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Photograph by Jonathan Bachman

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The easiest and most obvious way to measure the worth of a team is by looking at their record. The Hornets, after holding off the Golden State Warriors 135-131 Monday night at New Orleans Arena, the Hornets sit at 32-32 and in 10th place in the Western Conference standings. They are neither that good, nor that bad, relatively speaking and, if they played in the East, very well could be in the playoffs. In the end, you could make arguments either way as to the quality of this team.

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On one hand, the Hornets played well. Their 135 points was a season-high, Darren Collison set a new Hornets rookie record with 20 assists (also an NBA game-high this season) and six Hornets finished in double figures (including David West and Marcus Thornton, who each finished with 28 points) and three finished with double-doubles. Collison continued to show poise at the point and delivered late with the ball in his hands. The Hornets shot well and, in the end, scored more points than their opponents.

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On the other hand, the Warriors are objectively a terrible team. They have the third-worst record in the whole league, have the second-worst defense in the league and only had eight players in uniform in their loss to the Hornets (a game in which the Hornets gave up a season-high 131 points). So while there are definite positives signs to take away from the win for New Orleans, the glaring negative is that this team has been unable to show this type of production against potential playoff teams in the West.

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In their last four games, the Hornets lost all four to teams ahead of them in the Western Conference standings (including two terrible double-digit losses to the San Antonio Spurs). Dating back to the start of February, the Hornets have had just two wins against teams with better records (against Boston and Orlando). Of their 19 remaining games, 14 are against teams currently in the playoffs or fighting for a spot.

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And while every win counts, some wins mean more than others. Edging out one of the worst teams in the league in a defense-optional shoot-out does not make up for getting blown out by twice in three games against a division rival. Especially when those losses are part of a four-game losing streak against potentially playoff-bound teams. The Hornets scored quality wins against the Magic and the Celtics but couldn’t carry that momentum into wins against Western Conference teams in their next games.

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No, the Hornets may not be bad enough to completely miss out on the playoffs, but they haven’t shown they’re good enough to make it in either.

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Photographs by Jonathan Bachman

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Fact: With tonight’s 96-94 victory over the Sacramento Kings, the Hornets have won their last six games at home and are 7-2 at the Arena this season.

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Not a Fact: Just over three dozen people have witnessed every home win. Or at least that’s what it seems like. For all the positives to take from this game — first time this season three Hornets notched double-doubles, Songaila was perfect from the floor, CP3 is averaging four steals a game in his last five — the pervading emotion this game was boredom. With just over 13,000 fans in attendance (a generous number), the Hive was mostly tepid all night. Any thoughts that the crowd has carried this team at home should be taken with a grain of salt. Even when everyone finally woke up in the fourth, the Hornets had to dig deep for a win.

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“We played defense,” Chris Paul said of his team’s fourth quarter. “We finally bore down and defended and started rebounding.”

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Defense. Rebounding. These are the recurring issues that the Hornets have thus far not been able to deal with. Granted, it was a strong defensive stand in the final 10 seconds that gave the Hornets the victory, but it was a slew of defensive break downs that made the game closer than it really was. The Hornets held just a two-rebound edge on the Kings on the night and, though Sacremento had only nine offensive boards, they seemed to come at the worst times.

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“They only had 11 second-chance points and that’s a pretty good overall number,” coach Jeff Bower said. “But when they come and how they come, they just stand out so much more. They hurt, they’re an energy drain on your team at times.”

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Bower said that he’s been stressing his players to end defensive possesions. For the most part, the Hornets accomplished this (though half the time it was because the Kings scored). Right now, New Orleans has yet to show that it can play well consistently. To wit, while five players scored in Double figures for New Orleans, they got virtually no production from Darren Collison (0 points, 3 assists), James Posey (1-of-5 for three points and a rebound) and Devin Brown (4 points), all players expected to produce numbers. Lukily, Darius Songaila was perfect from the floor and made his fourth quarter minutes count.

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“It was a broken down play,” he said about his game-winning shot. “We just improvised and we drove it to the basket. The defense collapsed and it was kid of a like a loose ball that was bobbled. I came up with it and laid it up.”

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If the Hornets think they can get back to .500 or better by shooting from the hip in the fourth quarter and hoping Songaila is going to be there to bail them out, then this team is in serious trouble.

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Photograph by Jonathan Bachman

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The Los Angeles Clippers are not a very good basketball team. Part of what makes good teams good is the ability to consistently beat the not-very-good teams. The Hornets have already done away with the Clippers twice this season and, if the Hornets can continue to beat teams like them (and not, say, lose to the friggin’ Knicks) then they may not be in as bad shape as many have feared. But for all the good vibes that come with their 110-102 victory, the Hornets realize that this game was just a small step.

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“There were steps and progress made in the game,” coach Jeff Bower said. “We didn’t want to get into a half-court stationary type game and we were able to do that thorugh most of the game. Some stretches we were able to get great ball movement as a result of it. The two things go together and I am very please with our progress.”

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Progress is the Hornets’ 51-36 rebound advantage despite the Clippers having more height in the post. Progress is rookies Darren Collison and Marcus Thornton scoring 12 points apiece with all four Hornets guards combining for 50 on the night. Progress is Chris Paul and James Posey presenting Bower with a game ball in the locker room after the game after a week in which the Hornets’ point guard fumed about Byron Scott being fired. Progress is once again believing in their system.

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“We came out with a different mindset, with a high-level of concentration and a different focus,” David West said. “There’s some getting used to different terminology, but the things that we are doing are going to give us an opportunity to win.”

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Jeff Bower’s first win as a coach came on the shoulders of a strong effort by Hornets players on both ends of the floor and effecient ball movement on offense. After a season full of frustration with stagnant play and sluggish offensive possesions, Bower and his players may have given us a glimpse of what the Hornets may soon become.

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“When we come out aggressive, rebound and move the ball, we’re a prety good basketball team,” Devin Brown said. “It’s going to be a slow process. We just have to come every day, listen to what the coaches are telling us, execute while we are out there and we wil go from there.”

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Next step: Winning against teams not named the Clippers.

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Photograph by Jonathan Bachman

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OK, before we get into the amazingness that was the Hornets’ 114-107 overtime win over the Mavericks, I have to mention one thing: Where were all the Hornets’ fans? Official attendance was 13,566, a paltry number that was whittled in half by the time Peja Stojakovic hit the game-tying shot with 6.7 seconds left. (Although, in all fairness, I don’t think anyone thought the Mavericks were going to go 0-for-3 at the foul line to set up the Hornets’ comeback).

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Hornets fans have some serious explaining to do.

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But enough of that. The Hornets pulled out a game they had no business winning and, even though this is just five games into the season, there were many post-game questions about whether this is a turning point.

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“It’s still early,” Chris Paul said, matter-of-factly. He’s right, but for a team that coach Byron Scott said was playing like 15 individuals as opposed to one cohesive unit, this game was a step in the right direction. Paul, who scored a game-high 39 points, didn’t have to carry the load by himself. Four other Hornets scored in double figures, including 18 and 10 points from reserves Bobby Brown and Darius Songaila, respectively. Most importantly, though, the Hornets actually looked like a team for the first time all season.

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“[The cohesion] was better,” Scott said. “We still got a ways to go but it was better.”

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For sure, the Hornets have a lot to improve upon. They gave up a dozen offensive rebounds to Dallas and committed 13 turnovers (which was only mitigated by Dallas’ 17). But so long as Emeka Okafur keeps putting up double-doubles (he had 11 points and 13 rebounds tonight) and Bobby Brown can continue to effectively replace Paul, there’s a good chance that this team will get better sooner rather than later. Then again, as Paul pointed out, the game would have gone completely different if Dallas had made their free throws down the stretch.

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“Just cause we win one game doesn’t mean that everything’s solved,” he said. “If they make their free throws and we lose, what’s the articles going to say tomorrow? ‘The Hornets still can’t find a way to win.’”

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That’s a what if the Hornets are glad they don’t have to contemplate.

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Photograph by Jonathan Bachman

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With the Saints undefeated and going into a huge Monday Night matchup against the Falcons all on the tail end of Halloween/VooDoo weekend, it’s excusable if New Orleanians overlooked the Hornets home opener (though the 17,306 in attendance would suggest otherwise). Well the Hornets did beat the Sacramento Kings tonight and stand at 1-1 on the season.

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But what do we really know about this team? It’s very hard to tell. Coach Byron Scott mentioned that his team was “lucky to get a win” tonight and that they still played effectively on both sides of the ball in the same breath. The Hornets were caught “bird watching” — Scott’s term when his players watch shots instead of looking for bodies to block out — and lost the rebound battle 52-43.

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Emeka Okafor, much maligned in the press because of having appeared in zero games during the preseason, turned in the performance of the night with a put-back dunk that put New Orleans up for good and two blocks in the final 15 seconds to cement the win.

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“I’m very impressed,” Chris Paul said of his new teammate. “The thing about him is that, no matter what, you can’t take away his passion. I don’t care how many days he missed, how many pre-season games he missed, he plays with a passion.”

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Indeed the Hornets showed flashes of passion and flashes of complacency. Kevin Martin and Tyreke Evans notched 20 and 22 points, respectively for the Kings but the Hornets were able to completely shut down the rest of Sacramento’s squad (save for Andrew Nocioni who scored 16).

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“We’re nowhere near where we should be,” Scott said afterwards. And though this team is techinically off to a worse start than last season, the feeling is that this year it’s just a matter of time.

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Then again, when is it not?

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