When the Coach of the Year ballots are counted, Hornets coach Byron Scott will be hard to beat.
He is in the campaign with soaring oratory, the mass appeal, the most compelling elements. The other coaches in contention for the honor, Doc Rivers, Gregg Popovich and Mike D-Antoni, Rick Adelman, Phil Jackson and Jerry Sloan should take a bow and pass the trophy to Scott, who is still looking for his 300th career victory which will come with his next victory.
The Hornets were surprised by the Kings 94-91 in Sacramento over the weekend after dropping one the night before to the Lakers. The Bees lacked intensity in both losses and have lost the three-point shooting accuracy of MVP candidate Chris Paul, who made 4 of 13 field goal attempts against the Kings. He had managed only to make only 10 of his last 37 shots. He's not making the 3-point jumpers and that's making him easier to defend.
Paul is favored to win the MVP award according to a poll by NBA.com. Scott deserves to be rewarded mainly because entering the season, these were the Hornets of “old"--the club crippled by injuries; The team without a place to call home; The franchise run by a reviled owner (George Shinn), The franchise without a prayer of remaining in New Orleans.
"The first 9 or 10 games, it was a distraction," said Scott. :The guys weren't used to not having the fans there. We didn't have the support we needed and we felt we had a good team, put a good product out there. But after the All-Star Game, it has been unbelievable. The attendance has been increasing ever since."
The Hornets ranked among the better defensive teams in the league until the past four games and Scott said the team will get that back with more concentration. A good defense is a prerequisite for advancing in the playoffs.
In many respects, the Hornets reflect their coach. As Magic Johnson's backcourt partner during the 1980s, Scott was a solid defender who loved to run and bust from the corners and wings. He was also known for his willful personality and he often rebelled against Pat Riley's grueling practices and team rules. It was only after playing for Larry Brown in Indiana that Scott discovered that, as a head coach, he wasn't very different from his former bosses.
He is more personable that Riley and less biting than Brown. Scott has trimmed his practice time and no longer conducts r\two-hour “shootarounds”. But he is demanding and relentless, and a stickler for discipline, defense and rules.
"We get fined for leaving our shirt out of our shorts," said Melvin Ely.
Scott was a player in Greece where he spotted a young Peja Stojakovic and convinced him to test the NBA.
"Byron deserves so much credit for the way we are playing," said Stojakovic. "His demeanor, the way he deals with people. Everyone knows their roles. I love playing for the guy."
Scott explains the Hornets' secret with this: "Focus, determination and a lot of people telling us we couldn't do it. That probably had a lot to do with it because we heard it from the All-Star break on.
"At All-Star break, we had the best record, but yeah, they'll fall off. The pressure will get to them, the schedule will get to them when they go on that road trip in March.
"There was always something and I think that motivated our guys to go out and prove people wrong. Motivation helps a lot, especially when you're good enough.
"I told the guys pressure isn't when you're playing like we are, it's when you have four kids and you're making thirty-thousand a year."
To the utter amazement of all, Paul, 22, was not only ready for prime time in the West in his third season, he is neck-and-neck with Kobe Bryant in the MVP race.
The Bees got Paul, whom they considered the top pick in the 2005 draft, with the fourth selection. However, not even Scott dreamed CP3 would be this far along within three years.
"Not this soon," said the coach. "Nah, never would I have thought that he would be this good this soon and he'd be getting the type of praise he's getting this early in his career. But he deserves it. He's put in a lot of work. He's been a tremendous leader to this team and the things we talked about this summer that he had to improve, he went out and improved them.
Paul is responsible for just about every thought and deed leading to a Hornets basket with a team high 21.2 points per game. an “inhuman” 4.6-to-1 assists-turnover ratio, 11.5 assists per game, and that comes up to nearly 44 points per game, or 49 per cent of the Hornets' offense. Plus, Paul is the league's “steals” leader.
"The thing that's scary is, he's 22 and he's going to get better,." said the coach.
JOHNSON NEW LSU BASKETBALL COACH
A play in Stanford's NCAA Tournament loss to Texas altered Trent Johnson's thinking about big-time college basketball.
"Mitch Johnson (Stanford), who was one of my all-time favorites, was 10-feet from a loose ball and D. J. Augustin (Texas and St. Augustine) was 15 feet away, but Augustin got to it first, said the new LSU coach. "At that point, I think that is what changed my mind in terms of a dream job."
Johnson found his dream job when he signed a five-year contract with LSU for $1 million-plus a year. He had one year left on his Stanford contract and wasn't offered an extension on the $600,000 a year contract.
Johnson explained other reasons for deciding to coach LSU:
"It's an opportunity to recruit the best student athletes across the country, and you have an opportunity to compete for a championship “year-in and year-out”.
"The idea of having no academic restrictions in terms of being able to recruit kids, and being able go into kids' homes and sell the school really excites me."
Johnson has no ties to Louisiana, but he has recruited in New Orleans and in Baton Rouge. As an assistant at Rice, he signed Torrey Andrews out of St, Augustine and Andrews led the Owls in scoring in the 1993-94 season. As an assistant at Washington, he signed Chandler Nairn, who played at Baton Rouge Sports Academy.
Johnson plans on hiring former Louisiana Tech coach Keith Richard. a native of Baton Rouge, who should be able to familiarize Johnson with the terrain. Johnson got to know Richard when he was head coach at Nevada from 1999-2004.
"Right now, there's one gentleman who I definitely want on board, and that's Keith Richard," said Johnson.
The coach said he plans on talking to Butch Pierre, an LSU assistant for 11 years under John Brady who went 5-5 as the interim coach who wanted the head coaching job, as well as other Tigers assistants John Treloar and Chad Dollar and his Stanford assistants.
"I want to sit down with Coach Pierre as soon as possible," said Johnson. "He's from the city, and LSU is his school, so I've got to believe when you talk about loyalty, he can be helpful to us and to me."
Johnson has been impressed by what he has seen at LSU.
"When you see a job of LSU's magnitude open, you look and say, 'My goodness," said Johnson.
HORNETS TO PLAY IN MOBILE
Off the typewriter...
The Hornets and the Miami Heat will play an exhibition game in Mobile's Mitchell Center on Oct. 23. Tickets for the game will go on sale on Monday and start at $26...Here's how TSN.com's college football expert rates SEC football coaches: 1. Mark Richt, Georgia. 2. Steve Spurrier, South Carolina. 3. Urban Meyer, Florida, 4. Nick Saban. Alabama. 5. Les Miles, LSU. 6. Tommy Tuberville, Auburn. 7. Philip Fulmer, Tennessee. 8. Houston Nutt, Ole Miss. 9. Bobby Johnson, Vandy. 10. Bobby Petrino, Arkansas. 11. Rich Brooks, Kentucky. 12. Sylvester Croom, Mississippi State...Rivals.com reports former John Curtis running back and rated the No 2 prospect in the 2007 class, is fighting to be the lead back in a loaded USC backfield. He rushed 94 times for 540years as a freshman, and had 3 TDs, 23 receptions for 203 yards and I TD, 16 punt returns for 124 yards for 11-2 USC. LSU has two highly rated players in the 2007 class. Tigers WR Terrance Toliver is competing to be the No. 3 receiver for the Tigers behind Brandon LaFell and Demetrius Byrd. He played in 14 games last season and had 10 catches for 249 yards, 3 TDs, 3 carries for 36 yards for 12-2 LSU. Safety Chad Jones played in 14 games and had 34 tackles (25 solo, 9 assists), 2 sacks, 1 FF, 1 INT, 4 PBU, 17 punt returns for 112 yards, 4 KO returns for 90 yards for LSU. He is looking to lock down a starting safety spot for the Tigers...
Oscar-winner actor Forest Whitaker will star in "Patriots," a fact-based drama that will begin production in New Orleans on Monday. I'll appear in the picture, too. The picture features Whitaker as Al Collins, basketball coach at John Erhert High in Marrero, Collins led the Patriots to the state championship a year after Katrina ravaged the school and displaced many of its students. Collins' team consisted of 10 players who attended 5 different schools before the storm...I'll begin filming "Cirque du Freak." on Tuesday and will continue in that picture through April. In the past month, I have appeared in "12 Rounds," "The Librarian 3", and Final Destination 4." Hollywood South has returned and is more active than ever.
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