes. The team came out of the All-Star break on a tear, traded Tyson Chandler, got him back, went on a 7-game winning streak, lost Peja, lost Tyson again, had a chance to steal the division lead from the Rockets at home and failed miserably, won too-close games against weak teams, and then had another chance to leap a spot in the standings against the Nuggets at home and failed miserably. Roller coaster, right?

Losing to the Knicks, in a game where Chris Paul stooped so low as to engage in trash talk with the likes of Nate Robinson … James Posey got ejected and suspended for chucking the ball at a ref … the team performed a complete 180 and decided to entirely abandon defense in the second half… seemed sort of like an end. It seemed like we were able to exhale that breath and finally come to terms with the fact that a team that could lose, and worse, lose like that, in the middle of a tight playoff race was just not a contender. And I’m ashamed to admit it almost felt good to let go of that, after all the injuries and disappointments of this season. I wondered on Twitter whether it would be better to save money by not buying playoff tickets, since we were one and done anyway.

And so it was that on Sunday I arrived at the Spurs game thinking, “Okay, we’re not going to win. No Tyson. No Peja. No Posey. I’ll just have some beers and enjoy being here. Enjoy the games we have left.” It’s a slow process, letting go of a season. The cracks appeared early. The .500 start. Then they got a little deeper. The home loss to the Warriors. The 4th quarter meltdown against the Blazers. Then they dropped the Knicks game on Friday. And suddenly, there it was in front of us, what we should have seen all along.

It was right after tipoff that I glanced up and realized that the arena was full. And I mean really full. People stacked to the top of the upper bowl. And not quiet people, either. This became apparent in the first two or three minutes, when a weak foul call on what looked like a Tim Duncan flop was met with a roar of boos.

So I guess at this point I should explain the hangup I have about this team. Which is that, every time they go on a losing streak, I get completely freaked out. Because we’re not that far removed from last season, when no one was coming to games. And part of me is just terrified that if the team fails this season, people will give up and stop coming. I do not want this team to leave New Orleans. I will fight and scratch and throw elbows for them not to leave this city. I will do whatever I can to prevent that from ever happening. I started this blog because I felt this so strongly.

On Sunday, I looked at the people hanging over the edge of the upper deck and it hit me, and I thought, “Oh my god. The city still believes in this team.” The crowd was roaring and the adrenaline was blazing and I’d forgotten how that could be.  And the Hornets were winning. They had no business winning. I don’t think anyone I talked to that day even bothered to entertain the thought of them winning. I mean, we were all just there for the beer. I thought to myself at that moment, “I would trade three losses to the Knicks for what I saw in this building tonight.” And it’s a sentiment that doesn’t make sense when you’re racing for playoff seeding. You can’t trade three games for one game. It’s a feeling I can’t explain. Maybe I’m just a junkie for this team, but I meant it. Five days later, I still mean it.

It’s stupid, right? Because how I feel can’t impact what happens in these games. What is a crowd, after all, but a lot of people yelling? But we do care. And we feel disillusioned and mad and cheated on the nights when it seems like the team doesn’t care. Because when we come to games, come yelling till we’re hoarse, come wearing the team colors, come booing and cursing and refusing to sit down, we’re putting a bit of ourselves out there and into the game. And we want to feel like we’re getting something in return.

We just want something we can feel proud of.

The team gives David West a standing ovation

And then, as if we were even expecting it to be taken up another notch after the Spurs game, in stepped David West.

I’m not sure this was appreciated by the national media, because how many people watch Kings or Clippers games? Surely not many. But the dude could barely walk on a messed-up ankle, let alone run. And he drops 40-9-6 on the Kings. He comes out of the game with just a couple minutes left and we think, surely he’s done. But suddenly Sacramento throws up a crazy shot, and the Hornets are down one with just 1.7 on the clock. And there’s David West, checking into the game, wincing. And yet he holds off two Kings defenders so Rasual Butler can get that one shot. And, well, we all know what happens then.

This is what I say.

It’s time to stop waiting for the team of potential greatness that exists in my head to show up. It’s time to love the team we have. The one that’s fun but terribly flawed. The one that sometimes seems a little too laid-back and underachieving. The one that the rest of the country gave up on a long time ago. Because they wear New Orleans on their shirts, and when you think about it, they’re not so different from this city, are they?

What it comes down to for me is this: Any team that can come out and fight like what I saw this week, I will follow to the end.

So let’s go there. 74 down. 8 to go.

Okay, folks.  Tough order today.  A fully healthy Spurs team against a depleted Hornets squad.  No Tyson.  No Peja.  Posey suspended.  Hilton is gimpy.  This would be a tough game at full strength, let alone with what we have.  So can the Hornets win?  I don’t know.  But I know one thing.

Chris Paul and David West have to go Nova.

No iffs ands or buts.  Well, unless we put up like 18 three-pointers, but Butler, Mo, and the rest of the cast haven’t seemed to have been putting up that many lately, let alone making them all.  But otherwise, if our two All-Stars don’t rip it up, well, it’s back to the Ledge for Hornets fans.  (Speaking of, haven’t seen those Phoenix people lately…where they at?)  But I don’t see our guys failing.  Win or lose, these two are going to leave it all out there.

CP and DX understand that this isn’t just another game to put one in the win column.  This isn’t even important because it’s a Western Conference or Divisional game.  Nope. This is the team that knocked us out of the playoffs last year.  On our home court.  In Game 7.  It’s about revenge.

We can all say that we have good “character” guys, who don’t care about things like that.  But I say that’s bullshit.  These guys are competitors.  They get angry.  They harbor dark feelings.  You may not see that side of them in interviews or at charity events, but if you watch our guys on the court, they have that dark fire in them.  So tonight, I hope they will unleash that dark side.  They’ll need it.

Just some stuff traveling through a series of tubes.

• The people over on DIME debate who’s better, David West or LaMarcus Aldridge?
• Tyson Chandler blogs about his wife dragging him to the Britney Spears concert last night, how awesome David West is, and his daughter inflicting torture on his baby son, among other topics.
• We ain’t signing any of those guys who got waived, ’cause they’ve all been signed.
• CP3 at the Foot Locker on Canal Street tonight at 6.
• True Hoop’s investigation of the NBA’s traveling rule. It’s several posts long, and it’s fascinating.
• This isn’t Hornets related, but it’s one of the most hilarious things I read last week. I’m not sure how many of you are on Twitter, but Shaq’s Twitter feed is one of the funniest things out there. He’ll occasionally bust out with things like, “I’m at the bus stop at ___ and ____. First person to tag me gets 2 tickets to the Lakers.” What should his next Random Act of Shaqness be? This post  has some wickedly fun ideas about what The Big Shaqtus should instruct his followers to do, such as:

“yo i hate broccoli. every 1 go 2 the grocery stores, buy up all the broccoli, and burn it. there will be no broccoli in phoenix 2 nite. yur man shaq”

“im at the busy intersection downtown. any twitterin drivers here? if there are, shut off yur ignition and calmly walk away from yur cars. it will cause hours of gridlock and bring the citys infrastructure to a halt. in accordance with my master plan. peace”

And on that note, I’m out trying to create mass hysteria via my Twitter feed…

Tired Pose smiley ’cause it’s too early to be up.

Quoth Mr. West: "Rrraawwwrr!"

Of  the week, that is.

David West was just named the Western Conference Player of the Week after averaging 30-11 in his last three games. D-West has been all-around beasting in many scary, dangerous ways since the All Star break. We know Chris Paul gets these kind of awards all the time, but I can’t recall West getting one and seeing him get recognition makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.

So, just a friendly warning, you might want to step out of his way. He’s kind of a big deal right now. He has many leatherbound books… as well as an attitude, lotsa tats, and a chip the size of the state of Arizona on his shoulder.

Yes, Arizona. Exactly that size.

So. How was your week?

You wish there was a moment to stop and take a breath, but it’s the Lakers up tonight, the Jazz tomorrow, Mardi Gras in full effect till Tuesday. On the other hand, I’ll argue that we learned things about this team in the whirlwind of the past three crazy days. And they are good things.

We watched as, instead of collapsing, the Hornets won two games in the wake of the Chandler trade.

We learned who the leaders are. True, it wasn’t really surprising. But we saw David West speak up. (If there’s any word to describe D-West, outspoken is not it.) On a night when the Hornets organization seemed to be bombarding the fans and the press with cheerfully spun declarations about how they traded for two shorter guys to improve their rebounding, he was the one voice to say that the trade wasn’t a basketball decision, and he wasn’t happy with a move that would seriously handicap their playoff chances. I will always admire him for that. We saw Chris Paul tell the press, “Me and D-West talked about it before the game last night — if we go down, we’ve got to go down fighting.” And we were heartened by it.

We learned that the fans of New Orleans, despite comments to the contrary, are going to support this team, coming close to selling out the arena on a parade night with many fans bitter about what they saw as purely a cost-cutting move. And those fans were treated to a late Christmas present.

We learned that, when implemented wisely, the Hornets’  assortment of backup bigs can stand up to Dwight Howard. I don’t know what that says about other future games, but it’s not a bad thing.

We learned that, once every few months at least, John DeShazier and I will agree on something. I know, right?

We learned that we will follow Chris Paul wherever he leads us. And so will this team.

I’m not going to worry about the whole failing-the-physical thing right now, because there’s no point. Let’s focus on the short term. Tyson is the guy we have. And he says he’ll be back Monday or Wednesday. That’s enough for me.

What the Hornets got Wednesday night was one last chance to get it done with the guys on this roster.

They have to take it.

The Hype is taking a much-needed vacation.

A little warm weather relaxation,  a little All Star watching, maybe a little site redesign, but mostly hitting the streets of Uptown with a dash of Bring Your Own Beverage for the first big parade weekend.

But before you head out there, you should totally check out At the Hive’s excellent post on the State of the New Orleans Hornets. I can say this stuff a hundred times, but at the end of the day it’s based on love, not stats, and no offense, love ain’t gonna get you many rebounds and second chance points. But numbers don’t lie, and the post has a numerical breakdown of what’s gone wrong for the Hornets this season so far, and what needs to happen for it to go right in the final 32 games.

So, go forth, friends, and remember to rep the Hornets in your teal & stripes at the parades this weekend! ‘Cause there’s a lot of basketball yet to be played. And no one gets drunk or laid at a pity party.

See you on the flipside of the season.

P.S. I would like to thank the Great NBA Love of My Life Paul Pierce, who singlehandedly dropped Dallas in the 4th quarter last night to put the Mavs below the Hornets in the standings heading into the All Star break. Forgiven!

David M.F. West on Jim Rome last week. He talks about being selected to the All Star game, and his general low-key-ness.

He made the team!

West Reserves:

Shaq, Gasol, West, Nowitzki, Parker, Billups, and Roy

I don’t know how I feel about that. I mean, obviously, we’re happy. But Gasol averaging 17/9, West 20/7, Shaq 18/9…. Al Jefferson 23/10. Let’s not quibble over who’s a forward and who’s a center. Let’s not say who out of those three guys should have been left off. But um… yeah.

There are two other equally on-the-bubble bigs, but you know the haters are totally gonna pick David West to hate on. “David Who?” Sigh. STFU.

Guys. This is actually really cool. Last year when we got Tyson Chandler bobbleheads, I complained about how it couldn’t really look like Tyson because it had no tats. I mean, that’s pretty lame. If they can get Chris Paul’s two-colored bracelets right, you’d think they can at least stamp some ink on it.

I can see it if the guy has one tattoo, but when even the Allen Iverson bobblehead is pristinely inkless, it just becomes weird. Whatever. You can’t tell me that’s AI. It’s like Iverson’s preppy clone. If it’s acceptable that Iverson the person has tattoos, how come it’s not acceptable for Iverson the bobblehead doll to have them? I THINK THE CHILDREN HAVE EYES. Like, the secret’s out of the bag. The impressionable youth already <gasp> know he has them.

But check out the David West bobblehead we got on Monday. DX wouldn’t be DX without, well, the X? Would he? I didn’t think so. Amazingly, the bobblehead makers agreed, as you can see from the photo–

… HA. Yeah right. The bobblehead makers are corporate whores. But luckily, your friend TT6 likes small (and we are talking really, really small) art projects. I only did five out of the seven (um, unless he’s got some under the uniform we don’t know about, obviously), but I think I managed to create the desired effect. You shoulda seen how sweet the tat under the X looked before I accidentally stuck my finger on it and smudged it…