FANtastic FANale

New Orleans 92 | Los Angeles Clippers 114
[league standings]

Let the people know. With the easy victory over the Clips, the Hornets have clinched their first ever Southwest Division Championship. Scratch that; first Division Championship in their 20 year existence. It was a pretty momentous occasion. What's more is that it was especially needed after a close losses to the Lakers and Kings on the road. The "W" put the Bees in the top slot in the Southwest and sealed their fate as at least the number 2 seed in the Western Conference. Not too shabby, eh?

The past four games have seen CP3 shooting at 33% a clip and putting up statistical performances that would really only make Tyronn Lue jealous. Ok, that's not true, he's averaging a very Jason Kidd-esque double-double over that stretch. Unfortunately, despite an otherwise brilliant season, these past few performances on his part may have ultimately have moved the MVP trophy out of Paul's reach. I (obviously) still think that he should win it if only because he didn't piss and moan (and bad mouth his fellow players) for the first fifteen games... but hey, what are gonna do?

Tonight, Chris came out guns blazing and put up his 54th double-double (good for second in the league behind Superman and tied with Al Jefferson). He finished with 22 points, 12 dimes, 4 rebounds, 1 block (no, seriously), and 2 steals. D.West also showed up to play notching 32 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 block. The rest of the squad split the stats pretty even with the only notable oddity being Peja's anemic 2-11 behind the arc. It's un-Peja-like, but to be honest, I'd rather him suck it up against the Clips and show up against the Mavs than the other way around.

One quick observation on the Clippers: Al Thorton is a beast. Holy crap. That guy was all over the floor draining treys, slashing into the lane, making sweet fakes. I swear, every time I looked up, he was finishing up an and-1. Unbelievable. Never mind the fact that he got called for traveling something like three times (all of which would have been dunks if he'd pulled them off). When this guy figures out how to run and dribble, we [read the NBA] are in trouble.

So that was it. After a close first half, the Hornets pulled away and sealed the deal by the end of the third quarter leaving us, the fans, to bask in what an incredible season we've shared with this crew. It was an amazing feeling. 56 wins (and counting). I feel like Irene Cara all over again.

After the game, I had the pleasure of being one of twenty fans to go on the court and participate in a raffle for autographed, game-worn memorabilia. It was one of several give aways the organization did as part of the FANtastic FANale.

I was lucky enough came away with a pair of Reebok Pumps (apparently, they still make them) signed by none other than Mike James. I think they took my picture, too. I was too excited to even notice. I should shook his hand, told him "Congrats and good luck", and that was that.

My feetz is too smallz!

Now then, all of this celebration might be well-deserved, but now is no time to get too caught up in self-congratulation. The true test awaits us, and we still have a lot to prove to this league. Hey, who's excited? Well, me. I am. But hopefully if you're reading this blog, you are too. Expect detailed coverage of the post-season as I have secured my tickets through the Finals (god-willing). Oh yeah, it's game time, baby.

***

Quick aside. I emailed my main man Chris Broussard today (who, despite that last name, was raised in Ohio). He put out his picks for All-NBA teams and his Coach of the Year votes. The main reason I emailed him was to thank him for showing some love to D.West (even if it was on the third team). However, I quickly transitioned from gratitude to inquiry as I noticed he had penciled in Doc Rivers as his second choice for COY. This pick continues to baffle me, especially since he is one of dozens of writers who feel this way. Doc Rivers' only contributions to the team this year have been coining the team slogan ubuntu (Bantu for something close to "unity"... read more) and relinquishing his duties to coach defense to someone who is a thousand percent more competent at such things than he is (read Tom Thibodeau... who is also remarkably not from Louisiana). So, to recap, all you need to do to get second in the COY voting is have a passive interest in African dialects and have the ability to pass responsibilities to others when you realize that you yourself are incapable handling them. Oh, and you have to have 3 All-Stars land in your lap. Amazing.

Why isn't Mo Cheeks getting more love, you ask? Because apparently getting a crap team that Billy King all but punted into oblivion to the post season (and as a seven seed no less) is a little short of the requirements. I mean, the guy coached a nucleus of Andre Miller, Samuel Dalembert, Andre Iguodala, Reggie Evans, Willie Green, Rodney Carney, and Thaddeus Young to the playoffs. Extrapolate that. That group does not even remotely scream playoffs. Plus, Doc Rivers probably doesn't even know who half of those guys are.

Or what about Jerry Sloan. Under his tenure, he's brought the Jazz into into winning season after winning season... and he's had to put up with thinner air, not to mention Kirilenko's 5 year-old mindset about teamwork and that whole "trying" thing. He has made that group a contender with way less than ever landed on Doc Rivers' plate.

Sorry, rant over. Our very Byron Scott should run away with the award, so it really doesn't matter. I guess I'm just sick of the East Coast media bias and the snubbing of small market teams. But as my buddy Mike says, "Get over it". Thanks, Mike. Thanks.

***

So, tune into ESPN tomorrow night for our final outing of the regular season (against Dallas). After that, feel free to crack a brew (preferably Abita), bask in a glorious season, shout "CP34MVP!" to at least one stranger on the street, and check back before the postseason starts for my obligatory post containing all of my Top 10s from the regular season.

Peace.

KB24 vs. CP3

New Orleans 108 | Los Angeles Lakers 98
[league standings]

Tag it and bag it.

The Hornet's downed the Lakers last night in what would have been the most exciting game of the year had we not had the San Antonio shootout two days earlier. We actually had a slow start as Los Angeles went up quick. Our answer to this was turnovers and poor shot selection. Remarkably, things started to turn around when Mo Pete drained a few threes. After that, we played the lead change game for the remainder of the half. After the third quarter... it was the Hornet's game.

Unfortunately, Pau Gasol went down early on in the game after rolling an ankle (he landed on Radmanovic's foot). Ordinarily, I'd be glad for our opponents having one more weakness to exploit, but I think it would have been more beneficial to us to have played their team at full strength. Usually at this point in the season, the playoff seeds start getting gobbled up and you can usually predict the first round matchups. But in today's version of the NBA, this is not possible. The seeding changes almost daily (we jumped from a 5 to a 3 seed with last night's win) and there's no real certainty about anything. Given that we could play anybody in the top nine (assuming we make the playoffs), I'd rather play healthy opponents now so at least we can learn more about the way we match-up. We were able to exploit the Lakers in Gasol's absence, but we may not have that luxury in the playoffs.

By the way, the Mavericks are currently the 7 seed in the West, and they are only 2.5 games out of the 1 seed. Let that sink in for a minute... good. Let's move on.

CP3 put up another stellar performance with 27 points, 17 assists, 4 steals, and 2 turnovers. According to the non-official source that is Curry Smith, Chris Paul has more 25, 15 performances this season (with 9) then everyone else in the league combined. Regardless, it was enough to carry the Hornets over Kobe's performance of 36 points, 3 assists, 9 rebounds. MVP performances on both counts. Beyond Paul, scoring was spread pretty even over the rest of the starters. Peja dropped 5 treys, D. West and Tyson combined for 34 rebounds, and Bonzi, Jannero, and JuJu all gave strong performances off the bench. It was a good display of team work--albeit team work that only runs through Chris Paul. I'm not sure how I feel about this. I mean, CP3 has been delivering, but (as my brother pointed out) after every rebound, whoever has the ball does this frantic look around, saying "Where's Chris Paul. Must pass to Chris Paul. Must pass to Chris Paul." Is this a reason for concern? Probably not. As I said, Paul has been phenomenal. But if he has an off night... or if he gets shaky early on... what's the backup? Do we even have one?

***

Bruce Bowen ended his NBA leading 500 consecutive game streak when the Spurs took the floor against the Pistons Friday night. Bowen was serving a one game suspension after the league reviewed the Paul/Bowen scuffle from Wednesday night. The suspension has been a pretty hot topic as a lot of fans around the NBA would endorse a Bowen suspension for no reason at all, let alone for the antics he pulled against the Hornets. The replay from the Hornet's feed (CST) isn't too friendly to the San Antonio side of the argument, but Spurs fans found a super slow-mo video that they feel exonerates Bowen. Take a look.



The mere fact that this video is titled "Chris Paul punches Bruce Bowen" is indicative of the split opinions in this debate. The footage from this angle shows that Bowen may not have actually kicked Chris a second time and that Paul is just as capable as flopping as any other guy in this league. Let's face it. Most [good] players can sell a foul. Actually, in this scenario Chris didn't, but you get the point. I certainly didn't see Paul "punch" Bowen... in fact, I'm not really sure where that accusation even came from. But let's step back: even if Bowen didn't kick him at all (and the video suggests that may be possible), how is this a foul on Paul? No clue.

Amidst all of this "discussion", one name that keeps surfacing is Julius Hodge. Can we just put this to bed? Watch this clip. Now that you have, can you honestly say that Chris Paul intentionally hit Julius Hodge in the groin? While the contact was certainly intentional, it certainly did not look like the kind of contact that was intended to harm. My assessment: Chris Paul gets physical with Hodge and inadvertently makes contact with a sensitive area. What's more is the contact looked soft (with my apologies to Hodge). For me to buy Julius' reaction from the hit I could see, I'd have to assume that Paul can flick no other... which is certainly possible. Don't get me wrong (I've got a pair myself), but there's a huge difference between doubling over in pain and rolling around on the floor for five minutes. Just like we said about Paul earlier, everyone's out to sell the refs. You be the judge.

***

Before I go, I wanted to share this fun link from Google Trends. It sweeps the web and quantifies the mention of players with MVP talks. Pretty cool. CP3 is ranked at a solid 3 (though I'd put him at 2, behind LeBron).

Thanks for sticking with the long post. Post some comments. Show some love. Power to the people. Check ABC tomorrow at noon. Hornets and Pistons. Bring it. Peace.