Finally! The NBA plans to impose fines on floppers next season. (Why oh why couldn’t they have come up with this idea sooner, so we could all be watching Hornets/Lakers right now?) So, right on. If players feel they’re not doing the right thing unless they fall on the floor to “sell” calls, something is awry. Hockey eventually began to penalize diving, and that’s worked out pretty well. Of course, the best part of this article is what Rasheed Wallace had to say about it. I won’t quote it here because, hey, this is not a Sheed blog, but trust me. You’ll be (expletive) entertained.

Over on the official blog, it’s been announced that they’re going to have Hornets Insider articles, along with a couple of other new features, next season. The first one is Eight Things to Know About NBA Scouting, which was an interesting read, especially the parts about the off-the-court stuff the Hornets look at in prospects.

And don’t forget to go to At the Hive and vote on the How’d He Do? season player review series. He’s done Ely, Peterson, West, and Wells so far. (Wow, I decided I was gonna go with all last names on that one to keep it consistent, but it felt really weird to type. Like my fingers really were resistant to not throwing in nicknames or initials. Wah.)

And here’s a sentence you never thought you’d see:

The Spurs are going to have to put better players around their big three. They’re going to have to get younger and more athletic, and they’ll need to get a better power forward to match up with David West in N.O., and Pau Gasol (who will move to the 4 when Andrew Bynum returns) or Odom in L.A.

That’s from the ESPN Roundtable today, which discusses the Spurs’ future. I just love the name drop of D West. A year ago, you didn’t think you’d see that, did you? (Of course you didn’t think Gasol would be in L.A., either, come to think of it…) They also call the Hornets “ascendant.”

Ascendant. Great word.

Anyhow, tomorrow morning I’m taking a flight to Syracuse, on my way to visit the (expletive) awesomeness that is St. Lawrence University, where I will be getting up to All. Sorts. Of. Trouble at my 5 Year Reunion. So I will clearly not be seen in these parts until Monday, not that I’ve been posting much lately anyway. But I do want to go through that playoff swag next week and figure out what to send to who. So ticktock6 = partying. Ticktock6 = not in the NOLA.

And then next Friday is my birthday, which, if someone wants to make it a real memorable one, you know, it would be great to wake up and be notified that next year’s season tickets are now free. Or like, Tyson Chandler on my doorstep… I’m just saying. No? Fine, I’ll just have a Tanqueray and tonic, I guess…

Later, Buzz Friends. I’m out like Ginobili’s flop.

Losses to the Lakers and Kings? Eh. Dropped 3 out of 4? Pshaw. It could be worse. We could be racked by injuries. We could have traded away all our assets. We could be starting D-Leaguers in an effort to “evaluate talent.” And speaking of trades and D-League, probably you are all wondering in the midst of the final days of the NBA regular season, what ever happened to the Hornets’ OTHER Iowan, Adam Haluska?

Of course you are. No word on whether the Hornets will invite him back to training camp next year, but Adam signed up with Iowa’s D-League team, the Energy. Suddenly, he found himself playing just under 40 minutes a game over 11 games. In doing so, he put up a FG% of 42%, while shooting only 30% from 3-point range, though managing almost 19 points a game. He also added about 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 steal per contest.

As someone who always wanted to see Adam get a chance to play, they’re not exactly the killer numbers I’d expect from someone who I thought might have major league potential, but then again, he is a rookie. For reference sake, had he played enough games (to qualify for the league leaders), he would have ended up ranked #13 in average points scored and #27 in 3FG%. Although he would be 11th in FT%, at an unconscious 88%.

Regardless of what happens to Adam next, I wish him the best. Oh yeah. And I hope the Hornets win big tomorrow!

HornetsHype would like to send a shout out of congrats to Mr. Chris Paul, the MVP man himself, for displaying mad spelling prowess on top of his considerable balling skills.

They just did the “Year in Review” on Hornets Tonight, and they ran clips from the interviews CST has done with the players over the course of the season. Some funny, funny stuff there. The last question they always ask is, “If your car broke down and you had to call for help and spell the name of the street… how do you spell Tchoupitoulas?” I haven’t seen anyone get it right all season. Most of them just laugh and don’t even try. Or they go, “C-H-O-P-A… uh… T… uh… U-S?” Even the management staff couldn’t get it.

I gotta give Chris Paul a shout-out here. Surprisingly, he beat everyone else, only missing by one letter when he left out the second “U.” Nice spelling, CP3!

(Of course, out of all the Hornets, Chris Paul probably should have the best chance at knowing how to spell Tchoupitoulas Street, since he actually lives in the CBD.)

P.S. “The Crescent City Connection” is totally a better name for the CP-TC alley oop than the Big Easy, and I am endorsing its use here. Little bit of local color there! (For out of towners: The Crescent City Connection is the toll bridge connecting the East & West banks of the Mississippi. As in, “As I drove home over the Crescent City Connection, I daydreamed about all those flashy Crescent City Connections the Hornets were going to put up on the T-Wolves in the 1st quarter.” See how nice that works.)

As you may know, the NBA once again held their annual Dance Team Bracket, a one-and-out tournament where fans can vote on their favorite dance team through a tournament bracket, whereupon one is declared the ultimate winner. For the third straight year, the Heat Dancers won. But, as this is a site dedicated to hyping the Hornets, we’re going to give a shout out to the Honeybees anyway.

Be it their excellent dance routines (albeit at times to the odd AC-DC dance remix song…), their wave-like undulations in sync with the CP loudspeaker “whoos!”, or just serving up eye candy during other promotions, we visitors to the Hive, and perhaps those of you watching from home like what you give us. Keep it up girls. With any luck, you’ll be doing these things all the way to the NBA finals. Then who will be the winning dance team?

Believe it.

Well, folks, we have a short lag in Hornets games, as the Bees lick their wounds from Houston and prepare for San Antonio at the Hive on Wednesday. So nonetheless poking around the Hornets website I found an unexpected gem. Team owner, George Shinn’s, son, Chris is a rock star. Well, I’ve seen him at games before. I knew that. What I didn’t know is that he is fairly amazing at what he does.
A little history first. Apparently Chris moved to L.A. and had a record deal within a few months. That’s impressive. But then the band’s house burned down, destroying all their instruments and recorded material. Devastating. But Chris didn’t give up. He ended up forming a new band: Unified Theory, with two guys formerly of Blind Melon and the original drummer of Pearl Jam. They’re amazing! You can check out their myspace page here. Unfortunately, the band has since separated.

Never one to throw in the towel, Chris worked with family to start a new recording label and resurfaced with a new band, Everything is Energy. Another impressive showing. While being a Hornets fan doesn’t obligate us all to like what Chris and company do, I think it does behoove us to at least take a listen. It’s all free samples on the internet, baby.

There’s not a lot of genuine talent out there in the bland re-trod radio rock world where anything that sounds close to something else will sell to someone, but Chris is one of those talents. I for one, love both of these bands and will get all of their albums as soon as possible.