[外電] Long division a tough equation for Hornets
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Long division a tough equation for Hornets
N.O. 1-14 against Southwest opponents
Friday, April 01, 2005
By Jimmy Smith
Staff writer
HOUSTON -- Mercifully, it's about to end.
Not the Hornets' season. Just the part in which New Orleans
has to face an opponent from the NBA's Southwest Division,
where the team has resided this season after realignment put
it in the Western Conference.
Tonight's game against the Houston Rockets at the Toyota
Center will be the Hornets' last within a division in which
four teams will play in the postseason.
"I'm looking forward to it," Hornets coach Byron Scott said,
tongue placed firmly in his cheek.
Last Saturday, the Hornets avoided becoming the first team
in league history to go through a season without a division
victory when they beat Memphis 96-85.
That gave the Hornets a 1-14 record among a group that
includes playoff-bound San Antonio, as well as the Rockets
and Dallas, two teams that almost assuredly will secure
berths. Memphis currently holds the eighth spot in the West.
"I felt coming in this was the toughest division in
basketball," said Hornets forward P.J. Brown. "But I don't
think any team in this division went through what we did
this year, with injuries and players not wanting to be here,
trades. . . . No team has been through what we've been
through.
"So it's been a tough year. But even if everything would
have been aligned right, it was still going to be a tough
division to compete in and battle in."
From a personnel standpoint, the Hornets had potential
problems from the outset, a fact Scott concedes.
"All of them have different things they do well. The matchups
were going to be tough for all four teams," Scott said. "With
San Antonio, you've got the big fellow (two-time MVP Tim
Duncan) and Tony Parker and (All-Star guard Manu) Ginobili.
So they've got three great, great players.
"You go to Dallas and Dirk (Nowitzki, another All-Star) is a
matchup nightmare for anybody. Talk about Houston and their
big two (All-Stars Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady), and Memphis,
overall, the group they can throw at you are tough at any
given time. So we knew from day one it was going to be a
tough division."
But New Orleans' record against Southwest Division opponents
belies the fact that, despite a myriad of problems, the
Hornets at times have been at least competitive in a few
of those 14 defeats.
There was an eight-point loss on the road to the Rockets on
Dec. 7 and a five-point home loss to Houston on Jan. 26, a
four-point road loss at Dallas, seven- and six-point home
losses to the Grizzlies and a 10-point loss at San Antonio.
There are a dozen games remaining in the season. Despite his
team's squandering a 17-point lead in an overtime loss to
Cleveland on Monday night, Scott said he likes the way his
team played in the win over Memphis and the loss to the Cavs.
"I told them, if we take a look at the last two games, we've
had 20-point leads against two teams that are going to be in
the playoffs, one in the East and one in the West," Scott
said. "So that's the one positive about having all these
guys back, having David West back and Speedy (Claxton). I'm
getting a chance to see these guys in a different light."
To that end, Scott will start West tonight in place of Brown,
and Claxton in place of Dan Dickau and Bostjan Nachbar for
Lee Nailon.
It is part of the short-term goal of remaining competitive
in the last 12 games, Scott said, while looking ahead to
next season.
"You want to look at both," Scott said. "I don't think we're
getting ahead of ourselves in looking to next year and seeing
what we need to do. We're in a situation now with the games
we have left that we're still in an evaluation mode. But,
out of the corner of your eyes, you're looking at other
things you might want to bring in in order to get better,
to match up with some of these teams.
"So it's a learning experience. If it's one or two (Southwest
wins), we know we have something to build on for next year."
--
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