2011-12 New Orleans Hornets Overview
New Orleans stunned lots of people last season when they made the postseason notwithstanding little expectancies given to them. The Hornets began the playoffs as the seventh seed in the western conference and took the Lakers to 6 games, which was a small victory in itself.
After dealing Chris Paul in December and losing David West thru free agency, the New Orleans Hornets look to have an entirely new team in their list. The expectancies for this squad are lower than ever seen before as they have lost their two top guys from their postseason team.
Paul was traded to the LA Clippers in a move that got them C Chris Kaman, PF Al-Farouq Aminu and SG Eric Gordon. They lost the guts of their team in Paul, although it was the correct move at the right time. He was going to leave through free agency at the end of the year, anyway.
The Hornets also lost the services of West, who left for the Indiana Pacers in free agency. He’s been one of the most underrated players in the league for years now. West averaged 18.9 points and 7.6 rebounds last year, which is slightly up from his career averages of 16.4 points and 7.3 rebounds.
Though they kept one or two main players in Marco Belinelli, Carl Landry and Jason Smith; they have lost center Aaron Gray and added DaJuan Summers through free agency so this is now a completely different and unfamiliar team the Hornets will have in 2012.
The starting five is going to consist of players that aren’t necessarily household names but as a team will be one of the more undervalued starting 5s in the West. This will be consisted of PG Jarrett Jack, SG Eric Gordon, SF Trevor Ariza, PF Emeka Okafor and C Chris Kaman.
Although they’ve a relatively robust starting five, their bench is non-existent and Landry is their sole reserve player capable of giving them a consistent spark. Al-Farouq Aminu, Brian Butch, Quincy Pondexter, Marco Belinelli and Terrico White are players that need to step up in order for this squad to have a semblance of competitiveness in their contests. If their bench shows up, we might see one or two surprises. If they don’t payer well then the team will stumble also.
Western Conference Pick: 5th Southwest Division – While they might have a decent starting 5, their shortage of depth will hurt them big time particularly in a condensed schedule. Their starters may all average in double digits and they may form a prodigious starting team but their bench needs to realise their potential and contribute, or with our NBA season predictions we believe that we will see a team at the bottom of the Western Conference and fighting for the worst record in the NBA.
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