Hornets Hype

Byron Scott: “It should be him and Kobe starting… There’s just no way in hell that Chris Paul should not be starting on the All Star team.”
David West: “Now that’s ridiculous… Someone like myself (shrug), it really doesn’t matter, but for someone like CP, who undeniably is the top point guard out here, that’s ridiculous.” (That’s such a D West thing to say, by the way. P.S. We got a glimpse last night of the D West bobblehead they’re giving away on MLK Day. It doesn’t really look like him, but it does look bald and mad… so really, maybe it does look like him after all.)

Oh, and shout out to the Times Picayune/NOLA.com for the vid. I rag on their blah coverage a lot, but they included a couple of video clips in their coverage yesterday. It’s a step in a good direction, and I shall acknowledge.

In this morning’s Times Picayune, CP fires back at Bill Simmons. By now you’re aware of my opinion of Simmons’ column alleging the chemistry problems between Chris Paul and coach Byron Scott. But you knew Chris Paul, despite his choirboy reputation offcourt, would have something to say. You can read the whole article here, but this is CP’s quote:

For his part, Paul, too, was dumbfounded over the baseless Internet report.

“It’s crazy,” Paul said. “I figure you guys (beat writers) who are with us every day, if something was going on, you all would see it. Maybe he knows something I don’t know. If he knows something I don’t know, tell him to let me know. I would think me and coach might have one of the best relationships out of the entire NBA.

“I guess people got to have something to talk about. Maybe he should come to a game. Let’s talk. If I had a problem with coach, I’d say it. I guess he comes to one game, and he can figure it out.”

Snark! We knew CP could do snark, after the Rafer Alston incident last spring. Here’s the thing. I don’t care if it’s true or not. They were aware that it was out there, floating on the front page of ESPN.com and giving a negative impression of the team to casual NBA fans, and so they dealt with it. (Just to show you how quick that stuff travels, I’ve already read one article this weekend, and now I can’t remember where, that cited the Simmons column about the CP/Byron clash. “Reports are that Chris Paul and Byron Scott…”) Chris Paul is not going to go rogue, or go Marbury, or any junk like that.

No. You circle up, close ranks, and deal with it behind closed doors. You stick up for the team.

And you know what? I’ll throw a shout-out to the T.P. beat writers too on this one. You did something right.

Apparently Julian Wright is doing a chat on Nola.com starting at 1:30 PM after practice today.

Cool! So if you’ve got a few free minutes you should stop by. Monday is usually Hornets chat day over at the T.P., but this is the first time I’ve seen them have an actual Hornets player on. Usually it’s just John Reid talking Hornets. No offense to John Reid or anything, but he is no JuJu.

So if you’ve been on board here since last winter, you know that one of the founding principles of this site is bitching about the Times Picayune and NOLA.com’s sorely lacking coverage of the Hornets. They spent most of the season on our $#*t List, and we gave them their own tag called “T.P. Watchdog.” Gotta keep the media responsible and buzz-friendly, ya know.

However, I am not above giving props where props are due. And, quite simply, the coverage in the first week of training camp is already at a much higher level than Hornets coverage last season. We’re seeing two articles a day, plus there’s usually also some kind of practice update in the afternoon in the Hornets Beat section of nola.com. If you get the Times Picayune analog print newspaper, you’ve also been seeing some snazzy color pictures. Media Day got the front page (a silly color photo of Tyson Chandler and Chris Paul messing around with a giant Peja head). And all this while the Saints are playing. YES! I know! Football season is actually happening as we speak, and there is a Hornets training camp article in the T.P. And it’s not even about Chris Paul. It’s about, like, Melvin Ely and his multiple injuries.

This is a far cry from last season, when the cover story the day after the 2OT win over Phoenix was Tulane and LSU’s freshman signings for NEXT YEAR. Seriously. College football in February was more interesting than the Hornets on top of the West. The Hornets couldn’t buy coverage on that site, or in the sports section, until close to the playoffs.

Clearly this is a new year. Thus I say: Well played, Times Picayune, so far. Well played indeed.

For a bit of mindless fun, check out the T.P.’s silly Hornets flash game.

Quick Gameplay Summary: You’re a Fleur de Bee. You get to shoot at little falling Spurs, Mavs logos that shoot red lasers at you, and yellow Kobes! If watching Kobe Bryant accept the his Lifetime Achievement MVP award last night was enough to make you want to blow junks, get even by blowing him into chunks! (Well, a little orange scribble anyway… haha.)

The Hornets are so hot right now. Friday’s game clinched a playoff spot and made the front page of the T.P. I thought about it, and I believe this is the best local media showing the Hornets have ever had. I know I haven’t had much reason to bitch at the Times Picayune’s coverage lately, because it’s improved by leaps and bounds over the last two months. The Hornets have claimed space on the front page before, in the box at the top, or on the bottom, or in the side column. But a big color picture like this? First time, baby. The Hornets were THE NEWS yesterday morning.

At the Hive shoots holes in the media’s “Hornets have no playoff experience” argument, complete with graphs and math and stuff. Excellent post to link when someone tries to argue with you. Of course, Sir Chuck was already an idiot for saying that the Hornets “play in a mausoleum.” Better turn your TV to ABC today, there, TNT guys. Get ready for some education.

J.A. Adande thinks we should call the CP3 to TC alley oop “The Big Easy.” I don’t know about that, but they sure do make it look easy…

Sunday Dime, of course, is about the Hornets, since they’re the ABC early game today.

This photo to the left? Why do I have pictures of Bonzi watching random Knicks score? No reason, except that we’re in it. Click to embiggen, then check out the two people next to the dude’s butt underneath the WHERE CHRIS PAUL HAPPENS sign. Oh, hey, folks! Hi!

NBATV just went with us over the Warriors today. Said the Warriors might win if they were at Oracle Arena, but the Hornets are “real strong at home.” Yes. Hear that? The Hornets take a 10-game home win streak into this game.

Tyson Chandler blogs about the CP3 for MVP hype. Proving that the team is just as spoiled as us when it comes to Chris Paul. (”WHAT the hell. He only had 18 points and 12 assists. We woulda put them away so much earlier if CP had had a good game.”)

“It’s funny. I was talking to Jannero the other day, and I was saying that you always turn on the different channels and you get a chance to watch Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Kevin Garnett, so you’re a little bit in awe of them. Because you don’t get a chance to see them every day. It’s almost like having that girlfriend that you see every day and you don’t appreciate what you got until you step back and really actually look at things.

We see what CP does every day, so it’s not big to us. But then we actually sit back sometimes and watch his accomplishments, watch what he’s able to do on the floor and what he’s established already as a young player, it’s a little mind-boggling.”

Ready… set… time to show national TV what kind of parties go on at mausoleums here in the N.O.L.A!

When I started this blog, it was out of a fit of righteous anger in January. I had just gotten into the Hornets. The Hornets were climbing to the top of the Western Conference. Media coverage of the Hornets’ rise was dismal at best. The Hornets’ new lease with the state had an attendance caveat: 14,735 fans per game, or an out clause could come into effect.

Surely the people of New Orleans would come.

But they didn’t. We’d look up at the stands and take stock, count up the empty sections up top, and say, “Well, should be at least 12,000 tonight. That’s better.” Meanwhile the Hornets made their statement by taking first place in the Southwest Division, then first place in the Western Conference. But what happens when a tree falls in the woods and no one’s there to see it?

I had just started to love the Hornets, and they were going to get taken away from me. It wasn’t fair.

Fast forward.

This is how it happens. Final seconds of the third quarter. 78-72 Hornets with the lead over the Lakers.

Chris Paul to a streaking Pargo. Pargo drops it back to Chandler.

Tyson Chandler soars.

Minutes later, attendance is announced at 18,199.

And as I sat there looking up, into the funnel of motion and screaming and color that was the New Orleans Arena, I thought, “This is it. I might as well stop blogging, because I have nothing more to say. Mission accomplished.”

That moment you were waiting for? That was it.

Oh, NOLA, I thought I knew everything about you. You love football, and you scorn outsiders. You party early, arrive late. How could I forget that you understand hope? You understand doggedly pushing on, and doing the things that no one thought you could do. You understand rising up.

New day.

Hornets 108, Lakers 98. The standings in the unbelievably tight West playoff seeding race juggle themselves a bit. Rockets up, Lakers down, Hornets up. There are 2.5 games separating #1 from #7.

New day.

You go outside in your bare feet, you pick up the paper off the lawn. The sun is beginning to shine on a muggy spring day in Uptown New Orleans, the steam just starting to build in the semi-cool air. The Times Picayune headline declares, “SHOWTIME, N.O. STYLE: Paul, Hornets show Lakers a few things about shooting stars,” an article about Deuce and the Saints relegated to the side column.

And you realize that maybe you do still have something to say after all. Because the Hornets still have plenty more ball to play. And you can’t wait to see what they do next. Anyhow, Ron says we can’t decide we have nothing more to say. Because then he’ll be forced to de-link us. So I have no doubt I’ll find something, as we follow these Hornets to uncharted places.

New day. Where do you go from here?

CrowdWatch: 1,000 past capacity. The people in the folding chairs behind us were gushing about how much fun they had, and asked if we could take their picture with our THE BACK ROW BELIEVES sign.

HypeMeter: Lakers/Hornets would have gotten mega play if it hadn’t been for the Houston Rockets extending their stupid 21-game winning streak against another woeful opponent. F the Rockets’ streak… I’ve read that Kobe Bryant is getting “MVP!” chants in other teams’ arenas lately. Memo to Kobe: That one last night wasn’t for you… Hornets: Feel-Good Story of the Year.

T.P. Watchdog: Hornets are the main story on nola.com this morning. Angry CP3 snarls, “MY BALL! MINE!” at not-angry-enough Kobe Bryant on the front page banner and the front page of the sports section. Chris Paul… so hot right now.

Hyping the Hornets in his column in the T.P.:

And then the Hornets game came on TV. And I witnessed a phenomenon that I had associated only with the Saints for the past 25 years and it was this: Everyone in the bar was watching the game. And friends and strangers alike cheered, back-slapped, high-fived, hugged and toasted the team.

It was, dare I say, communal. It felt great. I watched and thought: I need to pay attention to this team.

And:

There is no question in my mind that the story of New Orleans’ recovery and rejuvenation has reached more Americans through sports telecasts than by any other means. The Saints’ return to the Superdome on Monday Night Football, Louisiana State University’s victory in the BCS Championship Game, the New Orleans Arena playing host to the NBA All-Star Game — they have all served as glowing, prime-time advertisements for our city, its charms and its resilience.

Check out the rest…

Plus an interesting dust-up in Dallas over bloggers’ credentials, as recapped on True Hoop. It’s not like I’m ever going to have a media credential for anywhere, but this is the sort of thing I like to keep an eye on. I think Mark Cuban & co. might be taking a stance here that they’re going to regret.

Bill Simmons plays “What If?” on ESPN’s Page 2, listing the Top 15 What Ifs? of the last decade in the NBA. The Hornets-related highlight:

Anyway, if Portland takes Paul, that sets off a crazy chain reaction: New Orleans ends up with Deron Williams instead of Paul; Utah never gets its franchise point guard; Oden and Aldridge land in other cities; maybe Roy doesn’t turn into a franchise guard playing second fiddle to Paul; and maybe Paul isn’t quite as driven because he’s not as ticked off for the next few years after three teams passed on him. I have to say, I like the way it worked out.

And ABC picks up another Hornets game, this time the home game against Golden State on April 6th. Tipoff has been moved to noon for TV, so make sure to mark your calendars!

……But thanks!

With an attendance goal to meet, the Hornets’ MVP is turning out to be the fans.

Here we have a rare sighting of a positive Hornets attendance article in the wild. This elusive specimen was glimpsed on the front page (not the front page of Sports, the Front Page front page) of the Times Picayune, marking it as an article of a doubly rare species. It had to be photographed quickly before it disappeared, never to be seen again by scientists for many, many years.

Historic.

HypeMeter: Possibly at an all-time high.

Hornets win 110-98.

Deron Williams wasn’t a factor until later in the game, but then, what Jazz player was? The Hornets scored 38 points in the first quarter. They went on a 23-0 run. (”Wow, I don’t know how I feel about them busting out the GnR so early,” said Mike of the arena staff. “What if they need it later?” Prophetic words.)

Utah’s unnerving comeback in the 3rd and 4th had us on edge. The lead, which was as high as 27 points, shrank to ten and then to six. I was standing on my seat when Peja scored that three pointer. Until that moment, the Hornets were failing to convince me that this one was a 100% win. I found out the only problem when you’re already standing on your seat for the play of the game is, where do you go from there? I was practically climbing up the glass. It was glorious. Did anyone watch it on TV? Did it sound as loud? I loved Mo Pete on the side of the court waving his towel at the crowd to get louder.

That? That was home court advantage. You knew the Hornets were never going to look back.

Phil Jackson apparently said that it’s the mark of a good team when you hit 40 wins without having more than 20 losses. The Hornets are 39-18.

Let’s talk about Chris Paul. 24 points, 16 assists, and 5 steals. The last player, according to ESPN, to have a line like that was… oh wait, Chris Paul. Before that it was Kevin Johnson in 1993. The crazy thing is CP had a quieter last half of the game. He ran up most of those numbers in the first quarter alone. We’re tossing around the idea of switching out our “BACK ROW BELIEVES” sign for some kind of Chris Paul Steal Counter, because it’s his potentially record-breaking stat. With numbers that you flip to count his steals in each game. The thing is, we’d have to count them ourselves, because they never put that number up on the board. Last night was encouraging: I also had CP3 at five steals. We can count! Oh, and we went to Gordon Biersch after the game to see the postgame radio show, and Joe Block went crazy over Mike’s MVP shirt.

CrowdWatch: 17,445 and another sellout. That’s three out of the last four games. The legend grows.

T.P. Watchdog: Fine, I guess you can talk about the Saints’ signings. But if you ever even touch baseball, you are barred from my porch. We just attempted to sit through ESPN’s replay of the highlights from last night, and it was excruciating. No one cares about preseason baseball. There are like 200 freakin’ games already. NO ONE CARES ABOUT PRESEASON BASEBALL. I believe this is a fact. I know no one who cares about it. I have never heard of anyone who cares about it. I’m not convinced it even exists… OK, now see, you got me off topic. I’m liking the presence of at least two Hornets articles per day recently. But I do think last night’s game deserved a top blurb on the front page. T.P. Watchdog… keeping the media responsible & buzz-friendly since 2007.