In a league dominated by free agency and the coaching carousel, it’s the New Orleans Hornets that may have made the single best NBA offseason decision this year.
After a first round trouncing by way of the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2003 playoffs, the Hornets fired beloved head coach Paul Silas and turned over the reigns to an unsuccessful and undeserving Tim Floyd.
Floyd was never thought of as an outstanding coach in the NBA.
After all, he did go 49-190 in a little more than three seasons with the “young” Chicago Bulls.
But that was then, this is now.
Floyd has guided the Hornets to a 25-19 record. With 24 more victories, he will surpass his career win total with the Bulls.
Floyd took over the job in June and by the end of the preseason had already lost his leading scorer and sixth man from a year ago.
Jamal Mashburn and Courtney Alexander both suffered injuries in the preseason that have kept them out of action up to this point, while Mashburn is expected to return some time this week from arthroscopic knee surgery, Alexander will more than likely miss the entire season.
Even with those injuries, Floyd kept his veteran-savvy team afloat and had the Hornets as high as No. 2 in the weak Eastern Conference.
Floyd’s success has been predicated on his installation of a new motion offense that has put Baron Davis in more scoring positions. The new offense has transformed Davis into a Top 5 NBA point guard through his increased points and assists totals per game.
But Floyd’s validation as the best offseason addition did not come in his X’s and O’s, it came two weeks ago when Davis, David Wesley and David West all went down with injuries.
So just to recap, injuries have caused 3-of-5 starters for the Hornets to miss time in the past two weeks as well as two of the top players off the bench.
There is no way the Hornets could survive this right?
Wrong. With the assistance of 35-year-old point guard Darrell Armstrong and traveled veterans Stacey “Plastic Man” Augmon, George Lynch and Steve Smith, Floyd has led the Hornets to wins in their last two games against tough Western Conference foes while maintaining their third place position in the Central division.
First the Hornets took it to ‘Melo and the Nuggets in New Orleans, then turned around and traveled to San Antonio to face the World Champion Spurs.
Earlier this season the Spurs thrashed the Hornets 94-84 in the Big Easy. In that game, Davis, Wesley and West all played significant minutes, but the effort and shots just weren’t there.
Now fast-forward to this past Saturday night when the Hornets tore down the Alamo and defeated the Spurs 98-96 on a 3-pointer by Armstrong, who had a career-high 35 points, with 1.5 seconds.
The sheer fact that the Hornets won is one thing, but what may get overlooked is the reality that New Orleans had to come back from an 18-point deficit in the first half.
Floyd’s coaching career may not be as remarkable as Phil Jackson’s or Lenny Wilkins’, but his team’s focus and drive to win without major contributors is remarkable. His ability to coach without three starters, two key bench players and keep his team in contention for home-field advantage in the playoffs makes Floyd the coach of the year in 2003-04.