Posts Tagged ‘Hornets’

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Will Gordon Return Be Naughty Or Nice?

December 24, 2012  ·  3:18PM


HANG TIME, Texas — Ho! Ho! Ho!

Look who came down the chimney of the Hornets early on Christmas Eve.

Guard Eric Gordon, who has been on the shelf all season due to problems with his right knee, took part in his first practice since training camp on Monday.

Though he is a present that still requires more assembly before all the kids can play with him in a game, just the sight of Gordon out on the court is a lift to a New Orleans bunch that has lost 11 in a row.

Coach Monty Williams said Gordon will not play Wednesday at Orlando. But Gordon says he felt great and indicated to our man John Reid of the New Orleans Times-Picayune that he would like to play before the end of 2012. After the Magic, the Hornets will play at home against Toronto on Friday and at Charlotte on Saturday.

“I felt pretty good,” Gordon said after Monday’s practice.“I was just ready to get out there with the guys. It was full contact and I participated in every thing. Now it’s just the conditioning part.”

It was only Gordon’s third contact practice he has participated in since training camp began this past October. He participated in two contact practices before the Hornets opened the regular season against the San Antonio Spurs, but he did not play because of recurring problems with his knee.

Before rejoining the team Saturday, Gordon had been in Los Angeles since early November going through extensive rehabilitation work to strengthen his knee.

“He looked pretty good out there at attacking the basket,” Williams said after Monday’s practice. “He looked pretty encouraging, but we’ll see how he feels tomorrow.”

Of course, the big question that still hangs in the air is whether reception Gordon will receive a naughty or nice reception when he finally return to the court before the home fans in New Orleans. Many of them still haven’t forgotten that he said he wanted to put the Hornets in the rear view mirror and continue his career in Phoenix after the Suns signed him to a four-year free agent contract worth more than $58 million last summer.

All might have been forgotten quickly if Gordon had been able to make a good early impression while teaming up with No. 1 draft pick Anthony Davis. But when Davis had early aches of his own that kept him out of the lineup and with Gordon missing the first 27 games, Hornets fans have watched another season go south quickly (5-22).

Gordon has said that his statements were only part of the regular negotiating that is done in free agency and Williams has already made a public plea for the guy who could put a big kick into his offense to be forgiven.

You’ve got to figure delivering big in that first game will be the only way to heal the wounds.

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Stop The Floppers By Ignoring Them

December 17, 2012  ·  1:58AM

HANG TIME, Texas – The shot that will get the big run on all the highlights shows and the most clicks on YouTube will, of course, be Damian Lillard’s frozen rope jumper with 0.3 seconds left that provided the margin of difference in the Blazers’ 95-94 win over the Hornets on Sunday night.

But it says here that just as big a play came a little over a minute earlier and it wasn’t by a guard, forward or center and not by anyone in a Portland or New Orleans uniform.

Take a bow, referee David Guthrie.

The Blazers had squandered most of their 16-point lead when LaMarcus Aldridge got the ball on the left wing in front of the New Orleans’ bench and turned to drive the baseline on Ryan Anderson. Aldridge leaned in just slightly with his left shoulder and might have drawn a whistle for an offensive foul. Except that Anderson reacted as if he’d been charged by every bull that had ever run through the streets of Pamplona and flung himself to the floor.

What happened next? Aldridge simply stepped back and nailed a 15-footer with 1:04 showing on the clock that turned out to be the bucket that set up Lillard’s heroics.

Guthrie simply watched. And there wasn’t a peep of protest from the Hornets’ bench.

A flop is a flop is a flop. There was no need to send the video feed to the league office and wait for a ruling from the Sheriff of Floppingham, a.k.a. Stu Jackson. No need to wait a few days to levy a fine or pass down heavy-handed punishment after the fact. None of the extra level of bureaucratic nonsense that has entered the game this season with the advent of the Flop Council.

I would like to see flopping taken out of the game as much as the next guy. But we’re not even two months into the season and I’m already fed up hearing color commentators on League Pass talk nightly about whether this player should be warned or whether that player will get the dreaded fine notice or maybe a particularly egregious violator will be made to play for the next several weeks wearing a dunce cap and a bright red nose.

It’s a call that should be made — or not — right then and right there by the game officials on the scene, not somebody sitting in a New York office with a remote control in his hand, actually undercutting officials by second-guessing them. Tell them to be definitive on the spot.

If you want to drop the hammer on floppers, give the referees the power to slap them with technical fouls, maybe even an extra free throw for every additional violation in a game.

Or better yet, simply instruct them all to react like David Guthrie. Just ignore the fakers and let the game play on.

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The Chris Paul Trade, One Year Later

December 14, 2012  ·  4:10PM

It’s obviously a happy anniversary around Clippers HQ. They’re winning, Chris Paul has been everything they hoped for in performance and personality and every indication is he will re-sign as a free agent in July, and every certainty is that he has done exactly as promised in keeping the contract issue from turning into a hazmat spill the way it did for others in previous years. Raise a toast.

Not you, Hornets.

One year later, New Orleans can say it has moved on from the Paul saga, except that it really hasn’t. The future of Eric Gordon, the centerpiece of the return among existing players, is an unknown. The future of Austin Rivers, drafted with the pick acquired from the Clippers, is an unknown as a rookie in a difficult transition. The future of Al-Farouq Aminu is more encouraging than any time in his two-plus seasons as a pro, which is something, but a small portion of the resolution.

There is no real closure from Dec. 14, 2011, with Paul, along with a pair of second-round picks, going to the Clippers for Gordon, Aminu, Chris Kaman and the Timberwolves’ first-round pick that landed at No. 10. Kaman played 47 of the 66 games last season before leaving as a free agent without the Hornets flipping him into anything, but all other books are open.

Gordon: He is young (24 on Christmas), talented (22.3 points per game in 2010-11), versatile on offense (has range, handles well enough for a shooting guard that some thought he could be a point guard as he entered college in 2007)… and far away. Gordon played nine games last season in his inaugural Hornets campaign and has yet to play in 2012-13 because of a knee injury. There is no timetable for his return.

Rivers: The son of Celtics coach Doc Rivers is the first to say the career turn to becoming a full-time point guard is an adjustment. It’s also just beginning, not only because Austin is one-fourth of the way through his rookie season, but because he will eventually, presumably, have to learn to play in the same backcourt as Gordon. For now, the former Duke standout is averaging seven points, 2.9 assists and 1.4 turnovers in 27.6 minutes while shooting 32.5 percent with 11 starts in 20 games.

Aminu: The No. 8 pick in 2010 by the Clippers has gone from 5.8 points, 3.9 rebounds, 20 minutes and 40.2 percent his first two seasons to 9.2 points, 6.8 rebounds, 29.3 minutes and 47.2 percent. Although the majority of his success is coming very close to the basket, Aminu hitting any shot, after 39.4 percent as a rookie in L.A. and 41.1 last season in New Orleans, is an important. He was once a top prospect, but he’s still just 22 and could have a future yet at small forward.

Given Gordon’s health and Rivers’ inexperience, it will probably be at least one more anniversary and maybe longer, depending on the Gordon recovery, until any solid read on the deal working out for the Hornets. If they get a starting backcourt for eight or 10 years out of it, that’s a pretty good salvage job from a bad situation. But if Gordon is limping through seasons, plural, it obviously becomes a much different outcome.

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Posted in 2012 / Comments (8) /

Race For Rookie Of The Year Gets Interesting Again

December 11, 2012  ·  3:37PM

The Hornets are 5-14 and can’t stop the ball, and it’s early enough in the season for a comeback. Yes, this still sets up nicely for Anthony Davis.

He is back tonight and so is the race for Rookie of the Year, no matter how much it seems like Portland’s Damian Lillard has started to lap the field. He does have a lead, probably even a commanding lead, none of which is a surprise considering he began the season as the No. 2 contender behind Davis. But that’s different from insurmountable.

Davis, health willing, is that good. He can close ground on Lillard. Not only that, but after missing 11 games because of an ankle problem, he is in perfect position to create the contrast of the New Orleans Hornets with Davis and New Orleans without.

For now, we know the Hornets are 3-10 sans Davis and 2-4 with the top draft pick on patrol. The schedule sets up, too: his fourth game back, Sunday in Portland, is a matchup that will draw a lot of eyes even though the only way the two best rookies will go head-to-head is when Lillard charges toward the rim.

If Davis has no more significant injury setbacks beyond the usual tweaks every player endures, three-fourths of the season is more than enough showcase. Lillard might even want the competition. Win this way and he won’t have to face questions about whether Rookie of the Year ’13 was tainted by Davis trying to keep up with a hobble.

The strange thing is how easy it can be to overlook that Davis is such a talent. His defense got all the attention at Kentucky and he won Player of the Year awards by the dozen and a national championship. But this is a power forward who absolutely knows what to do with the ball, with a shot or pass. He was rarely on the court in the summer, missing summer league in Las Vegas for the experience of being with Team USA in the London Olympics but getting only 7.6 minutes, the fewest on the squad, there. His eyebrows got more of a spotlight in many cases than his game, even while opening with 16 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.20 blocks before the injury.

The ankle problem, a stress reaction that could have led to a fracture and much longer on the sideline if not addressed, was another moment that made it too easy to forget Davis’ potential impact. But no more. Starting tonight against the Wizards at New Orleans Arena, he is back in the Hornets lineup … and in the Rookie of the Year race.

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Posted in 2012, HT News / Comments (16) /

Eric Gordon And The World He Created

November 29, 2012  ·  6:15PM

Jimmy Smith of the Times-Picayune and NOLA.com caught up with Eric Gordon a few days ago, wrote that Gordon reported progress in the recovery from the knee injury, and that there still is no timetable for a return to the Hornets lineup. And then the fallout began.

It began again, actually, because this is hardly the first time Gordon has been accused of a sick out by 50 different names. It has become a familiar claim in New Orleans, it is unfortunate because there is every chance in the world the health issue is legit, it is disappointing because he has the talent to become a top-tier shooting guard … and it is his fault.

Not the ailment itself – criticize a player for bad performance, rip a GM for roster moves, jump up and down on a coach for poor strategy, but have something more than a fast Internet connection and WebMD.com bookmarked before accusing a respected pro of using a medical problem to take a dive. The reaction to things, of course, is on Gordon.

He set himself up for this in July, when he signed with the Suns as a restricted free agent and put out a statement that finished “Phoenix is just where my heart is now.” Gordon was trying to put public pressure on the Hornets to not match the offer sheet, a tact that never works and can only cause problems. New Orleans was going to match no matter what, as it should have, no matter how easy it to second-guess now. There was zero chance the comment could have helped and a pretty good possibility it would alienate fans who had supported a team in difficult times. Now, it is really hurting him.

Nicolas Batum tried it around the same time in hopes of tunneling out of Portland to get to Minnesota, then ended up red-faced and having to mend fences around the Blazers. Turns out Batum got off very, very easy. (His subsequent play obviously helped the healing process.) Gordon walked right into a public-relations mess by declaring his heart was not in New Orleans and then – whoops! – going straight to the sideline. Talk about a bad coincidence.

It doesn’t have to be wrong to look wrong, as the player and the team now face in ongoing terms with no sign of when a foundation of the Hornets future will make his 2012-13 debut.

“It’s getting better; progress is getting better, but there’s no straight-up timetable,” Gordon told Smith. “The main thing is things have been getting better. They’ve got a plan for me and the main thing is the pain level is going down. Just trying to get back to 100 percent before I get back out there playing.”

Gordon said he did not know the medical name for the ailment in the right knee, but added there has not been any swelling. The other sign of hope is the second opinion from a doctor in Chicago: “It’s almost like a disorder. There was a little bit of a bone bruise, and, you know, kind of like some of these other guys like (Andrew) Bynum and (Danny) Granger. Luckily my process will be shorter than that.”

The flip side being that Gordon has already missed most of last season as well, his first in New Orleans after being acquired in the Chris Paul trade. The one-year anniversary of the blockbuster is Dec. 14, and Gordon has played nine games, all in 2011-12.

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Posted in 2012, HT News / Comments (9) /

Paul’s Words After Loss Could Raise Pressure On Clips’ Del Negro

November 27, 2012  ·  6:48AM

It was, and will end up being, one of the more dizzying games of the season. Caron Butler making nine 3-pointers and the Clippers losing. The Hornets, down their two best players, Eric Gordon and Anthony Davis, winning. A career-low four points for Blake Griffin. The Clippers making just one more two-point shot (19) than from behind the arc (18). And New Orleans, a lottery team even at full strength, on the road on the second night of a back-to-back and still getting better bench play than one of the deepest teams in the league.

And afterward things got really good.

Chris Paul, as quoted by Dan Woike of the Orange County Register, said Los Angeles lost to “a less-talented team that was well-coached.” Shots fired.

On one hand, Paul may not have intended to run over his own coach, Vinny Del Negro, then back up and run over Del Negro again by complimenting the opposing coach, Monty Williams. Paul may simply have intended to praise his former coach from their days together in New Orleans. It could have been pro-Williams without being anti-Del Negro.

On the other hand, it doesn’t matter.

Del Negro is already facing enough much-deserved scrutiny. Now Paul’s comment will only increase it. Paul’s words will be interpreted by many as the star point guard, in the final season of his contract, putting his coach in a bad light.

With a lot of other teams at other times, a player so much as appearing to pull the chair from under a coach — whether the actual intention or not — could be explained away as over-analyzing a deserved compliment for Williams. But this is about the Clippers in win-now mode yet being unable, again, to harness a championship-hopeful’s focus. It is also about Donald T. Sterling.

While a lot of owners ignore popularity contests to guide personnel decisions and go with the opinions of the basketball-ops staff, Sterling has spent decades trying to win the press conference. He famously asks security guards and ushers at the arena, media, fans, anyone, for advice in solving the Problem of the Day. Not because he is making conversation. Because he will make major decisions based on the subsequent approval rating.

Sterling has been known to care more about what his friends think than what his general manager thinks. So Paul stoking the many fans who have been hoping for Del Negro’s departure will be read as CP3 saying something along the lines of “If only we were well-coached.” Paul didn’t have to mean it that way. What matters in the Sterling universe is that it looks that way.

One thing about Del Negro continuing to catch heat, though. If he gets the blame for all performances like last night’s — such as those seen in a loss to the Warriors, a loss to the Cavaliers, a loss to the Hawks and a loss to the Hornets — he should get the credit for beating the Spurs twice and the Heat, Lakers and Bulls before the first full month is complete. There has been some good, after all. However Paul meant it.

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Posted in 2012, HT News / Comments (48) /

Pressure On Rivers To Find His Shot

November 15, 2012  ·  1:45PM




HOUSTON — Everybody has a plan until they get hit. That’s what Mike Tyson used to say.

When the Hornets made him the No. 10 pick in the draft, the plan was for Austin Rivers to settle in as Eric Gordon’s long-term partner in the backcourt.

But with Gordon still having not played a game this season due to a knee injury, there is a burden on Rivers to carry much more of the scoring load. So far, it’s been too heavy a lift.

On the up side, Rivers opened Wednesday night’s game against the Rockets by knocking down a 3-pointer from the left corner and then dropped in a running teardrop down the right side of the lane. Trouble is, he missed five of the other six shots he tried and continues to struggle to find an offensive rhythm.

“I know it’s gonna come,” Rivers said. “So I’m trying not to think about it.”

Hornets rookie Austin Rivers, the No. 10 pick in the 2012 Draft, has had a cool start to his NBA career.

However, everyone else watching the Hornets is. What they see is, through the first five games of the season, Rivers has made only 10 of 40 shots and is just 2-for-10 from behind the 3-point line. He hasn’t made half his shots in a game even once.

“I think he’s doing a decent job,” said New Orleans coach Monty Williams. “He tries to defend. He does what we ask him to do. It’s just that when you’ve been a, quote unquote, explosive scorer your whole life and then you don’t drop 25 to 30, people think you’re struggling.

“There are not many 20 year olds who are going to come in and do that in the NBA. I’m sure he would like to see that ball go in that basket a few more times. I would too. But he’s still doing some things that we like. He causes a lot of problems in pick and roll. He can get to the basket. He’ll figure it out. It just takes some time.”

Rivers puts in extra time shooting after practices, but that’s just a continuation of his habits that made him the national prep player of the year in 2011 and a top gun at Duke in his lone college season.

“I don’t think I’m pressing or trying to do too many much to get myself going,” Rivers said. “Actually, I’m really trying my best not to think about that part of the game at all. I know that I can shoot. I know that I can score. I know what I can do. It will come.”

It’s the outside shot, especially from the deeper NBA 3-point line, that has been most glaring for its ineffectiveness. When Rivers has been able to find the bucket, it’s most often been by getting into open spots to make his runner or by pulling up from mid-range. He’s also been able to attack the basket, draw the defense to him and then set up his teammates.

While Rivers has been known as a scorer throughout his young career, the truth is he has always been more of a volume shooter than a proficient sniper. Last season at Duke he shot just 43.3 percent from the field and 36.5 percent from the shorter 3-point line. Now he’s finding it harder to get all of the shots that he wants. There have always been questions about whether Rivers can be a full-time point guard.

“The one thing that he’s dealing with is scouting reports,” Williams said. “Teams have time to prepare for you. In college you have that. But at Duke they prepare for seven or eight other opponents they have. The league does a really good job of figuring your game out and you’ve got to counter what they’re doing.

“Sometimes they try to take his right hand away. He still can get to wherever he wants to go. Now he’s got to learn how to finish over size. He’s never dealt with the kind of size and athleticism he’s dealing with now. Guys figure it out. That’s just the nature of the NBA.”

Late in Wednesday’s game, Williams switched Rivers defensive assignment from James Harden to Chandler Parsons. The 6-foot-9 Parsons used his height advantage to nail a tough, 20-foot fadeaway with Rivers’ hand in his face.

“What can you do?” Williams said with a shrug. “You can’t guard everyone and I thought Austin had his hand right in his face.”

He’s 6-foot-4, but slighter in build than many of his opponents. He is no longer able to look like the best athlete in any given matchup, even when he isn’t giving up height.

“You always have to adjust,” he said. “I adjusted from high school to college and now I’m adjusting again to the NBA. It’s nothing that’s gonna be a long term. It doesn’t even bother me. I’m getting the looks that I want. I’m getting into the lane at will.

“I’m getting my floaters. I’m getting my mid-range shots. I have had trouble knocking down the 3. It’s stuff that I’ve always been good at and I still am. It’s just that they haven’t started to fall. Yet.”

The longer Gordon is out, the more the heat gets turned up on Rivers now, even if it wasn’t part of the original plan.

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White Fires Back At Rockets

November 14, 2012  ·  9:27PM

HOUSTON – While the ongoing spat between the Rockets and Royce White shows no sign of ending, neither does the rookie’s inclination to keep digging the hole deeper.

After an insider told Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle that White was being fined for every day he remains away from the team or chooses not to attend sessions with a therapist the Rockets have arranged for him, the 21-year-old forward fired back with a barrage on Twitter:

– My #anxiety is fine, besides being disappointed in the communication, and worried about consistency and the effect that has on my health.

– I’m not saying anything inappropriate or anything thats wasn’t said or OMITTED by the organization, they have their media, this is mine.

– It’s NOT unprofessional to respond to misleading media provided by your employer, setting the record straight should be EXPECTED.

– I’m not saying anything negative about @HoustonRockets Im saying what I will and won’t stand for. Last Thing: #Mentalillness look it up.

The Rockets have hinted that White’s dissatisfaction stemmed from lack of playing time.

White, who suffers from generalized anxiety disorder, has not played at all this season and has been on the inactive list for the past four games. He did not attend practices Sunday or Tuesday, and did not show at the Toyota Center for Monday’s game against Miami or Wednesday against New Orleans.

General manager Daryl Morey reportedly told White in meetings last week that other players had earned playing time before him. White maintains that he has not been given a chance to show what he can do, and has claimed the Rockets are holding his anxiety disorder against him.

White has not attended sessions with Dr. Aaron Fink of the Baylor College of Medicine that have been set up by the Rockets.

About one hour before tipoff against the Hornets on Wednesday night, White seemed to raise the level of his social media vitriol by tweeting:

– “@HoustonRockets Fining me for saying I’m more COMFORTABLE with my own Doc. vs yours is for sure showing “support” to my health. That’s low!”

That tweet was later deleted from his Twitter timeline.

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All-Star Balloting Begins In Houston

November 13, 2012  ·  6:40PM


HOUSTON — Never mind the standings and the early season problems and the firing of a coach and the controversy over his replacement.

According to the 2013 All-Star Balloting presented by Sprint, Mike D’Antoni should have enough elite talent on his roster to get the Lakers into the Western Conference finals against the Thunder.

The Lakers with Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard, Pau Gasol, Steve Nash and Metta World Peace and Thunder with Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Kendrick Perkins, Serge Ibaka and Kevin Martin each have five players on this season’s ballot, which was unveiled at a tipoff ceremony at the Toyota Center.

The defending NBA champion Heat — LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Ray Allen Shane Battier — along with the Celtics and Nets all have five players on the Eastern Conference side of the ballot.

In keeping with league policy, No. 1 overall draft pick Anthony Davis is the only rookie on the ballot.

For the first time ever, NBA fans will be able to vote via social media networks, including Twitter and Facebook, and Sina Weibo and Tencent QQ in China.

The balloting is now open and fans also have other digital methods of voting:

– on NBA.com/ASB

– through SMS voting by texting the player’s last name to 6-9-6-2-2 (MYNBA)

– on NBA Game Time

– on NBA Game Time from Sprint

The All-Star ballot lists 120 players — 60 from each conference — with 36 front-court men apiece. Previously the ballot featured three positions with fans picking two guards, two forwards and a center.

Balloting will conclude on Jan. 14 and starters will be announced on Jan. 17 during a special one-hour show on TNT featuring Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith.

The 2013 NBA All-Star Game will be played on Feb. 17 at the Toyota Center in Houston and televised exclusively on TNT.

Now all D’Antoni has to do is pick up his All-Star pieces and glue them back together.

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Report: Suns, Gordon Agree On Deal

July 4, 2012  ·  8:41AM





HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS – An Eric Gordon-Kendall Marshall backcourt of the future probably sounds good to the fans in Phoenix.

The Suns have done their best to make it a reality by offering Gordon, the Hornets restricted free agent shooting guard, a maximum salary contract worth $58 million over four years, ESPN The Magazine‘s Chris Broussard reports. It’s an offer Gordon intends to sign on July 11, the day players can sign contracts and offer sheets. The Hornets would then have three days to match that offer or let Gordon, their prize in a the Chris Paul trade last year with the Clippers, leave for Phoenix.

And apparently, Gordon leaving with prized rookies Anthony Davis and Austin Rivers in the fold in New Orleans, is not what the Hornets have in mind:

New Orleans has claimed all along that it will match any offer Gordon receives, but Gordon is hoping the Hornets do not match.

Gordon said Tuesday night that his preference is to play for the Suns, not the Hornets.

“After visiting the Suns, the impression the organization made on me was incredible,” Gordon said in a statement. “Mr. (Robert) Sarver, Lon Babby, Lance Blanks, the Front Office Staff and Coach (Alvin) Gentry run a first-class organization, and I strongly feel they are the right franchise for me. Phoenix is just where my heart is now.”

Gordon’s desire to leave the Hornets puts a damper on what had been a terrific week for the club. Last Thursday, New Orleans selected Anthony Davis with the No. 1 pick in the draft and guard Austin Rivers at No. 10.

The league-wide assumption was that Gordon and the two rookies would form a trio that would lead the Hornets back to relevance. Of course, that could still be the case if New Orleans matches the offer.

Gordon’s statement makes for an interesting dance between the star guard and the Hornets over the next few days. The Hornets clearly had plans of their own where Gordon is concerned, even though they drafted Rivers (whose profile on Draft night is reminiscent to what Gordon’s was at the same stage.)

But if Gordon doesn’t want to be there, that obviously complicates matters a bit for the Hornets.

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Posted in Free Agency 2012 / Comments (51) /

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