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Overall
Win/Loss Record (as of November 30th): 4-10, fifth place Southwest Division
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26
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This
Month:
26
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Team
Statistics and League Rank (as of November 30th)
Points
Scored: 93.7 (24th)
Points
Allowed: 100 (22nd)
Team
FG%: .441 (18th)
Opponent’s
FG%: .454 (25th)
Rebounds
per game: 41.3 (20th)
Opponents
rebounds per game: 41.9 (13th)
Turnovers
per game: 14.6 (10th)
Opponents
turnovers per game: 12.7 (29th)
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Individual
Statistical Leaders
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Worst
Player of the Month: Anthony Davis
Call
me cruel, but for the number one pick overall in the NBA Draft, Anthony
Davis’ play thus far has been far from impressive. Sure he has posted up impressive numbers
for a rookie of 16.8 points, 8.3 rebounds, two blocks and a steal per game,
but he has yet to “Wow” me or take the league by storm as his
predecessors. Much of that has to do
with the explosive play of fellow rookie, the Portland Trailblazers’ Damian Lillard, that has overshadowed his own solid rookie play. Add the fact that he has only played six
games before getting injured; hoops fans have not seen much of him being that
he plays for a rather small and unnoticed sports team. Hopefully he can come back soon and give
NBA fans a real exciting competition for who will be Rookie of the Year
because right now it looks as if the there will have the onerous title of
being a number one pick who has not won the coveted title.
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First
Player of the Month: Oh, who to pick?
There
have been so many Cinderella stories coming out from the bayou as three
Hornets players have had a storybook season thus far. After four years languishing on the Phoenix
Suns bench, Robin Lopez has finally had a chance to play quality minutes as
the starting center of the Hornets averaging career high in points (10.7), rebounds
(5.7), block shots (2.2) and minutes (27.7) per game. Small forward Al-Farouq Aminu, who many considered a draft day bust, has
also exploded with a career performance averaging 10.6 points, 7.5 boards,
and 2.2 assists per game along with shooting a scintillating .504 from the
field as well. Let’s not forget the
6’7” Venezuelan point guard, Greivis Vasquez, who is doing his best
impression of Magic Johnson averaging close to nine assists per game—currently
5th in the league. Cap that
all off with Ryan Anderson proving that his stellar season in Orlando was no
fluke as he leads the team in scoring with 17.8 points per game, one can see
the difficulty of picking just one player for the First of the Month.
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Analysis:
For the first time
since its arrival to the bayou, New Orleans Hornets fans have their first
sense of stability as their team has been taken over by new and competent ownership
dedicated to keeping the team in the state of Louisiana. During the offseason, the Hornets were
recipients of the number one overall pick in the NBA Draft (thanks again, commissioner
Stern) which turned out to be super athletic freak Anthony Davis and signed
the team’s leading scorer last season, Eric Gordon to a long term contract extension. Add the additions of free agents Robin
Lopez and Ryan Anderson along with the improved play of incumbents Greivis
Vasquez and Al Farouq Aminu, the Hornets will have a solid foundation of
young talent to build a playoff contender with. Right now much the team’s advancement from
out of the shadows and into the limelight has been slow down due to injuries
to two of its key players, namely Eric Gordon and Anthony Davis; however, the
future still beams brightly for a team that has spent much of its time in the
darkness clouded by confusion and uncertainty. Now with their team firmly planted, Hornets
fans can finally let go of their apprehensions and welcome their team with
open arms.
The Hornets came
crashing out of the gates winning three of their first five games beating
quality talents as the Utah Jazz (11/2/2012), Chicago Bulls (11/3/2012) and a
resurgent Charlotte Bobcats team (11/9/2012).
Unfortunately New Orleans was unable to maintain that early momentum
as they would go on to lose their eight of their next nine games to finish
the month. On a positive note, however,
the team that they managed to beat was rather stiff competition—the Pacific
Division leader Los Angeles Clippers (11/26/2012). In addition many of those losses were hard
fought as two of those games the Hornets lost in overtime—one against the
Indiana Pacers (11/21/2012) and the other against the Phoenix Suns (11/23/2012). As for the rest, sure the Hornets had their
fair share of blowouts including one where they were held down to just 62
points (11/7/2012); however, at the same time they managed to keep the
majority of their losses close at under a ten point margin. These games can be considered as temporary growing
pains as this team is quite young and inexperienced with three players on
that roster who are over the age of 25 and two that have more than three
seasons of NBA experience.
This Hornets team is
rather green to say the least considering that it has chosen to hinge its
future on a 19 year old kid who had just played only one year of college
basketball. Both he and the Hornets’ other
building block, Eric Gordon, have been sidelined due to injuries leaving this
young team very shorthanded missing an otherwise impressive offensive
punch. Add the fact that two of the “senior”
veterans that play in the starting five—Ryan Anderson and Robin Lopez—are just
the tender age of 24, one can expect there to be a rather long and difficult
learning curve for New Orleans. In
addition to inexperience and injuries hurting their chances of improving
their current situation, the Hornets also suffer a severe shortage in terms of
depth in the roster having little else to offer their opponents past the
starting five. Poor coach Monty Williams was forced, due to the lack of depth to throw in poor rookie Austin Rivers to the wolves by starting the 20 year old guard and giving him minutes
and responsibility that he was certainly not ready for.
Rivers, who the Hornets
picked 10th overall in this year’s NBA Draft, looked lost and
confused resulting in him struggling greatly as a Hornet shooting less that
.100 from the field to start off his rookie season. And despite his rather poor play, what was
even worse is that the Hornets had no other option as their thin backcourt
remains a glaring weakness for this young team. After six torturous games,
coach Monty Williams mercifully sat Rivers down in favor for veteran and
oldest member in the club, Roger Mason Jr;
however, he has not been performing that much better averaging just
under six points per game while shooting under .400 from the field. Judging by the team’s current performance, the
New Orleans Hornets may still be a lottery pick or two (or maybe three, four
or five) to finally have the sufficient talent to make a solid playoff
run. Fortunately for the Hornets, they
have an understanding fan base that are willing to wait, grow, and suffer hard
losses along with this young team as they know that this is just the beginning
of something really special.
The Hornets will definitely
continue to struggle throughout the season without the presence of their two
star players, Anthony Davis and Eric Gordon, but thankfully they have
teammates who have been ready willing and able to hold the fort until their
return. Add that with an excited fan
base that can support their team freely without wondering whether or not it
will play in another city, the prospects for the Hornets are not that
grim. The gloom and doom are gone as a
ray of hope shines right on the city of New Orleans while a breath of life
has been infused in this franchise which was on the verge of folding. Fans must thank David Stern for he was the
one that engineered the resurrection of professional basketball in the Bayou
by orchestrating the draft to make sure the Hornets would get the number one
overall pick in this year’s draft.
Without his tinkering, New Orleans would never have the prosperity
that it currently has and would have probably fallen into the depths of obscurity.
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Tuesday, December 4, 2012
SDH Presents the NBA's Worst to First for November: 26. New Orleans Hornets
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