http://www.nola.com/hornets/t-p/index.ssf?/base/sports-1/1083146444317290.xml Rookie West makes impact in Hornets' victory Wednesday, April 28, 2004 By Jimmy Smith Staff writer If no one, including the Miami Heat, had noticed Hornets rookie forward David West -- and judging by the results of the NBA's All-Rookie team, no one else has either -- everyone should take note now. West's fingerprints were all over the Hornets' 96-85 Game 4 playoff victory Tuesday night at New Orleans Arena. Just hours after West learned he did not receive one vote in the All-Rookie competition, New Orleans' first-round draft choice showed perhaps he shouldn't have been overlooked. West came off the bench to score 10 points in 27 minutes, none bigger than the soft, banking layup he put in off an assist from Baron Davis with 53.6 seconds remaining that gave the Hornets an 88-82 lead. "Man, they're not going to worry about me," West said unassumingly later. "When (Davis) has the ball in his hands, everybody is coming up the lane, coming up the lane. "That's the soft spot down on that baseline. I try to exploit that every time he has the ball in his hands." Three times in the fourth quarter West drove to the basket for decisive layups, the first with 9:37 remaining that tied the score at 75, the next with 8:14 left that gave New Orleans the lead for good, 77-75. But the most critical was the one he converted off Davis' pass, through the heart of the Heat's packed-in-the-lane defense that was cheating toward the Hornets' best penetrator. "He's playing well for us, and he's a great finisher," Davis said. "Why not hit him? He was wide open. To me there are some great rookies playing in this series. The one on my team, though, is really getting overshadowed." Miami rookie Dwyane Wade joined Cleveland's LeBron James and Denver's Carmelo Anthony as unanimous selections on the All-Rookie team that the league announced earlier in the day. In all, a first- and second-team was selected, along with 11 others who received at least one vote. West was not one of them. "I didn't even pay any attention to that stuff," he said. "Like I said, it's all about winning basketball games and winning this series." West got into Tuesday night's game a little earlier than he'd anticipated. Forward P.J. Brown went to the bench with his second personal foul with 7:28 remaining in the first quarter. Yet West came in for Brown and shut down forward Lamar Odom, holding him scoreless until two minutes into the second quarter. "He played great; stepped up big-time for us," Brown said. "He's always prepared and a focused young man. He really works hard in practice and is a big part of this team." --

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