The Bitter End

I tell myself that all young teams must go through a couple of years falling short before they can be champions. I tell myself that we lost to the champs, one of the best teams on the planet. I tell myself that their shooting percentage beyond the arc is the kind of fluke that you really can't do anything about. I tell myself that our shooting woes are the type of thing that happens and, unfortunately, it happened to us at the worst time. And even though all these things are true, it still hurts that the Hornets season ended, and ended bitterly, last night at the hands of the Spurs. But there is plenty to be proud of with this team. They accomplished so much, more than any other team in the organization's history. The fact remains that they are a dangerous young team whose very talented core is all under contract. They (hopefully) have learned from this year's playoff run and from this series in particular. Next year they figure to be even more deadly. This is a team on the rise, not the decline. They certainly do no appear to be a fluke. Barring injury to Paul or West, they should again be one of the top teams next year. But man, October is a long way off. I stand by my assertion that this is the most talented team New Orleans has ever had. I hope the fans continue to show up next year and that the team soon rewards us all with a championship...or two. Go Hornets!

The Buzz

Last night my New Orleans Hornets (yes, there are some things in New Orleans I will lay claim to) eliminated the Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the NBA playoffs. Of course I am very happy but what makes it even sweeter is that absolutely none of the so-called experts picked us to win. We were inexperienced they said and Dallas was a veteran team. We would wilt under the playoff lights they surmised. Well, they underestimated Chris Paul. That kid is the absolute truth. Dallas had no answer for him whatsoever. The one game they did win was the only one he didn't dominate in and that was not particularly because of anything they did to stop him. The Hornets are one of the few things I truly missed about New Orleans (my sons, the food and the Tigers are the others) and I'm glad to be back in time for this historic playoff run. We won a record number of games this year for the franchise, we won our first division title ever, we won the first playoff series for a New Orleans NBA franchise ever. On top of that Byron Scott won Coach of the Year and Chris Paul will almost certainly finish no worse than second in the MVP voting. Of course, given my track record, I will not pick them to win it all because coming from me that is the kiss of death. Instead I will fully endorse the L.A. Lakers and their petulant star, Kobe Bryant. Break a leg, bitch. Literally. Go Hornets.