Hornets Hype

Our team photo. We're hot.

So a couple of weeks ago, the dudes over at Ball Don’t Lie put up this image as the Endless Grey Ribbon (aka section divider) in the Hornets 2008-09 season preview. Naturally, I was like, “Haha, a billion James Poseys, wait– what?” But on a more serious note, I’m glad they realized the crucial role me ‘n’ Pose are going to play this year. Anyway, after last night’s game against Golden State, I am happy to report that the lineup for this year has been set. Obviously I’m slightly biased, but I think me and 23 James Poseys have the skills to really kick ass this season.

This is how I envision things breaking down:

James Posey will play point guard, center, power forward, small forward, and shooting guard. Naturally, with Pose coming off the bench as sixth man, this squad will have a sweet energy boost that should lift them above the other teams in the formidable Western Conference. The rest of the Poseys will play backup minutes as dictated by the intensity of their play in practice, as judged by head coach James Posey. We are excited to see J-Poz in particular in the role of hard-edged defensive specialist. He will also be the designated pre-game hugger.

Ticktock6 will be the 13th man, the one who jumps up and down, talks smack on the end of the bench while drinking a Red Bull, and sometimes does funny dances. Like Ronny Turiaf but with different hair. Big Game James won’t play much, since he’s on the low end of the depth chart behind Ticktock6, but will be called upon to come in and hit a clutch three once in a while in playoff situations. Fashion-challenged Poseys are encouraged to consult Posey #16 on the topic of accessories, even though he’ll only be getting garbage time. Poseys #17-23 are DNP-CD.

The whole team will wear high socks. At the position of ball boy will be my cat Jolee Bindo, who we expect to do a solid job despite his fear of objects that move.

Aaaaaannd now, for our first ass kicking, me and 23 James Poseys are gonna take care of the dude who wrote this:

The Hornets are a hard-nosed team, make no mistake. But they are also over the edge more often than is said and appear to be given a post-Katrina pity pass that has greatly aided them to suddenly and almost magically vault themselves over teams like the Spurs and the Suns.

And Paul?

The rise of Paul from ill-mannered punk and definitely not clutch college player to saintly professional is a testament to the star-making power of David Stern’s league. Paul is portrayed as an angelic assassin with players and coaches saying they’ve never seen anything like him… Paul is neither a champion nor a true assassin. He is a very talented young point guard with much to prove in the way of temperament and ability to come through in the biggest of games. But sadly he has anointed to PG deity-status by the NBA hype machine that includes ESPN and national NBA writers.

Worshipping false idols can only lead to trouble.

Post-Katrina pity pass? Exactly how many Hornets games did this person watch last year? Plus, what the hell, refs? How could you let the Hornets clutch and grab their way to under .500 records in the two years following a devastating hurricane? That just ain’t right. They could have “magically vaulted” (if by “magic” you mean the fact that all their stars are an average of 8 years older than the Hornets’) over the Suns and Spurs years ago, if you’d just seen the Post-Katrina pity light. But nooo, you had to wait three years, until the Hornets had a bunch of better players and stuff.

And Chris Paul– false idol?? The very words are not fit for this page. Really it feels blasphemous just CTRL-C /CTRL-Ving them. I guess it’s like Kobe syndrome: we’re just going to have to face the CP3 backlash that will inevitably happen. False idol? Oh, if only you had seen what I have seen. He conjured those fishes out of THIN AIR, I tell you. Believe me, we know what we worship. This non-believer claims to be called dwil. I wonder if it’s the real dwil… hmmm.

Whatev. We ball hard. If you aren’t prepared to do that, prepare to be rolled over by teams that do. Period.

23 out of 23 James Poseys agree with this message.

…I sat in the arena for twenty minutes after it was over.

Most of the people had trickled out, and those of us who were there, flip-flops up on the seat backs of the row in front of us, watching the video montage play on the big screen one last time, were still. We didn’t talk. Outside it was humid, but fans weren’t drinking and the brass band wasn’t playing. The workers began to sweep up the trash. The beer cups were crumpled and discarded, the party ended. Most of us who were still there were the ones who had been there from the beginning. Oh, there were some of us, despite what the national media would have you think.

Last season after Game 7, I wrote:

“And I know [it]’s no consolation right now for a guy like CP3, who is 100% a competitor. Kobe Bryant may have a trophy that says he’s MVP, but he isn’t, and will never be, The Guy Who Saved Basketball in L.A. Whoever wins the title this year, they are not, and will never be, the Team That Saved Basketball in whatever city.

Believe that, and know that we won something here this season.

You live, you learn.

You take this morning. And you learn who you want to be.”

So that’s where we are. That’s where we left off. To me, there is such a sparkle around this team. Is this how Celtics fans felt last year? Nothing needs to be said about Chris Paul. Nothing can be said about Chris Paul. We’ve got Peja, the artillery man who the talking heads say is fading (but we know better). We’ve got Chandler, who’s hopefully still got just a big enough chunk of that discarded-by-Chicago chip on his shoulder. David West is the longest tenured Hornet, and absolutely represents the Pride of the “Passion, Purpose, Pride” slogan. The bench is a group with things to prove. The 7-0 preseason showed us a glimpse of that.

I know it doesn’t really mean anything to say, “Well, New Orleans deserves it.” I don’t want to seem too entitled. And, indeed, anyone who’s been watching as injuries, drama, and messing up the last 2 minutes of games derailed the Saints’ hopes for transcendence this fall knows that New Orleans fans are not entitled. In fact, they just shrug when everything goes wrong, because deep down they expected it. People here would not be surprised if Peja, West, and Paul went down with injuries and missed 80 games again.

At the real end of the 2007-08 season, after Game 6 of the NBA finals, I wrote a post about why Paul Pierce’s banner season resonated with me. I wrote then about that feeling of uncertainty, about suspecting you’re maybe the right guy in the wrong place. I don’t get that feeling about the Hornets. I think they’re the right team, and I think they’re in the right place. What remains to be seen is if this is the right time.

I hope.

So this is how it begins. A plane touches down in Oakland. The last memory flits to the surface of your mind, just a flash of color: the image of the hero, alone and stunned on the bench while someone else celebrates. And, on a street once filled with floodwater, an arena sits empty, waiting to come to life.

In New Orleans, we’ve had enough of empty things.

Happy Opening Night!

Well, the offseason is over. The preseason is over. And now, the Season begins. With that, I have a few observations about what I’ve seen in the last few months. And all signs look good.

• D-West will again be an All-Star. The man shows no signs of falling off. I saw him hit 12 of 17 shots at the Hive, and most of them were of the 17-foot-assassin-variety. I was impressed. Da-da-da-da-da-da….yeah.
• The Hornets will rain 3s. Peja. Mo-Pete. Posey. Butler. Mike James. Devin Brown. Even Ju-Ju. In every preseason game CP3 has found guys open for three. And they’ve been knocking them down. Oh yeah, and don’t leave CP open, either.
• Rasual Butler. Looks. Good. Passion? Check. Purpose? Check. Pride? Check. I don’t know what went with for Mmmm-Bop last year, but the man has been a demon in the preseason. I definitely think he’s earned minutes above Devin Brown.
• The second unit. In general. Has impressed. Take a walk haters, the Hornets bench is for real. Quick memo, they flagged a bit only after Ju-Ju got injured. So here’s the real note: MJ, Butler, Ju-Ju, Posey, and Hiltonwatch make for a great second unit, and they beat on other second units all preseason.
• Random request this season: that we get Dave Chapelle down here this year like they got Ric Flair down here “woooing” with CP last year. Only it’ll be with MJ. And he’ll just say over and over “I’m Mike James Bitch,” and MJ will slap him. Then MJ will say the same thing, and Dave will slap him. It could go on for hours.
• Also, the Hornets are going to suck up every loose ball like an Oreck XL this year. Man, it’s only the preseason, but these guys were flying around for everything. They are not going to let anything go.
• Which brings me to my point. This team has had a killer instinct all preseason. We’re talking about preseason, here, man. Preseason. Preseason! (See AI news conference…) They’re 7-0. Who cares, right? But it’s not the fact that they won all of their games so in the preseason, it’s how they won them. They’ve had that killer look in their eyes all preseason, and it really shows that they have one goal and one goal only. To win the NBA championship.

82-0. You heard it here first again for the second time.

Unsurprising. The Hornets are fabulous everywhere they go!

I was going to come up with a funny caption for this, but instead I was captivated by how cool I think Posey's t-shirt is.

And the Not Quite So Fabulous: Mo takes orders in a Berlin KFC (Mo Pete's such a cutie, isn't he?). I'm glad the Hornets remembered to bring things like sweaters and socks. Sometimes I forget I own socks.

D. West: No. I will NOT stand next to the bear and smile. No. Seriously, guys. Didn't you hear me? I'm a badass. I have a reputation to maintain. I said........ goddamn.

Anyway, the Hornets are on a 4-0 tear in the preseason, and are looking like the second coming of… well, something really, really good that came before. Discuss.

… continues to lay down the law in the regular season, I will have to give him his own tag. And it will be, “I’m Mike James, Bitch!”

I felt the need to announce that. Because I say that all the time in my head, and I can’t be the only one. Can I?

Can I?

Last Years Record: 56-26, 1st SW, 2nd round
Key Losses: Jannero Pargo, Bonzi Wells
Key Additions: James Posey, Devin Brown, Sean Marks (Oh, you said key? Posey)

1. What significant moves were made during the offseason?

Well, the Hornets went into the offseason stressing that they were confident with their core and were only looking to add key bench pieces. So they traded their low first round draft pick and (over)spent their free agent dollars on James Posey, who they gambled on bringing that championship aura. You can’t have a guy making $6 million to sit on the bench, so the team let Pargo go and put their money on Mike James having a bigger role this year. And, actually, the money was already on him, so why not? Any fans who wanted more offseason moves were just dreaming, because I think we knew Bower & Scott didn’t want to tweak a good thing too much. In fact the most significant move was extending Chris Paul’s contract, so he’ll be safely here for 4 more years.

2. What are the team’s biggest strengths?

a) Team Chemistry. The players seem to genuinely like each other. More than that, they complement each other, especially on offense. Peja is great in his “I stand back and throw bombs” role because that’s all he’s asked to do. David West can be dangerous from a variety of spots on the floor. Mo Pete hits enough 3′s that you can’t quite leave him alone in his corner either. Tyson Chandler and Chris Paul perfected the pick and roll that many teams tried– but couldn’t quite manage– to take away from them last season. Byron Scott has deliberately put together this combination of players, and he wasn’t messing with it this offseason.

b) Chris Paul. The right man in the right city at the right time. He will not be stopped.

3. What are the team’s biggest weaknesses?

Still depth. Still up front. The Hornets added Posey and subtracted Pargo as the 6th man. They added some extra bit players who aren’t really going to be mega difference makers. I think the combo of Mike James/Devin Brown is capable of doing what Pargo did. I think if the D has been slightly upgraded to the point (this is where Posey comes in) where the bench can hold a lead like it’s their job to do, then that’s cautiously good. But not by enough of a margin to say that the Hornets don’t still have a depth problem.  If Julian Wright and Hilton Armstrong make big strides, and the rest of the bench is committed, they could pull this out and be better than last year. Injuries to Paul, West, or Chandler might not be able to be overcome, so we’re just going to have to cross our fingers. The team has also gotten a little older, but ask the Spurs and Celtics what’s wrong with that.

4. What are the goals for this team?

A dream date with the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals just eluded the Hornets last year. It’ll be what they’re gunning for this season.

5. Blah, blahblah blah blah blah attendance blah blahblahblah. Blah?

The Hornets have sold over 10,500 season tickets so far, and that’s not including half season or partial packages. For a comparison, last November/December it was not uncommon to have 10,500 people in the entire arena. And that was a good night.

The people of New Orleans are slow to warm up to outsiders, and would you trust a team that was barely yours to begin with before it bolted to Oklahoma for two seasons while your city drowned both literally and figuratively? The people who rehash these ignorant attendance articles really need to put their heads where New Orleanians’ heads are before they write that we’re too stupid to know a good thing when it’s in front of us. The people of New Orleans are not stupid, and they appreciate the grit it takes to rise up to heights of which most people believed you weren’t capable. I think there was a distinct turning point last season, and it wasn’t something you could measure– it was something you could almost feel. The Hornets won people over. I should know; I am one of them.

I say you can gauge excitement about a team by looking at how kids are reacting. Now, I fortunately happen to have firsthand evidence of this, since my “real” job involves kids. And I am telling you that kids in New Orleans LOVE Chris Paul. This crosses racial and socioeconomic boundaries. They worship him. Do not underestimate the impact of the whining, pleading, and begging of thousands of Chris Paul-enamored kids on parental willingness to spend the entertainment dollars on Hornets tickets. Especially because Chris Paul has been and continues to be clean cut, polite, and generally perfect from a marketing and PR perspective.

Finally I have to say the Hornets organization worked overtime last year to get people to show interest in the team, and it finally started to kick in around February. Does your team have block parties with dollar beers and brass bands before games? Did thousands of people show up for it on a Sunday afternoon in the pre-season? (Shit, New Orleanians will show up to watch plants grow, if there are dollar beers.) No? Then I guess we just be bringing the party down here in da NOLA.

To sum up? Attendance: do not want to focus on this year. Next, please.

Rolling 18,000 deep at New Orleans Arena

Predicted Record: 58-24

Because we totally wimped out when it came to the scary 60 numbers. And because it’s not the weakness of the Hornets, it’s the strength of the West. Like last season, it’ll just be difficult for any team in the Western Conference to reach the 60 mark.

And finally, I would just like to say that this is my FIRST full season as a basketball fan, and I cannot be more excited.

Other Hornets previews on this fine Thursday morning:

Hornets 247 | At the Hive

Obama/West 08

The Hornets were in Indianapolis to play their preseason game against the Pacers tonight. Barack Obama was there campaigning, following last night’s debate. Apparently their paths crossed. The entire Hornets team attended the Obama rally, and it looks like they also had some photo ops with the presidential candidate. (From which I learned that Barack Obama is taller than Chris Paul.)

This blogger, who was at the rally, posted a funny story about the Hornets, who were standing nearby. Apparently there was a protestor disrupting Obama’s speech, causing David West to yell down to him to shut up. Now, me, I would know not to mess with D. West, but the guy kept going and eventually got pulled out of the place by Secret Service. (Although I’m not sure about the comment re: Ryan Bowen and Sean Marks… who knows how/if they’re voting? I mean, it’s not exactly as if there haven’t been black players in the history of the NBA who were Republicans, and let’s just say it’s not exactly as if Barack Obama is falling behind in the white people vote.)

Anyway, I’m glad the team found something to do in Indiana. I knew someone from Indiana, once, and it didn’t sound that fun (At least I think I did. Is Purdue in Indiana? I get all those Midwestern vowel states mixed up. Same thing.)

Now who’s writing in Paul/West on the ballot next month? (KIDDING. Kidding.)

David West and Chris Paul at Indiana Obama rally. Photos courtesy Hornet Henry via Facebook.

photo by Matt aka Storm Surge Photography

OK, so it won’t be this dark and it probably won’t be this crowded. It is, after all, the preseason. But the word is there will be $1 beers outside starting at 4:30. HornetsHype will be there. (We aren’t going to have signage or anything fancy yet, however. I need to scope out the situation, aka will there be something on the glass behind the Back Row like there was in the playoffs?) Hopefully we will have some news to report on Abita, and whether there’s new gear in the store.

It’s not a regular season game. But it is a game. Geaux Hornets!