• There isn’t much out there, but over at Dime MagazineAndrew Macaluso says the Hornets have a good shot at getting back into playoff contention in 2011 (this upcoming season). An excerpt:

The city of New Orleans belongs to the Saints — who cast a pretty big shadow with their Super Bowl trophy — but with a healthy Paul, Ariza to run alongside him, West’s silky smooth jumper and Okafor’s defense, look for the Hornets to get back into playoff contention.

• Dime Magazine also previews the 15 best expiring contracts in the NBAthis year and our boy Peja Stojakovic makes the cut,

7. Peja Stojakovic, New Orleans
2010-11 Salary: $14,256,000
Unless your team’s best shooter goes down with a season-ending injury, no one is looking to add Peja to the rotation. But we do know that the Hornets have been sitting on this contract for a reason. Could they make a move for some young talent to put around Chris Paul? Potentially. Maybe he has one more 3-Point Contest victory left in him.

• Chris Paul never asked for a trade, tell me something I don’t know. But in all seriousness I really believe that these trade rumors stem from two things. The first is poor incompetent journalism which is the fault of both the reporter and the entity itself. You can’t just accept off-the-record information as credible news worthy of being spread throughout the NBA universe. Sure, after the free-agency of Lebron and company the offseason seemed dull and boring, but that’s no reason to plug any rumor as news. The second is the work of CAA, who naturally were an acting agency first before moving into sports. I don’t watch entourage, but I think that CAA really are more like the Jerry Maguire’s of the world, not the sappy end where he grows a conscience. The first bit where all he’s about is the money (and controlling the league). It’s sad that these people are disconnecting themselves from the integrity of the game.
• Luther Head apparently was fine and the Hornets lied about his physical condition. I can’t buy this again because once again it’s an agent’s word (and several no-name sources who quite easily could be Luther Head’s friends and family) against two official spokesman for an NBA ballclub. Many seem to forget that Agent’s earn a commission and once Head failed his physical his price-tag immediately decreased, so it’s no wonder his agent isn’t happy. At The Hive does a good job of dissecting thisby really attacking the credibility of both sides and turns out the agent and A-Woj suffer the most, bravo Mr. Savvy Journalist.
• Our old coach Byron Scott is looking to win championships in Cleveland,but I have a tough time believing that will happen any time soon sans Lebron James. In the article it doesn’t mention Byron’s time with the Hornets, only the fact he won coach of the year and was fired. Look Byron does a great job of coming in and turning programs around (New Jersey and New Orleans). But quite frankly his stubborn mentality when it comes to rotations and young players really kills teams sometimes. Guys like Julian Wright never earnt Scott’s full vote of confidence which hindered his development. For example guys like Darren Collison and Marcus Thornton would not have been discovered because guys like Devin Brown (Yuck!), Morris Peterson (Oh god…) and James Posey (Bum) would be taking every single one of their minutes…

Well it’s been a tired and dull period in the NBA, my Australian Boomers were knocked out of the World Championships in embarrassing fashion, but for those of you actually reading this blog, (Hello are you out there?) I heavily advise you to check out my Australian Wallabies (National Rugby team) defeat the South African Springboks in a sensational game that came down to the last second. You might not understand the rules but check out the video.

Marcus Thornton's rookie season has put him on the radar for teams this upcoming season.

With the 43^th overall pick in the 2009 draft consensus was that another meaningless pick was on the way. What commentators didn’t know was that a dynamic, scoring, athletic and future starting shooting guard was to be picked that would make people re-think their NBA drafting expertise.

Enter Marcus Thornton a 6 foot 4 guard, a Louisiana born and bred basketball player who stated before the draft that he wanted to play for the Hornets the most. What Thornton brought to the team was surprising to say the least. The last time the Hornets had a scoring, athletic wing player the team was located in Charlotte.

The guard brings a scoring mentality, similar to J.R. Smith except more mentally stable with a more aggressive mentality.

While Thornton doesn’t offer the greatest of size he still is a monster on the offensive glass utilizing his vertical leap, speed and positioning to grab scrappy rebounds and put them in for two. That is what makes Thornton so good is that he can beat you in places you never thought he would.

Last season Thornton was in the dreaded Byron Scott doghouse where all rookies must go, unless your name is Chris Paul. Rarely does Scott use rookies, because he values veteran experience over raw talent. What made Thornton’s pine riding even more confusing was the fact that the Hornets didn’t have anyone capable at the shooting guard position. Morris Peterson, James Posey, Devin Brown and Bobby Brown were all bums.

A 3-9 record would be the coaches undoing as Scott was replaced by General Manager Jeff Bower. The thing about Bower is that he was there to utilize anything the Hornets had on their roster. This would include Thornton and Collison and it somewhat payed off. Although Paul was sidelined it put pressure on Marcus and Darren to take more of a role than expected and they both flourished, offensively.

The all-rookie second teamer did however struggle defensively at times. Playing the pick and roll was something he wasn’t all that good at, he was overpowered at times, and sometimes it was tough just staying in front of his man. However it’s not as if he was the only one, the Hornets as a team had the 5^th highest points in the paint allowed last season at 45.2, which to say the least is ridiculous. This put the Hornets in the same category as Golden State, New York, New Jersey and Minnesota defensively which is just not on if the Hornets are to move forward for this upcoming season.

Thornton said that most of his off-season workouts with the Hornets have been defensively orientated.  For Thornton heading into this year I will be looking for a couple of things.

1. Play better defence (in other words keep his man in front of him)
2. Keep up the efficiency
3. Become more of a leader

It’s tough to ask much from Thornton outside of the defensive side of the ball. I think a big concern that many have of Thornton is a possible slump that might occur from teams knowing his game. His rookie year he was unknown, and teams would’ve brushed him off as a non-contributor to the team. This season teams will adjust and throw double-teams and other things to limit him.

Hopefully this year Thornton can contribute significantly and become a household name in the NBA.

Season Guesstimate:

• Points per game: 16
• Minutes per game: 31
• Three-point percentage: 39
• Steals per game: 1.0
• Games started: 70

“In your mug, in your mug!”