The Hornets (44-21) return home on Monday night to try and rebound against the troubled Chicago Bulls (26-39).
The Hornets were routed by the Pistons 105-84 in a nationally televised game at Detroit on Sunday at Detroit. The Hornets were missing forward David West, who suffered a sprained right ankle on Friday against Los Angeles. Point guard Chris Paul played most of the game on an ankle sprain and scored 14 points with 14 assists. "Chris was playing at about 50 per cent," said Hornets coach Byron Scott.
The Hornets' reserves couldn't score or play defense as Jarvis Hayes scored 29 points, including a career-high seven three-pointers. The Pistons have won four of five while the Hornets lost for just the second time in seven games.
The Hornets quieted the early afternoon crowd by scoring the first 11 points, but the Pistons took over the game after that with Hayes hitting five three-pointers and 19 points in the second quarter, one more than the entire Hornets' team.
The Pistons' backups had 29 points in the first half compared to 6 for the Hornets' reserves.
The Pistons trailed by 15 points in the first quarter before rallying to beat the Hornets 91-76 in New Orleans on Dec. 5. Detroit hit 14 three-pointers, one short of a club record.
The Hornets had won five of six and Paul was averaging 27.5 points and 14.5 assists during that stretch. Before the game, Pistons coach Flip Sanders said, "Paul's playing at a whole lot different level. I think you've got to change things up and give him different looks. You can't let him in totally in a comfort zone.But everybody's tried everything with him right now."
The Hornets had the best road record in the NBA (20-10) entering the Pistons game.
Chris Duhon of Slidell missed the Bulls' practice on Sunday and didn't make the trip here. The Bulls will dress only 11 players for Monday night's game. Forward Tyrus Thomas, former LSU standout, has been suspended for two games for missing Wednesday's practice. Duhon has a virus and his absence was excused.
The Bulls are coached by interim choice Jim Boylan, who is having trouble getting his team together. The Hornets lead the series this year 1-0. Tyson Chandler, the Hornets center who is having an excellent season, formerly played with the Buils before being traded to New Orleans, helped the Bees prevail on Feb. 11 at Chicago 100-86.
Said Boylan of Paul: "There's not a lot of tape out thereon how to defend him."
The Hornets will have trouble winning with West and Paul not at full speed. The Hornets didn't make the playoffs last year, but they are hanging in there with the big boys of the West this season.
"They were in the hunt last year and then Paul went down (ankle) and it was kind of wrapped for them," said Pistons star Chauncey Billups, who shadowed a limping Paul on Sunday.
For what it's worth: Sammy Smith, NBA analyst and former NBA player, rates LSU's Anthony Randolph, 6-10, 205, as going No. 10 in the NBA draft. "He is athletic, versatile and a big man on the rise," said Smith. ...Bobby Knight, working as an ESPN analysts this season, picks Pittsburgh to win the Final Four. Dick Vitale, another ESPN analyst, likes North Carolina.
ARKANSAS STATE OFFERS JOB TO BRADY
Off the typewriter...
ArkansasState has offered the head basketball coaching job to former LSU coach John Brady, according to Gannett.com. "Having coached in the SEC for 11 years and taking a team to the Final Four and three other teams to the NCAA Tournament gives him a lot of respectability," former Tigers AD Joe Dean told Gannett. "John is a very good candidate for that job." Anthony Grant, former LSU and Florida assistant, now head coach at VirginiaCommonwealth, is reported to be the top candidate for the LSU coaching job. He has led Commonwealth into one of the surprises of the past two seasons and would be an unbelievable fit at LSU...LSU defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey, once regarded as the top defensive player in the NFL draft, is now a minor question mark among the talent detectives because a slow healing fibial stress fracture and his decision not to work out for them at the recent Combine where he could have showed his work ethic...Former LSU associate AD Dan Radakovich, who has been Georgia Tech's AD for the past two years, gladly gave the OK to the SEC early Saturday to move the SEC Tournament to the Tech campus. The SEC had to vacate the Georgia Dome, sit of the first two days of the tournament, after a tornado damaged the building Friday night. Radakovich said he was happy at Tech and was not interested in the LSU AD job at this time...
What will Brett Favre do now that he is retired as an active player? He's often spoken of his desire to retire to a quiet life on his estate outside Hattiesburg, Miss., where in the offseasons he continuously worked on projects to clear land, plant trees and more recently raise deer. That's not to mention his favorite pastime, riding his tractor cutting grass. Clark Henegan, a longtime friend of the Favre family and former roommate of Brett's at USM and In Green Bay, said he can't see Favre going into NFL coaching, and probably not broadcasting. "I'm sure he's going to get back to playing golf again (at Hattiesburg Country Club)," said Henegan. "He's got a lot of property to take care of. I'm sure he's going take a lot of hinting trips, just kind of get away from it all."...Billy Cannon is among 75 players and 8 coaches on the College Football Hall of Fame ballot. Sure, he's had his off-field issues, but why isn't the former Heisman Trophy winner who led LSU to a national championship in 1958, in?...Former Saints fullback Jim Otis (Ohio State) is also on the ballot...Les Miles signed a "clarification of employment" with LSU president John Lombardi last Friday that makes him the third highest paid college football coach in the country, edging Nick Saban's 2008 salary at Alabama by $1,000. It also makes Miles the highest paid coach in the SEC. Miles, whose salary last year was $1.8 million, will make $3.751 million this year. Saban will make $3.750 million this year. "It wasn't because our fans want Les to make more than Nick," said Mark Ewing, Tigers associate AD for business, "it was because Les has to be the third highest paid coach by contract. So he was given $1,000 more than Saban."
The Top 10 salaries:
1. Charlie Weis, Notre Dame, $4.2 million.
2. Pete Carroll, USC, $3.8 million.
3. Les Miles, LSU, $3.751 million.
4. Nick Saban, Alabama, $3.750 million.
5. Bob Stoops, Oklahoma, $3.5 million.
6. Urban Henry, Florida, $3.3 million.
7. Kirk Ferentz, Iowa, $3.0 million.
8. Mack Brown, Texas, $2.9 million.
9. Bobby Petrino, Arkansas, $2.8 million.
10. Tommy Tuberville, Auburn, $2.8 million
SOURCE: Coaches Hot Seat Web Site, which regularly updates new contracts and contract enhancements.
If the Saints' are lucky this season in terms of the recent additions and they can play healthy this season, I'm picking them to go from a 7-9 record to 11-5. After last season's disappointment, the coaching staff took a self-assessment of their weaknesses and knew they obviously didn't get it done on defense. That's why they moved quickly to acquire middle linebacker Jonathan Vilma, cornerback Randall Gay, weakside linebacker Dan Morgan, cornerback Randall Gay and defensive end Bobby McCray. McCray's signing could be the key to the defensive line. The former 2004 final-round draft selection had 10 sacks as recently as 2005, and his addition allows Charles Grant to shift inside to tackle, from where he can apply some much-needed up-the-gut pressure. With Will Smith at the other end, the Saints will have a pretty athletic front four on the field, much like the Giants' three-defensive end approach last season. NFL observers are also impressed with the Saints' foresight in re-signing so many of their own key offensive players such as Devery Henderson, David Patten, Aaron Stecker, Jamar Nesbit, Billy Miller, Brian Young and Mark Simoneau. The Saints also upgraded their backup quarterback spot by signing veteran Mark Brunell. The Saints still need a lot of help at cornerback and could use a run-stuffing defensive tackle. The Saints are No. 10 in the draft so a top-ranked defensive tackle probably won't be available when they select, so a top-ranked cornerback (Leodis McKelvin, Aquib Talib or Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie) in the first round makes sense.
Hornets center Tyson Chandler said he will get to know new Bee Chris Andersen better as the season moves on. Said Chandler, "I knew of Chris Andersen just from playing against him (before his two-year suspension). but I didn't get to know him as a person. It's a rough situation for him. I really feel for him because he's he's coming back into a situation where's we've already established outselves as a team, and we're making this playoff run. I'm pretty sure he had high hopes of coming back and he's been biting at the bit to get back on the court. I'm pretty sure he felt like he was gonna come in and play, and be able to hop into the rotation, but it's not seeming that way.
"We haven't had any conversations as a team about him. There was nothing addressed with the team, so it's a little akward. We've been at home and everybody does their own thing, and we've yet to have that team function to break him in a little bit. I just hope that awkwardness dies down because I really like him as a person."
The Hornets (44-21) return home on Monday night to try and rebound against the troubled Chicago Bulls (26-39).
