The hype around this undefeated New Orleans team has gone from negative to the positive in a few short weeks. As the pre-season was nearing, rumors of Chris Paul demanding a trade were flooding the internet. "He said, she said" scenarios were part of the problem, with Paul making statements saying he had never requested a trade, while others said he had. A "Big 3" scenario was the core of the stories, which had All-Stars Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul joining Amar'e Stoudamire in New York with the Knicks. It was a media nightmare for the Hornets seeing as how Chris Paul still has 2 years remaining on his contract, and to have an unhappy player perhaps not giving his all for 2 full years is nothing short of a disaster. Add to all this a new general manager in Dell Demps and you have yourself the worst scenario you could possibly ask for going into the pre-season.
The Hornets lost 5 games in a row and finished 1-7 in the preseason. It almost seemed inevitable that this would go down as one of the worst Hornets seasons of the last few years. That couldn't have been further from the truth. The Hornets won their first 3 regular season games against Milwaukee, Denver and San Antonio by an average of 6 points, with Chris Paul leading what seemed to be a newly energized Hornets team. The Houston Rockets, Miami Heat and the Milwaukee Bucks would be the next 3 teams to fall to the momentum driven Hornets, averaging 100 points a game and keeping their opponents scoring just under 90 points. The Hornets would make easy work of the Blake Griffin lead Los Angeles Clippers and the more than capable Portland Trailblazers, beating one by 19 and the other by 20 points.
As the only remaining unbeaten team in the NBA, the Hornets have a franchise record for wins to begin the season. As much as I love to give praise to Chris Paul, this current 8-0 record would be impossible without the other 4 starters. Emaka Okafor, David West, Trevor Ariza and Marco Belinelli have shown that players who are given the right system and compatible teammates, can truly play great basketball, while showing their true skill and worth to a team. Watching most of the Hornets games myself, its clear that team chemistry is the reason for this run, as they are 2nd place in team assists in the western conference, with nearly 23 per game. The 7-3 Utah Jazz are 1st with about 24 team assists per game.
Division rivals the Dallas Mavericks are no slouches either. They are 6-2 and have won 3 in a row coming into tonight's game versus the Hornets. Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavericks will have the home crowd pumped and ready for a game that the entire NBA and all its fans will be watching. Regardless of the outcome, New Orleans will no doubt be on everyones radar from now on. They're on mine, and with good reason.
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