No Slogan Required: New Orleans Hornets fans must rise up in 2011 postseason

Halo · 04-20-2011, 10:24 AM

The team drew an obvious mismatch when it was paired against the two-time defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers. The seventh-seeded Hornets, who had lost their last three regular-season games by an average of 22 points, drew the Pacific Division champions, a team that won 11 more regular-season games than New Orleans and swept the four head-to-head meetings by an average of 10.8 points.

Another set of four consecutive losses seemed likely as the Hornets entered the post-season without their leading scorer, David West, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in March. They seemed almost toothless as Chris Paul's numbers had dropped off significantly in the 10 games after West's injury.

They seemed outmanned against L.A.'s twin 7-footers – Paul Gasol and Andrew Bynum – and the soon-to-be-named Sixth Man of the Year – 6-11 Lamar Odom. The Hornets answers were 6-10 Emeka Okafor, 6-9 Carl Landry, and … somebody … off the bench.

But when the playoffs began New Orleans' team responded to the challenge much better than the city of New Orleans responded to the team's playoff push. The Hornets' disappointing losing streak to close the regular season was nothing compared to the ticket-buying public's performance down the stretch.

The announced attendance for the six home games in April was 13,878; undoubtedly there were fewer fans in the Arena. As soon as the Hornets' finished off a 108-96 home victory against Indiana on April 3 – the team's fourth victory in six games – everyone knew the next game, three days later against Houston in the Arena, would provide an opportunity for New Orleans to clinch a playoff berth.

Read the rest at the NEW SportsNOLA.com

04-20-2011, 10:24 AM	#1
Halo Site Donor MONTHLY Join Date: May 2002 Location: New Orleans, LA Posts: 20,860 Blog Entries: 45	No Slogan Required: New Orleans Hornets fans must rise up in 2011 postseason The team drew an obvious mismatch when it was paired against the two-time defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers. The seventh-seeded Hornets, who had lost their last three regular-season games by an average of 22 points, drew the Pacific Division champions, a team that won 11 more regular-season games than New Orleans and swept the four head-to-head meetings by an average of 10.8 points. Another set of four consecutive losses seemed likely as the Hornets entered the post-season without their leading scorer, David West, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in March. They seemed almost toothless as Chris Paul's numbers had dropped off significantly in the 10 games after West's injury. They seemed outmanned against L.A.'s twin 7-footers – Paul Gasol and Andrew Bynum – and the soon-to-be-named Sixth Man of the Year – 6-11 Lamar Odom. The Hornets answers were 6-10 Emeka Okafor, 6-9 Carl Landry, and … somebody … off the bench. But when the playoffs began New Orleans' team responded to the challenge much better than the city of New Orleans responded to the team's playoff push. The Hornets' disappointing losing streak to close the regular season was nothing compared to the ticket-buying public's performance down the stretch. The announced attendance for the six home games in April was 13,878; undoubtedly there were fewer fans in the Arena. As soon as the Hornets' finished off a 108-96 home victory against Indiana on April 3 – the team's fourth victory in six games – everyone knew the next game, three days later against Houston in the Arena, would provide an opportunity for New Orleans to clinch a playoff berth. Read the rest at the NEW SportsNOLA.com