http://www.yardbarker.com/content/player/4339 Recent articles about Hilton Armstrong en-us LAST SEASON The Hornets surprised many around the league by winning the toughest Division (Southwest) in the NBA and easily knocking out Dallas in the 1st round. Byron Scott was named Coach of the Year for his efforts, and Chris Paul had one of the greatest seasons EVER by a point guard, finishing 2nd in the MVP voting. They lost in 7 games to the Spurs, but it was a very successful season for such a young team. OFFSEASON MOVES Key Additions: James Posey Key Losses: Bonzi Wells, Jannero Pargo? Fresh off a key 6th man role for the champion Celtics, James Posey was able to parlay his solid play into a 4 year, $25 million deal with the Hornets. Posey's arrival means Wells is now expendable. New Orleans would like to re-sign backup guard Jannero Pargo, but he is receiving interest from other teams as well. And while the Hornets traded away their only draft pick, they had much more important matters at hand, as they signed Chris Paul to a 3-year contract extension for $68 million. ROTATION / PLAYING TIME How good was CP3 last year? Well, the only other player in NBA history to average 20+ points (21.1), 10+ assists (11.6), and 2.5+ steals (2.71) was Isiah Thomas in '83-84 (also at the age of 22). Two key differences: Paul had 2.51 turnovers per game vs. 3.74 for Isiah, and Paul shot 85.1% from the line vs. 73.3% FT for the former Piston. Needless to say, Paul (37.6 mpg) will get the bulk of the PG minutes once again. David West also had a stellar season, and will play roughly 38 minutes as well at power forward. At center, Tyson Chandler played a career-high 35.3 minutes, but blocked a career-low 1.06 shots per game (his rookie year, he blocked more shots in less than HALF as many minutes!). Chandler was supposed to be an alternate for Team USA this summer, but a toe injury has prevented him from travelling with the team. Obviously, this is a key injury that needs to be monitored. Minutes are a little more up in the air at the swingmen spots. In '07-08, Peja Stojakovic played 35.3 mpg at SF and Morris Peterson played 23.6 mpg at SG. Ideally, Posey would replace Mo-Pete in most situations, but as of now, Byron Scott is saying Mo-Pete will start and Posey will back up both players off the bench. Tentatively, I'm going to project 34 minutes for Peja, 28 minutes for Posey, 18 minutes for Mo-Pete, and 18 minutes for Pargo (assuming he returns). Julian Wright had a fine rookie campaign, and should see about 12-14 minutes of action at both forward spots. And lastly, Hilton Armstrong & Melvin Ely will battle for the remaining big men minutes, so keep an eye on them if TC's toe is still bothering him. DON'T SLEEP ON: David West & James Posey Despite being named to the All-Star team last year and nearly every single analyst calling him the most underrated power forward in the game, David West will still be overlooked by many on draft day '08. In this article from a year ago (http://www.82games.com/fantasy/1block_77ft.htm), I suggested that if West could just block a few more shots, he would be able to join the exclusive 1+ Block & 77% FT club. Well, he did just that and improved in other areas as well. In fact, only 4 players averaged 20+ points and 8+ rebounds while shooting over 48% FG and 80% FT in '07-08: Amare Stoudemire, Yao Ming, Chris Bosh, and David West. That's exclusive company right there. I strongly recommend drafting West before more popular players such as Tim Duncan, Pau Gasol, and Al Jefferson, and if you let him fall past the 4th round, you're going to regret it. I'm not certain of it, but there's a good chance that West met James Posey on a recruiting trip way back in 1998. You see, Posey led Xavier University in rebounding for 3 straight years before graduating in 1999. A few months later, West stepped onto campus and proceeded to lead Xavier to 94 wins in 4 seasons while being named the A-10 Player of the Year three years in a row. So don't be surprised if you see them throwing up a lot of X's this season. A lot of people are going to ignore Posey this year due to his lowly 7.4 ppg average, but I think he's going to be an excellent late round value pick. He may start the season on the bench, but the Hornets aren't paying him $25 million to ride the pine, so his minutes are sure to rise from the 24.6 that he played last year. As a result, Posey could easily crack the Top 50 in both threes and steals in '08-09. For his career, he's a rock solid 82% FT shooter, and he also pitches in with boards & blocks. I'm suggesting you target Posey in Rounds 10-12, which is exactly where people targeted Mo-Pete a year ago. Peterson didn't deliver, but Posey will. BE CAREFUL OF: Peja Stojakovic After playing in just 13 games the year before, Peja bounced back nicely in '07-08, playing in 77 games and knocking down 231 threes (2nd behind Jason Richardson). However, this is not the same fantasy stud that we used to know and love. For proof, let's compare some of his '07-08 stats to his '03-04 stats. In '03-04, he shot a blistering 92.7% FT on 5.2 attempts per game. Last season, he made a career-high 92.9% of his freebies, but he attempted just 1.8 per contest. In '03-04, he pulled down 6.3 rebounds and grabbed 1.3 steals per game. Last season, those averages were down to 4.3 and .7, and they could plummet even further with Posey now in town (a superior rebounder & defender). A lot of people are going to draft Peja in Round 5 because those 3 threes per game are so juicy, but those people probably don't realize that he had to shoot a career-best 44.1% from beyond the arc to make that many. Since most of Stojakovic's stats are going to decline this year, I suggest waiting until Rounds 7 or 8 to grab him. ROUND BY ROUND TARGETS (Where you should draft these guys in an 8-cat Roto league with 12 teams and 14 man rosters) Click on the link to find out! Mon, 04 Aug 2008 04:12:31 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/300461 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/300461 Donnie Walsh needs to bring in a big man to protect the hoop. Here's a few ideas. Wed, 23 Jul 2008 08:41:25 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/294272 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/294272 Bobby Brown rises in summer league scoring 20 points including the go-ahead shot, while Arron Affalo and Marco Bellinelli each scored 25 points leading to wins for their teams, and see why Clippers' lottery pick Eric Gordon is out for the rest of summer league after playing 2 games. Mon, 14 Jul 2008 14:32:35 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/290271 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/290271 Following the 10 days of NBA Summer League action in Las Vegas and the best performances of the day, starting with Day 1 with 4 games on the schedule. The debuts include Anthony Randolph, O.J. Mayo, Marreese Speights, Eric Gordon and Darrell Arthur. More after the jump. Sat, 12 Jul 2008 11:17:57 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/289493 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/289493 Better late than never. The Kings took the season series 2-1 and Artest was the big hero from deep in the end, hitting 4 clutch 3 pointers to help the Kings knock the Hornets out of first place for the second time. The Kings are doing their part in the playoffs, even though they aren't in it. Sun, 13 Apr 2008 23:11:29 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/236522 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/236522 Baron Davis' beard has a pretty big bone to pick with Hilton Armstrong of the Hornets. Apparently, there's only room for 1 beard in this league! ***Adult Language*** Tue, 08 Jan 2008 01:10:59 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/63522 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/63522 New video with some of the best blocks of last year, including Nate Robinson's block on Yao, Alonzo Mourning stopping Josh Smith, Mehmet Okur's GW block against Chauncey Billups and more! Check it out on the link. Mon, 03 Dec 2007 22:39:01 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/40388 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/40388 It wasn't expected to be a great class coming in and the 30 first rounders have done little to disprove that reputation. Not one has established themselves as an immediate impact player. It may be way too early to tell, but is this the worst class ever? Wed, 15 Nov 2006 20:15:38 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/5158 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/5158 This is part of my series of articles previewing all 30 NBA teams and the upcoming season. This is a team that has two homes, but the Hornets are looking like one good team. Early on, they've been very solid and have shown much growth from last season's team. This is another team that was close last season and only got better. Thu, 09 Nov 2006 23:45:57 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/4816 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/4816 Up next in the Project Spurs Southwest Division Preview are the New Orleans Hornets. New Orleans HornetsWhat an off-season they had! Peja Stojakovic, Tyson Chandler and Bobby Jackson all signed up to join David West, Desmond Mason and Chris Paul. I expect the Hornets to have a great season and challenge the division titans in the Spurs and Mavs. The Hornets drafted Cedric Simmons and Hilton Armstrong and sent JR Smith and PJ Brown to the Bulls for Chandler. These picks and trade reflect how the Hornets Front Office are addressing the interior defense. Chris Paul, coming off his Rookie of the Year season, is only going to get better. Is it too early to consider him one the the NBA's best point guards? We will see. Backing him up will be the savvy vet Bobby Jackson, a former Sixth Man of the Year winner. Peja will definitely add some offensive punch but not add much on the defensive end. Even with all these great signings and draft picks, the Hornets have a huge problem. . . they are in a division with the Spurs, Mavs and Rockets. YIKES! Thu, 19 Oct 2006 14:27:19 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/3709 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/3709