Byron Scott fired...

[NOCajun]

It was just announced on WWL that Hornet's coach Byron Scott was fired and that the General Manager would be making an announcement about his replacement within the hour.

[shof]

Wow! What have you done for me lately?? Unexpected??

[NOCajun]

Here's the ESPN article:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4648162

>>>Hornets fire ScottComment Email Print Share By Marc Stein
ESPN.com
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The New Orleans Hornets have responded to their 3-6 start by making the first coaching change of the young NBA season, firing Byron Scott on Thursday.




Scott

The Hornets made the decision to dismiss Scott following New Orleans' 124-104 loss in Phoenix on Wednesday night and formally announced the move later Thursday.

Scott will be replaced by general manager Jeff Bower, with Tim Floyd as his top assistant, the team said.

Scott won NBA Coach of the Year honors in 2008 after he and franchise point guard Chris Paul led the Hornets to a 56-26 record and the Southwest Division title. The Hornets then defeated Dallas in the first round of the playoffs and were within one win of the West finals before losing Game 7 at home to the San Antonio Spurs.

The Hornets slumped slightly to a 49-33 record last season, thanks partly to a flurry of injuries. They were pounded in the first round of the playoffs by Denver, losing the final home game of the season -- Game 4 of the series -- by a whopping 58 points.


It Don't Come Easy
The Hornets' 3-6 start has not come against cupcakes. They're tied for the most games against teams that are .500 or better with seven -- and they've gone just 2-5 in those games.

Team Opp. Win Pct.
Bulls (4-4) .645
Wizards (2-6) .639
Hornets (3-6) .581
Thunder (4-4) .576
Wolves (1-8) .568
- W-L records entering Thursday games.

Scott hung onto his job after the early exit but couldn't survive New Orleans' poor start, even though the many holes on the Hornets' roster -- with no consistent scorer at the wing positions and little depth -- appeared to be beyond his control. A number of league observers considered a coaching change inevitable if the Hornets struggled this season.

The firing is the second major move the Hornets have made since the end of last season in an attempt to address Paul's growing frustrations. In July, New Orleans sent center Tyson Chandler, who was plagued by foot problems throughout last season, to the Charlotte Bobcats for Emeka Okafor.

The team's payroll is more than $3 million over the league's $69.9 million luxury-tax threshold, making owner George Shinn reluctant to sanction further roster renovations. The Hornets have been trying to make moves to get under the luxury-tax line since acquiring Okafor, as opposed to searching for players who can bolster Paul's supporting cast.

Marc Stein is a senior NBA writer for ESPN.com.<<<

[cjr3888]

If anyone watches the Hornets like I do, you saw this coming. The are playing horrible and getting beat bad. There is no effort at all on the defensive end. Once the second group enters a game, they fall behing by double digits. Hilton Armstrong (backup center) hasn't gotten a rebound in 3 years.

What doesn't make sense is Bower taking over and hiring Tim Floyd as the top assistant. I guess Shinn was the one out of the owner's group that fired him who like Floyd

[wcd35]

_ If anyone watches the Hornets like I do, you saw this coming. The are playing horrible and getting beat bad. There is no effort at all on the defensive end. Once the second group enters a game, they fall behing by double digits. Hilton Armstrong (backup center) hasn't gotten a rebound in 3 years.

What doesn't make sense is Bower taking over and hiring Tim Floyd as the top assistant. I guess Shinn was the one out of the owner's group that fired him who like Floyd _

I'm with you on this. This team is not a playoff team right now, even with the best PG in the league. There are quite a few players that are just taking up space (especially cap space...ahem...Peja)

Bower should have been fired in the offseason and possible Scott as well. Bower has no business on the bench and surely neither does Tim Floyd.

[cjr3888]

_ I'm with you on this. This team is not a playoff team right now, even with the best PG in the league. There are quite a few players that are just taking up space (especially cap space...ahem...Peja)

Bower should have been fired in the offseason and possible Scott as well. Bower has no business on the bench and surely neither does Tim Floyd. _

Stuck with Peja (B Scott's signing) until next year. Hopefully he's out of their next year. Hornets have a solid core. Just need a 2 guard who can score and some bench depth.

[wcd35]

_ Stuck with Peja (B Scott's signing) until next year. Hopefully he's out of their next year. Hornets have a solid core. Just need a 2 guard who can score and some bench depth. _

But lets be honest, that's been our 2 biggest problems for 3 years now. You'll get some guys step up every once in a while, but others fall out. Guys like Rasual (gonna miss him) will play well while "starters" like Mo Pete and Peja have been terrible. As a whole, we havent improved, we take 1 step forward and 2 back. I liked getting Okafor and Collison and B Brown has been a decent sub, but most others cant be relied upon to even get 5 or 6 ppg. Bench depth is a hard problem to solve.

I honestly believe Peja's contract has been a huge obstacle in getting more talent around CP3.