原文出自nola.com http://www.nola.com/hornets/t-p/index.ssf?/base/sports-1/1100334947181530.xml Just being close isn't enough for struggling New Orleans Saturday, November 13, 2004 John DeShazier If not Atlanta, whom? If not Friday night at New Orleans Arena, when? Five losses in as many games for the Hornets isn't progress where it counts, in the standings. And losing 96-95 to the Hawks, when the stars were aligned and everything seemed to point to victory, was the lowest point in a season that hasn't had any high ones. Because dropping a game to the Hawks was a lot different than caving against Dallas, Orlando, Minnesota and the Lakers. Those teams, at least, entered Friday at .500 or better. They are considered playoff-caliber teams. Atlanta (1-4) had been dreadful while losing its first four games and could revert to form today. But for one night the Hawks looked like a team, which is the link that binds them to New Orleans' previous opponents. "We're not good enough to do some of the stuff we're doing wrong," Hornets guard David Wesley said. "We're not good enough to gamble and reach (on defense) and give up good baskets. We're not good enough to make dumb turnovers and take quick shots and still win." In short, the Hornets aren't good enough to overcome themselves. And tonight's attempt at victory will come without point guard Baron Davis, who won't travel to Milwaukee because of a strained lower back suffered against the Hawks. The Hornets have managed to keep the scores close and respectable -looking. But to paraphrase noted wordsmith and former Saints coach Jim Mora, close doesn't mean diddly poo. Playing hard matters. Winning matters more, and the Hornets haven't done an iota of it this season. And they won't if opponents keep shooting 50 percent, almost half the points they allow are scored in the paint, no one other than Lee Nailon (14 against the Hawks) is going to be a decent scorer off the bench, 20 turnovers are committed, and they can't figure out a way to close when they have the doorknob in their hand. New Orleans led 31-20 early in the second quarter, and then turned into the Washington Generals. Atlanta ripped off an 18-2 run and maneuvered the lead to as much as 84-72 in the fourth quarter. "We get an 11-point lead, we take three bad shots and commit three turnovers," Wesley said. "That's the game right there. Even more than closing the deal, it's the way we play throughout the game. "We play smart and crisp for 10 minutes, and then we'll do a series of bad things. We'll go four or five minutes (playing bad basketball)." "There is no communication on the defensive end, and with the turnovers we had, it makes it tough to win in this league," P.J. Brown said. "Until we commit seriously to the defensive end and stop talking about it, it's not going to happen. We practice, but if we don't apply it to the game, what is the use of practicing?" Plunging off the deep end isn't necessary yet. Winless as they are, these still aren't the Hornets of last season, when effort and direction were among the many things that could be questioned. But losing, like winning, can spread like a viral infection, particularly during a sometimes monotonous and always draining 82-game schedule. It can become easier to go through the motions than to give purposeful and meaningful effort. Only the Hornets can head off the spread. "I wish I could put my finger on it," Wesley said. "I don't know if guys are anxious, trying to do too much. One minute we seem like we're in a flow, then one mistake turns into two mistakes, and two mistakes turns into three mistakes." And before you know it, it balloons into something unacceptable, something that fills the role of saboteur for a team that can't afford to give as much help to its opponent as it does to itself. . . . . . . . John DeShazier can be reached at [email protected] or (504) 826-3410. --

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