2nd TRIMESTER UPDATE
Take a look at the Hornets after trade deadline and all-star event.
All-Star event in Las Vegas
Rookie-Sophomore game selections

All-Star event in Las vegas started with the rookie - sophomore game.
Chris Paul and
Hilton Armstrong were selected from the Hornets to participate in this game. Hilton as a rookie, and Paul as sophomore. Rookies surprisingly won the 121 : 102 and Randy Foye was anounced as the player of the game.
Slam dunk and 3 point contest selections

Desmond Mason was selected to participate in this year's slam dunk contest in Las Vegas. He was doing pretty good, but Dwight Howard was better tonight, as he got the slam dunk contest champion title. Mason got the 2nd place. At the 3 point shooting contest
Peja Stojakovic, who was selected from Hornets, was doing not so well, so he was eliminated at the 1st round, while the new 3 point champion is Gilbet Arenas.
All-Star game selections

All-Star game in Vegas had one Hornet in it. Voters placed
Chris Paul at the starting 5 of the Western Conference lineup. He joined Manu Ginobli, Andrei Kirilenko, Kevin Garnett and Pau Gasol here, so 3 international players were in it. East lineup consisted of two big men Emeka Okafor and Dwight Howard, also of LeBron James, Vince Carter and Gilbert Arenas. There was quite impressive game with lots of highlights, in which West celebrated the victory after very nice 4th quarter against East 112 : 104. Kevin Garnett got the Player of the game title.
The weekend in pictures

1. Desmond Mason was introduced before the dunk contest, in which he got the 2nd place.
2. Peja Stojakovic attempt at the 3 point contest was not successful, he was eliminated in the 1st round.

3. Chris Paul was selected to participate in the rookie-sophomore game, in which he had 16 points and 10 assists.
4. Chris Paul was anounced to play in the all-star game as well, where he had 4 points and 5 assists.
January and February Calendar

New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets had 30 games in January and February. January was like a new hope for Hornets. They won 9 games of 16 and seemed to be progressing. But in February they began to struggle again and won only 3 games. So now they have 21 victories and 38 losses, and there are only the theorethical chances to go to playoffs. Hornets didn't make any trades before the trade deadline and let the roster to be unchanged. The middle of February was marked with All-Star event in Las Vegas, where 4 Hornets players were participating.
Stats
Peja Stojakovic still leads the team in points, scoring 21.8 PPG. Chris Paul averages the same 19.1 points per game, but he increased his assists per game a bit - 6.9. Two big men average the double digits in scoring, too. West has 13.8 PPG, while Chandler - 12.4 PPG. They both grab the amount of 18 rebounds per game. Other players score a little bit less. Two youngsters Hilton Armstrong and Cedric Simmons got more playing time in the recent months, but seems that the didn't use this opportunity. The team is willing to cut some players from the roster soon and give even more playing time to young players, if the winning situation is not going to change.
MVP Candidates
Kevin Garnett still the 1st MVP candidate. He increased all the stats he had after the December and moving to the MVP title very fast. His team also playing better than in the first months. They now now 29-27 record and if we see the team in playoffs, we will probably see Garnett to become the Most Valuable Player of the season. Dirk Nowitzki and Shawn Marion still fighting for the title, while Manu Ginobili and Jermaine O'Neal seems are out of it. But Emeka Okafor and Zach Randolph are the new guys here and if we see the same game they were demonstrating in the recent months, they might become the real contenders for Kevin Garnett.
January and February Transactions
The most important season deal was between Toronto Raptors and Philadelfia 76ers. Raptors
acquired Andre Iguodala from 76ers for their playmaker TJ Ford. The 76ers are still doing weird decisions, as they traded their 1st round pick to the Wizards 2 months ago. Now again, not so really needed TJ for their go to guy Andre Iguodala. But only time will show the real winners of this trade. In the other shocking deal Raptors acquired Stromile Swift for their 1st pick of the draft from Italy Andrea Bargnani. Maybe they didn't want to wait for the progress of this guy and picked Stromile Swift, who is able to play at center. Other than that, Raptors have pretty interesting lineup with Bosh, Iguodala, Swift, Graham and Calderon. Other deals were not so important.
Hornets Contracts
Time to take a look at the Hornets remaining contracts after this season. A lot of guys have expiring contracts, so GM will have a lot of work to choose the right decision on resigning players or not. The biggest waiting job is to persuade David West to stay with the team. This seems not to be hard job, considering the free money club will have, but West may say no, and go to the free agent's market.
ESPN Mock Draft
And also time to think about the future of the Hornets. Seems that they will have pretty high pick in this very strong draft, because of their current record (21-38). Hornets probably will be looking for a guy who can play defense or a offensive minded center. But there are only a little centers in this draft, so if we are able to grab them, we would do it without any thoughts. There are some interesting international phenomenons, such as S.Dias from Serbia and Montenegro, also the forwards from Bosnia and Bulgaria C.Jelacic and C.Schwartz. The players from Chech Republic, Russia and Lithuania also are expected to be drafted in the 1st round.
Season Standings



The standings are pretty much the same as we had after the December. Spurs and Nuggets are the top 2 teams in the West, as Pistons and Heat are the bests in the East. Miami Heat are the best in all the league so far, and seems that they are moving forward to repeat their last season success. Hornets a bit rised in the standins with several wins in these months. But there are only very few chances left for them to make the playoffs.
The Bests of January


Kevin Garnett again was the best in this month. All of his previous stats increased, and he is almost a lock at choosing MVP. In the East Bobcat Emeka Okafor had perfect month, in which he was averaging 20.1 PPG and 12.9 RPG. Randy Foye got his 2nd award in this season, he repeated the success of the November and was anounced as the West rookie of January. The best January rookie was Tyrus Thomas.
The Bests of February


There are no wonder now, as Kevin Garnett got the 3rd consecutive monthly award this season. He is going nowhere but straight to the MVP. In the East Emeka Okafor was replaced by Dwight Howard this month. While Rudy Gay and Adam Morrison celebrated their 2nd titles in this season. They both were the rookies of the December before.