After the smoke has cleared we really aren't that bad

[dvdman]

I'm as gulity as the next guy upset and complaining about the lack of "success" (the way we perceive it) the Hornets had this season. Yeah I'm very dissapointed but after thinking it through more and more now that the smoke is clearing. The Hornets won 49 games.
Oh yeah sure you can say but they finished poorly and they were knocked out in the 1st round by a very hot Denver team. But the bottom line is they won 49 games and were only a few games from a top 4 seed. Now they did this basically playing with patched up starting 5 throughout the season. They didn't have a respectable back up at PG,no center, no bench and were missing our so called "3 point" ace (Peja)throughout the season. Even when he return he was not even of a ghost of what he was last season. In addition they were without West,Paul and Posey for several games. Yet despite all of this they were in the Western Conference race for a top 2 seed until the very end. They beat some pretty darn good teams this season. I guess many of you forget the Lakers win at the forum or the Cavaliers game at the arena. Again they did this without some of their starting five. We just ran out of gas and the injuries finally took their toll on us. The house should not be burned down. All it needs is some remodeling and a new contractor (coach). The foundation (Paul and West) is there. I know it sounds corny but it's true.

[GrandAdmiral]

After the smoke has cleared we really aren't that bad

Yes, we are.

[dvdman]

Bad teams don't win 49 games.
It's the equivalent of saying the Saints
are bad if they went 10-6 or 11-5 next season.
Come on folks wake up and smell the coffee.

Yes, we are.

[beezm]

Bad teams don't win 49 games.
It's the equivalent of saying the Saints
are bad if they went 10-6 or 11-5 next season.
Come on folks wake up and smell the coffee.

Finally someone else speaking the same truth...


Few years ago many of us would have been happy with just a playoff berth, then we go crazy and go finish as the 2nd seed in the west and beat the mavs in the first round... now the fanbase has super high expectations.. Like you said 49 games is still a lot in the west.. Along with injuries.

No one can argue that lot needs to be done to improve this team, but to say that we are actually "bad" isn't true considering the circumstances.

[WeatherNLU]

I surely see what you are saying. After watching the last five games, it's amazing that they won 49 games.

[Neekie2212]

No they weren't that bad. You don't win 49 games as a bad team--even with the bad finish & the swift playoff exit.

The bad showings have seemingly dwarfed the good showings they've had this season. People do forget that the 2-8 seeds were up for grabs in the final 2 weeks of the season. The Hornets did run out of gas though. We need a bench. We can't afford to go into next season without a plan for the 2nd unit. Next season will be win-or-you're-fired-time for Byron. We've got to pick up a decent player or 2 in the draft.

If the team didn't have a mega-meltdown at the end of the season, one might say that Byron did a better job this season than last. The team only won 7 less games.

[West Coast Hornet]

It's not how you start, it's how you finish. This team sucks right now. Denial of this fact is, well, amazing.

[crthomps]

We are indeed THAT bad.

Seriously, have we been watching the same playoff games?

[NYKF Hornet]

We aren't that bad but we have lost that special something that makes you better than other teams of equal talent. I don't know when it happened exactly but this current roster, which is more talented than last year's roster, is just not together anymore.

I bet Shinn and company want to hold onto West and CP, and I seriously doubt we will see major moves. West and CP will be in every single trade rumor because everyone is looking at us to cherry pick, they figure Shinn is broke and we need to dump everyone.

[West Coast Hornet]

we need to dump everyone.

Agreed (minus CP of course).

[jazzlovetacos]

to me we really are not that bad either, we just need a little tweaking thats all, we dont need to bulldoze this team, we just need a legit back up point guard and center, maybe we can get that in the draft, we need to trade some of the dead weight we got on the bench, imo maybe ryan bowen, mo pete, melvin ely, devin brown, antonio danials.

To me we need to strengthen our bench, that is our main problem, we gotta work on our bench, we need better shooters, younger players, and we need our instant offense back(pargo)...........im done rambling

[Basketball Nate]

You lose by 58 points in a playoff game on your own home floor and you're not considered bad?

[NIH]

You guys do realize when your stars are healthy it's pretty easy for a team to make the playoffs? DX and CP were healthy for most of the season and we won 49 games, surprise, surprise. That is no great feat, the last month proved how bad this team is. I mean they just lost a playoff series by an avg. of 31 pts a game. They aren't that bad?! Get real.

[ya_heard_me]

Given all the injuries the team has faced this season, yes, squeaking out 49 wins is commendable but we clearly got exposed in this series. So much so that, in the future, if the offensive strategy for the Hornets remains as it is, every team will now know how to beat the Hornets handily. Whoever scouted the Hornets for Denver this series is a genius. Wait, scratch that. They're not a genius. Our offense is just that predictable. Seriously, if we can't get someone else on this team who can create his own shot, we're screwed. It's as simple as that. Byron obviously isn't going anywhere next year so our only hope to compete would be to find someone in the offseason, if at all possible, who can create their own shot and wouldn't need Chris to do everything for him.

[JKM]

A new GM and new coach, would do wonders for the players on our roster, except for TC.

[Alg_Hornet]

The lost a playoff series by an avg of 31 points? Come on people....this current will not win 40 games this season..

[NIH]

Basically the logic here is: ''Let's ignore the last and most important month of basketball b/c the team won 49 games! hornets are teh awesoem!!11"

Pathetic.

[DiMaggio dunks]

this is the same type of crap we heard during the season when we were dropping those awful games to the Kings and Knicks. "so and so lost to them too, it's not just us." and "we're only 3 games back of our record from last year, it's not that bad!"

[Eman5805]

Basically the logic here is: ''Let's ignore the last and most important month of basketball b/c the team won 49 games! hornets are teh awesoem!!11"

Pathetic.

Seems like the other prevailing logic here is: "See! We actually suck! See how much we lost by? Trade EVERYONE!!!!!! I TOLD YOU!!!! HA! You rose colored glasses wearing DIEHARDS!!!! WAKE UP! We suck this year, and will suck next year too!!!! I'M A REALIST!!!"

[NIH]

No, that's my observations from the Hornets folding like a cheap tent during the most important time in the season. Good teams don't back into the playoffs and then lose by an NBA record in terms of avg. Due to injuries and age it's not going to get much better either.

/reality.

[Eman5805]

Then, wouldn't that make us average(above or belows notwithstanding)? Since the bad teams are lottery teams.

Or is that being unrealistic?

[Hornet603]

If the SOLID teams in the playoffs can steamroll us then we're nowhere close to where we need to be.....that's pretty bad. Being one of 16/30 teams to make the playoffs isn't some amazing accomplishment.

[Eman5805]

If the SOLID teams in the playoffs can steamroll us then we're nowhere close to where we need to be.....that's pretty bad. Being one of 16/30 teams to make the playoffs isn't some amazing accomplishment.

Just curious, but coming into the playoffs, with hindsight flipped to "Off", where would the Hornets have fallen in a power ranking of those 16 teams? And I'm not talking about just the last 10 games before the playoffs, because then Portland would be #1.

[Neekie2212]

I don't think anyone is ignoring the last month. No one is ignoring the fact that our team imploded towards the end of the season.
In the last few weeks of the season, the Hornets still had a chance to finish anywhere from 2-8 and finished 7th.

But to dismiss the fact that they DID win 49 games with all the injuries, is an injustice to the team. They made the playoffs and they got beat--pretty badly. I don't think the Hornets should be judged on 1 game. When you look at the season as a whole in context, the Hornets did an adequate job this season.

The win difference is only -7 from 07-08. A big part of the Hornets past success was a healthy roster. They weren't afforded that luxury this season.

I'm just as mad as the next person about losing by 58, but I'm not letting that block what this team managed to accomplish.

If they lost by 8, would the season be the "Failure" that some are saying it is?

[Eman5805]

Well technically, any season not resulting in a NBA Championship could be considered a failure.

But, the mindset that a total overhaul is needed wouldn't be so rampant in that situation because people would feel that we weren't that far behind the Nuggets.