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The Hornets are y and overconfident. They're screwed.
http://www.nola.com/hornets/t-p/?/ba...470.xml&coll=1
Hornets now bracing for champ Spurs
N.O. higher seed but underdog against accomplished opponent Thursday,
By Teddy Kider
On Tuesday night, two longtime Western Conference forces fell hard.
The Dallas Mavericks lost in the first round of the playoffs for the second consecutive season, spurring the firing of Coach Avery Johnson and speculation of a major team overhaul. The Phoenix Suns were outdone once again by the San Antonio Spurs, sparking conflicting reports about the future of Suns Coach Mike D'Antoni.
Both winners -- the Hornets and the Spurs -- were dominant and methodical in their approach, claiming victory after five of a possible seven games.
So which series win was more impressive?
"I thought ours was more impressive," Hornets Coach Byron Scott said Wednesday, smirking.
The Hornets will be put to the test beginning Saturday night, when the Spurs arrive at the New Orleans Arena for Game 1 of a best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series.
The Hornets reached this point through a different route than the Spurs, who have won four of the NBA's past nine championships. But from the Hornets' celebration -- rather, lack of celebration -- after Tuesday night's 99-94 win against the Mavericks at the Arena, one might not realize it.
"I thought Chris (Paul) made a great point last night when he came into the locker room," Scott said. "Nobody was jumping up and down, celebrating. He said, 'Four down, 12 to go.' And that's how you've got to look at it. We've got to win 12 more games."
Despite the Hornets' No. 2 seed and home-court advantage for the semifinal series, New Orleans is likely to enter against the No. 3 seed Spurs in a familiar role -- as the underdog.
The Hornets, however, beat the Spurs, the league's defending champions, in two of four games during the regular season, including a 24-point blowout in San Antonio in January and a 25-point romp in March at the Arena.
"I don't know if many players on this team consider themselves underdogs, but for some reason, that's what we've been labeled as," Hornets center Tyson Chandler said.
The Hornets lost 12- and nine-point decisions to the Spurs during the regular season, but Scott said that his team has a firm grasp of what San Antonio is about -- beginning with power forward Tim Duncan.
"Playing them over the years, we know what type of team they are -- a different team than the Mavericks because of the fact that they are a post-up team first," Scott said. "They're going to throw that ball to Tim and kind of play off him. We've got to make sure we do a good job on him, which is a tall order.
"Tyson's got his hands full, and David (West) and (Melvin Ely) and Hilton (Armstrong) and all of those guys will be guarding him."
With Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili in the Spurs' backcourt, the Hornets will once again focus on transition defense. New Orleans will try to protect the lane and force San Antonio to be a jump-shooting team.
Scott said he knows that between Duncan, Parker and Ginobili, someone must be stopped.
"With the big three playing the way they're playing, you've got to take away one of those guys," Scott said. "All three of those guys can't have a great series."
The Hornets are y and overconfident. They're screwed.
Yeah, pretty impressive taking out a team that had lost eight of its previous ten playoff games the previous two seasons and had barely played .500 ball since the Kidd trade. Just focus on Timmay, Byron; Manu and Tony are irrelevant.
The Shaq effect....
Hornets will fail just as he did. Let's see them walk the walk.
I think that will be their undoing. We saw the Suns get rattled and lose their poise, the Hornets will rattle easier. They have no clue what the intensity level is in the second round. The Spurs' experience keeps them poised even under duress. That Championship blood will serve them well against a good team with little Playoff experience.
"With the big three playing the way they're playing, you've got to take away one of those guys," Scott said. "All three of those guys can't have a great series."Already Scott has a better plan against the Spurs than D'Antoni. D'Antoni thought the best way to beat the Spurs was eliminate their role players (guys like Finley, Bowen, Barry, etc from hitting their 3's) and let the Big 3 beat them.
Scott has the more practical idea stating that it's smarter to stop 1 or 2 of those Big 3.
They actually sound spur like, no one was jumping around saying stupid things. Chris Paul is a very mature leader for a player his age and with championship expeienced coach Byron Scott in his corner this club is on the right track. Granted they are about a year or two away from actually winning it all they aren't to be overlooked.
They thumped us pretty good in their two wins, but so did a lot of teams. Even Phoenix took 3 out of 4 from us. What happens in the regular season stays in the regular season, seems like the Spurs don't lace up their Nikes until the post season starts. That being said, of all the remaining teams, the Hornets I think will give us our toughest test. They'll be tougher not because Scott is a such a great coach, but because Chris Paul is such a mature and capable leader with a nice supporting cast around him.
Timmy is going to show David West what a real power forward looks like.
Byron Scott talking a little smack, do we need to remind him of the 2003 finals to get him to behave???
Playoff Spurs >>> Regular season Spurs.
You'd think opposing teams would know by now.
The media may never figure that out but you would hope the opponents would. The more the Hornets boast about Reg season success the happier i am getting.
Yeah, Byron Scott should've said his team is about to get their collective asses handed to them by TD & Co.
GMAFB. He seemed pretty respectful to me.
I just think everyone should be 100% silent about the Spurs and their chances. Suns do nothing but talk and get beat over and over. Learn from that NBA.
And ?The Hornets, however, beat the Spurs, the league's defending champions, in two of four games during the regular season, including a 24-point blowout in San Antonio in January and a 25-point romp in March at the Arena
Playoff Hornets >>> Regular season Hornets
Based on???
Regular season Bruce Bowen <<<<< Post season Bruce Bowen
Playoff TP >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Playoff JKidd
Actually he needs to be reminded of his entire run as Jersey's coach. Couldn't quite get over the hump.
I like this New Orleans team. They'll be a force for at least a few years based on their current roster if things stay intact. But I don't think this is their year. Look at the Suns series. The Spurs didn't even really bomb one game. They took a dump in the 1st quarter of game 3 and simply couldn't recover. They outplayed the Suns when it matter in games 1, 2 and 5, and owned them in game 3. Even with Ginobili's ty game 5, the Spurs still won. What does that say about Scott's strategy?
I'm not predicting a sweep, though I wouldn't be shocked. I'm saying Spurs in 5. 5 hard fought games.
Its cause you are Chandler"I don't know if many players on this team consider themselves underdogs, but for some reason, that's what we've been labeled as," Hornets center Tyson Chandler said.
Its gonna be a tough series, but I don't think it will be as tough as Phoenix.
The interior defense is just not as good as a Stoudamire Shaq frontline.
They might be better against the pick & roll, don't you think?
I would like to know a single thing that was y or arrogant about anything in that article. Confident? Yeah. But everything else seemed very respectful. I know everything that the Hornets have said so far about the Spurs has been very respectful.
You guys are just looking for things to be indignant about in places where there is nothing there.
Ditto. Anyone who thinks NO is going to fold faster than Superman on laundry day is dreaming. They have excellent talent up and down the line, CP3 is a legit MVP candidate, they're stocked with shooters, they have size and strength, and they beat a lot of excellent teams this year, including SA. This is going to be a 6 or 7-game series, and it's going to be tough.
PS. Manu better show up for all of these.
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