A recent quote from George Shinn in the Times-Picayune:
We feel like a lot of our young people have not been developed properly. We feel there are other mistakes that have been made from the basketball end. We've totally changed, and we'll hold people accountable. We're holding coaches, and not just Byron Scott, but our assistants accountable. We're holding (General Manager) Jeff Bower accountable. We expect to get better and develop our young people.
Those words lead me to believe that Shinn views 2009-2010 as a make-or-break kind of season. If the team fails to live up to his expectations, it sounds like he'll be willing to make some serious personnel changes.
But what exactly are these expectations? Is there some team goal Shinn has in mind that, if reached, will keep him satisfied and his finger off the trigger? And are those expectations in line with those of the fans?
Personally, I'd only consider the 2009-2010 Hornets season a success if we can reach and seriously compete in the second round of the playoffs. I wouldn't be thrilled about getting bounced then -- not exactly progress from two seasons ago -- but if the Hornets can be among those elite eight and threaten for the final four, I'll be pretty satisfied. (Remember that next summer the core of the team will still be young and the contracts of Peja and Mo Pete will be infinitely more movable.)
Let us know via the comments how well the Hornets need to do next season to keep you satisfied, and if you think George Shinn has similar expectations.
Oh, and before I finish this post, a little something to balance out that picture of a topless Sean Marks:
Ah, much better.
Photo credit: Matt McIntosh of Storm Surge Photography.
20 legendary comments post your own
umd88
08/31/09 02:36 PM
In my opinion the Hornets built as is is a 6th-8th seed. The second round would be a major accomplishment. Personally I hope Wright has that "break out" season. If he doesn't he may be in a situation similar to the Wright down in Miami.
Hornets should be in a good situation down the line when those big contracts expire and free agents can come get paid and feed by CP3. As for now I'm hoping for a big season from Wright and developing the rookies.
#1
Thudso3
08/31/09 03:11 PM
If they were to get to the second round I would be estatic, although I am not expecting that to be the case. I feel our bench is still weak besides our pg collison. I don't expect much production from Thornton or wright and feel sg will be our hardest area to fill with consistent talent. I really hope diogu can fill the much needed hole in our bench production and think he could potentially be our guy. Although marks plays hard he is someone I do not want to rely on every game. I like our main 3 -let's hope for a solid year from okafor and injury free season
#2
Niall Doherty
08/31/09 04:03 PM
It's hard to nail the expectations because the team was so banged up last season. But let's hope for the best and assume that the team will be as healthy this season as they were in 2007-08. What are your expectations for them then? I think anything less than the second round would be disappointing.
www.ndoherty.com #3
420ftJesus
08/31/09 05:09 PM
I agree that this is a difficult question. Injuries, playing time, all play into the equation, not to mention losing the eventual champ in the first round . . . who can blame you then, eh? The Hawks run on Boston was huge 2 seasons ago, much more so than getting shut down in the second round and never really taking the champs to 7.
That being said, I'd consider the season a success if we get to 57 wins or more and develop some good depth, say a good 8 men deep. I don't care who gets better, just give me some bench, besides Posey.
Yup. 57.
We made moves to get better. If we just chalk last year up to luck (bad) and learning, we should be better than 2 years ago IF the moves we made were the right ones, the major moves being drafting guards, trading centers, and gaining a foward in free agency, which the common element, I see, being to develop some depth.
If I can be happy to see Chris get rest, and not look see the bench as a giant albatross picking at my liver, I'll be one happy season ticket holder (uh, George, you paying attention? Then pay him more . . .)
If we don't end up with a better bench going into the playoffs, we didn't do anything but make Tyson move (and I like me some Tyson) and ensure our winning of the team-with-the-most-players-with-Chukwu-in-their-name contest.
Oh, we also need to beat the Jazz to death at least once.
Bonus points for winning the Chukwu-name contest.
#4
saltandcarbon
08/31/09 08:30 PM
I expect home court for the playoffs. With this roster (healthy) and with good coaching schemes to use the talent on the roster, we're a top 3 or 4 in the west. Behind the Spurs and Lakers, but still a better regular season team than Dallas, Utah, Denver and Portland IMO. By 'regular season' team I mean that we might not match up well against the Jazz head to head, but our roster should get more wins across the season than them.
When it comes to the playoffs...who knows. It really is about matchups. I'd rather face the Spurs than Denver, even though San An are obviously the better team. (The only two teams in the league who don't have the matchup excuse are LA and Cleveland.) If we get bounced in first round by Denver again, I'll be well disappointed, but I'll still feel like the season is a success with a top four seed. We're a really good team not yet built to handle a terrible matchup, but we're on the way.
#5
Mikey
08/31/09 09:09 PM
Even among the Western Conference playoff teams, there are two levels. You have the Lakers and Spurs in the top tier, and then everybody else. Unlike this time last year, the Hornets are definitely NOT considered to be in the top tier. Also last year, I think we all drank the koolaid, then every player that started on opening night against the Cavs missed at least some time last year, with two guys missing significant time. This season, I'd like to see the Hornets make the playoffs, but winning isn't as important to me as player development.
I think guys like Collison, Thronton, Doigu, and even Wright have the upside to make the Hornets a serious contender for years to come. Get them minutes. (and no, Byron, I'm not talking about 2:00 of garbage time against the Kings) Let them learn and take a few lumps along the way. Chris Paul and David West are good enough to get this team to the playoffs by themselves, as they demonstrated last year. We need some of these young guys to get some skins on the wall, so they can be trusted to produce come April. Notice I didn't include Hilton Armstrong. I've pretty much given up on him as a legitimate backup. Usually you show what you are by your 3rd year in the league, and he's shown me that he's a turnover machine that is an end-of-the-bench guy at best.
#6
Ryan Schwan
08/31/09 10:18 PM
As a side note - I think that quote probably says everything we need to know about Kenny Gattison and why he was let go. Shinn was not happy - and while he wasn't ready to axe Byron Scott, someone was going to feel his displeasure.
Can't say I disagree with that approach.
www.hornets247.com #7
bigindian15
08/31/09 10:42 PM
Successful season: 50+ wins, 4th seed (at least), at least 6 games in second round of playoffs, preferable further.
Worst possible scenario: 49 wins, 7th seed, injuries galore, get bounced in 5th game of first round by 60 points (hey, wait a second...)
#8
bigindian15
08/31/09 10:43 PM
Gotta add to the successful part: no chemistry problems between players and players/coaches, no Okafor injury so the "injury prone" chatter doesn't start up again with our centers...
#9
Caleb462
08/31/09 11:09 PM
Would be awesome but chances aren't great - over 55 wins, homecourt advantage, west conf. finals
Would be good and is quite possible- 50-55 wins, a good showing in the 2nd round.
Would kind of suck, and is also possible 45 - 49 wins, first round bounce (or another second round ass kicking)
No! - less than 45 wins, no playoffs.
neworleansbasketball.blogspot.com #10
Apple
08/31/09 11:33 PM
From Ryan: "As a side note - I think that quote probably says everything we need to know about Kenny Gattison and why he was let go."
That's precisely what I was thinking, Ryan. Kenny is such a nice guy, but even nice guys have to get results and our bigs just weren't making much progress.
I don't know anything about the new bigs coach but it sounds like Shinn is tired of waiting and wishing and now is expecting results.
I hope it all works.
appleita.blogspot.com/ #11
urgmasdaughter
09/01/09 01:56 AM
Best case: 57 wins and over. This team is supposed to be "better" than last year which was essentially an injured version of the 07-08 Hornets that won 56 games. Now if were not done dealing this summer, which I hope were not, than this can all change.
Worst case: Devin Brown gets playing time
#12
Tin_Food
09/01/09 03:00 AM
I think it'll be the Starting 5 that determines how well we do this season, and how well they mesh. If they mesh well, we should expect 50-55 wins, if not, 45-50 if CP3 and Dwest pick up the slack again. Our bench now on paper looks better than any bench we've had the last 2 seasons, but we've really missed Pargo's scoring, so it remains to be seen whether the bench will pick up the scoring this season or not. It looks promising, but nothing is guarenteed yet.
#13
Niall Doherty
09/01/09 06:51 AM
@ Mikey: Great point about player development. I'd be okay with a few less wins if guys like Wright, Collison and Thornton were given enough minutes to develop and contribute, assuming they're capable of developing and contributing.
Judging by Shinn's quote though, it sounds like Byron will have to have a longer leash this season or suffer the consequences.
www.ndoherty.com #14
Mikey
09/01/09 11:32 AM
True, but George Shinn's quote directly references the fact that "a lot of our young people have not been developed properly". He doesn't actually say anything about wins and losses. I agree with the Gattison reference, but I also think (hope) this is a warning to Byron Scott to not play guys like Devin Brown over a younger player like Marcus Thornton, who clearly has more upside. We all know Byron is gonna tend to lean on his veterans. I think this message from Mr. Shinn was just an azimuth check for the coaching staff. At the end of the day though, I do recognize that you're ultimately judged on W's and L's.
Oh and thanks for the photo, Niall. It definitely gave the site a certain aesthetic balance.
#15
StefanC
09/01/09 02:06 PM
Damn is anyone else extremely excited for the season to be here already!?
To me, 52+ wins and at least putting up a fight in the 2nd round of the playoffs is considered a successful season.
Or
If I win the lottery and the Hornets end up winning less than 40 games, I'm still happy (:
#16
DrewS
09/01/09 02:43 PM
Assuming everyone stays healthy and JuJu starts at the 2 or 3, why not the Western Conference Finals? I think we're a better team right now than we were this time last year.
And I'm still not sold the Spurs will be that much better this year: Ginobili, Ratliff, MyDyess, Finley, and Duncan are no spring chickens. Not only are they getting up there in age but they've played a LOT more games than typical NBA players of their age. The only team in the West that concerns me is the Lakers.
#17
Mark
09/01/09 08:40 PM
Development of our young'ns. First round playoffs sounds fair, but I'm more interested in seeing (if) coach Scott (can) use our young talent and find a complementary system and line-up. That would be music to my ears.
If it's an injury-riddled season, then I want significant PT from Thorton, Collison, Diogu and JuJu. Last year we had mostly vets, so now we don't have excuses using Devin Brown too much this season.
And, most importantly, new nicknames! I'm excited... season can't start soon enough!
www.dogpile.com/ #18
downtowndave78
09/02/09 09:38 AM
I'm just not seeing the correlation between an organization admitting its mistakes (Shinn's comments) and the "make or break season" post. For me, that is a stretch. A leader in any capacity- business, education, sports, etc.,- reflects upon their own endeavors and works to improve upon them. This is called professionalism. In my opinion, Shinn is only admitting that he feels that the organization as a whole has made some mistakes (whether we agree or not), and he his holding his people accountable for those mistakes. This is a normal approach for any professional organization, and I for one am happy to finally see the shades of competence and professionalism finally beaming from our city in the swamps. Cheers to Shinn and thank you for the commitment!!!
#19
untitled1018
09/02/09 10:24 AM
@downtownd
I understand what your getting at, and really I agree almost completely. I think the make-or-break feeling may come from having Chris Paul on the team. I would argue that with the best player in the NBA you should not be getting blown out by the Nuggets (Billups or not) in the playoffs and you should be always viewed as something verging on an elite team (if not AN elite team) ... but at the very least, never a disappointment ... but that's just me, I don't know ...
#20