Hornets on the Internets: Blah Edition

by Caleb462 on Apr 12, 2011 12:30 PM CDT in Links

Your ~~Morning~~ Afternoon Links.

Recaps of last night's "action": Swarm and Sting, Hornets247, HoopDat.
Jimmy Smith of the Times-Pic with an article about bad timing.
Meanwhile, John DeShazier of the Times-Pic wrote an article praising.... George Shinn.
And so it begins.... there's still more than a year before Paul becomes a free agent, but I expect this sort of "news" to become more and more common in the year to come.
On a nicer note, the Hornets have helped raise $200,000 for those affected by the oil spill.

Tweet Comment 15 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

The Article On Shinn

Starting Saturday there were quite a few articles about Shinn coming back into New Orleans and watching his first game since he sold the team. The fact that he donated $500,000 to the Salvation Army in New Orleans is a pretty cool deal, though. Regardless of what anyone thinks of Shinn personally, he at least is still wiling to be charitable in a moment where he really doesn’t need to.

But I’ve never heard an argument for Shinn in the way that this article did. Saying that he spent but didn’t spend in relation to the rest of the league is kind of a cop out. If at any point he felt he didn’t have the funds to properly facilitate the team he could have. He didn’t decide to sell them until last year. But there is some truth to it. When Shinn was making a lot of money (think the early Charlotte days) he got a lot of flack for not paying up for Alonzo Mourning, but he did pay Larry Johnson quite a bit of cash. Likewise, after the team’s first year in Oklahoma City, he suddenly was aggressive in picking up Tyson Chandler and his contract and also signing Peja Stojakovic. He was never always thrifty when business was good. But looking at the Hornets business records the last few years, I understand why he desperately wanted to get under the luxury tax. After all, business wasn’t good in New Orleans.

I like the fact that he’d still like to buy back as a minority owner too. I guess that remains to be seen in terms of if Chouest will buy the team or someone here will want to put up with him, but he’s at least making himself available to do that; which is more than can be said about anyone else in Louisiana.

"You play to win the game."

by MrWayneKeller on Apr 12, 2011 2:41 PM CDT reply actions

good points

I’ve always been surprised how lowly Shinn has been thought of on this board. I always got the impression that NO fans generally considered him as the owner that NO had to get rid of. There was barely any mention of him here when he was diagnosed with cancer last year.

He did bring pro basketball back to NO and he wasn’t always quite the spendthrift that some people made him out to be. He is nowhere near Donald Sterling.

He had to contend with the fact that Charlotte and NO are not the biggest markets in the NBA. Business has not been good the past 2 to 3 years in NO and the organization also had to deal with the Katrina disaster and relocation which probably hit the bottom line quite badly.

I generally have positive feelings about Shinn, at least as a NBA franchise owner.

by MZURK on Apr 12, 2011 5:17 PM CDT up reply actions

Ugh, Shinn

I think it’s just a combination of his reputation chasing him from Charlotte, where is reputation is utterly poisoned & his making $$$ hand-over-fist while moving the team away for ‘financial’ reasons (can’t complain about the serendipity, NOLA needed an NBA team), his self-promotion of his name (that every NBA owner engages in on the home channel, CST in our case), and his evangelical reputation that so predictably clashes with the kidnapping/sex scandal that dogged him in NC, I think just made him very dislikable.

As an owner I thought he was inept and didn’t really care about the team, but was made to (inference, I have no facts) because Stern & the league want to keep a team in New Orleans in the wake of Katrina, but like most situations “it could be worse.” We could’ve had Donald Sterling, or Golden State’s old ownership, but I’m glad we’re moving on and hopefully someone/some consortium buys the team.

by Grand Tanyon Sturtze on Apr 12, 2011 10:11 PM CDT up reply actions

So Rohan did I read....

your tweet correctly? You actually WANT to write CP3 off? You put up stats and say ‘much as I want to write him off’. Write him off then. Ignore those stats and just write him off. LOL. It’ll be all that better for your health. LOL. Don’t let stats keep you hanging on.

by QueenBee on Apr 12, 2011 3:40 PM CDT reply actions

Yeah, that's what I wrote

I think he’s gone from being a top 2 player in the NBA to a top 10 player that will need a significantly better team around him (than top 2 version of Chris Paul did) to win a championship.

by Rohan on Apr 12, 2011 3:52 PM CDT up reply actions

it's unfortunate but true

While 3 years ago CP could be legitimately mentioned as an MVP candidate, this year’s CP has unfortunately been nowhere near that level of discussion.

by MZURK on Apr 12, 2011 5:11 PM CDT up reply actions

aww Rohan, blasphemy on Paul. Really, you want to write him off?

CP3 is going to adjust, the knee’s not as bad as, say, Roy’s injury, and he’s smart. He’ll become a different player as he’s forced to physically, but just as dominant. I think his stats. this year were exacerbated by the fact that he had to learn to play in Monty’s offense, which has the second slowest pace rating to his mentor McMillan. It’s hard for any PG, even a CP3, to adjust to going so slowly, but I think he’ll get even better.

by Grand Tanyon Sturtze on Apr 12, 2011 10:14 PM CDT up reply actions

But CP3 doesn't need to adjust to a slow pace at all...

That’s what he played in and thrived in his whole career. The Scott teams were super slow too. In Paul’s best statistical year, 08 – 09, the Hornets played almost a whole possession slower per game than they’ve played under Monty this year.

I’m still not sure about Paul overall. I think its very possible that Rohan is right…. that Paul will still be the best passer in the league, a top 10ish player probably…. but not the same guy he was prior to the injury. As a result he’s going to need better teams around him to have the same success. But maybe not… I think the jury is still out and we probably won’t know till next season.

by Caleb462 on Apr 13, 2011 1:13 PM CDT up reply actions

yep

I think next season will really show whether CP has fully recovered and capable of being again the CP of the past… assumign that it is the injury issue (which is not completely clear, but my guess says it is).

by MZURK on Apr 13, 2011 1:38 PM CDT up reply actions

In RyanCaz news...

I just scored free tix to the game tomorrow @ Dallas via a friend. Section 101!!! I have never sat so close at a game.

Don’t know how meaningful or meaningless the game will be, but it should be fun.

See y’all in NOLA for the playoffs!

Reppin' the Lafayette Hornets fans.

by RyanCaz on Apr 12, 2011 4:34 PM CDT reply actions

ballin!

Congrats man, enjoy the game!

by Grand Tanyon Sturtze on Apr 12, 2011 10:14 PM CDT up reply actions

You'll probably be watching a lineup of

Jack, Green, Q-Pon, Smith, and Mbenga, but it will still be fun! haha

by GeauxHornets on Apr 12, 2011 10:35 PM CDT up reply actions

Enjoy It

I watched the 05 team get BLOWN OUT here at the AT&T Center when J.R. Smith got benched (and I had waited all year to watch him live because he was the only decent player the team had). Doesn’t matter who’s there, I love cheering for the Hornets especially on the road.

"You play to win the game."

by MrWayneKeller on Apr 12, 2011 10:42 PM CDT up reply actions