03/11/2009 - 15:17
Off to See the Wizards
by Devon Jeffreys

After a down night Monday, Tyson and the Hornets will have an opportunity to rebound tonight.

The Hornets take on the Washington Wizards tonight in the second meeting between the two teams this season. When they last met on December 30 in New Orleans, the Hornets used a strong second half to post a come from behind, 97-85 victory.

Tyson was all over the floor with 11 points and 11 rebounds including eight on the offensive glass. He also posted a block and an assist to form a picket fence across the box score.

With two inexperienced players manning the paint for Washington, TC will have plenty to take advantage of.

The Hornets and Wizards tip-off at 4 p.m PST in D.C., and all the action can be seen live on CST.

WHY NOT US?
In the Times-Picayune, columnist John DeShazier looks at the strides the Hornets have made in the last few weeks and surmises that it’s completely plausible for New Orleans to advance just as far in the playoffs as they did last season.

“Since Tyson Chandler returned, we no longer can say the Hornets don’t rebound as well as they should. They’ve bludgeoned opponents on the boards the previous three weeks.”

“Mostly, what’s left to wonder is how far the Hornets can go. And all things considered, and assuming New Orleans continues to be upwardly mobile and wins the Southwest Division or claims the No. 4 seed in the West, does there seem to be any reason the Hornets can’t go at least as far as last season?"

"Is advancing to Game 7 of a conference semifinal series, and maybe winning such a series, so improbable? 
No, it isn’t.”

AWKWARD RINGING
In the Washington Post, in advance of tonight’s game in the Capitol City, Michael Lee takes a look at the events before, during and after the Tyson trade. He lends a new light to the story with this previously unmentioned moment:

 

The meeting was already awkward enough, and then the phone wouldn’t stop ringing.

Only a few hours after the Oklahoma City Thunder rescinded a trade for Tyson Chandler because he had failed his physical, Chandler sat with Hornets General Manager Jeff Bower to fill out paperwork and discuss his unexpected return to New Orleans. Two hours still remained before last month’s NBA trade deadline, and the phone kept ringing in Bower’s office.

Already feeling angry, rejected, elated and confused, Chandler was also growing increasingly impatient with the incessant calls. He knew people weren’t calling Bower just to chit-chat.

“It was phone call after phone call, teams trying to make a deal and get through,” Chandler recalled. “I was like: ‘Should I be going to the plane or stay here and wait? Because I don’t want to go through this again.’ ”

RELATED STORIES
New Orleans Hornets solidifying playoff position (Times-Picayune, March 9, 2009)
http://blog.nola.com/johndeshazier/2009/03/new_orleans_hornets_solidifyi...
Chandler, Hornets, better after failed trade (Washington Post, March 11, 2009)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/10/AR200903...

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