Hughes Control

by Zach Smart Heading into the ‘09-10 season, Larry Hughes saw the writing on the wall. The chances of the wiry veteran logging meaningful minutes were nothing short of nil. Word of Hughes getting relegated to the pine was littered all over articles, columns and throughout the growing New York basketball blogosphere. Turn the clock back to the preseason, and Hughes’ woeful performances certainly didn’t augment his chances. Hughes was mired in a nightmarish 0-17 shooting slump, burying his chances under a barrage of bricks. He fell out of favor with the faltering franchise, at a rapid pace. Clank after clank, Ofer followed by another Ofer. The future wasn’t promising. But Hughes, a 6-5 guard who’s averaged 14.6 points throughout his career, kept shooting. He thwarted his individual freefall with a 20-point outburst during the Garden opener, a crushing 141-127 OT loss to the Sixers. With electrifying, trigger-happy guard Nate Robinson bitten by the injury bug, Hughes...