http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/basketball/heat/ sfl-hornetsside22apr22,0,606330.story?coll=sfla-sports-heat Bigger is not better: Hornets painful to watch on offense By Michael Cunningham Staff Writer Posted April 22 2004 MIAMI -- After absorbing a thorough beating from the Heat, New Orleans guard David Wesley was in no mood for a complex analysis of a simply awful offensive performance by the Hornets on Wednesday. "Our offense sucked," Wesley snapped at reporters. "You want to know what happened? Our offense sucked. That's it." No one argued with him. The Hornets shot 22 percent from the field (20 of 82), including 17 percent from 3-point range (3 of 18), an ugly effort that sent them to a 93-63 defeat in Game 2 of the first-round playoff series. The 63 points tied for the second-lowest in NBA playoff history, and the Hornets' 20 field goals were the second-fewest in a playoff game. In the first half, the Hornets got open shots but clanked them while falling behind 43-34. After halftime, when the Hornets scored just 29 points, their offense too often disintegrated into post players jacking up hurried shots. "We shot the ball horribly," Hornets guard Baron Davis said. "We played good enough defense in the first half to keep ourselves in the game. They basically did what they did, and we just couldn't find any rhythm. "We didn't play our game, and we haven't played our game [in the series]." New Orleans has focused on dumping the ball down to All-Star center Jamaal Magloire and forward P.J. Brown to take advantage of their size advantage. A running game presumably would benefit the Heat, which is younger, faster and more athletic than the Hornets and outscored them 18-0 on the break in Game 1. But Davis said the Hornets have gone too far with the post plan. "We are not playing to our strengths like we did for pretty much the whole regular season, and that is moving the ball up the floor," Davis said. "We are so concerned with setting the play up and getting it inside to the post that we are not getting in any kind of rhythm." Davis is running the offense on a sore left ankle. The injury forced him to miss nine of the last 11 regular-season games, and he blamed it for his inability to finish at the basket and stop Heat guard Dwyane Wade from beating him for the winning basket in Game 1. In Game 2, Davis broke down defenders with a wicked crossover at times but was flat-footed once he got to the basket, particularly after he aggravated the injury when Wade fouled him in the second quarter. "It felt pretty good, but then I got hit and it kind of gave out," Davis said of the ankle. "It kind of bothered me a little bit from then on. "It's frustrating. It started off feeling pretty good, but the more contact, the more moves I made, it started to hurt." Davis scored 13, the only Hornet in double figures, but missed 11 of 14 shots. He had seven assists and would have had more if his teammates made more open jumpers. Michael Cunningham can be reached at mrcunningham @sun-sentinel.com. Copyright c 2004, South Florida Sun-Sentinel --

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