OPINION / ANALYSIS
NEW ORLEANS – Byron Scott says he’s not concerned.
Not four games into the season. Not with a team sporting six new players and three new starters.
Then again, that’s what he must say. He’s not going to tell anyone with keys to the public’s eyes and ears anything else.
“I’m more pissed off than anything, to use the word,” Scott said Wednesday morning prior the Hornets’ shoot around as the team prepares for tonight’s 8:30 game against Southwest Division rival Dallas.
And he should be pissed off. But he should also be concerned.
He can’t lose this team and he can’t lose the fan base. Continue losing games to the New York Knicks, as New Orleans did Monday, and both will begin to happen.
Alan Hahn, a blogger who covers the Knicks, already is writing about how Chris Paul’s situation mirrors where Kevin Garnett was a few years ago.
Garnett played for Minnesota, a team that went from the conference championship game to not even in the playoffs. The T-Wolves went from good to struggling.
And he wanted out, though he didn’t publicly admit it.
Paul isn’t leaving New Orleans any time soon. He doesn’t even have an opt-out clause built into his contract until the 2012 season.
But that someone already is writing about that doesn’t bode well.
Scott says the team is poor at communicating on the floor. He says they’re not helping with defense. He says the chemistry on the court is still lacking.
Shouldn’t that be on him, sort of like teaching numbers is the job of Count von Count?
“We’ve still got to put what we do in practice into game situations,” Scott said. “We’re not coming with the same intensity and we’re not communicating the same way in games that we are in practice.”
Changes won’t be made just yet, to the roster in regard to who’s active and who’s not. Sean Marks, Ike Diogu (who is injured still) and Marcus Thornton will remain inactive.
He joked that maybe they should bring the Alario Center basketball court to the East bank.
Instead of the court, maybe he should bring the same accountability to games that he does to practice.
Tonight in the Arena, we’ll find out if that begins to happen.
