When Peja Stojakovic signed a five year 60 million dollar deal with the New Orleans Hornets in 2006 it was a sign that the small-market club had what it took to spend for big time talent.

“[Peja Stojakovic] has verbally committed to join the upstart New Orleans Hornets in what arguably ranks as the boldest acquisition in club history,” said ESPN’s Marc Stein in 2006.

What’s interesting is that looking over the past two years what once was seen as a dynamic, important player to the Hornets has been a burden financially killing any flexibility they once had. Giving 15 million dollars to a guy who can only be a spot up shooter seems crazy now, but back then was a critical move to put the Hornets in the Western Conference race.

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All coaches have that persona they play too, how they shape their teams. Some coaches like to form their philosophy around the players they have, others integrate their system with the players they have. So the question becomes, how does Monty Williams like his teams to play? It becomes painfully obvious that Monty’s system will be somewhat similar to that of the Portland Trail Blazers and the San Antonio Spurs, and that my friends is a great thing.

Do we know what ‘The Williams Way’ is? No not yet, but we can dissect the past to understand what the Hornets may look like under the youngest head coach in the NBA.

Monty Williams installed banners that were part of 'The Williams Way'

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Ah, what can I say about De-Dub that I don’t like? Well, not much really. Just a bit of background information, David West is my favourite player, in the league. What makes him my favourite player is how he plays the game. He’s not the most athletic player nor is he the best shooter, or the best rebounder, defender, passer or whatever, but to me he’s the hardest worker and most consistent player in the league. Fundamentally he is sound and he really is a true basketball player. That’s why I find it hard to believe that some people don’t like him. Unless your name is Dirk Nowitzki then you should love D-West because he optimizes hard work and consistent play. 

David West turns 30 and in anticipation keeps jersey number the same

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• Over at Ball Don’t Lie Kelly Dwyer ranks both the power forwards and centers

Power Fowards: 12. David West(notes), New Orleans Hornets (last year: ninth)

You hate to predict a fall-off for a guy who doesn’t turn 30 until next week — and someone who has been remarkable in his year-to-year consistency following an injury-plagued rookie campaign. With Chris Paul(notes) hopefully back for a full season, West’s step-back jumpers and solid-enough rebounding will likely carry over to yet another season spent on the fringe of the All-Star rankings.

Centers: 13. Emeka Okafor(notes), New Orleans Hornets (last year: 13th)

We’re 4 1/2 positions into these rankings, and I think Okafor is the first non-MVP candidate that we’ve seen actually retain his ranking from last summer to this summer. Emeka doesn’t send many shots back around the rim like you see above, but he does defend well in the post and tries on the perimeter. His offensive game isn’t going to put him in the All-Star game, but it doesn’t make him a liability either.

My take is that it’s nice to see Emeka getting some respect from people, and as for David West it’s a shame he’s moved down from ninth but when looking at the guys ahead of him you can understand why they are ahead of him.

• Well it looks like Paul and Lebron are joined at the hip still. Yesterday Lebron and his cohort of “friends” (Albert Haynesworth use of quotation marks) played a pickup game against the Miami Hurricanes basketball team. If your in Florida, it’s a good time for basketball.

The NBA’s two-time reigning MVP and some of his new Miami Heat teammates made a surprise stop at the university’s basketball facility for some informal scrimmaging against the Hurricanes. James, Udonis Haslem, Mike Miller, Patrick Beverley and New Orleans guard Chris Paul—a close friend of James—played pickup for more than an hour.

•  Aaron Gray is promoting fitness, no really he is. Aaron has lost 25 pounds and is hoping to get a little lighter. This is good news as the Hornets need a backup bigman. While I don’t think he’s really the answer I do like the fact he’s trying to get a bit more agile. Hopefully we see a new and improved Gray, but I wouldn’t hold your breath.
• Chris Bosh says that loyalty has no place in Free Agency. This is important to the Hornets because many are discussing Chris Paul’s loyalty to the Hornets as he might stay or go within the next two years. What I can’t understand is that these guys argue there’s no loyalty in the league, but then hate it when fans aren’t loyal to them. Hypocracy is a word they musn’t be familiar with because it seems that “loyalty” is scarce becoming a factor in professional sports…I mean do you remember when Dr. Kelso stopped talking to Elliot because she accepted a private practise job in the show Scrubs? Well that’s exactly what we should do if Paul moves into private practise…I mean “if he moves to another team”.
• A nice map of the Hornets transaction history. It is interesting to see how players were acquired. It’s interesting to note that P.J. Brown is indirectly responsible for Emeka Okafor’s spot on the team (P.J. Brown and J.R. Smith traded to Bulls for Tyson Chandler, Chandler then traded for Okafor.)
• In the midst of many people casting a shadow of doubt on the whole Trevor Ariza acquisition, I thought it might be intersting to re-visit the Tyson Chandler trade. NOLA.com didn’t see Chandler improving the team and didn’t like giving up Smith and Brown for him. Mark Stein liked the acquisition, only after he was putting up 11.9 rebounds per game. I think looking back there’s no doubt that it worked out well for the Hornets.

Pretty much all of these stories have been beaten to death by the fine folks over at ESPN; The Summer of Lebron, the Trade demands of Chris Paul and the rumblings of Carmelo Anthony. But why bring it up again? Because in hindsight we can see just what might happen over the next season to these two superstars.

Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul tired of being the one's left out

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Welcome to a new section of Swarm & Sting where we see how our boys did last year and try to make a guesstimate on how they’ll do this year. We won’t include some of the departing members of last year’s team because why would we want to think how the Pacers will do?

Okafor: "I am happy that I shoot 56% from the free throw line"

So to start off let’s start off in style with our first sample of Emeka Okafor.

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27th of October, 7pm local time, The New Orleans Hornets will finally find out whether or not the team is heading in the right direction. Chris Paul banter, National media bashing, Ownership concerns, all will be put aside in the wake of real live basketball.

This offseason has been an eventful one for all thing Hornets. To say it was (and is) a rollercoaster would be an understatement. At the beginning many didn’t know what was to be, what would happen, if the Hornets could play a hand in the Lebron sweepstakes. But nobody could predict what would happen and how the NBA would change because of one free-agent class.

So what can we expect from the Hornets in the next 65 days? We’ll lets break it down into a number of sections to see what might transpire before the season starts.

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Here’s today’s Swarmin’ the links where we have a look at all Hornet related news.

• Coach Nick over at B’ball Breakdown discusses why both Deron Williams and Chris Paul won’t be NBA Champions.
• Interesting article that is non-Hornets related, The Toronto Maple Leafs blog over at Sports Blog Nation had one of their users translate an entire article from a Czech Magazine. The Toronto Sun then copied that translation word for word citing no effort from Pension Plan Puppets. I think it’s an example of how bloggers get severely mistreated and that their work is seen as inferior just because they don’t get payed as much. To me main-stream media outlets need to grow up before they become obsolete. Go and check it out.
• The Hornets were, then were not linked with Allen Iverson according to Marc Stein at ESPN. My take is that if we were to add Iverson it may be talent, but at what price? AI is known for his grumblings about being a backup and in no way would he take a role with the Hornets playing behind the best point guard in the league.
• Team USA just beat Spain by one point. I didn’t get to see the game, but from the highlights it looked like a great game. I suppose one can make the argument that this is America’s “B” Team, but still when Juan Carlos Navarro is schooling Andre Iguodala you know something ‘aint right.
• J.R. Smith appears to be on the trading block after ESPN fired up the Carmelo trade rumors. The Nuggets appear eager to get in top flight talent for ‘Melo, but trading away one of the young pieces in your team might not be the right direction, I mean what value can you get for a guy as inefficient as J.R.?
• And the kicking and screaming Rudy Fernandez was fined another 25 thousand dollars after publicly demanding a trade. Mr. Stern comes down harsh on these sorts of things so it’s no surprise this happened. It’s interesting that some Hornet fans were talking about getting Fernandez because of his familiarity with the Hornets head coach Monty Williams, but methinks that door is firmly closed.
• Kelly Dwyer over at Ball Don’t Lie ranks the Small Fowards from 20-1 and Trevor Ariza has made the list, just.

18. Trevor Ariza, New Orleans Hornets (last year: 16th)

To these eyes, no player in this league came close to chucking as many egregious forces as Ariza did last season, and that’s even counting players who worked for the Golden State Warriors. Yes, Houston’s poor offense demanded that he let fly, but Ariza was just a black hole for the Rockets last season, something we’re hoping he completely cleans himself of with the Hornets.

• Jim Eichenhofer over at Hornets.com has a nice piece about Marco Belinelli. It seems that Marco is trying to recapture his potential that many were talking about after his first year in Golden State. I think having the best PG in the league might help him on his way.

G’day folks, and welcome to Swarm and Sting a New Orleans Hornets blog that puts the Sting in the national media spin! Hopefully here we can offer you another source of Hornets news in your daily routine and offer a different opinion that will get you thinking about not just the Hornets, but the bigger picture.

The city of New Orleans is a unique blend of American, French and Voodoo culture that is displayed in their passion for their sports teams. Swarm and Sting is an extension of that passion where fans can find an informative and opinionated read that invites discussion.Here we will try to offer insight into what it takes for a small-market team to win a championship and how fans need to shape their expectations. Overall our love for the game and our passion for analyzing current NBA events would be extended through this site.

Oh look, it’s David West wincing in pain as the Hornets expand globally…

Being able to be an extension of the New Orleans Hornet fans voice is what I will try to uphold. New Orleans is a city of diverse cultures and as an international fan myself I feel an even stronger connection to the Crescent City.

A little bit about myself,  my name is James Grayson and I currently live in Australia. I have been a big Hornets fan since 2005 after purchasing a copy of NBA Live 2005 and selecting the Hornets based upon the fact I was in the possession of a Charlotte Hornets basketball. I love the city of New Orleans, the infusion of cultures and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina showed to me the spirit of the Crescent City. Watching the Saints beat my Falcons was something special because even though I loved the Falcons, I wanted the Saints to win for New Orleans. I see the NBA game as an international brand, and because of that I feel like my perspective on things will be a little bit different raising issues such as why the Hornets need to go after Patrick Mills.

Hopefully here at S&S we can encourage insightful, fun, discussion about the Hornets and all things NBA.

Go Hornets!