02/25/2009 - 14:33
Six Returns
by Devon Jeffreys

Tonight, it's welcome back Tyson.

TC will be bringing his fire back to the Hive tonight (Getty Images).

The public outcry against the trade from Hornets fans was so great that they will be sure to give the Big Easy an extra special greeting when he takes the floor this evening in NOLA as the Bees play host to the Pistons.

Before the game when he was injured, Tyson had put together four straight double doubles at the Hive, in New Orleans victories over Houston, Washington and the LA Clippers as well as a loss to New York.

Across the board, Ty’s numbers are better at home. This season, No. 6 is averaging 9.6 points and nine rebounds per game at The Hive, so it’s clear that The Big Easy thrives off the energy the home crowd provides.

Tyson will have to be at the top of his game tonight against Pistons center Rasheed Wallace. In their last meeting, on January 17, Ty doubled up with 11 points and 11 boards in a 91-85 Hornets win. In the ‘W,’ the Big Easy was 3-3 from the field and 5-5 from the line for a perfect shooting night.

HIGH SCHOOL REUNION
Tyson will also get to reunite with former high school teammate Tayshaun Prince. As Ty mentioned in his blog earlier this month, he always has fun when he and Tayshaun get together.

“We still talk all the time. I always tease him. The last time we played them, they started off with a smaller lineup, so he started off guarding me and the coaches were just laughing and saying, “OK, you’re pretty much going to have to punish him every time because he probably knows every one of your moves. He knows you better than anybody else in the league.”

"It’s always funny to play against each other. Because if we ever play them and I see him get hurt, normally you’re like “Oh it’s the other team,” you’re always a little concerned, you never want to see anybody get hurt, but there’s that little extra concern. When we’re not playing them I’m always cheering them on, hoping his team wins. I think we just kind of follow each other more.”

BOUNCE IN THEIR STEP
In the Times-Picayune, NBA writer John DeShazier takes a look at how Tyson’s return has affected the Hornets. An excerpt:

“But it’s also true that cohesion is important, that Chandler had begun to raise his level of play before he sprained his ankle and that his absence forced the Hornets into some funky combinations that left a hole in the interior defense."

"Players believe that with Chandler they have the makeup to make a run over the final 27 games. After falling just one win short of advancing to the Western Conference finals last season, it’s understandable why they felt they deserved to take their chances with the core group that led the way last season, understandable why they believed the deal was made to dump salary and avoid paying a luxury tax in the future rather than to improve the team for the playoffs."

"Now, they’ll get their chance to show what Chandler means and he’ll get a chance to help the teammates he never wanted to leave, and show he still has skills to the decision makers who wanted to get rid of him.”

NEXT UP
The Hornets and Pistons tip-off at 5 p.m. PST and all the action can be seen live on CST in New Orleans.

RELATED STORIES
Chandler’s return to court looks like the bounce Hornets needed (Times-Picayune, February 25, 2009)
http://blog.nola.com/johndeshazier/2009/02/chandlers_return_to_court_loo...

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