Review of the Hornets Front Court

During the Hornets last playoff appearance in BCP 2(2003-2004 season) the Hornets front court boasted an All-star Center in Jamaal Magloire, former All-Defensive 2nd Team Forward PJ Brown, an energized, if large, Robert "Tractor" Traylor and the rarely scoring and little used rookie, David West.

Today, Magloire is earning small, one-year contracts because he's become sour, slow and unreliable, PJ Brown is deciding if he wants to play anymore, and Robert Traylor has been convicted of Tax Fraud and is in prison.

But despite the downfall of that particular crew of Hornets Big Men, New Orleans has managed to put together an intriguing group of young Big Men that have the potential to be something spectacular in the future. Introducing the Hornets Big Men:

Tyson Chandler - At the beginning of last year, the Hornets turned PJ Brown's expiring contract and the unwanted JR Smith into the Bull's Tyson Chandler. I greeted the trade with ambivalence. PJ had been a trooper for the Hornets, but his jumpshot and energy had waned badly over the previous season, and I could take or leave JR on any given night. Tyson hadn't shown much as a Bull, and his contract was pretty fat, but I comforted myself with the thought that he was athletic and a decent rebounder, something we hadn't had in years.

In sis first month with the Hornets he was tentative on the offensive end, only taking 3 shots a game, and was clearly still figuring out how to play with his teammates. His rebounding(11 a game) was nice, but his Free-throw shooting was a Sub-Shaq 34%. 34%! He had been told so often in Chicago to not shoot, Byron Scott had to start fining him every time he brought down an offensive rebound and passed it out, because he'd pass up prime scoring opportunities.

But as December went on, his play picked up, and after the New Year, he exploded. At the end of January, I had convinced my friend to start watching the Hornets, and after a few games I mentioned that I hadn't been sure about Chandler at the start of the season. He looked at me like I was batshit crazy, and I still have to endure taunts about how I'm not a real fan of Chandler. At the time, Chandler was tearing it up, averaging 16 rebounds a game for the month of February while slamming home 13 points a game. He ended the season 3rd in Rebound Rate(% of available rebounds he grabs in a game) behind Mutombo and Evans, each of whom only played 17 minutes a game.

It was an amazing season in all for him - one that has earned him all kinds of appreciation from the Hornets Fan Base and recognition from a lot of those who previously dismissed him. There is no question that great things are expected from him this upcoming season, and he's locked in as the starting center for the team. I expect he'll get the same 35 minutes a game he got last year.

David West - The Hornets leading scorer last year, I've already said quite a bit about David in previous posts on this Blog, but I'm not going to let that stop me here. Fundamentally sound, he's a solid rebounder and skilled scorer. In his breakout year, he was a cold-hearted killer in crunch time, and so deadly in a pick and pop at the top of the key, I counted the points every time the ball left his fingers. Last year, his touch from twenty feet seemed to fail him a little at the beginning of the season, and his confidence seemed to falter. He began passing up open shots from that distance, preferring to instead put the ball on the floor. As a result, he developed a quick, two dribble drive from the elbow, followed by a spin and hook or quick shot that frequently drew a foul. Obviously, he is a skilled player and a very important piece of the frontcourt, where his shooting skill keeps the defense from packing the lane against Chris Paul's dribble penetration.

A lot has been made about the fact he averaged 30 points a game the last five games of the season, but three of those games were against teams that didn't have a lot to play for - having already decided long before if they were in the playoffs or not. Still, he's just now entering his prime, and seeing him average 20-22 points a game isn't out of the question. What is the question is how many games he may miss this year. In only four years in the league, he's already suffered two injuries that he was very slow to recover from - missing 52 games in 2004-2005 and thirty games in 2006-2007.

West will get 35 minutes a game at the Power Forward position when he's not injured. It's possible he may edge towards 38 if none of the backups develop appropriately.

Hilton Armstrong - Hilton was a rookie last year, and started the season on the bench in favor of fellow rookie Cedric Simmons, who had been exposed to Scott's Princeton Offense in college. Hilton managed to endear himself to me when he was thrown into the fire last November to replace the injured Chandler as the starting Center against powerhouse Detroit. Putting up 17 points and 9 rebounds, he hit the game-winning free-throw and then had the presence of mind(and athleticism) to leap over three Pistons and back-tip his second, missed free-throw to Chris Paul and preserve the win. It was glorious.

Imagine my disgust, then, when he vanished for almost a month, and when he did return, only got spot minutes behind Marc "I'm slow like a dinosaur and like to jack up 20 foot jumpshots despite never hitting them" Jackson. He played well as the backup to the backup big man, and by the end of the season, was getting more minutes again.

This year, it's clear he's expected to back up both Chandler and West, with Byron telling reporters during the Summer League that he expected Armstrong to be flexible enough to play both positions. It's his position to lose, and judging by the impressive offensive performance and extra muscle he displayed in the summer league, I think it's safe to assume we'll see him more this year. I'm estimating about 20 minutes a game, serving as the primary backup at center, with spot minutes at power forward.

Cedric Simmons - He started his rookie year last year as the backup Big man, but within a month, had played himself out of the spot. He had some flashy plays, even managing to break the NBA's top 10 Alley-oop dunks for the season. But on defense he seemed lost at times, and his offense consisted entirely of dunks or an unreliable 16-foot jumpshot. His post game was very raw,(inert even) but you could tell he had all the physical tools to be an excellent player in the NBA.

Unfortunately, he was forced to miss the Summer League with an injured ankle, and I have no idea how much his game has progressed. Armstrong's performance in that league clearly impressed the coaches, so if Simmons is to get any significant time, it'll take an injury or Armstrong failing to impress Scott when the season starts. I'm expecting only spot minutes this season.

Melvin Ely - A younger Marc Jackson, Ely has shown he can play as a serviceable backup big. It seems to me that he's really just an insurance policy against the chance that neither of the two second-year bigs Armstrong and Simmons pan out. Scott has shown a predilection in the past(Marc Jackson, Aaron Williams) to play veteran big men over youngsters fairly quickly if the youngsters make a few mistakes, but I'm still only expecting minor minutes for him.

Julian Wright - Wright was this years first round draft pick, and though he's really more of a small forward, he is tall enough and shown enough rebounding skills in college that he may get minutes at Power Forward when the Hornets want to have an up-tempo second unit on the floor.

I'm fairly excited about this bunch. It's a nice mix of scoring, rebounding and shot blocking, and the oldest one in the group is Melvin Ely at 29. If Hilton shows any of the skills come gametime that he put on display during the summer league, our back-up big man is set behind a very strong pair of starters, all of whom have the potential to improve.