About 21 months ago, Monty Williams accepted a three-year offer to become the head coach of the New Orleans Hornets, replacing Jeff Bower. An assistant under former Blazers coach Nate McMillan from 2005-2010, Williams was key in helping players like Nicolas Batum and Travis Outlaw develop their jump shots, along with the improved free throw shooting of Joel Przybilla.
In his first season as head coach of the Hornets, Williams amassed a 46-36 record, good for the seventh seed in the Western Conference. Despite being knocked out in the first round by the Lakers in six games, Williams showed that he was not out of place as an NBA head coach, and was even able to steal a game in Los Angeles against Hall of Fame head coach Phil Jackson. Things only headed south after that.
After voicing his desire to play elsewhere and likelihood of his opting out, Hornets GM Dell Demps had little choice but to trade Chris Paul to the Clippers. The centerpiece of the trade was young shooting guard Eric Gordon, who averaged 22.3 points, 2.9 rebounds and 4.4 assists last season with the Clippers. The team also acquired center Chris Kaman and small forward prospect Al-Farouq Aminu in the deal.
I was of the belief that the Hornets would be alright without Paul, as the package they received had a good combination of talent, future salary cap relief and potential. Eric Gordon then went down with a balky knee just two games into the season and hasn't played since, which has been just the first in a long line of issues for the team.
Center Emeka Okafor and power forward Carl Landry have both missed 23 games this season, while small forward Trevor Ariza has missed 12. All the while, Monty has continued his diligent work on the sidelines, trying to get the best out of a mish-mash of journeymen and unproven youngsters. Even with the injuries to their several of their best defenders, the Hornets are a solid defensive team, ranking 10th in points allowed (93.7) and 15th in opponents field goal percentage (44.7%).
At one point in the season, Chris Kaman was sent home while the team unsuccessfully tried to trade him, and has since been re-activated.
Monty has also done a great job of getting production out of unheralded players. Power forward Gustavo Ayon (6.5 points, 4.9 rebounds in 21 minutes) and forward Lance Thomas (4.4 points, 3.0 rebounds in 13 minutes) are undrafted free agents that have seen significantly increased roles due to the injuries, but provide a lot of hustle plays and energy on the defensive end, something that Williams highly values.
There's little doubt that anyone who is involved with, or supports, the New Orleans Hornets has been disappointed by the team's dismal 13-37 record. The good news in that the Hornets will have an opportunity in the draft to select an impact player in the draft, and if they're able to retain Eric Gordon (a restricted free agent this summer) and keep the team even remotely healthy next season, the Hornets will be back in contention for a playoff spot next season, and a part of that is the steadiness of Monty Williams. While this is not what Williams envisioned when he accepted the position, he's never once made excuses or complained, and that kind of resolve is one of the reasons why he is one of the best young coaches in the NBA.
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