Hornets Hype

Hat tip to @LSUHornet17 for the link to this radio interview on WIST 690 AM by Hornets President Hugh Weber. He addresses Chris Paul and the ownership transfer, and he does it much better than the official statement from George Shinn did yesterday.

I definitely recommend you check it out.

I would listen to it again and transcribe the interesting bits, but I was so annoyed by the chunk in the middle where he blames the Chris Paul rumors on “bloggers in the basement in their pajamas writing at midnight” that I can’t bring myself to. In fact, you can expect a scathing post in response when the draft is over.

Mr. Weber, I went to war for this team yesterday on Twitter. Both At the Hive and Hornets 247 cover your team with a depth of statistical knowledge that vastly, vastly surpasses both the local paper and the mainstream national sports media. Who, by the way, were 100% responsible for the creation and perpetuation of the Chris Paul rumors that, if you bothered to look at all, your local bloggers were savvy enough to scoff at immediately. I know all this “new media” is scary, but we’re not your enemy. And we certainly know your team better than Chad Ford and Bill freaking Simmons.

I’m sorry you don’t know it.

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Posted in CP3 Will Eat Your Soul, Hornets Family, Media Watch, Offseason |

Mood Right Now:

Infamous

So I kind of lost it this afternoon. Although I should note that the thing that sent me over the edge, a throwaway reference in this post to “all that stuff with Katrina” in the list of reasons why Chris Paul would want to leave New Orleans, has since been removed by the author. And he apologized for it. Which is greatly appreciated, since Katrina a) happened before Chris Paul ever played in the NBA, and b) doesn’t really have anything to do with the failure of George Shinn to build the Hornets into a winner in the last 25 years. But I think I am going to post my Twitter rant anyway, to preserve it for history’s sake. I wasn’t exaggerating about most of the things I said.

Um. You should be aware that this rant contains profanity, much of it of the FYYFF variety (for those who aren’t aware of the reference).

I fucking hate people. RT @LSUhornet17: So now CP wants to leave b/c of Hurricane Katrina 5 years ago. Awesome bit of journalism right there

“All that stuff with Katrina” … I don’t know what article @LSUhornet17 is reading but I am so angry I can’t see straight. Fuck you.

You thought that was me angry before? No. THIS IS ANGRY.

I am on the verge of a rant after which no one will be left alive, in the post-apocalyptic dustballs-blowing bombed-out landscape of DEATH

I guess Katrina prevented the Saints from being champions. I guess Katrina means we don’t deserve to watch sports like the rest of the US

Never mind that Katrina happened before Chris Paul played a single minute of NBA basketball.

To some of us Katrina is more than a throwaway line or a card you toss out to be CUTE and get traffic. Shame shame shame and fuck you.

[ half an hour later] I’ll have you know I was NOT finished. My blackberry died.

I am not OK with people who make a living out of being abstract, edgy, and “conscious” when it suits them….

… yet can throw out a line like “all that Katrina stuff” glibly. It smacks of hipster douchiness to me. Re: Shoals’ Fanhouse post.

And it’s all about the individual now, about ourselves? A team can’t mean something? Just a player’s “Greatness”

If this is what comes of “liberated fandom” someone f-ed up. By all accounts the guys on that 07-08 team LOVED being part of something

The Saints LOVED being a part of something. And there was ESPN every step of the way shitting on them like a massive big-market circle jerk

Whoever sent me the Chad Ford thing just now? He can fuck himself too. “Any franchise that considers trading CP should be contracted…” [It turns out Bill Simmons was involved in this epic douchery too. Imagine my not-surprise.]

Well no fucking shit. So wait. You start a rumor. You perpetuate a rumor. And then you shit on a team for what YOU did/said. CIRCLE. JERK.

But yeah, let’s ask the Saints how “all that Katrina stuff” (In this day & age. In an actual legit post. Jesus Christ) ruined their careers

Me, me, me. Y’all want Chris Paul to be another LeBron? Is that it? A guy who by all accounts LOVES volunteering in this city & being part of the recovery?

Is that what you want? Would that make you happy? Really? Really?

I mean, do what makes you happy. For “art”. Well, art without context is just fucking paint, Shoals.

THAT’S why I hate LeBron. Because his chance to mean something, to transcend, *is* Cleveland. And he’s too blind to see it.

Maybe I’m a little emotional right now. Coming from writing this http://bit.ly/c1mjoM a couple days ago to “All that Katrina stuff.”

But god DAMN, I watch sports because of the chance it has to be more. The chance a player has to be more. And you all are making it cheap.

And I guess that’s all I have to say.

Hissssssssssssssssssssssss. (That wasn’t anything. That was just me hissing wordlessly at the people I am telling to f themselves.)

I wrote Chad Ford a letter saying all the cool NBA people think ESPN is not viable as a station. Everyone who knows ANYTHING knows it. [This is in reference to the transcript linked above in which he said "I've had a lot of NBA guys tell me there's no way a pro team can thrive in New Orleans"]

I would reply to more people, but being a part of the larger stream of humanity other than myself and my money RUINS MY GREATNESS.

So yeah. Do me a favor. If anyone else writes or says anything on TV about how New Orleans isn’t deserving of Chris Paul’s greatness, just… don’t… tell… me.

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Posted in CP3 Will Eat Your Soul, Media Watch, New Orleans... Post-K, S#*t List |

Mood Right Now:

Attack Mode

Well, it was live earlier today at any rate. But you can watch the replay here. For those of you who feared the Hype was dead due to the silence of the past month or so, here is your reassurance in the form of my lovely voice on the phone (no, I haven’t watched it, I hate listening to myself talk) drafting Cole Aldrich for the Hornets with the #11 pick. Unfortunately, I don’t show up till quite a ways into the show, but you should watch anyway because The Jones is always fun times. It’s a conservative pick, but I think the Hornets are going to go with a conservative pick. ‘Cause, you know, JR Smith’s mental maturity and Hilton Armstrong’s raw size worked out so well for them and stuff…

In case you’re keeping score at home, Hornets 247 also picked Aldrich in their mock draft, and At the Hive picked Patrick Patterson. All this really means to me is I’m waiting in anxious anticipation to see whether I’m going to mercilessly call our future rookie “Pat Pat” or “Kid With No Tooth” all season.

I admit, Kid With No Tooth has sort of a ring to it…

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Posted in Rookies |

Mood Right Now:

Cool

We’re glad to have you with us.

Monty Williams, the new Hornets Head Coach

Fun fact: I believe the Hornets now have the youngest head coach in the league, since Williams is slightly younger than the Heat’s Erik Spoelstra.

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Posted in Game Recaps, Hornets Family, Offseason |

Mood Right Now:

Happy

I’m so over Tom Thibodeaux it’s not even funny. So how come he can’t get over himself? Then we’d all be on the same page here. I’m so over him I took his X away. Yes! I did. You wanna play us, you don’t get no nice Louisiana X from me no more, ya heard?

Seriously. So we make an offer. Then we don’t. Then we do. Then he meets with Chicago in the dead of night. Then he doesn’t. Then he does. Then Jeff Bower gives the man a deadline (which has passed as of today) and leans toward pulling the contract offer and offering the job to Portland assistant Monty Williams.

This is fine with me. That’s the thing about hiring assistants. You don’t really know what you’re getting. But if we don’t know what we’re getting with Williams, let’s not forget we don’t know what we’re getting with Thibodeau either. Neither has been a head coach before. We could strike it rich or strike out. It’s rolling the dice on someone. We were all over Thibodeau because of the defensive scheme he implemented with the Celtics. It would have been nice, especially for a team that played little to no defense this year. But Gregg Popovich apparently saw something in Monty Williams, and that’s not nothing.

I’m glad some national media members have picked up on the drama and seem to be indicating through their tweets (@chrismannixsi and @wojyahoonba particularly) that Jeff Bower’s peers around the league think this is utter B.S. I admit to getting a tad defensive, and really it’s hard not to, because we’re always the bad guy. “The Hornets Arena is empty!” when there are 16,000 people in it. “The Hornets are ruining Chris Paul’s career!” “The Hornets traded for a guy with a bigger contract because they’re CHEAP.” (I’ve never figured that last one out.) It’s nice to see some people saying, “Yo. Stop. This is a dude who’s interviewed for a bazillion head coaching jobs and never been offered one. And now that he’s suddenly popular and in the news, he jerks Bower around.”

This isn’t the Hornets fault. They got their coaching search started early. Why aren’t we blaming Chicago and New Jersey for being the ones who haven’t gotten their shit together to start interviews yet? The longer this gets drawn out, the more the Hornets lose the advantage of having started a long search before everyone but the Sixers. Bower has to be pissed about that. And Thibodeau has to realize that if the Hornets wanted to wait for every candidate to talk to Atlanta and Chicago and New Jersey and Cleveland and their grandmother first, they would have waited till July to start the damn search.

And no, I don’t buy the “It’s the middle of the Finals! It’s sooo mean to set a deadline!” argument. The man went on an interview with his team deep in the playoffs. It was reasonable to expect that that interview might result in a job offer. It’s not like he went to the freakin’ Krispy Kreme and oh look, surprise, there was Jeff Bower offering him donuts and a head coaching job the day before the Finals! He interviewed. This is not about being deep in the playoffs. It’s about wanting to talk to 2 or 3 other teams first. Let’s not pretend it’s not about anything but that.

And see, here’s the thing. The longer this goes on, the more like suckers he makes Bower and Weber and Chouest and whoever look. We are entering a new ownership era and we’re going to have more expiring money to play with this year than we’ve had since, oh, before I started following this team. You need to start this off strong. And more importantly, you need someone who wants to be here. MW was saying that this morning, and he’s right. New Orleans is a unique city. It’s not for everyone, but it’s definitely not for people who don’t want to be here. Choose to come here, do a genuine good job, get Chris Paul on your side, and it will love you. But to put it bluntly, if you’d rather be in New Jersey, we don’t want you here.

Shit or get off the pot, Mr. Thibodeau. We got other things to do.

To Jeff Bower & Co. Pull the offer today. Call Monty Williams. Please.

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Posted in Bower Robotnik, Feature, Hornets, Offseason, Playoffs 10 |

Mood Right Now:

Get that weak sh– outta here

Except to say I am inordinately entertained by this picture from last night’s Celtics/Magic Game 2:

Vince Carter was Kung Fu Fighting!

I am pretty sure this is from the end of the game when Pierce fouled out, but it didn’t look anything like that on TV. I don’t want to tell you how many moments of staring it took me to realize that that object was a shoe. It would just be embarrassing for me.

In other news yesterday, the Hornets unsurprisingly got the 11th pick in the draft lottery. Go, #11, whoever you may be!

This has been today’s pointless playoff picture. You may go about your business. Move along.

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Posted in General NBA News, Playoffs 08, Playoffs 10 |

Mood Right Now:

Social

Should that even be the question?  How about “to watch the games or not to watch the games?”  Like the Hornets themselves, I’m not originally from New Orleans.  That means, I loved the NBA before I loved the Hornets.  Don’t get me wrong, I love the Hornets now and am die-hard, or else I wouldn’t even be here writing this. But my question is, with our team out of the Playoffs, what should our role as Hornets fans be?  I think it’s still to watch the games that remain.

Sure, I really appreciate what atthehive.com and hornets247.com are doing; both blogs are doing great speculative analysis of what the Hornets should do, which coaches they should go after, analyzing what went wrong with this season, and what the team’s needs are for the upcoming draft.  Of course, the media, never failing to miss the point, is focused on manufactured storylines more than actual play, and is too busy crafting headlines like “As Celtics eliminate Cavs, all eyes turn to James.”  Thanks Times Pic.  Listen, let me start with the easy one.  I don’t care about Lebron James.  Seriously.  If he ends up playing with Josh Childress and Linus Kleiza for Olympiakos for $50 a year so he can become a “global icon” and billionaire by 32, sweet.  Seriously. And Nike, what, do you not have a bloody, Steve Nash muppet?

Fuck all that.  This is the time of year when only the best of the best remain, and this year that doesn’t include the Hornets or the Cavs.  So while I’m always one to hype the Hornets, and glad other people are talking about what our team should do, I can’t care too much myself because I’ve been so focused on watching great Playoff basketball.  Hopefully the Hornets are watching too, because it should be making them antsy to know that this is what they want to achieve, and that they have a lot of hard work to do to get there.

Until then folks, enjoy the real final four.  Laissez les bons balles rouler.

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Posted in General NBA News, Media Watch, Offseason, Playoffs 10 |

Mood Right Now:

Lounging

One of the reasons we started this blog was to launch an all-out assault on ignorant and ill-informed media. One of the historically problematic culprits: our local paper, the Times Picayune.  (Though, admittedly, they have improved much over the years.)  In particular, one of those esteemed beat  writers is always on our Shit List: John DeShazier. If anyone ever mastered the “Our team played great but sucked doing it and I’ll tell you how and why they suck,” J.D. has.   His article in today’s paper?   TT6 and can’t find it online.   As far as I’m concerned, they pulled it, knowing the Hype would rip it apart.  Score one for the Bush Doctrine and us.  Too bad for the Times Pic, I’m going to talk about it anyway.

The article focuses on new owner Gary Chouest embarking on his interview road trip with team president, Hugh Weber, and general manager, Jeff Bower, looking for a new Hornets head coach; and assumes Chouest is monitoring and assessing Weber and Bower at the same time. Of course, Johnny cites no sources, no authorities for this information, and his story is 100% speculation.   Okay.  Fine.  He’s an “editorial” writer.  Fair enough. But I know what you’re saying, how can I verify what he said if it’s not online?   Well, here it is, in black and white.  Look to the right.  I’m just going to focus on his most absurd points.   For example, DeShazier argues that Bower has more non-playoff appearances since becoming GM in 2005 than playoff appearances (3-2).  Neglecting to mention that Bower took over after the team was thrust into the much tougher Western Conference and blown up; also not mentioning that he built a winner from nothing.  DeShazier also points out that Bower’s teams have declined in victory totals the last three years.  Neglecting to mention that the place from which the Hornets were descending was the best Hornets regular season record ever.  Or that two of those three years were the team’s best, by far, since moving to the Western Conference.  Okay, but this is all really small fries, nit-picking a fellow journalist, who, as you all know, is already on our bad side.  But then he makes the mistake which no doubt got his article pulled from Nola.com.  Some of you may have already skimmed ahead and ruined the surprise.

DeShazier writes: “and just two draft picks – Chris Paul in 2005 and Darren Collison in 2009 – can be considered successes.”  Well, certainly they were successes.  But, I don’t know, maybe there was a guy drafted last year by Bower called MARCUS THORNTON.  Listen folks, Thornton broke the Hornets rookie records for most points in a game, most points off the bench in a game, most 3s in a season, most combined rookie points in a season (with Collison), and most points in a single quarter.  Oh yeah, he also holds the non-rookie Hornets’ records for most points off the bench and most points in a quarter.   He also made the Second All-NBA Rookie team, and by most accounts, was the best 2-guard out of this year’s rookies.  So if you’re John DeShazier, wake up this morning and give yourself a nice hard facepalm.  Because you deserve it.

As to Marcus Thornton, on behalf of New Orleans, we apologize for all the haters and idiots.  We’ll be back next year, cheering you, hyping you, and watching you help this team back to the Playoffs.

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Posted in I Amuse Myself, It's Not His Prerogative, Promotions, Site News, Worldwide Domination |

Mood Right Now:

Attack Mode

Hornets.com posted another rookie video. You know I love these. This one features Darren Collison, as he goes about his daily rookie duties at a Westbank Krispy Kreme. The highlights:

• CP gets on his case if the donuts aren’t hot
• “Marcus, he’s the main one that be eating the donuts and he’s supposed to be on my side” (HA!)
• On days they fly out, they have to get Popeyes for David West, who eats six biscuits by himself

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Posted in Lil Dimes, Rookies |

Mood Right Now:

Excited

Huge sigh of relief.

I was pretty sure the “impasse” in the talks that supposedly happened in the last two weeks was just a bit of gamesmanship and bargaining strategy from Shinn, since it was pretty clear there weren’t ever any other investors involved besides Chouest, but you can never be sure. If the sale talks dragged on any longer, it was going to start affecting the coach search, draft, and free agency. I’m definitely glad it’s getting done.

The Times Picayune is saying the official announcement of the transfer of ownership will happen Wednesday Thursday afternoon. We know Chouest is a Louisiana native, who bought his one quarter share in the team in 2007 with the goal of keeping basketball in New Orleans. We know he’s the owner of Edison Chouest Offshore, which manufactures marine vessels for the oil industry. Since the company is privately held, no source is clear on exactly how much he’s worth, but it’s certainly more than George Shinn. If he is indeed a billionaire, as rumored, this would put him in the top half of the list of the NBA’s richest owners**. But beyond that, Chouest is something of a mystery man, preferring to remain Shinn’s silent partner. He has only granted one interview, to my knowledge, and that was at the announcement of the purchase of his 25% stake in the team. We don’t know his ideas about the direction of the team. We don’t know how he feels about going over the luxury tax to ensure that Chris Paul stays in New Orleans. And we don’t know the possible future effects of the recent oil rig disaster on his business.

What we do know is that two of this blog’s least favorite things,  1) stupid error-riddled articles about the Hornets being cheap and 2) stupid error-riddled articles about the Hornets moving to another city, are probably about to be gone. Permanently. It’s like going to your high school reunion and seeing that the people who made fun of you got fat and work in retail now. Are we allowed to steal free agents out from under other teams’ noses and then laugh in their faces, or at least their local beat writers’ faces, now that we’re super super rich? Please say yes.

This is a good day for Hornets fans.

** Quoth the TP: “Many sources in the New Orleans area have indicated that Chouest’s financial resources are vast, easily in the 10-figure range.” The NBA apparently has eight other billionaire owners.

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Posted in Around Town, Hornets, Hornets Family |

Mood Right Now:

Monitoring the situation carefully