Eyewitness Sports Director Jim Henderson sat down with WWLTV.com to offer some observations on the Hornets success and the way they’ve been embraced by the home fans.

Q: First, what are your thoughts on why home court advantage seems to be a much bigger factor in the NBA than in baseball or pro football? I mean, 17 of 18 second round games so far have been won by the home team and the lone loss was by one point.

Jim: Especially in the NBA, especially in the playoffs, I think it’s the energy that comes from a crowd that is much closer to the action than in the other sports. I think a crowd can pick up a team that has hit a lull, bring energy when a team is rallying. Conversely, you don’t have those things on the road to help pick you up. In the first two games, everyone was saying that the Spurs looked old, a step slower than the Hornets. In the two games in San Antonio, that was mostly reversed with the Hornets looking indecisive and the Spurs looking like the champs they’ve been. All of these games have been blowouts, so I don’t think officiating has made the difference. If anything, I thought in Game 5 that the Spurs got a lot of the calls.

Q: Are you surprised at how the Hornets have played in the postseason?

Jim: Not really. This team won 56 games in the toughest conference in the NBA by a long shot. They won in San Antonio, after years they broke through in Dallas. They beat good teams several times, so this is no surprise.

Q: What about this team’s acceptance by the community? Early in the season it didn’t look like it would come around, even with them winning.

Jim: When Byron Scott was upset early in the season, talking about people not showing up, I think he didn’t understand that in New Orleans people don’t plan weeks in advance. They plan for the coming Friday and Saturday. I don’t think he understood the area’s allegiance to the Saints, to LSU and its BCS run, to the holidays and Mardi Gras. I think the bonding came around the All-Star game. With two All-Stars and the All-Star coach, I think fans began to think of this as an NBA town. This will now be an NBA town. I don’t think next year fans will wait until after LSU’s bowl game to turn to the Hornets.

Q: Is the Hornets’ success sort of like ‘found money’ for Hornets fans? Something that wasn’t expected, and so now the wins are all lagniappe?

Jim: I think that’s exactly the case. I think they’ve exceeded expectations, basically came out of nowhere. Now, there are people in the organization who thought this could happen. Last year this team had a bunch of injuries to Peja, Chandler and West. They felt that if they were healthy, I think Byron Scott said, if healthy, they could win 55 games. And, they won 56. I think Jeff Bower needs to be commended as well for picking up complimentary pieces.