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