Running a little behind on these previews but the plan is to have them done before the season gets started. Today the focus is on the New Orleans Hornets. What’s not to love about this team led by Chris Paul. For the guest preview I recruited one of the best Hornets blogger, Sarah.

Sarah owns and writes for Hornets Hype. She loves small market teams, David West’s jumper, Twitter – @Ticktock6, and being That Girl.

What do I know about the Raptors vs. the Hornets? I know that the Raps are one of my fave teams out East. I know they will be improved this year. And I know our game there will be at an absurdly early hour of the day. (Let it be said that I wrote that without checking. And sure enough, I just looked, and it is at 11:30 AM CST. The reason I knew is that for some reason the Hornets at Raptors game is always at an absurd hour of the day.)

On the Hornets side, this is a season of questions. After making a slew of offseason moves, we are looking at potentially 3/5 of the starting lineup being new. The Hornets lost Tyson Chandler, Rasual Butler, and Antonio Daniels, but added C Emeka Okafor, F Ike Diogu, F Darius Songaila, G Bobby Brown, and rookies G Marcus Thornton and PG Darren Collison. Will the Hornets be able to swallow a disappointing year and move forward? How will superlong and athletic multi-tasker Julian Wright play after being moved to the starting lineup? How will Peja play off the bench? Can Okafor add a little more post scoring that Tyson Chandler didn’t have? Can he equal the positional excellence of Chandler on defense? Will Ike Diogu finally live up to his talent in New Orleans? Can the rookies keep up? (If we’re going by the preseason, Thornton can more than keep up.) Does the team have enough depth to give Chris Paul and David West some rest this year? Who will start at the 2? (We don’t know yet. Former Toronto fan favorite Morris Peterson? — had the job two years ago and went into camp as the favorite. Bobby Brown? — too short. Devin Brown? — shudder. Marcus Thornton? — he’s been impressive in preseason and he just seems to get better every game.)

If these Hornets gel and the younger guys play to their potential, this team could ride favorable matchups through the second round. If there are injuries or the chemistry falls through or the older swingmen have a drop off in playing level… it could get ugly. It’s hard to predict because there are so many factors that could come into play. This team is a playoff team– Chris Paul and David West alone should guarantee that. I think it could be a high playoff team.

As far as the matchup with the Raps goes, last year the Hornets won both games. David West and Chris Bosh usually both play well and cancel each other out. Also the Hornets usually shoot the three very well against Toronto for whatever reason. (Funny aside, earlier tonight I was trying to remember which game it was that Peja hit 7-11 from three, five of the threes occurring on almost consecutive possessions from the exact same spot on the floor. Thanks to having to look up the Hornets/Raptors boxscores from 2008-09 for this preview, now I know. It was one of the most ridiculous things I’ve seen in person.) Toronto’s new additions (Hedo!) should make these fun to watch.

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Last Season Record: 0-2
The Hornets made quick work of the Raptors last season. They didn’t even need the services of Chris Paul in the 2nd meeting. The 37 three pointers made by the Hornets tells the story of the Raptors defensive woes. No matter how many points were scored by the Raptors front court, they were always playing catch up. The Raptors were out rebounded on both occasions (no surprise) but even missing CP3 the Hornets managed to dish out more assists in the 2nd win.

Stacking Up

The Bigs: The Hornets traded away Tyson Chandler this off-season and replaced him with Emeka Okafor. While Okafor is a great player, it is still to be seen how he settles in with Chris Paul who had great chemistry with Chandler on the court. Bosh and Bargnani are a handful for most teams and on the offensive end both should have ample opportunties to get to the rim in this series. Emeka is a shot blocker but he is not as athletic. The rest of the Hornets front court seems to be a makeshift group and the Raptors should have the advantage on both ends of the floor.
Edge: Raptors

The Wings: Hedo Turkoglu may not be a defensive stopper but in this one he should be fine matching up against Peja Stojakovic. While Peja is still a big threat from beyond the arc, he does a lot less moving without the ball making it easier for Hedo to stay with him. When Posey is on the floor at the wing spot, the Raptors may want to try to put a more athletic guy on him because he will put the ball on the floor if needed. I have been saying this for a lot of the previews but the key is to be able to close out on the shooters. Offensively, the Raptors should be fine getting points where they can but the scoring load will probably go on the bigs while the wings will need to impose their will on the defensive end.
Edge: Even

The Guards: Chris Paul is the best PG in the league right now. That said, it’s his basketball IQ and ability to make quick decisions that make him a tough cover. Jose has a tough task laid out in trying to stay in front of CP3 and the Raptors will need to soften that blow by sending out a double team early to force the ball out of his hands. Paul is also an underrated defender who is able to use his strength and quickness to keep his counterpart from blowing past him. The Hornets SG spot leaves much to be desired but playing alongside a guy like CP3 elevates all the players around him. He has the ability to make the average guy look good and the Raptors need to make sure not to ignore those players as offensive threats.
Edge: Hornets

Predicted Record: 1-1 (Home court advantage in full effect)

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 21st, 2009 at 8:24 PM and is filed under Raptor Report. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.