First off, allow me to apologize for the time I took off from PBS.  My day job took me away from the more important things in life, that is, the NBA Playoffs.

So as I sit here watching this joke of a game 7 in the Spurs/Hornets series I'm hoping that somehow this turns into a game.

I have a number of problems with this game and all of them land square in the lap of Byron Scott, AKA "the stoic nothing".  Editor's note: These type of people really bother me.  They think that the key to victory is letting no emotion out.  It's like everything in life, or like table salt, a little bit enhances the flavor of the food but too much will ruin, as will too little leave things bland.  These type of people simply won't put things on the line when it comes to following their gut instincts.

First, from an X and O's perspective Scott is simply getting outcoached.  He's allowing San Antonio to dictate the pace of the game (which leads to me second problem) that the Hornets are not energized and neither is their crowd.  Barkley said it that the crowd seems scared.  When the Warriors went up against the (supposedly) better Mavericks last year those fans could taste the blood.  These fans have read too many press clippings where all of the experts picked against them. 

So no energy, no easy buckets in transition, let San Antonio plod the ball up and down while entering into Duncan in one-on-one coverage (Chandler is doing a great job btw), and miss baskets....AND....

What does that leave you with?  A team and an arena that's dimed up so bad that their entire season will likely be wasted. 

The game is within 8 now and I'll be back to update this article with more detailed thoughts, but this sucks.  I was hoping for a barnburner.

***UPDATE***

OK, I knew that they needed somebody to step up and give them energy.  But Pargo?  How many pundits thought that he would be the guy to make the Hornets tick for all of the fourth quarter?  It was all a desperate looking situation as Pargo took (and made) ill-advised shots at times. 

I'm not going to sit here and let all of the Hornets off the hook.  Paul, either by order or not, took the air out of the ball every trip down the floor.  Also, as the team's leader he could have done more to emotionally to bring the crowd to life.  For instance, what would it have cost him to flap his hands up and down to prompt the (non-existence) crowd to bring life into the arena?  Nothing, yet he didn't do it.  Chandler played a great game, particularly defensively on Duncan.  All of West's shots were questionable as he constantly picked up his dribble too early and relied on fadeaways and jump-hooks (shots he normally makes at a decent clip).  When his shots wouldn't fall it affected his spot up shooting and with every brick the arena took an ever-more exasperating gasp.  Stojokovic left his game in Sacramento shooting 3/11 with questionable shot selection himself.  He also refuses to go to the rack and has been exposed for what he is.  Pargo showed up when everybody else left their game next the lump in their throats.

But this game comes down to Byron Scott's lack of being able to motivate his team and recognize how to attack San Antonio.  He needs to know that his young team is going to have to rely on the home crowd to push them along against the dynasty that is the Spurs.  He needed to implement a game plan that pushed tempo but he mistakenly believed that a slow, deliberate pace (matching his coaching style) would keep his team from getting out of control.  But you don't do that when you have the league's best playmaker running the show.  And tell me that a few dunks and easy buckets wouldn't have had a positive impact on the cold shooting that the Hornets fell into.

Also questionable was his decision to let Tim Duncan go one-on-one with Chandler.  Don't get me wrong, Chandler handled the assignment.  But it all goes back to the issue of pace and energy.  Duncan practically dribbled out the shot clock every time and there's nothing more deflating to a team than defending for 24 seconds only to have a foul called or have a shot made.  Maybe Scott thought that an up-tempo pace would hurt his shallow squad in the fourth quarter, but you only have one game to play, they should be able to dig it out.  Besides, getting locked into a half-court set with arguably the best defense in the league is bound to be a bad idea. 

All in all, this seems to me to be about Byron Scott's arrogance.  He's done a whole lot of nothing in the playoffs as a coach and his inability to draw up a game plan will be exposed the next time he loses (when the Hornets aren't playing without expectations, rather with expectations). 

It all leaves me with sort of an empty feeling.  I bet on the Spurs, but I wanted the Hornets to win.  The normally raucous New Orleans crowd let their team down.  The coach let their team down.  And the players played not to lose instead of playing to win.  It's a sad ending for a team that lifted the hearts and spirits of a town that needs it so badly.  Once they realize what they had in their grasp, they will be disappointed, but they showed a lot of people a lot of things this year.

For that they should be proud.