BETHANY, Okla. -- When New Orleans Hornets coach Byron Scott
asked Chris Paul to assess his team's second season splitting time
between two homes, the star point guard started talking about
individual goals that had been made or missed.
Then he got to the part that really hit home with Scott: "But
we didn't make the playoffs, coach."
Scott and the Hornets ended their two-year run with most of
their home games in Oklahoma City without reaching the postseason,
getting eliminated in the final week both times.
In Paul's Rookie of the Year season, the Hornets didn't know
what to expect after an 18-win season and a sudden move from New
Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. In those circumstances, 38 wins
was a satisfying total.
This season started with playoff hopes after the offseason
acquisitions of Peja Stojakovic, Tyson Chandler and Bobby Jackson
but ended with only one more victory than the previous season. By
the end of next week, all five starters will have had surgery since
the beginning of the season.
"I'm happy obviously with the way we played with all the stuff
that went on, but disappointed that we didn't make the playoffs,"
Scott said Friday. "That's all I ever want to do is get to the
playoffs."
New Orleans added to its surgery total on Friday, as Chandler
had a successful operation to fix a turf toe injury in his left big
toe. Chandler missed the final seven games of the regular season.
Paul will have a screw inserted in his left foot Monday to help
a stress reaction heal. Scott expects the injury to take about
three to four weeks to heal after the surgery.
Desmond Mason had surgery earlier this month after he broke
bones in his nose and cheek, David West had an operation on his
right elbow in December and Stojakovic had a disc fragment removed
from his lower back.
The Hornets went 4-19 in a stretch when West, Stojakovic and
Paul all got hurt. Paul was out for one month, West for two months
and Stojakovic for six months.
"That's the thing I think that kind of did us in. All of those
guys were hurt for a number of games at the same time; that was
probably a little too much to overcome," Scott said.
New Orleans came back to climb into the top eight in the Western
Conference after the All-Star break, but couldn't keep up after a
six-game losing streak in early March.
"I think we grew an awful lot. I think a team of lesser men
would have surrendered much earlier this season and probably
wouldn't have been in contention for a possibility of a playoff
spot deep in the season," general manager Jeff Bower said.
Scott said there was a "50-50" chance that the Hornets would
re-sign Mason, who is a free agent for the first time in his
career. He'd also like to bring back Devin Brown, who was without a
team after training camp and eventually replaced Stojakovic in the
starting lineup after signing with New Orleans in December.
"We still have some work to do obviously. We're still probably
a player or two away, but we're on the right track," Scott said.
"I love the nucleus of the guys that we have."
Bower said the Hornets already have the pieces in place to take
the next step and make the playoffs instead of narrowly missing.
"I think we have that. I think we need to be on the floor,"
Bower said. "That along with taking a good hard look at this draft
and adding another player that can help us and provide depth is
something that will be important."
Scott said his preseason goal was to win 45 to 47 games this
season.
"There was about four or five games that I felt we should have
won anyway. With all the injuries, we still had a chance to be at
43 or 44, which is crazy," Scott said. "We had a chance to hit
that number, and a real good chance if we stayed healthy."
The Hornets finished three games behind Golden State for the
eighth and final playoff spot in the West.
Considering the circumstances, Scott said this season was more
pleasing than last season, even though there wasn't as big of an
improvement in the win column.
"This year, the expectations were a lot higher. I expected
more, then when you had the injuries that we had, it kind of
deflates you in a way as far as your hopes and dreams of making the
playoffs. But our guys, they never wavered," Scott said.
"That's the thing that I love about the group of guys that we
had. They kept the faith that we could get there with what we had,
and it took 80 games to get us eliminated."