Holy Crap, All-Stars everywhere, pt. 3

Holy Crap! There's a pt. 3?! You betcha. As an added bonus to my devoted readers, I've decided to post some extra photos from the weekend as well as one from the "Casino Night" that the Hornets' hosted this evening for their season ticket holders. The event itself was fantastic. We got meet most of the of the players, chat with the team president, and they had these hors d'oeuvre things that were ostensibly an oyster shot (for those curious about the recipe, you place a small amount of cocktail sauce in a glass, drop in a fresh Louisiana oyster, and garnish with a lemon... I love this city).

Particular points of interest:

1. David West took a picture with us. We are such dorks.

2. We told Ryan Bowen that we wanted to sign his petition to get a "hustle" event at next year's All-Star game. Contrary to what that sounds like, Bowen apparently (jokingly) wanted to start a petition for an event to be added to the Saturday agenda that would feature players scrambling to save balls from going out of bounds. He was actually a pretty funny guy. Not to mention he's totally living the dream: he gets to play basketball for a living (with CP3) all because he has (I hate this word) "heart". Un-be-freakin'-lievable.

3. We asked JuJu and Hilt on the way out if they wanted a ride (they were waiting in the valet line). Hilton, who thought we were serious, very politely declined. JuJu thought this was hysterical (especially after Curry offered him shotgun).

Ok, on to the pictures.

***

Lee hearts KG.

Curry blocks CP3 (I can't believe we got this one to work).

Curry manages to photograph the tip-off. The NBA: Where 37 pictures before half-time happens.

It's David West! It's David West! He was an All-Star! I'm not a dork!

***

Thanks for stopping by. Stay tuned this weekend for coverage of the home game against Houston featuring the sort-of anticipated arrival of Bonzi Wells and Mike James.

Holy Crap, All-Stars everywhere, pt. 2

Saturday. On a somewhat serendipitous whim, Curry and I decided to head to the quarter for lunch with a friend (who has the misfortune of working Saturdays). On our walk through downtown, we noticed a surprising amount of people in the streets. The count was nowhere near Mardi Gras numbers, but it was substantial enough to take note of. As we walked past the Sheraton on Canal, who should emerge right in front of us? If you guess Jamario Moon you'd be right. I immediately told him hi and good luck (for the dunk competition) and Curry chimed in about his performance the night before. Not a twenty seconds later (as we cross Canal), Deron Williams passes us by chatting away on his cell phone. At this point, we're flabbergasted. I'm not usually around celebrities (but I do hold my own fine when I am... and I am also aware that Jamario Moon isn't exactly a celebrity), but walking past two fairly well-known players in the span of a minute was pretty cool... even after a night of being in the same building (and sometimes at close distances) to other players, past and present. After lunch we managed to run into Hilton Armstrong (Curry awkwardly high-fived his fist) and I saw Gerald Green cruise by in (no doubt, rented) Explorer. Not a bad run. (I use parentheses too much.)

The next logical step was an afternoon at the levee drinking a gallon of daiquiris. It was great prep time for an evening of beer and All-Star competitions. The individual events themselves were mostly meaningless, but (of course) I do have a few reactions:

1. I hate the Haier shootout thing. Let's agree never to talk about this waste of my life again.

2. D. Wade must feel pretty embarrassed after committing a turnover against a faceless cardboard cutout and then missing multiple layups. This was all made worse by the fact that he's the Skills Competition champ 2 years running.

3. Even though he was eliminated in the first round of the 3-point shootout, Peja hit more buckets than Rip, and that's all I care about.

4. The birthday cake dunk was amazing. The Superman dunk was also amazing, but would have been better had Dwight dunked the ball instead of throwing it in. Jamario Moon's second dunk would have been the most amazing had he practiced it once before attempting it in the competition.

Done and done. Let's move on to Sunday.

***

Sunday. All-Star day. I had gotten a call the previous day with news that my Dad's buddy had extra tickets for the game and my father and I were next in line. A call Sunday confirmed this (as well as an extra ticket for Curry). I now had a $300 pass to a star-studded, music-filled, skills exhibition. I was officially pumped.

Arriving at the stadium, we grabbed beer and made the trek to our upper-upper level seats. Did I care about such "terrible" seats? Not one iota. When the festivities finally did start, I was screaming like a five year-old. After watching the East get introduced, Kermit Ruffins, a local trumpet legend, swaggered out with his trumpet and played a classic New Orleans tune. (I actually talked with him in a bar the previous week [between sets] but that's another story.) His appearance -- and the subsequent appearance of the West's team -- completely ignited the crowd. First player to be introduced? CP3, ladies and gentlemen. The roof on the arena about blew off when he was announced. In fact, I have zero recollection of the next person introduced because everyone was still yelling. A faint "MVP" chant could even be heard amongst the screaming. Of course, D. West got plenty of props, too.

Smiling faces from as high as 10 feet above sea level.

Fast forward to the game. The first quarter sucked. Yao kept getting posterized (he's softer than me, I think), AI kept passing to his old conference, both teams played sloppy, and the East went up by a gazillion. Second quarter. The West cut the lead to 2 thanks to the remarkable tag-team of CP3 and Brandon Roy. It was at this moment, Curry and I decided to drive to Portland under the cover of night, steal Brandon, and leave a bag of weed and a plate of cookies in his stead... and Rasual Butler.

Halftime. 10 pianos and a jazz ensemble. I love this town. Appearances by Dr. John, Allen Toussaint, Art Neville, Harry Connick, Jr., etc. etc. It was fantastic and surreal all at once. I'm pretty sure I'll never be in the same building with as many famous people in my life...

Third quarter. The score stays close; however, the East do go on a run after some sloppy plays by the West. They then record 3 of the most amazing ally-oops I've seen in a long time, including one that changed hands 3 or 4 times before Dwight Howard posterized Yao. On a side note, Yao attempted not 1, but 2 threes... whaaaat? Whose idea was that? He's got good range, but he's not wearing a four-thousand dollar suit... COME ON! Fourth quarter. The first lead change occurs and it looks like CP3 might actually lead the West to a victory (he finished with 16 points, 14 assists). He Roy continue to light it up on both ends of the court. BUT, for whatever reason, Byron leaves Dirk in the game forever which inevitably leads to the 2 plays that clinch the game for the East. 1) D. Wade blocks a Dirk 3 that would have tied the game with less than a minute to go, 2) Dirk (and 3 other members of the West) get posterized by LeBron in (mark my words) the most amazing dunk ever. Forget Superman, LeBron owns this league. At least he will, when Kobe loses his pinkie.

Cool view from the arena... betcha didn't know KG was that tall in person.

And that was it. It was an unbelievably wild ride and it couldn't have happened to this city at a better time. Simmons, Adande, and Hollinger wrote great articles about both the game and the city... and I think everyone's on board. New Orleans is back. It's got a long way to go, but for all intents and purposes, she lives on. And what a way to celebrate it.

***

Quick follow-up on Sam's most recent comment. I agree with you that Ben Gordon is not a slasher. I foolishly lumped him into the aforementioned category because he has good range, he can drive to the bucket if he has to, and he draws a decent amount of fouls (just under 5 free-throw attempts per game). Given my close following of the Hornets' stats (remember: last in the league in free-throws attempted), anyone who fits Gordon's stat description sounds like a slasher. But alas, it was false. I would still stand by the trade if it were to occur, although the outlook appears bleak.

At any rate, I'll cover the Dallas game tomorrow (before Friday's hosting of Houston). With any luck, I'll be discussing the addition of our new player that will make us reign supreme in awesometown. Until then, ladies and gents, I only have one thing to say: CP34MVP!!!

***

Just so you know, CP3 went for 31 points, 11 assists, 5 rebounds, and 9 steals against Dallas (and J. Kidd) tonight. Just thought I'd whet your appetite. Peace.

Holy Crap! All-Stars everywhere, pt. 1

Greetings from All-Star land. This city has been buzzing for the last few days and the hype is all building up to an unbelievable game. There will be 24 stars. There will be 0 defense. And there will be an arena rocking so loud that the roof might cave in.

But let's take a few steps back first. To recap, the week after the Grizzlies game the Hornets knocked off the Bulls and the Bucks. Both games were a little too close for comfort (for some of the stretches, at least), but in the end, the boys finished up 4-0 before the break after a disappointing 0-3 stretch. The strong finish puts the Hornets at 16-4 since the calendar changed (that's only one win behind the Jazz's 17-3 mark that's been stealing headlines). Regardless, we're having a great 2008... great is an understatement, as we actually hold the number 1 seed in the Western Conference.

Fast forward to Thursday night. A few friends and I headed out to a local microbrewery to watch (and listen to) a live broadcast of the Hornet's weekly radio program. The special guest of the evening was Jeff Bower, the Hornet's GM. We were hoping to grill him on upcoming trades/deals/moves... or whatever he would want to talk about. Unfortunately we were late and missed his segment. But all was not lost, as I managed to grab a table next to Mr. Bower and his wife. When he finished his pizza I cleverly managed to ignite a little conversation with him. After poking and prodding for a minute, I asked if there were any deals on the horizon... or anyone we were interested in acquiring. Observe:

me: So, are we pursuing any trades or free agents before the deadline.
Bower: Nothing's gonna happen tonight.
me: Well, I'll give you a call tomorrow then.

For those of you naysayers, that last line got a laugh from him, his wife, and some important looking guy who was lingering. This is all true. So turns out Jeff is a pretty smart business man. (Honestly, the press hound these guys day-in day-out, why did I think he'd tell me anything? Because I have season tickets in the cheap seats? Really? No.) I was hoping a trade would go down Friday night just for the hilarity that would ensue based on his comments from the previous evening.

Oh, and we also met Oscar Robertson. Yeah, the triple-double guy. He was there.

***

So, let's return to trade talks. I would like to applaud Sam Burness for being an "active" reader and challenging some of my more ridiculous statements. For those who are interested, just read the response (there's only been 1 so far) from the last post and you'll get a taste of the rhetoric that will be accompanying this blog for the rest of the season. At any rate, Sam disagrees with the Miller trade I proposed. And, what's more, his reasoning makes good sense. He pointed out that Miller adds an offensive gun with little defensive prowess, plus he plays for a team in our division (rebuilding or not, I don't see Memphis giving up a pseudo-star to a team they have to play four times a year). I mean, let's face it, the journalists have been saying it all season (not to mention every Sid and Nancy with a blog who thinks the world cares about what they have to say... lame): the Hornet's need a slasher with a penchant for driving to the bucket. We are totally incapable of drawing fouls and, as such, we rank dead last in the league in free throw attempts. Sam, in his infinite wisdom, suggested we go after Josh Childress or John Salmons. Thanks to every GM's nightmare (the trade machine), I figured we could offer Rasual Butler and either JuJu or Hilton for either player. The problem? Neither team is rebuilding and both have a reasonable shot at making the playoffs (ok, Sacramento doesn't have a "reasonable chance", but they are definitely building on the team they have for a playoff push next year and the only players they are interested in moving are older vets like Brad Miller, Kenny Thomas, and Artest). I for one would love to see a package deal to Atlanta that sent Rasual Butler and JuJu to Atlanta for Childress and Mario West. We get the slasher/good energy off the bench, they get a reliable (more or less) trade-off at the 3 slot plus young (lottery) talent. That setup would give us the following bench: Bobby Jackson, Childress, Uncle Bowen, Melvin Ely, Hilton Armstrong, and Mucho Jannero.

Remarkably, the Hornet's appear to be going after a much bigger name: Ben Gordon. Thanks to espn.com and hornetsreport.com, it appears that the Hornets were talking about sending Rasual Butler, Hilton Armstrong, Julian Wright (and maybe a first rounder) to Chicago for Gordon and Adrian Griffin. Good trade? I could get behind it. Rasual has been less-than-impressive as a go-to guy (although his last few games starting for Mo Pete have been pretty good), and Byron won't play Hilt or JuJu... ever. I think we'd be better for it in the long run. We get a proven star and they get some young talent to build around Deng, Hinrich, and (maybe one day) Tyrus Thomas. As I always say, 1 in the basket is better than 2 in the hen. Actually, I've never said that (and I'm pretty sure I butchered the phrase), but you get the point.

***

Friday. Curry and I scored tickets to the rookie/sophomore game (scored is a loose term... the upper deck was half-full at best). Actually, the lower section was full of kids. Literally, thousands of kids (and chaperons) from local schools. This ended up being a double-edged sword as it provided endless cheering, but also led to the inclusion of an American Idol celebrity as the half-time entertainment.

The game itself was fairly interesting. The rookies actually kept the score close well into the second half (the game is done in the college two 20 minute half format), but when Daniel "Booby" Gibson decided to drain 9 three-pointers, the game descended into a talent showcase complete will ridiculous dunks and a plethora of turnovers.

1. Kevin Durant is really good. He drives well, has excellent range, and has the quickness to elude big defenders. He tends to bear most of the weight of his team (even during this game) which leads to poor shot-selection, but given a few years, he will be a regular All-Star.

2. Brandon Roy is really good. We already knew this, but I thought it was worth mentioning. His performance the following night (on the big stage) was even more impressive, but I'll cover that tomorrow.

3. Jamario Moon and Sean Williams really want to be good. Both probably will be; however, I doubt either of them will ever be "great". Both have a penchant for hard defensive moves (Williams' 48 minute total in blocks is around 3.5), and they both love to dunk. They both seem a little careless, but I'm sure experience will help that. After the game went south, the two went tag-team on ally-oops (sometimes including the less-than-whelming Juan Carlos Navarro) deciding that playing real basketball was for sissies. Sean actually had the highlight play of the evening with his off the glass alley-oop-to-himself (think McGrady).

4. Chairman Yi (who is as impressive as this sausage) botched 3 or 4 dunks on the night. Incredible. He has a good midrange game with an pretty good moves in the post, but how do you miss all of your dunks in game where no one plays defense?

5. Mike Conley, Jr. was pretty disappointing. I've always been behind this guy, but he pretty much bottomed out for this game, contributing 6 turnovers in less than 20 minutes. Granted, he was playing much better team in a game designed to be skills exhibition... but still, 6? AI didn't even turn the ball over that much during the All-Star game.

We ended the evening by getting as close to the court as possible to watch the TNT guys interview LeBron. I don't know why I thought it would be exciting to see Chuck up close, but I did. We hung out for a while in the press area after crossing paths with Ric Bucher, but it turns out that he was the only journalist left we'd come close to recognizing. Then, we wandered outside and snuck into a restricted area to try and chat with Yao... but we found security before we found him (which is crazy because he's 7-6"... you don't lose a guy like that in a crowd).

Just a couple of dorky white guys.

On our way out, we snapped a photo thinking that our evening at the arena would be the closest we'd get to all of the action and mayhem of the weekend.

We couldn't have been more wrong. Stay tuned, more All-Star stories coming up in part 2.

And the Lord said to Abraham, "Let them rule the Power Rankings"

Golden State 116 | New Orleans 103

So that whole tagline about a "devoted fan" is probably coming into question given the fact that I've taken quite a sabbatical from writing. But never ye fear my beloved [4] readers, I have returned and am glad to be posting once again. For those of you who were concerned for my well-being in my absence, you may rest assured knowing that the combination of Mardi Gras and women have been the poison that has kept me from writing (but not rooting) for my team.

Quick shoutout to Mike, whose Giants have inexplicably stunned the Pats for a victory in the Superbowl. Not that I didn't believe in their abilities (I gave them a 25% chance the day before), but honestly, did anyone really see this coming? Nope, didn't think so. Much congratulations to you, Michael. Your years of frustration have paid off... here's to relieving the NFL woes of the Crescent City in 2008. Now, on to basketball.

For those of you who have been paying attention, you've probably heard that the Hornets are on quite a run right now. A 9 game winning streak put the Hornets on top of all 3 power polls ( Stein, Hollinger, NBA.com) before a 3 game skid bumped them back down to reality. However, the boys are still in the top five and sport the fourth best record in the league presently (33-15, good for a tie with Dallas). The 3 sequential losses were followed by an unbelievable double-OT win in Phoenix (which was dominated by Paul: 42 points, 5 rebounds, 9 assists, 8 steals, 1 turnover). The W puts us at 3-0 against the Suns with the final game to be played on our turf. Yes, it's safe to say that the Hornets have proven that they are no joke and, in a year in which Western Conference surprises are as common as mint in a julep (at least down here), the Hornets continue to dominate headlines and dwarf other impressive feats.

As if the team's record weren't enough, 2 Hornets will be gracing the All-Star team with their presence. Both CP3 and David West were voted onto the squad by the coaches poll (the latter edging out Matrix and Baron "I dipped my face in hair and now I am a basketball god" Davis). Additionally Byron Scott was named head coach for the Western Conference, and Peja and CP3 will be participating in some of the extra contests during the weekend (Peja in the 3 point challenge and Paul in the skills challenge). The timing on all of this could not have been any better as New Orleans will be the stage for this grand event (right in the middle of its post-Mardi-Gras recovery). With the Hornets making such a strong All-Star showing (as well as grabbing headlines along the way), it seems as though this city has awoken from its drunken disappointment over an underwhelming Saints season to find a national title contender hitting the paint hard almost every night. And, it turns out, they're fun to root for.

Take the Golden State game from last Wednesday. Sure we lost, but the point is that amazingly enough we had home court advantage. I've only heard of this phenomenon myself, but I hear all of these bloggers and experts saying that it's pretty useful to fans in the seats for home games. We aren't exactly selling out, but we are drawing over 10,000 a game (probably closer to 12). Does this actually help? Consider this: a lack-luster performance by most of the squad (save CP3: 28 points, 12 assists, 2 steals, 1 turnover) coupled with Golden State shooting the lights out from everywhere (52% from the floor, 48% from beyond the arc, 92% from the stripe) should have resulted in a rout. Instead, the game was back and forth (with a dozen or so lead changes) up until the six minute mark in the fourth quarter. The fans were carrying the team through a slight slump. Did we win? No. Am I thrilled that the city is getting on board with this team? Abso-@#&*%!-lutely.

There are other things to be excited about. Ju-Ju continues to throw down nasty dunks during his scant minutes on the court. Uncle Bowen has been scoring points, including a night in which he had 8. In fact, that particular evening featured an dunk in transition that ended up in the coveted Sportscenter's top 10 plays (Pargo had some kind of faith let Bowen take that shot... or he was partially blinded by Bowen's whiteness and thought he was passing to Hilton Armstrong). Hell, Pargo himself has been quite a story as well. He's been lighting it up from all across the court and has proven to be more than up to the task of bench-igniter in Bobby Jackson's absence.

But through all of this delightful mayhem--in which my world of Hornets fandom has been turned upside-down--one thing sticks out to me more than any of these. On January 28, the Hornets played host to a Carmelo-less Nuggets. The boys proceeded to blow Denver out of the water in the kind of rout that reminds you of a video game. CP3 himself had 23 points, 9 rebounds, 17 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block, while Tyson asserted that he doesn't like being in Camby's shadow (Chandler: 10 points, 16 rebounds, 1 block -- Camby: 3 points, 5 rebounds, 1 block).

However, two moments in the game stand out. In the first half, one Hornets possession results in 4 straight offensive rebounds. After the last of these Tyson kicked the ball out to CP3 beyond the arc. As he did so, the crowd rose in unison and cheered louder than I'd ever heard them. All of sudden the fans in New Orleans got it. We always joke about how no one in this city knows how to root for a basketball team. Well, Denver was the tipping point. Oh yeah, then D-West posted up for an easy bucket. In the second half (with a sizable lead in place), Paul attempts an assist and, after the missed bucket, got the rebound dribbled back toward the arc while drawing the foul. At that moment the crowd rose to cheer, but instead found itself chanting. MVP! MVP! MVP! MVP! MVP! I thought the roof was going to cave in, but I didn't care because I was overwhelmed by a type of joy that I had never experienced as a fan. I felt a true connection to the team at that moment and couldn't help but believe that I was witnessing something special. It was as though Paul was being lifted to the Pantheon of New Orleans Sports icons... with Archie and Pistol Pete waiting to shake his hand. The best part? When asked about the chanting after the game, Paul's response was something like "Yeah, David and Tyson... they could be MVP."

Bring it on... the world. We are ready to take you.

***

(For the convenience of those who care, I've taken the liberty of including the scores from all of the homes games I didn't cover as well as a link to each of the game recaps from espn.com... Enjoy.)

Los Angeles Lakers 80 | New Orleans 109 Loss

New Orleans 114 | Miami 88 Win

New Orleans 123 | Seattle 92 Win

New Orleans 112 | Charlotte 84 Win

New Orleans 106 | Milwaukee 92 Win

New Orleans 96 | Portland 81 Win

New Orleans 111 | Los Angeles Clippers 92 Win

New Orleans 117 | Denver 93 Win