Hornets in OKC

Yeah, I know, it's the Seattle team coming to OKC, not the Hornets. And, in the wake of the settlement between Seattle and the team formerly known as the Sonics, I caught some discussion between an ESPNews anchor and someone from a sports radio station in OKC. The anchor was asking if OKC could support a team long-term. Near the end of the interview, the anchor mentioned that the Sonics were a 20 win team and they weren't a playoff team like the New Orleans Hornets. So, it might be harder for fans to get behind the new team than it was to root for the Hornets.

I know the Hornets were good this year. But, they weren't in OKC this year. They won the stacked Southwest Division with 56 wins (tied with San Antonio and one game ahead of Houston). However, they won 38 games the first year in OKC and won 39 games the second year in OKC. The first year in OKC was PG Chris Paul's rookie season and he was injured part of his second year. Additionally, Peja Stojakovic barely played in 06-07 because of injuries. What I don't understand is why the anchor on ESPNews didn't know that the Hornets weren't nearly as good in previous years as they were this year. In fact, the Hornets won just 18 games the year before they came to OKC. Yeah, that's why they got Chris Paul. But, the Hornets still drew well that first year in OKC, despite coming at the last minute (Hurricane Katrina hit August 29th, 2005) and not being particularly good.

The new OKC team should get plenty of support, although I'm not really going out on a limb in saying that they probably won't make the playoffs this coming season. Kevin Durant, Jeff Green and Russell Westbrook were all high draft picks in the last two drafts. So, theoretically, the team will improve (Durant and Westbrook are just 19 years old). And, for what it's worth, the leading scorer (Durant) and the leading rebounder (Nick Collison) both played their college ball in the Big 12. Maybe 18 year old Serge Ibaka will turn into the force in the middle this team has lack just when the other youngsters are hitting their stride and the OKC team will be a contender in a few years. If not, maybe they'll at least be an exciting, uptempo team.

But, whether or not OKC supports the new team like they supported the Hornets isn't the point. The point is that the Hornets weren't a playoff team the years they made OKC home. In fact, 38 wins in 05-06 was considered a major achievement by many. So, it probably won't matter that the new team isn't challenging the Bulls for the win record any time soon. And, anchors on ESPNews should know their stuff before they do interviews!