原文出自nola.com http://www.nola.com/hornets/t-p/index.ssf?/base/sports-1/11001609618350.xml EARLY APPREHENSION The Hornets have myriad concerns about their play and can only trust they'll be corrected in the long run. Thursday, November 11, 2004 By John Reid Staff writer It's a young season, but already Hornets guard Baron Davis has experienced a new first in his career. The Hornets, losers of their first four games, are off to their worst start since the 1989-1990 season. "I don't like losing, but I'm just going to keep my mouth closed because there isn't much to discuss," Davis said. But there is plenty to be corrected, starting with rebounding. Failure to box out has caused the Hornets to be outrebounded in their past three games. Secondly, in three of the team's four games, it has not received much help from its bench. Only reserve forward Lee Nailon and backup guard Darrell Armstrong attacked the basket and took shots in Tuesday's 106-98 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers at New Orleans Arena. Playing in his first game of the season, Nailon scored 10 points in 13 minutes. The team has struggled to perfect several other facets of the game stressed by Coach Byron Scott in practice. The Hornets continue to have glaring defensive breakdowns, from not hustling enough to contest perimeter shots to players not communicating when they've been beaten on a driving shot. Those breakdowns have led to a few sensational games for opponents. Lakers guard Kobe Bryant scored 31 points Tuesday. In Saturday's loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, guard Latrell Sprewell scored seven of his 14 points in the fourth quarter, mainly on drives to the basket. Kevin Garnett led all scorers with 29 points. Last week, Orlando Magic guard Steve Francis made the winning tip-in with 2.7 seconds left after having a clear path to the rebound. "We have to figure out a way to be more mentally tough," Scott said. "I told them after the Minnesota game, my biggest question was their mental toughness. "When things are going bad, you've got to kind of settle each other down. Our attitude has been (we're) thinking about our offense so much that we're losing understanding that defense is going to win games." Forward Rodney Rogers has been unimpressive as a scorer and rebounder. Veteran George Lynch, who beat out Rogers for the starting small forward spot, still seems to be finding his way in the offense. Backup center Chris Andersen has been a decent rebounder, but he's shot 5-of-14 through four games. Rookie J.R. Smith, as expected, is struggling as a defender, but he has been facing veterans such as Sprewell and Bryant. Even Davis, who is averaging a team-high 26.3 points per game, has experienced problems. In the first half against the Lakers, he didn't take a shot from the field and had one assist. He scored a team-high 23 points, but he did not make his first shot from the field until 7:08 remained in the third quarter, when the Hornets trailed by 30. "I wanted to get my teammates going early to open things for me," said Davis, who scored 15 points during the Hornets' 42-19 fourth-quarter run. "But I didn't do a good job of dictating the flow of the game or pushing the tempo to force the issue." Scott met with his players for nearly an hour before practice Wednesday to go over mistakes and the things they did well in the fourth quarter against the Lakers. Now, it almost appears like they are in a must-win situation Friday night against the Atlanta Hawks, who are winless after their first four games under first-year coach Mike Woodson. Scott said it's too early to panic, but he wants his players to push harder. "If this was our 20th or 30th game and we looked as bad as we did (Tuesday), I would panic," Scott said. " But I'm a very confident person, and I know what we do works. It's just a matter of the guys giving it a chance on both ends and trusting each other. "We do it all at practice, but we don't transfer it to the games. That's very frustrating from a coaches' standpoint, and it should be from the players' standpoint. I try to break down everything to show the guys where they should be, so it's not foreign to them in the game. Our energy and effort has to be a constant." There are 78 games remaining, but the losses are growing increasingly frustrating for veteran shooting guard David Wesley. "We've got to get it done on the defensive end, because we're not just going to outscore people," Wesley said. "We have the personnel to get it done, and we showed that in the fourth quarter against the Lakers. When you score 42 points in the final quarter, you're not supposed to lose the game. But, when you score 35 during the first half, it doesn't help." . . . . . . . John Reid can be reached at [email protected] or (504) 826-3405. 這篇寫的滿好的 有沒有人願意幫忙翻譯一下的 ^^? --

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