Category: New Orleans Pelicans Blog

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No pressure for Hornets to deal

The New Orleans Times Picayune reports: “We would make a move if we feel it could benefit our team,” Hornets Coach Byron Scott said Tuesday. “We’re not going to do it because of what Dallas has done, and Phoenix and Los Angeles. We’re not going to mess up our chemistry just because of other teams and what they’ve done to make their teams, in their minds, better. We think we’ve got a pretty good basketball team. Would we have liked to make a move? Yeah. But if it doesn’t happen, it’s not the end of the world.”

LeBron wins All-Star game MVP as East beats West 134-128

Final score: East 134, West 128. Fun game!

The East’s LeBron James was awarded the 2008 NBA All-Star game MVP award.

For the East: Ray Allen (10-of-14, 5-of-9 threes) had 28 points in just 19 minutes. LeBron James (12-of-22) had 27 points, 8 rebounds, 9 assists (4 turnovers), 2 steals and 2 blocks. Dwight Howard (7-of-7) had 16 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals. Chris Bosh (7-of-15) had 14 points and 7 rebounds. Dwyane Wade (7-of-12) had 14 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists. Paul Pierce scored 10. Jason Kidd dished 10 assists.

For the West: Brandon Roy (8-of-10) had 18 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists. Carmelo Anthony (8-of-17) had 18 points and 7 rebounds. Amare Stoudemire (8-of-11) had 18 points and 5 rebounds. Chris Paul (7-of-14) had 16 points, 3 rebounds, 14 assists (just 2 turnovers) and 4 steals. Carlos Boozer (7-of-15) had 14 points and 10 rebounds. Dirk Nowitzki (just 5-of-14) had 13 points and 4 rebounds.

The best East players were LeBron, Dwight Howard and Ray Allen. The best West players were Chris Paul and Brandon Roy.

Read unedited 2008 NBA All-Star game notes taken live as the action happened.

David West gives New Orleans hood advice

The Orlando Sentinel (Brian Schmitz) reports: Hornets forward David West admits that fellow all-stars have asked him what parts of town to avoid. “Guys have been asking me about security and safety, and all those other things,” he said. “I just tell them, some places you can go and some places you shouldn’t go. But you can’t let that overtake your mind and prohibit you from having a good time.” All-star weekend, with its celebrities and big spenders, is expected to have an economic impact estimated between $80 million to $90 million on New Orleans. “It just means more to have the game here,” Boston Celtics Coach Doc Rivers said. “The city needs it. It brings in more money.”

Chris Paul interview after Skills Challenge

Chris Paul lost to Deron Williams in the final round of the 2008 Skills Challenge. Here’s what CP3 said after the event:

Q: What are your thoughts on your rivalry with Deron Williams?

Chris Paul: Always, always. But it was fun. That was my first time getting to the second round. You know, I thought I had a shot going second, but then he got 25.8 and I can’t mess up. He set the bar real high but it was fun.

Q: What do you remember the most from watching All-Star Weekend when you were a kid?

Paul: Just all the excitement behind this and seeing all the glitz and glamor and flashing lights – and now to be a part of it is something that I would have never imagined.

Q: Is there one player you always looked up to and were amazed by?

Paul: MJ, all day long. It seems like he won MVP every year or the dunk contest or something like that. To actually know him on a personal basis now makes it even crazier.

Q: If you could add an event or change something about this weekend, what would it be?

Paul: Probably “Horse.” I play “Horse” just about every day with one of my teammates, Jannero Pargo, so we have a lot of crazy shots we do.

Jason Kapono wins 3-point Shootout

By InsideHoops.com

It’s 2008 NBA All-Star Weekend, Saturday night, and we’re up to the NBA Three-Point Shootout. Jason Kapono won it last year.

Richard Hamilton is up first. He hit 2 shots on the first rack, 4 on the second, 3 on the third, 3 on the fourth, and 4 on the last — but two of his last-rack shots were discounted by the refs because Rip stepped on the line. Hamilton actually shot well but did not hit a single money-ball except on the very last rack, but that shot was one of the shots discounted by the refs. Rip’s final score wound up being 14.

Daniel Gibson went second, and started from the nontraditional left side. He struggled early, but then picked things up. Gibson hit 1 shot on the first rack, 4 shots (including a money-ball) on the second rack, 3 shots (including a money-ball) on the third rack, 3 shots on the fourth rack, and 3 shots (including a money-ball) on the last rack, getting 17.

Steve Nash went third, also starting from the left side, and was awful from start to finish, getting a pathetic 9 points. They should have let InsideHoops.com editor Jeff Lenchiner shoot.

Dirk Nowitzki was next, continuing the new tradition of starting from the left side. He shot a very long, slow, high-arc release which wasn’t very fitting for this competition. After a slow start he picked it up, and on the five racks he hit 1, 5, 3, 3 and 3 shots, with money-balls on the second and fourth racks. Dirk finished with 17.

Next is Peja Stojakovic, starting from the right side. He hit just one shot in the first rack and his first money-ball attempt hit the side of the backboard. His struggles continued until he got to the top of the key, which he rocked. And then stepped up on the last rack. In the five shooting areas Peja hit 1, 2, 3, 3 and 4 shots, with money-balls on the third and fourth racks. He got 15 points.

InsideHoops.com is the best pro basketball website ever, by the way. Just a reminder.

Last up is defending three-point champion Jason Kapono, who starts from the left side. He is shooting very quickly and did well all-around, though missing the money-balls, but rocked in the end when he needed it. From the five racks he hit 2, 4, 3, 4 and 5 shots, with money-balls on the second and fifth racks. Kapono finished with an awesome 20 points.

Reaching the second and final round is Kapono, Dirk and Gibson.

Starting first is Gibson, shooting very quickly, picking up steam halfway through and again at the end. The money-ball saved him. In the five racks he hit 2, 2, 3, 2 and 4 shots with money-balls on the first, third, fourth and fifth racks, finishing with 17.

Nowitzki is up second, high arc and all, and did decently but struggled with money-balls. In the five racks he hit 1, 4, 2, 3 and 3 shots, with just one money-ball, the very last shot. He got 14 points.

Kapono must beat 17 to win it. And unleashed one of the best performances ever, hitting every single money-ball, and on the five racks making 3, 5, 4, 4 and 4 shots, finishing with an awesome 24 points.

As always, this was a fun competition.

Kapono repeats as the three-point shootout champion.

InsideHoops.com is your home for the web’s best pro basketball coverage.

Deron Williams wins Skills Challenge

It’s 2008 NBA All-Star Weekend and the Saturday Night events are on. Now up is the Skills Challenge competition.

Deron Williams went first, missing a straight-in pass and one of the top-of-the-key shots, finishing in 31.2 seconds.

Jason Kidd went second and was flawless until shooting the top of the key shot, which he missed five times (after five misses a player can stop shooting and continue with the course), finishing in 39.7 seconds.

Chris Paul was up net, missing a bounce pass, but otherwise running the whole course perfectly, flying in at 29.0 seconds.

Last up was Dwyane Wade, who fumbled the ball during the obstacle-dribble in the beginning and had to go chase it, then missed three from the top of the key and quickly fired the next two up just to get through it, blew some passes, and slowly dribbled to the end, but then missed the layup, and missed the follow, for a disgustingly awful performance of 53.9 seconds.

CP3 and D-Will advance to the second and final round.

In the final round, D-Will went first. He dunked the first shot, ran the dribbling, hit the straight-in pass, and the bounce pass, swished the top-of-the-key jumper, hit the next straight-on pass, and ended it with a dunk, finishing with in terrific 25.5 seconds time, setting the all-time record best time for this event.

Paul is up and has to be virtually perfect for a shot at winning. He hit the first layup, dribbled the obstacles, missed the first straight-on pass, hit the bounce pass, missed once from the top of the key, hit the last straight-on pass, and hit the layup, getting 31.2 seconds — a respectable time but D-Will wins it with a brilliant performance.

Byron Scott to coach West All-Stars

New Orleans Hornets Head Coach Byron Scott will coach the Western Conference All-Stars for the 2008 NBA All-Star Game, to be played on Sunday, Feb. 17, at New Orleans Arena in New Orleans. Scott will join Boston’s Doc Rivers, who earned head coaching honors for the Eastern Conference All-Stars on Jan. 21, when the Celtics defeated New York, 109-93.

With Dallas’ 96-90 loss tonight to Boston, Scott and the Hornets (32-13, .711) clinched the best winning percentage in the conference through Feb. 3, earning him the spot as head coach of the West All-Stars. Scott’s achievement marks the 10th time in NBA All-Star history that a coach will be on his home court and the first time since Paul Westphal (Phoenix) in 1995.

Head coaches for the East and West All-Star teams are based on teams with the best winning percentage in each conference. Last year’s coaches – Phoenix Head Coach Mike D’Antoni and Washington Head Coach Eddie Jordan – are not eligible to coach in the 2008 All-Star Game.

This season marks Scott’s fourth year as head coach of the Hornets. Scott joined the Hornets on May 28, 2004 after three-and-a-half seasons in New Jersey, where he guided the Nets to The Finals following the 2001-02 and 2002-03 seasons. In 2002, Scott coached the East All-Stars in Philadelphia, making this his second appearance as an All-Star head coach.

Hornets still struggling to draw fans

The Hornets are one of my favorite teams in the league to watch. And it isn’t just due to Chris Paul. The entire squad plays beautiful, intelligent basketball, and it’s pleasing to the eye. But the team had lousy fan support in New Orleans even before Katrina messed the city up, and now, even with increased effort from the team to put fans in the seats, Hornets home games are half empty. The New Orleans Times Picayune (John Reid) reports:

Despite the team’s asserted promotional push, a 26-12 record and an amended lease agreement that gives owner George Shinn an opt-out option if the team fails to draw an average of 14,735 fans a game through next season, only 9,882 showed for Wednesday night’s game against the Sonics. Hornets officials are not expecting to see a significant spike at the turnstile for tonight’s game against the Charlotte Bobcats at the New Orleans Arena. The low attendance has caught the attention of NBA Commissioner David Stern, who pushed for the team’s return to New Orleans after it played two seasons in Oklahoma City. “Given the play of the team on the court, I would hope that it would be rewarded by more fan support,” Stern said Thursday. “I’m disappointed in the number, but you know it may take a little time.” Wednesday’s crowd was the fourth-smallest to see a game at the Arena this season. But in the latest attendance count, the Hornets moved from last place to 29th with a 12,205-per-game average. Indiana now ranks last with an 11,960-per-game average after 18 games.

I think it’s safe to say that the Hornets will move again, eventually. Regardless, if I lived in N’awlins I’d see them live as often as I could.

 

 

Low attendance may allow Hornets to move

The Hornets were getting low attendance before Katrina messed the city up, and even fewer fans have been going to home games since the team returned. And it may turn out that the lack of home fan support may result in the team being allowed to leave, this time probably for good. The Boston Globe (Marc Spears) reports:

The Boston Globe has learned that the New Orleans Hornets are expected to announce today that if they don’t average close to 15,000 fans in home games starting with tonight’s contest against the Los Angeles Lakers through all home games until February of 2009, the franchise will be allowed out of their lease with the New Orleans Arena by the State of Louisiana, according to an NBA source.

I hate to say it, but if I owned the Hornets, I’d definitely want to move the team elsewhere. Ideally they’d have stayed in Oklahoma City. I feel badly for the fans in the city that are going to games and supporting the team. I wish there were more of you. But it seems like there aren’t.