What a difference a year makes. Two seasons ago this team was an injured wreck, with Chris Paul, David West and Peja Stojakovic missing a combined 117 games and the team missing the post-season by three games. There was a benefit to that time missed though, and that was Tyson Chandler was relied on to be the team's anchor when those guys were all out and it did wonders to expand not only his reliability but his confidence. So when everyone was healthy last season they had a thoroughly effective attack that saw the team blitz into the Playoffs and right through Dallas before eventually succumbing to San Antonio in seven games. Going into this season the team is now regarded as one of the league's favorites with a shot at making it all the way through the Western Conference and into the Finals.
PG - Chris Paul
Chris Paul is so good it's distracting. He makes it hard to watch a basketball game because all one wants to do it watch him. The way he sees the floor and makes decisions evokes images of some of guys like Cousey, Isiah and Archibald. He single-handedly picks apart opposing defenses and mesmerizes the viewer while doing it. The trick for Paul now is to not get caught up in the expectations and pressures applied to guys with his talent. For him to belong on a list of players like those above he's going to have to keep producing and keep winning, but to anyone watching the way that Paul plays the game each night it's pretty easy to see that he has his own drive for producing and winning that goes above simple stardom and that is what could ultimately make him one of the greats.
PF - David West
West is a thoroughly fascinating player. He's not nearly as skilled or multifaceted as the other players who put up his kind of numbers (20.6 ppg and 8.9 rpg) but he is so hyper-aware of what his skills are and how to maximize them that he catapults himself into the forefront of NBA power forwards - even earning an All-Star berth last season. So much emphasis is put on what players cannot do these days, about how once they've worked out one part of their game it becomes about what other parts can they fix, that the league has forgotten how useful a player like West is. He just knows what he needs to do at his position on his team to be successful. He understands himself and his skills and he just gets the most out of himself every game. In an era where so many guys are criticized for underutilizing their prodigious gifts it's a treat to see a player who so diligently maximizes his.
C - Tyson Chandler
There have been some great alley-oop combos in the last few years in the NBA; from Damon and Rasheed to Kidd and Kenyon to Nash and Amare, but perhaps none are as effective as Paul and Chandler. That is because not only is the Paul-to-Chandler alley-oop successful around 90% of the time but it's also a design to get two-points first and be flashy second. Head Coach Byron Scott was also the man in charge of the Kidd and Kenyon combo and like those two Paul and Chandler simply 'get' each other on the court. For them an alley-oop is as routine a play as a pick-and-roll and for the Hornets it's equally efficient. Having played for the Showtime Lakers Scott understands how sometimes the flashy plays can be the most useful if you have the personnel to pull it off. Even with all of his remarkable production as a Hornet, Chandler's ability to grab the ball inches from the basket and place in inside might be his most valuable asset.
http://www.tsn.ca/nba/story/?id=249981&lid=headline&lpos=topStory_nba