The New Orleans Hornets ended the 2008 season with an embarrassing five-game series loss in the first round of the playoffs to the Denver Nuggets, which included a 58-point blowout loss at home. The team’s struggles continued this season, and the Hornets have begun the year with a 3-6 record. Wednesday night’s 124-104 loss to the Phoenix Suns was the tipping point, and New Orleans announced on Thursday morning the firing of head coach Byron Scott. General manager Jeff Bower will replace Scott as the coach for the rest of the season, and former Hornets coach Tim Floyd will rejoin the team as an assistant behind Bower. The Hornets were 41-41 in Floyd’s only season as head coach, losing in a seven-game series to the Miami Heat and then-rookie Dwyane Wade in the first round of the playoffs.”I have a high comfort level with Tim, who has proven himself to be a quality coach, who has proven himself to have some very specific areas that he’s outstanding in,” Bower said.Some LSU students think the Hornets shouldn’t have fired Scott. “That was a bad decision,” said Chirag Patel, kinesiology freshman. “He was the Coach of the Year two years ago, and he gets fired this year because they get off to a bad start.”Patel said he doesn’t think the Hornets’ poor start was Scott’s fault. He said players like small forwards Peja Stojakovic and James Posey haven’t been playing well.”It may be some of the role players that might not be doing their jobs,” Patel said. “I don’t think it was Byron Scott.”The Hornets began the season with Stojakovic coming off the bench with Posey in an effort to give the bench a spark and some depth when point guard Chris Paul and the rest of the starters come out of the game to get some rest. But Corey Freeman, criminology senior, said he thinks no matter who is coaching the team and what rotation they put the players in, the Hornets won’t be successful until they get younger players on the team.”They need to refresh,” Freeman said. “Older teams aren’t that great.”Both Stojakovic and Posey are 32 years old, and the average age of the team is about 27. Clarence Francis, chemical engineering freshman, said bringing in a new coach will not only do little to change the team’s struggles, but will also further hurt the team throughout the rest of the season.”It might make them do worse,” Francis said. “It might benefit them next year, but just starting the year off with a new coach and all that adjusting — it’s not going to work out.”Patrick Bloom, kinesiology freshman, agreed the main problem the Hornets might run into is learning a new style of a new coach. “When you get used to someone coaching and you bring somebody in new, they might have a different style of ball they like to play,” Bloom said. But Michael Nammour, biology freshman, said the Hornets might still have time to salvage the young season.”It’s not like football where if you lose six games, you just suck,” Nammour said. “They play so many games that they have time to make it up. But obviously they have to turn it around and get the program heading in the right direction.”Patel said he doesn’t think Bower will help the team as coach, but the acquisition of Floyd might give the Hornets a chance.”He probably has better basketball knowledge than Jeff Bower does,” Patel said. “Hopefully, they can come out and be at least an eighth seed and get into the playoffs.” Another person who may not be pleased with the decision is   Hornets guard Chris Paul.Paul, who has not played for any NBA coach but Scott, was not available after players gathered at the club’s suburban training center. Team officials said he had a prior commitment and had to leave. Paul was close with Scott. The pair golfed together, and Paul once referred to Scott as a father figure who was closer to him than many of his own relatives.”I understand personal relationships,” Bower said. “Chris, that’s one of his strengths, his ability to connect. And obviously it’s a very strong personal relationship [with Scott] and that should remain in place. This is a professional decision and a professional relationship that we have here, and I have a lot of confidence in what he wants. He wants to win … None of us are pleased from a personal standpoint to ever have a day like today.”The Associated Press contributed to this article.—–Contact Jarred LeBlanc at [email protected]