原文出自nola.com http://www.nola.com/hornets/t-p/index.ssf?/base/sports-1/1099986954279450.xml Scott: Hornets like '90 Lakers Former team struggled before reaching finals Tuesday, November 09, 2004 By Benjamin Hochman Staff writer The year was 1990. George Bush was president. American troops had infiltrated Iraq. "The Simpsons" was one of television's most popular shows. Michael Jackson was entrenched in discomforting legal problems. And Byron Scott's team began the NBA season on a losing skid. Some things never change, huh, Byron? Coach Scott's Hornets have started the season 0-3, entering tonight's home game against the Los Angeles Lakers (2-2). And, yes, the 1990-91 Lakers, featuring shooting guard Scott, lost four of their first five games and five of their first seven. "It's the same thing," Scott said. "We had a new coach -- Pat Riley had left, and we brought in Mike Dunleavy, who was totally different than Riles. He didn't want to push it up and down the floor, he wanted to make us more of a halfcourt team, so it took us a while to adjust. Same thing with (the Hornets, adjusting to the Princeton offense)." At 2-5, those Lakers proceeded to win eight straight games, and went on to lose to Chicago in the NBA Finals. Obviously, that team had a couple of things going for it -- Magic Johnson and James Worthy. Still, Scott remembers dealing with the growing pains early that season, and he said he believes his Hornets will be able to morph into a solid team. The overriding question is -- how soon? "I'm asking a lot of these leopards to change their spots," Scott said. "These guys are trying to get familiar with my system. It's going to take us a little time. I know the record is 0-3, but I'm very positive in the moves that we've made and the strides we've made from the first game to the third game." "I think it's new territory for the majority of us here," Hornets forward P.J. Brown said of being 0-3. "It doesn't feel good. This is not what we expected. We can turn this thing around, but we've got to take care of things like rebounding." New Orleans has been outrebounded by an average of 42.7-36.3, including its most recent effort when Minnesota had a 44-31 edge. The Lakers have outrebounded opponents by an average of 42.5-40.7. While that is not an overwhelming margin, try this out for size -- Hornets power forward Brown and center Jamaal Magloire average 4.3 and 8.0 rebounds per game. And Lakers power forward Lamar Odom and center Chris Mihm? Eleven and 9.0. The average Hornets fan remembers lanky Odom from the Miami playoff series last season, when Odom averaged a team-high 16.3 points per game, along with 7.9 rebounds. "You let those kind of players get into a rhythm, and they're hard to stop," Brown said. "You try to make a physical presence early." And while Mihm isn't Shaq, he hardly has been a hack. In four games, the Texas product who replaced Shaquille O'Neal has averaged 14.0 points and 2.5 blocks. On Sunday against Atlanta, Mihm had 19 points and 10 rebounds. "He's been hurt a lot, and got the tag of being soft, but I always liked him as a basketball player," Scott said of Mihm -- who in four seasons has not averaged more than 7.7 points per game. "We definitely have to pay attention to him. Offensively, we have to go at him as much as possible, trying to get him into foul trouble or not let him be the big impact player that he's been this season." In regards to impact players, there's not many that have as big an impact on a game as Kobe Bryant. His saga the past two years -- from battles in court to battles with O'Neal -- have spilled from the sports page to the front page. This is Bryant's first season without O'Neal, and the perennial All-Star guard is averaging 28.8 points per game while shooting 40.6 percent. "It is almost pick your poison," Scott said of defending the free-shooting Bryant. "If you double-team, triple-team Kobe, you're leaving (Caron) Butler, (Chucky) Atkins, Odom, those guys open. And those guys are pretty good basketball players." "Kobe Bryant is probably the best player in the league next to Shaquille O'Neal," said Hornets guard Baron Davis, who will spend time guarding Bryant, as will David Wesley. "He makes a lot of tough shots, but you just have to force him to work for his shot. Every time. Make sure he doesn't get any open looks. Anytime he's open for a 3-pointer, you've got to run at him, and make sure he doesn't have an open look." . . . . . . . Benjamin Hochman can be reached at [email protected] or (504) 826-3405. --

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