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Overall
Win/Loss Record : 21-45 fifth place
Southwest Division
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Last Season’s Rank
28
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Projected 2012/2013 Finish
26
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Last season’s
Team Statistics and League Rank
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Returning
Individual Statistical Leaders
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Projected Starters Based on Last Season’s Performance, Veteran Seniority and Projected Impact
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Key Reserves Based on Last Season’s Performances, Veteran Seniority and Potential Impact.
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2012/2013 Projection: 25-57, last in Southwest Division, fun to
watch but will remain a bottom feeder of the West.
Analysis:
New Orleans basketball fans
rejoice! Thanks to the generosity and
compassion of NBA Commissioner David Stern, your team has a new lease of life
starting first with finding an owner who is determined to keeping the Hornets
in the Big Easy. Tom Benson, who also
owns New Orleans’ NFL franchise, the Saints, will drop any ideas of those who
love Hornets that this team will be going anywhere else other than the Big
Easy. In Benson, Stern found an owner
who is devoted in developing a strong team for years to come and that team
remains in New Orleans for years to come.
To assure that Benson’s transition runs smoothly, Stern added an
additional prize to entice the Louisiana billionaire in keeping the Hornets
local—the number one pick of the NBA draft.
After parting ways rather
acrimonious with their former star player Chris Paul, the Hornets were
miraculously blessed winning the number one pick in the NBA draft. And with that pick, they selected possibly
one of the most talented players to have possibly come out of college
basketball—the University of Kentucky’s Anthony Davis. At 6’ 11” Davis has the ability to dominate
on both ends of the floor—not only in the post where many expect him to play
the bulk in his career, but the perimeter as well. Just a couple of years before he was a 6’
3” point guard in high school before a monumental eight inch growth spurt
turned him into a superhuman freak of nature.
In the span of one year, Anthony Davis dominated the college ranks leading
the Kentucky Wildcats to the NCAA Championship win as well as winning a gold
medal in this Summer’s Olympics as well
Davis has the abilities that
most players dream of and the talent, athleticism and competiveness that most
coaches crave. His natural physical gifts
along with his superior basketball skills and high IQ give him the ability to
play all five positions which is any opposing coach’s nightmare. He’s literally the perfect player and with
him in New Orleans, the Hornets will certainly become a playoff contender
within the four or five years—the length of his rookie deal. Along with Davis, New Orleans selected with
their second first round pick a perfect complement to his skills and
abilities in Duke’s Austin Rivers.
Like Davis, Rivers is a gifted athlete who is versatile enough to play
both guard positions and whom can put the ball on the floor and shoot from
the perimeter.
Together, both Davis and Rivers
have the potential of being a rather strong one-two punch for the New Orleans
Hornets for years to come. Add the
additions of potential All Star shooting guard Eric Gordon, whom the Hornets
locked down for the next five years, and last season’s Most Improved Player
Ryan Anderson, New Orleans will certainly be a basketball team to tune
into. They will probably garner the city
with even more attention this season than Chris Paul ever did to in his time
as a Hornets and they will not have even made the playoffs. The same way that Shaquille O’Neal put the
spotlight on the Orlando, Lebron James shined on the city of Cleveland as well as
David Robinson did with the city of San Antonio; all eyes will be on that
small swampy city of Louisiana. New
Orleans will rise from the murky depths of being a watering hole for underage
drinkers come Mardi Gras to become the new mecca of professional sports. And it is all thanks to one man—David
Stern.
If it was not for Stern, none
of this would be happening and New Orleans would have ended up any distant
memory of failed basketball cities.
People may deplore his over involvement in league affairs especially
with blocking certain trades etc.; however, no one can deny that what he has
done has brought positive results. In
a league that is dominated by big cities, and big money, this small
unassuming man has singlehandedly ensured the competitive balance of power in
the NBA by assuring that even the little guys have a chance to shine. Love him or hate him, folks in the big Easy
will forever owe their professional basketball survival and their future to
David Stern. Like David against
Goliath, Stern stood tall amidst the criticism, did what was right and because
of him basketball will not only survive, but all thrive in the Big Easy
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Wednesday, September 19, 2012
SDH's 2012/2013 NBA Worst to First Previews and Predictions: 26. New Orleans Hornets
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