The Hornets believe they are the best in the East

Sporting News, The, Sept 20, 1999 by Dave D'Alessandro

We caught up with Anthony Mason last week, and he ordered us to like the Hornets or else. And when you're under the steady gaze of someone with a torso that resembles an obsidian sculpture, you find yourself becoming involuntarily agreeable.

"We've got a lot of talent," Mason says. "We've got a team that can run and play halfcourt. We've got a great front line and a great bunch of guards. We just have a nice first and second team, a nice bench and a nice system."

That about covers it. Actually, Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy recently called Charlotte "by far the most talented team in the East."

Indeed, the Hornets have assembled a ton of talent again. G.M. Bob Bass has performed his annual finger-in-the-dike routine, overcoming owner George Shinn's parsimony and incompetence with just the right trade, just the right cap maneuver, just the fight free-agent signing and by getting really lucky with the lottery draw.

Of course, with Charlotte, you can never be sure about how things will turn out. Two years ago, in this very space, Mason bragged about his recruiting prowess and proclaimed that the additions of Bobby Phills and David Wesley would put rings on his fingers. That didn't work out because the Bulls were still in the way. Then last year, the Hornets' big men--Vlade Divac and Matt Geiger--bolted for free agency, the coach left in a snit, Mason went down with an injury and the Hornets still scared the hell out of the East with a 14-4 closing kick that nearly earned them a playoff berth.

Paul Silas, who directed that streak as the interim coach, has a chance to build on that momentum. His top seven--Mason, Wesley, Phills, Eddie Jones, Elden Campbell, Derrick Coleman and rookie Baron Davis--may be as good as it gets in the East this year. There is an abundance of athleticism. All but Mason are natural scorers with range. Jones and Phills can lock up most shooting guards and small forwards around the league. Campbell can reject shots. Mason is arguably the league's best post defender. Throw Ricky Davis, Todd Fuller, Brad Miller and Eldridge Recasner into the equation, and Charlotte could go 10 deep.

"I know how good we can be," says Jones, whose arrival in the Glen Rice deal turned the team around last year. "If we don't cheat ourselves out of it, we can definitely do something nice. But are we going to put the effort into reaching that goal? That's the key."

That's the problem, too. This is a team that has to learn how to sacrifice, something we saw only Phills, a natural leader, do with any regularity last year. Start with the three power guys: All of them operate out of the low box, which complicates the situation a bit. You wonder why Bass didn't trade Mason-Coleman's $7 million price tag makes him untradeable-for a different type. You wonder whether three post guys can coexist.

Mason shrugs, and when you're built like him, a shrug is a hell of a gesture. "Anyone who lets touches become more important than winning games is going to be out of the picture," he huffs.

Mostly, Coleman is the one you wonder about most. DC is the one who makes you think it can come apart in an eye blink. He didn't take his rehab too seriously last year--that created more internal grumbling than you may have read about--and he looked a lot like the Michelin Man.

Remarkably, Coleman has been one of eight Hornets who have been in Charlotte over the last month, practicing as a team. Call that a good sign, but let's see how cooperative DC is when Silas tells him he'll be coming off the bench. If Coleman is not ready to earn his absurdly inflated salary, the plan blows up.

The East is wide open. As many as six teams can win it, and the Hornets are one of them. But they're basing an awful lot of their dreams on an underachiever who has played in five winning playoff games in nine years.

Dave D'Alessandro covers the NBA for the Newark (N.J.) Star-Ledger. E-mail him at daved@sportingnews.com.

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