NEW ORLEANS – Byron Scott is known as a defensive guru.
But if you’re watching what those who go to Hornets games are taking in these days, you’d be greatly surprised at that.
This Hornets team is playing defense like a sieve holds in water.
That is to say, opponents are scoring points at will, averaging more than 105 points per game.
The latest instance came Friday night in the Arena where the Raptors shot 50.6 percent, including 48.3 percent from beyond the arc, and scored 107 points to New Orleans’ 90.
What set the Hornets apart two years ago from most other teams was a penchant to come up with stops regardless of whether the offense was making shots or not.
What sets these Hornets apart from other teams now is that New Orleans rewards other teams for arriving to play them.
Want an easy basket? Please, come into the lane. The Hornets will even get you anything during your stay.
Want an open shot from 10-feet or beyond? Please, tell the Hornets not to bother you. They’ll be more than happy to not put their fingerprints on you.
Scott sees it. He just doesn’t know how to fix it. He thought giving his team a light practice on Thursday would do the trick.
It didn’t.
“It’s amazing to me because in practice, we just walked through a bunch of stuff, got a little shooting in,” Scott said. “It wasn’t a very strenuous practice. It was 2½ or three hours, so we should have been fresh is what I’m saying.”
West blamed, or rather, complimented Toronto on having a good game plan, especially coming out of the locker room at halftime. He said nothing about a lack of energy.
But while West is a standup guy and never one to blame others or be a prima donna, he’s about as wrong as Michael J. Fox’s Back to the Future character was for trying for continually trying to change history.
That is to say, Toronto’s performance in the second half had nothing to do with a game plan. It had everything to do with laziness on the court by New Orleans.
There was no communication between teammates and when all the defense called for was to step out and defend the three, that didn’t happen.
“Energy and effort, that’s inside you,” Scott said. “That’s something you can’t coach or teach. That’s got something to do with the individual and that’s the bottom line. We didn’t come out with it in the third quarter and it escalated throughout the game.”
And that Scott is saying that doesn’t bode well for this Hornets team.
Not six games into the season.
