[外電] Road gets no easier for winless Hornets

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原文出自nola.com http://www.nola.com/hornets/t-p/index.ssf?/base/sports-1/1100678392258780.xml Road gets no easier for winless Hornets 5-game road swing follows Suns, T-wolves Wednesday, November 17, 2004 By Benjamin Hochman Staff writer Hornets guard Darrell Armstrong says every NBA player is guilty of looking ahead on the schedule, dissecting matchups and occasionally allotting Ws and Ls to games that are still nights, sometimes fortnights, away. As the 0-6 Hornets -- off to the worst start in franchise history -- enter tonight's game against 4-2 Phoenix, everybody seems to be looking down the road and trying to predict the team's fate. And it looks like rough terrain ahead. Of the next nine games, every New Orleans opponent except Golden State either has a winning record this season or made the playoffs last season -- or both. "I've been looking at the schedule ever since this thing started," said P.J. Brown, the Hornets' power forward. "I break the season down, and I was looking at before we go on this Thanksgiving trip, hey, maybe we can go out at the worst, 4-4. Now we've put ourselves in, I think, two must-win situations. We're at home, and we really need to go out of here just feeling good about ourselves, not going out with our heads down and feeling like we can't get the job done." The Hornets host the Suns at 7 tonight and Minnesota and reigning MVP Kevin Garnett on Saturday before embarking on an eight-day road trip in which they will play five games. The dubious NBA record for a losing streak to start a season is 17 (Miami, 1988-89, and the Los Angeles Clippers, 1999-2000). The longest season-starting losing streak for a team that made the playoffs was 13. The 1996-97 Suns finished 40-42. But this season, 40-42 might not qualify for the playoffs even in the shabby Eastern Conference, and almost surely not in the West. "You look at a team like Miami last year, they started out 0-7 and ended up 41-41," Brown said. "You just don't want this hole to get too much deeper. You get going past Thanksgiving and into the holidays, and, hey, you can put yourselves out of it real quick, because the West, there aren't too many teams that aren't playoff teams." Phoenix is looking good. Although the Suns are not a towering squad -- their center is 6-foot-10 Amare Stoudemire and power forward is 6-foot-7 Shawn Marion -- they're speedy. They entered Tuesday's game against Dallas leading the NBA at 107.6 points per game. Asked Tuesday if they are one of the more athletic teams New Orleans will face, Hornets coach Byron Scott paused and smiled -- it was perhaps the easiest question he had been asked since coming to town. "Yeah," he said. "They're very, very athletic. You've got Stoudemire at five, Marion at your four -- those guys, at those positions, are two of the quickest in the league." And at point guard is Steve Nash, a 30-year-old former Maverick who is a pass-first sharpshooter. This offseason he signed a six-year, $66 million contract with Phoenix, a contract that raised eyebrows around the league. Entering Tuesday, his 58 assists were 14 more than anyone else in the NBA. "On what we pay him, there was talk about it, but I can tell you from a coaching standpoint that whatever we had to pay, it was worth it," Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said. "You can't win in this league without a good point guard, and he's one of the best." The Hornets are still without their star point guard. Baron Davis will miss the next two games with a back injury and could miss the road trip, too. The Hornets could struggle without his 26.4 points per game, but that's not the overriding problem. "We're averaging 93 points a game, shooting 43 percent -- offense isn't the problem," Scott said. "But when you allow your opponents to shoot 48 percent, and you're getting out- rebounded, that's the problem." Against Phoenix, the Hornets will have to be selective in its running, and must make the Suns sweat on defense, Scott said. "Hopefully, that takes a little starch out of them, moving up and down the floor," he said. Finding consistency has been tough for New Orleans, and the injuries haven't helped. Forward Rodney Rogers (sprained left knee) also is out. Center Jamaal Magloire, who will start tonight, sat out Tuesday's practice because of soreness. Even assistant coach Darrell Walker had to have his bad back checked during practice. 'It's day-to-day," Scott joked. "He might be able to give me 15 minutes standing on the bench." Armstrong, an energetic reserve who will start in Davis' spot, knows what awaits the Hornets on their schedule. He also knows that, while they're banged up, this is a team that has lost its past five games by an average of four points and is still learning its new system. "There's no reason to make excuses," Armstrong said. "You've got enough talent to win games. If guys in this league want to accept losing, you can accept losing. That's easy to do, and some teams do that. But not this team here. Not these guys. We have a lot of pride, and we have a lot of character. I don't think anyone is going to quit here." FOOD FOR TICKETS: Fans who bring five or more non-perishable food items to tonight's Hornets game will receive a voucher for a free ticket to the donor's choice of games against the New York Knicks (Dec. 8) or the Golden State Warriors (Dec. 15). The offer is part of the Hornets' annual contribution to the Second Harvesters Food Bank. Last year's effort collected 33,699 pounds of food, making it one of the food bank's most successful events. Along with their donation, fans must have a ticket to tonight's game to be eligible for the voucher. The offer is limited to one free ticket per person. . . . . . . . Benjamin Hochman can be reached at bhochman@timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3405. -- ※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc) ◆ From: 140.117.190.7