http://www.nola.com/hornets/t-p/index.ssf?/base/sports-1/108374934699090.xml Frustratingly familiar feeling for this team Wednesday, May 05, 2004 John DeShazier MIAMI -- The New Orleans Hornets wanted the moment, openly beckoned it, believed they could bask in it. And then they failed to play up to it. Game 7 on Tuesday night proved to be no different from any other game the Hornets played in Miami in their first-round NBA playoff series. In the end there was the familiar frustration and defeat. The 85-77 loss Tuesday night in AmericanAirlines Arena was the last for the Hornets this season, Miami's 4-3 series victory sending the Heat into the Eastern Conference semifinals and the Hornets into self-inspection and monumental disappointment. "It's always tough," forward P.J. Brown said. "The end of the season, once again, and all you can say is that you look forward to next year. We had high hopes this season, to reach the Eastern Conference finals. We didn't reach our goal. It's going to be a bitter taste in my mouth the whole summer." The Hornets could have avoided that with something historic: winning Game 7 for the first time in franchise history, and winning a seven-game series for the first time. The only playoff series the franchise has won came when the NBA still played best-of-five in the first round. But no history was made, no heroes were created and no reputations were enlarged in the finale. Those things can be achieved only in victory, and New Orleans has been foreign to an excess of success all season. "We didn't get anything easy," New Orleans guard David Wesley said. "They played a heck of a defensive game. We couldn't get any rhythm. We couldn't make any quick runs." The Hornets, who shot 40.3 percent from the field, committed 20 turnovers and were outscored 18-5 in fast break points and 17-5 in second-chance points, couldn't do much of anything. Playing most of the game without star guard Baron Davis didn't help. Davis was limited to 20 minutes because of a bruised tailbone. But the same Hornets who virtually burst with energy in victory Sunday to force Game 7 were a step slow almost all night, with or without Davis. If 35-year-old reserve Steve Smith hadn't come to the rescue with a game-high 25 points in 27 minutes -- after playing only 19 minutes in the first six games of the series -- the Hornets wouldn't have been in position to make a game-ending push, to make the final score more respectable. "I really thought we would find a way to win this game," Wesley said. "I just figured we could win two in a row. They just played their a -- -- off." Thus a season that oozed with promise at the beginning is hollow at the end. Was the loss Tim Floyd's last as head coach of the Hornets? Is General Manager Bob Bass the man to oversee the rebuilding project? How much can be obtained in a trade for disgruntled forward Jamal Mashburn, now that it appears necessary? And will any moves be substantial enough to make the Hornets competitive next season in the Western Conference, where five of the best six or seven NBA teams play? "We've got to find out what we need to do, and hope winning is on everyone's agenda around here," center Jamaal Magloire said. Otherwise, this season will be worthy of a parade compared to the next one. Four times, the Hornets stepped on the court at AmericanAirlines Arena confident of finding the right weakness, exploiting it to the max and walking off with a win. Four times, they walked away with nothing. The moment came and passed, and the Hornets' fingerprints were nowhere to be found on it. . . . . . . . John DeShazier can be reached at [email protected] or (504) 826-3410. --

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