The Hornets revival... is it all Chris Paul?

[J@3]

I've been wondering, because 9 out of 10 people would credit Chris Paul with the Hornets revival and competent play this season, and who can blame them. He's putting up great numbers and had the ROY award wrapped up after the first month, but Speedy Claxton, coming off the bench for every game bar two is putting up 12/3/4, and today without Paul the Hornets beat Minnesota behind Claxton's 28/7 and is now 2-0 with him starting at PG.

So what's going on? I haven't exactly followed the Hornets closely this season, but is the Hornets system just custom built for players like Speedy and Paul? I'm not completely convinced that without Paul they would be struggling like last season, but I found it interesting given that people were willing to give Paul the crown for completely turning the Hornets franchise around on his own.

[King James #23]

I dont think it's all due to Chris Paul, but a large part yes. David West's emergence to becoming a frontrunner for MIP has helped alot too. I think they would have been better off not doing the Magloire/Mason deal.

[Jugs]

I think they would have been better off not doing the Magloire/Mason deal.

I disagree cos that would have cut David West's playing time

[cklitsie]

And Magloire wasn't motivated to play in NO/OK anymore.

I think they just play really good TEAM basketball. I'd give the credit for the revival to PJ Brown, West, Paul and Claxton. They're the leaders.

[Matt]

We won't know the answer to this question unless Paul misses more time. Look @Indiana last season, when they lost Jax-JO-Artest they kept winning games for a while.

It all equals out in the end. Chris Paul is a huge reason this team .500+, but of course personell changes and improvements have helped immensely.

[AlwaysWhat,NeverWhy]

Tribute has to go to Byron Scott, though. He has taken a team of many unproven - second fiddle players and turned them into a playoff contender. Props to him.

[ixcuincle]

Yes , Byron Scott is a good man. When the Hornets did horribly last year , I wondered if he had lost his ability to coach , since they did surprisingly poor. Nice to know that a good coach like Byron Scott is winning games with regularity again. I don't know why New Jersey even let him go in the first place...you may have a bad team and claim "the players didn't listen to him anymore" blah blah blah but it is a mistake to fire a guy who took them to the finals TWICE.

[Buckley]

the hornets have been surprising this season. byron scott has done a great job getting the most out of his players, and making the rite moves when necessary, cutting george lynch and having jr smith sit because he didnt put in effort. brown is good for 10 and 7, ok from the center position. west has shown great improvement and good for 17 and 8, possible MIP candidate. speedy has provided energy off the bench and could be sixth man. then chris paul. has posted stats of 16, 5, and 8. will be an all-star next year and maybe the hornets in 06-07 will make the playoffs.

its not all chris paul. it is definitely the team thats doing well.

[Riot]

Ugh, don't talk to me about the game last night. Kirk Snyder and Speedy Claxton lit us up.

[Its_asdf]

Aaron Williams is their MVP.

Is J.R. Smith still injured?

[maes]

50% CP and 50% the Oklahoma City fans. All of a sudden having a fan base that sells your stadium out can motivate like nothing else will.

[Axel]

50% CP and 50% the Oklahoma City fans. All of a sudden having a fan base that sells your stadium out can motivate like nothing else will.

Which is all the more reason why they shouldn't move back to NO.

[fgrep15]

I've been saying that West is also a big part of how good they are. The thing about them is that they don't have "great" players, but they have average-good players at about every starting position, and play as a team. Paul-Mason-West and Brown are all good players. Snyder has been playing very well for them this year too. Their bench isn't really "good", but they have Claxton and Butler, and JR Smith when he actually get's to play.

It's really not about just Paul, they're just a good team [team being the key word] in general. Byron seems to also be a good PG coach, which could help a lot, but Claxton is far from being a bad player. He's very injury prone, but in GS he averaged:

13.1 PPG | 3.3 RPG | 6.2 APG | 1.89 SPG | 43.1% FG in 32.6 MPG

[gifted]

I'd say it's the PG tandem of Paul and Claxton. Both have been carrying the team the whole year. Mason, Butler, West, Smith (even though he's been slightly dissapointing this season, he's been much more efficient), Snyder, and Brown all contribute consistently.

The reason i'm saying West isn't a reason for the resurgence of the team is the same reason why Diaw should win the MIP over West. The team never runs plays for West, 2/3 of his points come from jumpshots, and those jumpshots are assisted 70% of the time. He's a solid role player, but not one of the main reasons of the success.

[#12]

scott is a good coach

[mark_30_112]

He's more then a good coach he's a great coach, one of the best in the league. As for Chris Paul he's playing awesome and he is really one of the leaders of the team.

[Nel]

Byron Scott defines what patience means. After having a first dismal season, he and the management sticked with their line-up and now surviving the loss of their former superstar baron davis. It just shows that patience is a virtue. The hornets plays team basketball and is actually fun to watch especially when paul leads the fastbreak. If teams like the hawks, bobcats stays patient then they might turn out to be like the hornets.

[KIG1]

West is helpin out a lot but CP3 is a huge spark plug for the team.

[air gordon]

Byron Scott defines what patience means. After having a first dismal season, he and the management sticked with their line-up and now surviving the loss of their former superstar baron davis. It just shows that patience is a virtue. The hornets plays team basketball and is actually fun to watch especially when paul leads the fastbreak. If teams like the hawks, bobcats stays patient then they might turn out to be like the hornets.

It's hardly patience or sticking with a lineup. It's been less then a full season since the team fully committed to rebuilding (since the baron davis trade and even moreso when Magloire was traded). And they haven't had the same lineup like the Pistons have lol

The Hornets immediate success is a real credit to the players and coaching staff

LOL i can't believe draft Utah traded 3 1st round picks to not draft Chris Paul

[J@3]

They won again, beating Washington. Speedy had 16/10. Team is now 3-0 without Paul in the line-up, weird.

[IronMan]

Wow thought it was over after Jamison hit that jumper... nicely done by West to win it.

[ixcuincle]

Yeah , I was watching it on TV and thought it was over when Jamison hit that shot with .5 left , only to be outdone by another clutch shot by New Orleans. Amazing game.

[Nick]

Yeah, nice.

What's up with JR Smith though?

Is he injured, or is he in the coach's doghouse? How can Scott not play a 20 year old dynamic sg, who's oozing with potential?

[fgrep15]

David West is 4/4 on game winning baskets this season.

[Axel]

Is he injured, or is he in the coach's doghouse? How can Scott not play a 20 year old dynamic sg, who's oozing with potential?

I believe he has a hand injury. Last game I saw prior to the Wizards game he injured it... i might be wrong though.