Hornets Advance/500th Post!!

First, I'd like to state with great pride that we have just reached our 500th post! Hard to believe we've been writing for almost a year now. Anyway, you don't care about that so I'll get to the point.

My New Orleans Hornets have advanced from a 7-game playoff series for the first time in franchise history and they did it in dominating fashion by taking the series from the Dallas Mavericks in 5 games. After seeing the Hornets dominate game 1 (particularly Chris Paul), I definitely knew this was our series to lose. People just don't get how dangerous the Hornets are. I think the world now knows what Chris Paul is capable of, Peja is still the beastly 3-pt/FT shooter that he always was, David West is quietly one of the best forwards in the game and Tyson Chandler has really blossomed into a top notch center with the Hornets since his trade from the Bulls. Not only that, but Jannero Pargo has been explosive off the bench for New Orleans as well. As long as the team stays healthy and hits the shots they're supposed to make, they will be a formidable opponent for whoever they may face.

While the whole team has been dominant, this series (as I alluded to before) was really a coming out party for Chris Paul. He had 30+ pts and 10+ assists in his first two games and concluded the series tonight with a triple-double. The kid is sick and can flat out play. Simply put, he has it. He'll slice through defenses and hit those shots that nobody is expected to make. Not only that but he always finds the open man. He has (or almost had) 10 assists by halftime in Game 5. No easy task. He really showed that he's much more of a point guard that Jason Kidd is right now. Sure, Kidd is still a good player, but he's also an ass and can't move like he once did. CP3 will be one helluva player for years to come. He's just one of those guys that you can't find an answer to.

CP3 was even kind enough to give Dirk Nowitzki a lift
en route to his triple-double. My guess is he slam dunked it with Dirk
still on his back. (AP)

While the best part of this story is the Hornets finally proving their legitimacy to the world, one can't help but look at the demise in Dallas. The trade for Jason Kidd is looking to be an extremely foolish move at this point. They traded away Devin Harris, one heck of a young player along with 2 1st round draft picks for a Jason Kidd that looks pretty washed up at this point. He's also looked like a moron, especially with his ejection in Game 4 for slamming Jannero Pargo to the ground. One other problem I had with this series is the amount of respect I lost for Dirk Nowitzki. He's been one of my favorite players for a while but he just rubbed me the wrong way this series. Every time a player all but tapped him, he'd go down flailing his arms and legs like a guy diving in soccer would. Granted, his is from soccer friendly Germany but that's obviously no excuse. Grow up and stop acting like a baby. Yeah, you were probably the best player for your team all series long, but still. Also, what's gonna happen with the Dallas franchise? Mark Cuban has a lot of big decisions to make. It seems like they might have to retool or even fire their head coach, Avery Johnson. Do I think he should be fired? No. Do I think he will be? Maybe. He did the most with what he had but they ran into a very tough New Orleans team.

Mark Cuban fails yet again. Perhaps an epic fail this time? (AP...though I take full credit for that added fail)

With the Spurs up next, there's no time for down time. Hopefully they can pull it off. All I know is that it should probably take a more complete game to defeat the defending champs but I definitely think that they can do it. This is a special Hornets team we have here, and it's finally one actually worth cheering for.

GO HORNETS!!