|38-25|NO/Oklahoma City Hornets-The Rise of Paul[RETIRED]

[Pistol]

Standings

Hornets: 38-25
Divison: 2nd
Conference: 5th
Power Ranking: 16th

Team Leaders

PPG Ben Gordon 23.6
RPG Anderson Varejao 7.4
APG Chris Paul 9.7
SPG Chris Paul 3.0
BPG Tyson Chandler 1.1

Injury Reports

SF Peja Stoyakovic 10 days |playable| 0 days left
PG Bobby Jackson 21 days |playable| 0 days left
C Loren Woods 9 days |playable| 0 days left
PG Bobby Jackson 10 days |playable| 0 days left
C Tyson Chandler 17 days |playable| 0 days left
SF Peja Stoyakovic 5 days |playable| 0 days left


Settings

Difficulty: Superstar
Season Length: 82 Games
Preseason Games: Off
Trade Deadline: Off
Owner Firing: Off
Playoff Format: 5-7-7-7
QTR Length: 7 Minutes
Sim Qtr Length: 12 Minutes

Starters


PG Chris Paul 89
SG Ben Gordon 82
SF Peja Stoyakovic 84
PF Anderson Varejao 75
C Tyson Chandler 76

Bench

SG Bobby Jackson 78
SF Rasual Butler 74
SG Desmond Mason 67
C Desagana Diop 77
C Hilton Armstrong 73
SF Viktor Khryapa 72
SG Jim Jackson 76

Injured Reserve

PF Brandon Bass 68
SF Marcus Fizer 70
C Loren Woods 63

*Players in red are in the st year of their contract

Team Transactions

Sign Raul Lopez [2yrs/1.87mill]
Sign Jim Jackson [1yr/330K]
Sign Loren Woods [1yr/330k]
Trade Cedric Simmons to Cleveland for Anderson Varejao
Trade David West, Marc Jackson, 2007 1st round draft pick to Chicago for Ben Gordon & Viktor Khryapa
Trade Raul Lopez to Dallas for Desagana Diop

[Ty-Land]

I see you've started another one here. While this one is in the right place, please in future refrain from starting 2 threads for the same reason.

[Ty-Land]

Thats cool

Just get used to the forum rules and everything will be peachy. Best of luck with this.

[Pistol]

The Hornet Buzz

The new buzz around the Hornets organization is the signing of new General Manager Casey Lee (trigger42) In a short statement to the Buzz he commented on his goals, "I plan on not re-building, but adding on, we have a foudnation, no need to re-buil it. Now we will build on and try to expand as much as possible." Many believe that foudnation he talked about was Chris Paul. Is Chris Paul the answer to the long time issues of the Hornets organization, can he lead this team to the playoffs and beyond? Only time will tell.

[Mark.]

Im looking foward to this, your presentation is very smart You gotta give D-Mase some love though, he may not be the best shooter but hes a great hustling swingman imo and hes a pretty awesome dunker

[Pistol]

Im looking foward to this, your presentation is very smart You gotta give D-Mase some love though, he may not be the best shooter but hes a great hustling swingman imo and hes a pretty awesome dunker

Thanks, yea D-Mase got a lot of playing time in the first game (stats up soon) Paul and Jackson in foul trouble no one could run the point, so I threw him in there.

[kibaxx7]

Nice presentation. You should start Mason at SG (as Mark said, he's a really good player, great dunker) and use Bobby Jackson as Paul's replacement, you don't have a backup PG in the bench.

[Pistol]

Hornets embarrased in season road opener.

Hornets @ Celtics
Final Score: 62-77

A low scoring defensive game that was hard fought in the 2nd half, but foul trouble and poor shot selection in the first half tamed Hornets early. In the 1st half Chris Paul and Bobby Jackson got into early foul trouble causing Desmon Mason to run the point, which could've been devastating, but he held it down pretty well. Head Coach Byron Scott after the game, "Our biggest downfall was not being able to capitalize, they had more turnovers than us, we had eight while they had an outrageous sixteen. No one stepped up for us and no one has showed to be a tue leader for this team. The boys did show a lot of heart though in the 2nd half be relentless and being very ballsy." One positve thing that came out of this game was that early stated foundation Chris Paul led the team with sixteen points while Peja was right behind with fourteen. Rasual Butler had ten points off the bench for the Hornets. On the other side of the court Wally Szczerbiak had an outstanding thirty-one points and Al Jefferson had a double double scoring ten and pulling down twelve boards.

[Pistol]

The Hornet Buzz

After watchin the Hornets lose to the Celtics and seeing the lack in depth at the Point Guard position GM Casey Lee wen tot the free agent market for help. Lee immediately contacted Raul Lopez and his agent after their game and offered him a deal for two years. After talks on the money he agreed to sign and will join the Hornets in their next game against the Pacers. Not only did he sign Lopez, but needing another Shooting Guard was important to Lee, so he contacted Jim Jackson and signed him for one year. One move, however, was questioned, the Hornets signed Center Loren Woods for one year, no one is really sure why, does Casey Lee know what he is doing?


Overview

Raul Lopez 2yrs/1.87mill
Jim Jackson 1 yr/330k
Loren Woods 1 yr/330k

[Pistol]

Hornets Improve A-LOT in 2nd road game

Hornets (0-1) @ Pacers (0-1)
Final Score: 81-64

A phenominal defensive showcase by a, what-seemed, struggling Hornets team. The team together had nineteen steals and nine blocks causing twenty-seven turnovers. The Pacers never got a chance to get in an offensive rythm. On the Hornets defense Coach Byron Scott stated, "They went out early and made statement after statement. They never let up and out-ran a tired Pacers team." A big suprise for the Hornets was that Desmond Mason led the team in scoring, even though he came off the bench, he had twenty-three points. Not only did Mason step-up, but the bench scored more than half the teams points scoring a fantastic forty-five points. Byron Scott, even though they won, new there was room for improvement, "Yes defense creates offense, but rebounding helps too. We have been out-rebounded in both games and is something needed to improve upon greatly. You can't compete with the big guys if you can't rebound, I don't care how great your defense is. Also, it's great to be agressive, but my players from time to time are showing over-agressiveness." Scott was refering to the twenty-two fouls they racked up and the foul trouble Tyson Chandler and Chris Paul were in, Chandler played a mere two and a half minutes in the first half. This is the second straight game that Paul has achieved three fould in the first half, GM Casey Lee on the subject, "If Paul can stay out of foul trouble we wil lsee his true colors, but in the third today he commited his fourth foul with about three minutes left in the third. He is putting up great numbers for the amount of time he is in the game." It wasn't as much of an impact though, now that they had a back-up Point Guard. Chris Paul put up eleven points and another seven assist game. Also, Paul and Mason combined for eleven steals on the night and Armstrong and Butler had two blocks each. Pacers scorers had trouble today and as a result their leading scorer was Stephen Jackson with thirteen.



:!: Note, due to low scores of my user games, qtr minutes will be boosted up to 7

[Pistol]

The Hornet Buzz

GM Casey Lee makes the first trade of his GM career.

A day after their win over the Pacers, the Hornets swaped players with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Lee and Coach Byron Scoot talked after the win on the rebounding issues and decided to seek a rebounding machine. After talks with many teams Lee finally struck a deal with the Cavaliers organization. The Hornets gave up young talent Cedric Simmons for Anderson Varejao. They feel Varejao is one of thebest rebounding Power Forwards in the league today. Lee on the trade, "Coach Scott had stated that a hole in our team had to be filled and that was rebounding, Varejao will be coming off the bench, but will be giving us rebounding from the bench."


Overview

FOR

:arrow: PF Cedric Simmons 71 (To Cavaliers)
PF Anderson Varejao 75 (To Hornets)

[Pistol]

The Hornet Buzz

After 3 weeks Hornets looking okay. . .Chris Paul, Sophomore slump?

The Hornets are 5-5 three weeks into the season. The real talk though is about Chris Paul, the foundation of the company. He is averaging only 9.5 points per game and 7.9 assists per game. Neither Coach Scott or GM Lee have commented on Paul's play this year. They feel they have a strong team and the media is just trying to start drama up while they are in the heat of a division race only being one game out of first. Not only are the Hornets dealing with Paul's lack of performance, but now leading scorer Peja Stoyakovic strained his calf and was reported to be out for ten day and has six more days till he is due back. Even when they had their leading scorer the Hornets have failed to reach the 100 point mark in a game, now without him, will they go on with more below 100 point games? The Hornets organization is hoping for a surge of some sort to give them some momentum, but I think the real concern is who is gonna step up while Peja is out? Without Peja they are 0-2, will Paul step-up or will someone unexpected show up against the Heat coming up. Only time will tell.


Overview

:arrow: vs Rockets 75-79 W
vs Warriors 88-70 L
@ Warriors 90-94 L
@ Blazers 87-58 W
@ Clippers 97-85 W
vs Bobcats 84-96 W
@ Pistons 79-85 L
@ T'Wolves 84-106 L

[Pistol]

Hornets 1st 100 point game and Chris Paul shows the world his talent with a double-double

Heat (9-0) @ Hornets (5-5)
Final Score: 89-100

The Heat came in as the last undefeated team in the NBA, but came out the last team with one loss in the NBA. The Hornets end up with a huge upset even though Jason Williams dropped a deafening thirty-four points and Dwayne Wade's double-double. Not only was this the Hornets first 100 point game, but their first win since Peja being out. How? Simple, someone stepped up and that someone was the foundation of the organization, Chris Paul. Paul stayed out of foul trouble and ended up dropping twenty-four points, a season high, and dishing out ten assists. No only did Paul light up, but the man replacing Peja had twenty-one points, Rasual Butler and Desmond Mason scored thirteen off the bench. The bench once again had a huge game for the Hornets scoring fifty-four of the 100 pts. The Hornets stepped up in a big game and gave the Heat their first loss of the season and gaining some much needed confidence.

[Pistol]

Around the NBA

Points Per Game
31.1 Paul Pierce Boston Celtics
29.8 Kobe Bryant Los Angeles Lakers
29.0 LeBron James Cleveland Cavaliers


Rebounds Per Game
15.9 Dwight Howard Orlando Magic
13.2 Kevin Garnett Minnesota Timberwolves
13.1 Tim Duncan San Antonio Spurs


Assists Per Game
11.1 Baron Davis Golden State Warriors
9.8 Steve Nash Phoenix Suns
9.4 Gilbert Arenas Washington Wizards


Steals Per Game
2.7 Jason Kidd New Jersey Nets
2.4 Chris Paul NO/Oklahoma City Hornets
2.2 Dwayne Wade Miami Heat


Blocks Per Game
2.7 Tim Duncan San Antonio Spurs
2.5 Andre Kirilenko Utah Jazz
2.3 Mark Blount Minnesota Timberwolves


Power Rankings

1. Miami Heat
2. Sacramento Kings
3. Boston Celtics
4. Phoenix Suns
5. Dallas Mavericks
6. Utah Jazz
7. Denver Nuggets
8. Memphis Grizzlies
9. Seattle Sonics
10. Portland Blazers


Western Conference Playoff Standings

Division Leader in bold

1. Kings 7-2
2. Jazz 7-4
3. Nuggets 5-3
4. Mavericks 6-4
- Suns 6-4
6. Blazers 7-5
- Sonics 7-5
8. Warriors 6-5
- Hornets 6-5


Eastern Conference Playoff Standings

Division Leader in bold

1. Heat 9-1
2. Celtics 8-2
3. Hawks 5-3
4. Magic 6-5
5. Bucks 5-6
- Bobcats 5-6
- Cavaliers 5-6
- Pistons 5-6

[Pistol]

:wall: Frustrating. . .no one is commenting or showing intrest really after my hard work. lol. Wondering is there something that needs to be done to draw interest or what? All I know is that I'm trying really hard to turn heads

[Lamrock]

Continue! Don't do a Backyard Baseball story. Stick with this! I got hardly any replies to my Association, but I continued and played 14 games. I'll follow this. Be better than me, don't retire your dynasty. I'll reply when I can.

[Pistol]

Hornets have no offensive or defensive answer for a power house Suns team

Hornets (6-5) @ Suns (6-4)
Final Score: 69-84

The Hornets showed their true colors when no one stepped up on offense, in their last game without Peja who will return in the next game against Minnesota. Chris Paul had zero points through three quarters, but got it together and scored eleven in the fourth, he ended up with a double double racking up ten assists. Rasual Butler tried to hold the team together scoring eighteen, but it just wasn't enough to hold off a surging Shawn Marion who scored twenty, pulled down twenty-one rebounds, and scrapped together six steals. Not only that, but the great Steve Nash had twenty-seven points. After the game Coach Byron Scott of the Hornets made a statement on his teams performance, "It was horrible, or team didn't capitalize on their mistakes and we made too many mistakes of our own. Someone has to be able to step up with Peja gone and Chris might've had a double double, but he had zero points through three quarters and it wasn't like he didn't shoot becuase he took plenty of un-orthodox shots. It was an utter disgrace and embarassment."

[Pistol]

The Hornet Buzz

Hornets win two of three and say hello to a new face.

After a big loss to Phoenix the Hornets came home and played Minnesota, Peja was back in the line-up and dropped twenty-nine points while Chris Paul had a double double. The following night the Hornets traveled to division rival Dallas and put together a nice showing and a victory. They pulled out a grinder by four points while CP3 had another double double and Peja dropped seventeen points on the team. After that, they flew back home and in a few days played at home against the Raptors and lost by twelve, CP3 was no where to be found and Peja got sixteen points. After the three game the Hornets had a few days to think about the lack of offense and GM Casey Lee came up with a solution. He went out and looked for a pure scorer, a game changer. Lee contacted the Bulls organization and propsed a trade. After hours of delibiration the two teams came to terms on a deal sending Ben Gordan to New Orleans for main accusitions David West and a 1st round draft pick. Due to salary implications, Marc Jackson and Victor Khyyapa were thrown into the trade. Lee ont he trade, "Coach Scott and I have our weekly meetings and this week he came into my office and stated simply 'I need another scorer.' I think I delivered for him here, Ben can take over a game and has a nice pure shot, him and Chris will make a great backcourt tangem and Ben contributes nicely to our current scoring leader Peja. We hope this move helps better are team and better our chances of making the playoffs."


Overview

vs Timberwolves 66-83 W
@ Mavericks 88-84 W
vs Raptors 96-84 L


1st Rounder FOR

PF David West 83 (To Bulls)
PF Marc Jackson 68 (To Bulls)
1st Round draft pick (To Bulls)
SG Ben Gordon 82 (To Hornets)
SF Viktor Khryapa 72 (To Hornets)

[Pistol]

Gordon drops 36 in first game as Hornet, Chris Paul-1 steal away from triple double

Bulls (6-8) @ Hornets (8-7)
Final Score: 90-117

Ben Gordon in his first game as a Hornet he faced his former team the Chicago Bulls. Gordon had a terrific game sinking thiry-six points and stealing the ball six times. Gordon gave the Hornets an extra shooter which opened up the game for others and giving the Hornets a blow-out win. Another big time performance by CP3 tonight also, he had fifteen points, twenty-one assists, and nine steals, one steal away froma atriple-double. Peja also had a great game shooting with twenty-five points. Since the Hornets traded away David West for Gordon tonight was the first start for Anderson Varejao as a Hornet, he had three blocks six rebounds and seven points. The bench for the Hornets scored twenty-one points whil ten of those went to Rasual Butler. The team defensively played amazing forcing thiry-four turnovers! Which included five blocks and twenty-eight steals. Is this the beginning of a great basketball team that will contend for the championship, or is this game a fluke? Coach Byron Scott of the Hornets thinks this is a new begninning and that Ben Gordon was the missing piece to the puzzle. He was very pleased with everyones performances and cannot wait to progress more into the season with his new team.

[Pistol]

what do you guys think so far?

[kibaxx7]

Nice trade with Bulls and great game by Gordon Stick with it, don't quit!

[Mark.]

Nice stuff, since 2k7 is on console it limites your options for presentation, I would suggest at least giving us some more player stats from the games, maybe have them after the recap for maybe the 5 key players on each team...

[Pistol]

will do, thanks for input have been waiting for people to comment, lol. This makes me want to continue it, so thanks.

[Ty-Land]

Still going along very nicely I see. keep it up.

Don't worry to much about the lack of replies, if you keep going people will follow and eventually respond. Just do it cause you enjoy it!

[Pistol]

Hornets atop the West after 25 games played. Contender not pretender afterall!!!

Hornets win seven of their last ten w/ Gordon

The Hornets have surged with new addition Ben Gordon proving that GM Casey Lee knew what he was doing when he traded away the 1st round draft pick to the Bull for young all-star Ben Gordon. The team seems to be meshing very well with Ben and the chemistry between him and Chris Paul is amazing, Paul's stats have bolstered since Gordon arrived. Are the Hornets finally out of the dog house? For now they are as they are the number one team in the west with a 15-10 record. The next game though will be against the number two team in the west and division rival San Antonio Spurs, who beat them already once this year, but the Hornets are seeking revenge. Who will prevail?


Last nine games.

@ Lakers 116-100 W
@ Sonics 95-83 W
@ Warriors 81-72 W
vs Cavaliers 94-107 W
vs Spurs 82-74 L
vs Mavericks 96-93 L
@ Heat 76-95 L
@ Magic 91-79 W
vs Grizzlies 82-95 W


Hornets' Starters and Key Bench Players (in red)

PG Chris Paul 11.3 ppg--10.6 apg--3.1 spg
SG Ben Gordon 24.9 ppg--4.4 apg--1.2 spg
SF Peja Stoyakovic 19.3 ppg--4.6 rpg--2.2 apg
PF Anderson Varejao 5.4ppg--7.4 rpg--1.0 bpg
C Tyson Chandler 8.0 ppg--6.6 rpg--1.2 bpg
SF Rasual Butler 11.7 ppg--3.0 rpg
PG Bobby Jackson 9.3 ppg--3.4 apg
C Hilton Armstrong 4.6 ppg--2.8 rpg


League Leaders

PPG Los Angeles Lakers Kobe Bryant 30.2
RPG Orlando Magic Dwight Howard 14.6
APG NO/Oklahoma City Hornets Chris Paul 10.6
SPG NO/Oklahoma City Hornets Chris Paul 3.1
BPG Utah Jazz Andrei Kirilenko 2.2

Top Teams

West
1 NO/Oklahoma City Hornets 15-10
2 San Antonio Spurs 16-11
3 Phoenix Suns 15-11
4 Sacramento Kings 14-11

East
1 Miami Heat 22-3
2 Boston Celtics 18-7
3 Indiana Pacers 14-15
4 Cleveland Cavaliers 12-13


Competition in the West

2 San Antonio Spurs 16-11
Tim Duncan 21.5 ppg--12.3 rpg--2.0 bpg
Manu Ginobili 19.1 ppg--6.0 rpg--4.7 apg

3 Phoenix Suns 15-11
Shawn Marion 18.8 ppg--12.6 rpg--2.5 spg--1.9 bpg
Amare Stoudamire 23.8 ppg--8.2 rpg

4 Sacramento Kings 14-11
Ron Artest 19.3 ppg--8.1 rpg--1.6 spg--1.2 bpg
Brad Miller 18.2 ppg--8.5 rpg--1.0 bpg