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April 28 2009
Nuggets' remarkable win could alter course of Hornets

By Sam Amico
Pro Basketball News

Lots of thoughts on Denver's 121-63 massacre of New Orleans in Game 4 of their Western Conference series:

* I'll be honest, I didn't watch most of the game, and thank heavens I missed it. Nobody should be subjected to observe something like that. Unless, of course, you're a Nuggets fan.

* Let's start with the good, the Nuggets. I don't care what anyone says, Chauncey Billups has done more than just become the ultimate team leader and winning veteran the Nuggets needed. He also has improved the all-around game of Carmelo Anthony -- maybe not purposely, but having Billups on the team has clearly made Anthony a smarter, more mature player. Suddenly, Carmelo is a guy who can do more than just score a lot.

* Jeff Van Gundy, one of the most frank analysts in basketball history, once asked this about Stephon Marbury: "Yeah, he puts up great numbers, but are they WINNING numbers?" I always thought the same line could be applied to Anthony. He's always been a magnificent scorer, but what had all those points ever REALLY done for the Nuggets? Not a whole lot, and to me, Anthony seemed to be nothing more than a glorified Purvis Short.

* OK, I'm sure half of you have never even heard of Short. The other half may have heard of him, but probably forgot. Just know that Short was a wonderful scoring small forward back in the 1980s for Golden State -- and his Warriors teams typically went nowhere. Until Billups arrived, I saw Anthony's pro career taking a similar, unfulfilling path.

* Say what you will about Pro Basketball News, but I can pretty much guarantee we are the only site that mentions Purvis Short today. How's that for some inside stuff?

* Anyway, back to the Nuggets. Here is what George Karl told reporters following the game: "Every coach talks about playing a playoff game, every possession having value, every possession having intensity to it. I thought my team, probably in my career, I've never seen a team probably do that on every possession -- do what they were supposed to do and play the game the right way -- as much as they did tonight."

* Karl isn't one of my favorite coaches in the league, but I sure respect what he's done with this particular Nuggets team. He's gotten them to share the ball, take smart shots and really play some physical defense. I mean, there may not be a more physical team in the league than Denver right now. And whoever thought we'd be saying that about this once-soft bunch?

* Can a physical team wear powder blue satin uniforms? Apparently, it can.

* Seriously, did you see Kenyon Martin's pick on Chris Paul? NBA TV will have to start giving its telecasts a PG-13 rating if this keeps up.

* On offense, the Nuggets' 56-percent shooting from the field supports my above point about unselfishness and taking smarter shots. Nene (5-of-5) and Chris Andersen (3-of-3) didn't miss at all, and Dahntay Jones (5-of-9), J.R. Smith (5-of-8) and Linas Kleiza (4-of-7) were very efficient. Also, Anthony made 9 of 17 shots for a game-high 26 points.

* And is it just me, or do the Nuggets possibly have the best bench in the league?

* Meanwhile, the Hornets are a disaster and I don't get it. I mean, what on earth has happened to Chris Paul? Wasn't he supposedly "robbed" of league MVP last season?

* Paul is still the best point guard in the league (although I'm not so sure I wouldn't vote for Billups), but something is going on. Karl suggested after the game that Paul is not 100 percent, that he "doesn't have that slippery quickness he usually has." But Paul said he's fine, so who knows?

* A lot of people aren't going to like me for saying this, but Paul hasn't been as good this season. I'm not sure why, and I can't seem to put my finger on what he is doing differently. But something is missing from his game this year.

* Perhaps we need to look no further than Paul's teammates. I've never been much of a Peja Stojakovic fan, particularly when it comes to the playoffs. He's been just OK this season, and it's hard to imagine the Hornets not wanting to move him when the year ends. Also, I used to be a huge fan of David West, but like Paul, he didn't seem to improve much from last season to this one. In fact, West seems to have regressed.

* A few league sources whom I respect have said that the Hornets may try to take advantage of Detroit's possible housecleaning this off-season, with their eyes focused on Richard Hamilton or Tayshaun Prince (or both). West could be part of one of those deals, but it's all speculation at this point. Still, you can't help but wonder if it's time to start over in New Orleans. That's pretty sad when you think about how close the Hornets were to contending last year.

* And I like Byron Scott, and think he's a pretty solid coach. But this is the kind of loss that gets people fired. The Hornets are proving to be one of the more underachieving teams (although like in all NBA cities, the team's marketing department went WAY overboard at the beginning of the year). Either way, someone will likely pay for the fact the Hornets fell so flat at the most meaningful time of year. You can bet it won't be Paul or West.

Sam Amico is the editor of Pro Basketball News. He can be reached at amico@probasketballnews.com.

Ahh, but did you know Purvis Short played half a season in ISRAEL near the end of his career ? he came here around 1992 to play in Hapoel Tel Aviv, the eternal "underdog" team of the city.... he was pretty old and overweight, but man, what a scroer ! what a beautiful arching shot ! he mostly played PF here, averaging 24.4, 4.6 and 4... Hapoel made it all the way to the finals against archrival Maccabi, and the series lasted 5 games (the max here). However by game 5 Purvis was already exhausted.. he even chucked a couple of terrible airballs in that game... and Hapoel lost in the finals, yet again. still he is one of the most memorable players to ever play here.

By: Red Fan 04/30/09 03:41am

CP3 is all hipe. He carries all the time an travel like he is a running back or something. And even when he is driving to the hole he is always trying to run into you an get the ref's to call a foul on youcause he is CP3..LOL... Yeah right When infact he is charging into you He is not all that .Please people get off the CP3 train it anit going no where CP3 is weak!!!!!!! weak i tell you

By: Eric 04/29/09 01:27pm

The difference with Paul this season is that he has had to score a lot more and it shows that he is wearing down especially with this physical Nuggets team. Last season Pargo and B-Jax handled the scoring backup PG role nicely and this year the backup PG Daniels cannot score and has not solidified the backup role making Paul having to do everything. I am a big fan of Peja and I don't think Byron Scott has used him well. It doesn't seem like Peja has the green light which he must have! The biggest flaw with Scott this year is that he has not played Julian Wright - he is THE defensive athletic wing they lack. Doesn't he remember Wright gave them big time lift with defensive plays and dunks last year in the playoffs? And when Butler isn't going well, playing MoPete or Wright doesn't hurt them defensively or offensively!

By: Henry 04/29/09 12:18pm

The Hornets made a terrible mistake not resigning Bonzi Wells. The way they used him, was really inefficient. The salary cap was an issue. If they could have kept Pargo and Bonzi and then added Posey, there would have been positive results. Go figure.

By: AC 04/29/09 11:16am

Wiz, how could you possibly make that comparison? Kobe has been in the league for 13 years, Paul for 4...just on that basis alone, saying "What has Paul ever done?" is ridiculous. Kobe didn't win a championsup until his 4th season, were you saying "what has Kobe ever done" up to then?. Kobe won 3 titles while playing alongside Shaq in his absolute prime. Who does CP3 have alongside him of that caliber? Surround him with some serious quality players, especially a dominant C or PF and he could have a lot of success just like Kobe does when surrounded by quality players.

By: Rob 04/29/09 08:53am

More of a general NBA fan than Hornets fan, but here are my 2 cents. Last year, with Pargo in the backcourt, Paul had to do less. Replacing Pargo with Butler is a talent downgrade, no matter how well Butler played down the stretch. Yes, West's game is limited because he's a jump shooting PF, but he's a quality 2nd option next to CP3. They were better last year b/c he was a lesser known threat and entity, and also because Peja played so much better last year than this year. He was a league leader in 3's made last season, this year, he had certain games that were career worsts. Also, don't overlook the contributions of Bonzi Wells post deadline last season. Also, Bobby Jackson last year. I just think they downgraded their guard talent this season and that's whats being overlooked. This is not a team you need to blow up. I know they are strapped for cash, but sign a new 3pt shooting SG/SF with the mid level exception and move from there. Shawn Marion would be fantastic for this team, I believe.

By: BNR 04/29/09 08:20am

As a hornets season ticket holder I hope it isnt byron scott that gets the ax. It would be a bad business decision by the team. Shinn made that mistake of firing coaches too soon in the early years in NO. I do think the the GM may get fired most people dont know who he is, and he has gotten the team into serious salary cap problems. He should be gone by weeks end.

By: mm 04/29/09 07:53am

Nope Rob -- you're wrong. This was much worse than what happened to the Lakers. And Kobe has won three titles. He's entitled to the occasional mail-in. What has Paul ever done?

By: Wiz4Life 04/29/09 07:53am

"Something like this would never happen to Kobe, D-Wade or LeBron in the playoffs." Did you watch game 6 of the NBA finals last year when Kobe and the Lakers completely mailed it in and lost by 39??? If you ask me, mailing it in in the clinching game of the finals is much worse than what the Hornets did.

By: Rob 04/29/09 07:21am

Sam Really enjoyed this article and I'm not a big fan of Karl either. I'm not thrilled about his offense schemes. It's too much one on one with no one crashing boards. If there shots don't fall they are going to be in deep do-do in the next round. Why you don't have one or two guys crashing the boards instead of 4 guys sitting outside the arch just watching the action is beyond me.

By: Deano 04/29/09 07:11am

I've been a Hornets fan from day 1 in Charlotte. Last year they were healthy and also overachieved a bit. This year? Injuries, lack of depth, expensive role players who did not come through. Did I say injuries? How to fix this? Replace Peja, Hilton Armstrong, Mo Pete to begin. Get this team some good, big men who can score and take pressure off of Tyson Chandler and D West. Get some backup for CP3. He had too much on his shoulders and it showed. Get some shooters!!! Keep D West, keep Byron Scott. That's one way to start the climb back to championship contender.

By: Jim 04/28/09 10:32pm

The Hornets are not athletic enough to compete. Everybody should be on the trading block except CP3, maybe you keep David West but he is not exempt from being traded in my book. They need tough minded players and more athleticism, somebody that can break down defenses and create other than Chris Paul. Sorry Peja, Mo-Pete, your time has expired. Play Julian Wright and any other young kid you got, its time to develop this talent along with Paul.

By: Cordell 04/28/09 02:54pm

A few responses to all your wonderful comments: 1. Yes, Matt, I do mean THAT Purvis Short. I wonder where he is today? 2. Jed's comment was right on. Maybe the Hornets have stopped listening to Byron Scott. 3. In no way did I mean to imply that the Hornets SHOULD fire Scott. I don't think they should. Heck, no one promoted him for the N.O. job more than I did. All I meant was, right or wrong, his job could be in danger. And that's PURE SPECULATION on my part. 4. Keep the comments coming! I obviously read them all. :)

By: Sam Amico 04/28/09 12:05pm

Sammy...Purvis Short? You mean the great retired Rocket Purvis Short?!!

By: mrw 04/28/09 10:55am

Sam, good comments & observation, some I agree with and some I don't. First, let's start with the Coach; B. Scott will & should stay but his Asst. Coaching staff should change. They failed this year on the defensive end and out of sink on offense. Most due to player injuries and off court activities; attempted trade of Chandler, their bench is very weak & Posey didn't perform period. Looking early around the NBA for possible trades. A three way team trade the Hornets can take a look at; Hornets offer;David West, Stojavich,Posey,D. Brown,M.Ely & R. Butler - They receive;Richard Hamilton,Carlos Boozer,Iverson, Milsap & K. Brown. The Pistons offer;R.Wallace, Iverson, Hamilton,K.Brown,T.Prince - Receive;David West, R. Butler, Mehmet Okur, Andrei Kirilenko & Kover. The Jazz offer;C. Boozer,Andrei Kirilenko, Mehmet Okur, Kyle Kover & Paul Milsap - Receive; R.Wallace, T.Prince, D. Brown, Posey & M.Ely.

By: Coach Smith 04/28/09 08:59am

Man, you want to talk about mailing it in. Not even the Pistons could top what the Hornets did Monday. Time to re-think what kind of leader Paul is. Something like this would never happen to Kobe, D-Wade or LeBron in the playoffs.

By: Daniel Spitzer 04/28/09 08:40am

Sam, the Hornets are my #2 team (after Thunder, of course) and it's hard to figure them out...and I've watched every game this season. Here's my two cents: 1) I thought they were stronger with Pargo in the backcourt (even Claxton, going back a few yrs) but now CP has to do it all. I think he's depressed without Tyson at full strength. 2) Injuries. CP has a bum knee, Tyson is at 60% I think, Posey (but he hasn't done much anyway), Peja (terminal back trouble) 3) No bench....none 4) Was exciting to see Butler step up throughout the season, but has the postseason pressures gotten to him? 5) My man, All-Star David West. I cannot figure him out...at all. I'm baffled. 6) Isn't it amazing that Byron Scott won Coach of the Year last year...now this?? wow. Time for a Hornets overhaul...before CP bails when he can? Anyway, great article! Great writing!

By: Susan Bible 04/28/09 08:32am

Agree with all. The Hornets need an overhaul. Keep CP3 and swap out most of the rest. David West is the most overrated, cheaply opportunisitic forward in the NBA. You can't have a PF who can't play with his back to the basket and who gets cowed by tougher, stronger players. If all you have is a fall away and crappy interior defense, an all-star you ain't. Stojakovich is nearing the career clubhouse and Posey is nothing more than a occasionally useful novelty act. Keep Chandler and Paul and trade out the glorified role players.

By: Noj 04/28/09 06:06am

Great stuff. I agree. I think the Hornets have stopped listening to Byron Scott. They have not been healthy much but their effort is inconsistent and their focus is not good. Billups is a great leader, clutch shooter and defender. Anthony just needed to be around a class veteran to show him how it is done. I'm glad because he was headed towards Glen "Big Dawg" Robinson status. Even though I do love the Purvis Short reference.

By: Jed 04/28/09 05:29am

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