As a first post on the newly developed Dash Right 93 Berlin blog, I find it completely necessary to come right out of the gate and harshly criticize our New Orleans Hornets.  I mean, the whole point of a sports blog is to go out and show that you know more than the organization running the team right?.

Last year, the New Orleans Hornets had the lowest scoring bench in the NBA, averaging a measly 22.9 points per game.  Despite offseason efforts to improve the quality of bench players, the Hornets continue to struggle protecting leads once the starters leave the game.  Hilton Armstong, now in his fourth year in the NBA, still looks lost at the center position.  His lack of size and limited offensive ability is evident immediately when he enters the game.  He continues to get dominated by bigger interior players and has yet to develop any kind of outside shot, so offensively he’s simply a liability.  James Posey looks old and lacks the big-time presence that made him such a hot commodity before the 2008 season.  Peja coming off the bench is an improvement over Peja as a starter, but other than his 3-point shooting ability, he is basically a walking corpse on the floor.  As for the newcomers, Bobby Brown aka Mr. Whitney Houston aka New Edition is a quick, explosive guard.  However, he’s a low percentage jump shooter who takes way too many shots and lacks the discipline to compliment Paul off the bench.  Despite these shortcomings, there is hope for improvement.  If New Edition can get under control and learn from Chris Paul, he could be the replacement to Jannero Pargo that the Hornets needed last year.  Ike Diogu, a power forward acquired from Sacramento, could turn out to be the wild card when he eventually gets healthy.  Diogu proved to be a serious offensive force when given starting minutes last year, racking up 60 points and 24 rebounds in two games as a starter, and could be the physical offensive bench player the Hornets have been missing.  Another newcomer, Darius Songaila, could be a serviceable bench contributor with his size and ability.  The two rookies, Darren Collison and Marcus Thornton, are quick guards who could provide the youthful spark the Hornets bench has been lacking.  However, as seen in the past with J.R. Smith, Brandon Bass and Julian Wright, Coach Byron Scott is reluctant to give younger players quality minutes so their talents might go unnoticed for the 2009 season.

Besides Chris Paul, the Hornets lack a player who excels at driving to the basket.  The Hornets average near 20 free throw attempts per game, which ranks near the bottom of the league.  In contrast, Denver averages 39 attempts per game, a possible 19 point per game swing that is vital in NBA basketball.  A major reason for the lack of attempts is there is no player on the court willing to drive to the basket besides Paul.   Morris Peterson is a jump shooter (a mediocre one at that, but that’s a different story) and nothing else.  Julian Wright has the occasional attempt at attacking the hoop, but he is so out of control that his drives hardly ever end well.  New Edition has the ability to use his quickness to mimic the things Paul is able to do, but at the moment he hasn’t been able to do so.  David West is another jump shooter who isn’t a threat at attacking the basket.  The lack of pressure forces Paul to sit back and watch his teammates stand still hoping that they magically get themselves open for a lucky jump shot.  He has no competant 2 or 3 to compliment his abilities.

Going back to the rookies, Collison and Thornton are both high-energy players who often attack the basket as well as take quality jump shots.  Even without stepping foot on an NBA court, they are instant improvements over current SG Morris Peterson.  Both Collison and Thornton had good preseasons but Scott feels that they both need time to adjust to the NBA game.  Other coaches around the league seem to think otherwise about their rookies.  The list of comparable rookies getting quality minutes includes Wayne Ellington, Ty Lawson, Jeff Teague, Omri Casspi, Taj Gibson, DeJuan Blair, and Chase Budinger.  All of these rookies are getting NBA-ready by getting playing time, not sitting on the bench.  Byron Scott’s philosophy on rookies has always been the same and sadly it could be one of the  many reasons for his downfall.

On the defensive side of the ball, West is very below average.  As good of a shooter he is on the offensive side of the ball, he has yet to improve on defense.  He is a big man who doesn’t block shots or rebound well and isn’t overly athletic, so physical power forwards more often than not have their way with him.  Okafor is going to be a solid defender once he gets acclimated with the defense, but he would be better suited alongside a bigger shot blocking center.  Opposing teams take advantage of the inabilities of West and Armstrong by utilizing screens and pick and rolls to create easy layups under the basket.  Also, too often the Hornets get lost double-teaming interior players and leave perimeter shooters wide open.  Good perimeter passing teams make the Hornets look silly.  Guards frequently drive to the hoop and are able to kick back out to open perimeter shooters for uncontested shots.  So to sum things up, the Hornets have trouble defending the pick and roll inside and the quick dish-out on the perimeter.  Okafor is the only reliable rebounder so the Hornets will get outnumbered nightly in that category.  This does not bode well for future success and requires immediate improvement for any chance for the Hornets to make any noise this season.

From a coaching standpoint, Scott seems to have lost his magic from the 2007 season.  He is reluctant to play younger, high energy players and in turn refuses to let Paul run with a younger lineup in transition.  He still has not found the proper lineup to handle both streaky perimeter players and high energy rebounders.  He continues to play namely Hilton Armstrong and Morris Peterson even though neither has ever been able to produce for the team.  In the first few games, the Hornets have struggled making the 4th quarter adjustments needed to win close games.  Chris Paul is going to win the team 15-20 games on his own, but any success outside of that will depend on Scott ability to fix glaring weaknesses and overcome his stubborn tendencies.