Time for change in New Orleans

[Comment Below]

By Blake Oestriecher

Going three for nine may be good for a baseball player, but not for an NBA coach.

Byron Scott knows that better than any of us. Scott was fired as head coach of the New Orleans Hornets less than 10 games into the 2009-2010 NBA season. The former Coach of the Year was given the axe after the Hornets got out to a dismal 3-6 start.

Much of the blame for New Orleans' atrocious beginning to the season can be put on Scott. Fans wanted to see Julian Wright, so Scott put him in the starting lineup. Big mistake. Wright is the Hornets' version of Reggie Bush: a super athletic guy who has all the tools, but just can't put it together during games. Scott inserted Wright in an attempt to give the team a spark and it failed miserably. If anything, Wright has proved he won't be a starter anytime soon.

Scott also failed to utilize his rookies. Why draft Darren Collison and Marcus Thornton if you're going to play both of them less than 10 minutes per game? Why sit them on the bench while you let the Browns run wild? Devin and Bobby aren't the answers. Put the rookies in. That's why you drafted them. Even ESPN analyst Mark Jackson brought this up. He suggested putting Collison, Chris Paul and Thornton on the court at the same time. That lineup would be itty bitty, but at least you can expect a little more effort.

Still, I can't put all of the blame on Scott. Yes, he sat in silence with his hand on his chin more than any coach in the history of the game. Yes, he put Devin Brown in the starting lineup. And yes, he gave Wright a job he never earned, but the Hornets' problems extend beyond Scott. First off, what NBA player has underachieved more than David West? Through the first nine games, West averaged 15.4 points and 5.9 rebounds per game, down from 21 and 8.5 just last year.

West's statistics are down in literally every single major category this season. He doesn't hustle, he doesn't play defense and he doesn't look motivated. West is the team's best trade bait with three years at roughly $9 million per season left on his contract. If I'm George Shin, I seriously consider moving West because he is the only player on the team (besides Paul) who would return any true value. Teams will take a chance on this guy and the Hornets could probably snag a couple of young talents in exchange.

Put these young players, along with Collison and Thornton, into the game. Paul needs some help and it's not coming from any of the veterans. In a Times-Picayune article, West said that Chris Paul is "the only guy on the team that gets a consistent flow of good looks on a nightly basis." Thanks, David West. Anyone who watches even five minutes of a Hornets game knows that.

Lastly, the Hornets have one huge problem that, unless something odd happens, isn't going away anytime soon. Quite simply, it's the fact that the Hornets are locked into large contracts with three players who aren't worth the money. Peja Stojakovic has two years remaining on his contract at over $13 million per season while Morris Peterson and James Posey have two years remaining at roughly $6 million per season. These offseason splurges are really coming back to haunt the Hornets and will, in all likelihood, prevent New Orleans from making any big free agent acquisitions within the next couple of years.

The New Orleans Hornets: Where overpaying happens.

Originally Published: Issue 824 - November 18, 2009

Share on Facebook

Back to the top