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I would have to jog the memory way back to find a better Hornets regular season win than this one.

Let's see: the best point guard in the league, Chris Paul, is in a boot, watching... fellow all star David West was in early foul trouble and scored only 6 points in 28:51 of action .. and the Hornets managed to beat Phoenix, who has the second best record in the Western Conference.

As wins go this one was quality.

Some thoughts .. the Hornets rookie backcourt is small but talented. Point guard Darren Collison scored 15 points, handed out 5 assists, and grabbed 5 rebounds in 32:15 of action Collison also had one turnover.

Marcus Thornton was terrific off the bench, scoring 19 points. One of the Hornets most effective backcourts is Devin Brown at the point, Thornton at the two guard.

Peja played his best game since the Hornets 56 win season two years ago. His 7 three's brought the crowd to its feet, but Peja also grabbed 13 rebounds.

For the 14,520 at the Arena Thursday night, it was quality entertainment.

You would think that it is no great accomplishment to beat a 1-7 Rams team that was averaging less the 10 points a game.

But, the Saints 28-23 win over the Rams was one of their better wins of 2009.

The Saints secondary was decimated by injury before kickoff, and then lost cornerback Tracy Porter with a knee injury on the first play from scrimmage of the third quarter.

On the field for the Saints in crunch time were cornerback Leigh Torrence (not usually on the field in dime packages), and defensive tackle DeMario Pressley (promoted from the practice squad).

Yet, the Saints pulled out the victory. Despite the fact the Drew Brees had a subpar game (2 TD passes, but 2 interceptions).

In their current state, with so many injuries on defense, the Saints will have to grit it out every week.

That they were able to do in St Louis doesn't seem like a quality win, but it was.

New Hornets head coach Jeff Bower has already made his imprint on the Hornets.

Friday night against Portland, Bower didn't change his starting lineup, but made several significant changes.

Rookie guards Darren Collison (18 points) and Marcus Thornton (20 points) got over 50 minutes of game time. Granted, some of that time was because of the injury to Chris Paul. But, increased roles for the talented rookies will likely continue under Bower.

Bower also resurrected Sean Marks off the inactive list. Marks scored only 1 point, but grabbed 7 rebounds in 15:26 of action. Hilton Armstrong and Julian Wright, both played at the end of the game in garbage time.

The Hornets also played solid defense. Holding Portland to 86 points was a fast improvement over the total lack of effort Wednesday night against Phoenix.

In one night, Jeff Bower made big changes. And, they paid off with big nights from a pair of Hornets rookies.

The Hornets finally looked like a cohesive basketball team Monday night at Staples Center.

Sure, they beat the Clippers, a team they have defeated 10 straight times. But, the Hornets did what they were supposed to do, bludgeon a bad club.

Several significant events happened within the game Monday night.

Peja was back in his starting role. The Julian Wright experiment seems to be over, and that is a good thing. When Peja is on the floor, other teams have to respect him as one of the great three point shooters in the history of the game. Sure, he's a liability on defense, but he has one great skill, and that skill must be in the game.

Julian Wright cannot shoot effectively from the perimeter. I do not know how a player who can't make jump shots succeeds at the small forward spot in the NBA. Do you?

Devin Brown played very well at the two spot. I thought Brown was finished as an NBA player. But, if he can contribute 10-12 points a night and play solid defense, that will do until ..

Marcus Thornton is ready. The former LSU Tiger is small (6-3) for a two guard in the NBA, but he has enormous offensive skills. He can shoot threes and drive to the basket. Thornton was 0-6 last night from three point land, but he kept shooting. He has a scorer's mentality, something the Hornets desperately need from the two guard spot.

First round pick Darren Collison made some mistakes, but it is clear Collison can dribble penetrate and kick, in other words do some of what Chris Paul can do when he subs for CP3.

With Collison, Thornton, and Brown in the game, the Hornets played faster last night. They were actually a running team that got cheap baskets. And, it was fun to watch.

Maybe the Hornets 2009-2010 season can be a solid one, after all.

Ed Daniels

The 2009 LSU football team is dramatically improved on defense. That defense is the reason why the Tigers have a chance to win 10 games for the 4th time in Les Miles' 5 seasons at LSU.

That defense did everything it could to keep LSU in games against the best two teams on the schedule. Think about it. Florida and Alabama have scored a combined 37 points on LSU this season, yet the Tigers lost both games.

How did those two losses happen? Simply because the LSU offensive line has been the weak link on the 2009 football team. LSU managed only 95 net rushing yards against Bama, and 49 yards were compiled on a two runs, a 34 yarded by Charles Scott and a 15 yard scramble by quarterback Jordan Jefferson.

Alabama meantime, ran for 176 net rushing yards.

Like Florida, the Tide was superior in this matchup. Their defensive line against the LSU offensive line.

Players graduate and move on, but you can only wonder if Herman Johnson and Brett Helms were still on LSU team, how much better the LSU record would be.

The Tigers are not a good running team in '09. And, it will cost them a berth in a BCS bowl game.

Coaches get upset all the time, especially after bad losses. Sometimes they say things that later they find to be truly regrettable.

Tulane coach Bob Toledo had one of those moments Saturday night after a 44-16 loss to Houston.

Toledo criticized Tulane fans, saying there was "no homefield advantage". He also said there was nobody in the stands. I was there Saturday, and I can vouch for this: nobody in the stands was close. There may have been 1,500 Tulane supporters actually in the seats.

At his Tuesday presser, Toledo apologized. There was no doubt the orders for that apology came from his superiors, either in the school or in the athletic department.

I like Toledo's frankness. And, I like him personally. But, I wonder if he stepped on the wrong toes on Saturday October 17th .. and how much that misstep will cost him, later.

With just under six minutes to play, Hornets rookie guard Marcus Thornton drove to the basket, scored and was fouled.

His three point play tied the game at 88 with 5:53 to play. The play was indicative of Thornton's style as he fearlessly attacked the basket. Head coach Byron Scott clearly likes Thornton's ability to shoot threes and couple that with drives to the basket. Scott said he understands as a rookie that Thornton will make mistakes defensively.

But, clearly Thornton gives the Hornets something in very short supply since they moved to New Orleans 7 and a half years ago. And, that is a slashing two guard.

Other observations from a 108-96 win over Indiana. Back up point guard Bobby Brown will make a nice contribution. Brown can shoot the spot up three and clearly can break down defenders off the dribble.

Center Hilton Armstrong, while still not a good finisher, is improving in that area. Armstrong played solidly, and with Emeka Okafor likely to play somewhat limited minutes as the season tips off, a solid contribution from Armstrong is needed.

And, Peja, could benefit from fewer minutes coming off the bench. He had his stroke back Saturday night, hitting 6 of 9 three pointers.

Ed Daniels
New Orleans Arena
Saturday 10 17 09

Florida has a great defense. There's no question about that. But, LSU's offense is a mess. It has been all season long.

Did you expect anything different from what you saw in the first five games?

Jordan Jefferson again held on to the ball too long. Jefferson was sacked five times. But, in fairness to Jefferson, he is a quarterback playing behind a poor offensive line, and a running game that is almost non existent.

Maybe Les Miles hasn't recruited well enough up front. Maybe coaching is the issue. But, with this offense LSU will have difficulty beating every team left on the schedule except for Tulane.

Over the last ten seasons, LSU elavated itself to the elite in college football by doing two things: running the football (to set up play action pass) and playing great defense.

The Tigers are again doing the latter. Holding Florida to 13 points and 327 total yards was a spectacular effort.

All wasted by a putrid offensive effort. A 5-0 start by LSU hid some of the Tigers offensive warts. They were all exposed tonight by a terrific Florida defense.

Four weeks after a 54-3 shellacking at the hands of BYU, there is a pulse for Tulane football.

The Green Wave can win its third straight game by defeating Marshall Saturday at the Superdome for homecoming. That hasn't happened since the Wave defeated Navy, Army, and TCU, all in November of 2004.

A Wave win Saturday in the Dome is imperative. After Marshall, Tulane hosts Houston, then travels to Southern Miss and LSU.

Houston suddenly looks human after a 58-41 loss to UTEP. And, Southern Miss has lost its starting quarterback, Austin Davis, for the season with a torn ligament in his left foot.

Tulane's best chance to win in those trio of games after Marshall may be against the Golden Eagles.

If Tulane beats Marshall, and can win one of the next three, the Wave would sit with a record of 4 wins, 4 losses.

The final four games are: UTEP (Sagarin rating 102) , then road games at Rice (143), Central Florida (99), and SMU (108).

Six wins makes the Wave bowl eligible.

At his Tuesday press conference, head coach Bob Toledo said Tulane finally got some luck. A field goal attempt by Army that would have won the game in the final seconds pushed wide right. Said Toledo, "All I can say it is about time we got something."

Now, the Wave has to follow up. At home.

The Hornets gathered at New Orleans Arena Monday for media day. Here some nuggets from the day:

Forward Peja Stojakovic acknowledged that he met with head coach Byron Scott and may come off the bench this season. That is if, third year man Julian Wright can play the 3 spot effectively as a starter. Stojakovic said all summer long he did strengthing exercises for his ailing back. Peja said he has confidence he can return to the form of two seasons ago. Said Peja, "I don't see myself as a guy who runs out of fuel."

One of backcourt combos the Hornets are likely to use: rookie first round pick Darren Collison teaming with Chris Paul. Paul would be the two guard, giving him fewer minutes with the ball in his hands and more chances to avoid double teams. Last season, Paul played a career high 38.5 minutes per game. Paul said it wasn't the minutes that were the issue, but the fact that he played so many minutes with the ball in his hands.

Guard Devin Brown made an interesting observation about last year's dissappointing 49 win season. Said Brown, "we would get down 20 (points) in games, and then we would start to play. We can't do that."

The Hornets left today for Lafayette. They will train in the Hub City through Sunday.

Ed Daniels