The Hornets took steps Wednesday to bolster their depth at shooting guard and small forward, obtaining Xavier Henry from the Memphis Grizzlies for a 2013 second-round draft choice.

New Orleans was part of a three-team trade in which the 76ers sent forward Marreese Speights to the Grizzlies.

Henry, 20, was a lottery pick (12th overall) by Memphis in the 2010 draft, but his development has been hindered by injuries. He is recovering from a second-degree right ankle sprain, including some ligament tearing, which happened at the outset of the Grizzlies’ training camp.

“I think I’ll definitely be out there in the next two weeks,” said Henry, who played at Kansas and worked out for the Hornets at the Alario Center in a predraft audition. “I have a good estimation of about 10 days maybe, but I’d say in the next two weeks I’ll be out there playing.”

Hornets Coach Monty Williams, who has expressed concerns over his team’s shooting guard performances in the absence of starter Eric Gordon the past four games, says he can see Henry sliding between two positions. Gordon returned to the starting lineup in Wedneday night’s 101-93 loss to Philadelphia.

“Xavier is a guy who, when he’s healthy, is going to play for us because he can do a number of things on the floor,” Williams said. “I told him my biggest issue with guys is defending and competing, playing hard. Offensively, he has some things you can’t really teach. He has a good feel for the game. He can shoot the ball, not to range yet, but 18 or 19 feet.

“He might be more of a three (small forward) than he is a two (shooting guard). He has got a big body (6 feet 6, 220 pounds). He can do both. I’d probably call him a wing. A guy like Eric is just a two, but Xavier might be a wing, a guy who can play both. I don’t see him ever being a guy who handles the ball and initiates offense like Eric. I’d say he’s a solid wing.”

No matter the description, Henry, who missed 33 games because of injury last season, says he’s ready.

“This seems like a great team, a lot of defense, a lot of team work, and offensively, it just lets you play,” he said. “I think I’ll fit in pretty well with the guys. I always believed myself I could play either two or three. If I just come in and work hard, work hard on defense and do everything right, I’ll have an opportunity to play.”

The Hornets rank second to last in the NBA in 3-point shooting, at 17.9 percent. Williams said aside from the obvious, there are other issues that could be eliminated by Gordon’s return.

“I still think the guys that have been playing have to make shots,” Williams said. “If you look at our film, guys are getting open looks. What’s hurting us is turnovers in timely situations. In the last two minutes of the (Utah) game, we had two turnovers out of three possessions. You can’t get shots if you’re giving it to the other team. We are missing shots.

“But I don’t want to put all that pressure on Eric. He’s got to play his normal game. (Point guard Jarrett) Jack has got to continue to produce. We may be one of the only teams in the league that may count on our point guard to score double figures every night. But it’ll help our team.”

GORDON’S BACK: Saying his bruised right knee is still not at 100 percent, Gordon nonetheless returned to the starting lineup against the Sixers and scored a team-high 22 points, although he was just 1-of-6 from 3-point range.

“It’s good to come back and finally get back with the team,” he said. “We’re still playing hard and are capable of beating those teams we lost to.”

ALL-STAR MENTIONS: While it’s unlikely, given the lack of superstar faces on the roster, that the Hornets will garner any All-Star Game support as fans vote in the starters. Nonetheless, four players appear on this year’s ballot revealed Wednesday.

Gordon, centers Emeka Okafor and Chris Kaman and power forward Carl Landry are all on the Western Conference portion of the ballot.

The game will be played on Feb. 26 in Orlando.

Kaman is the only member of that group to have been selected on an All-Star team. He was a member of the Western Conference squad in 2010 as a member of the Clippers.

Since the 2007-08 season, the Hornets have had at least one All-Star representative each year, either Chris Paul or David West, both of whom are playing for different teams now.

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana — Phoenix coach Alvin Gentry never had a problem with his team’s effort and figured it was only a matter of time before the Suns would snap out of their shooting slump and secure their first victory of the young season.

Hakim Warrick scored 18 points in a reserve role, Channing Frye added 10 points and 16 rebounds, and the Suns handed the New Orleans Hornets their first loss, 93-78 on Friday night.

“When you look at the schedule and you’re 0-2, you think there’s a chance you’ll go 0-66,” Gentry said. “You look at the schedule after you win and you say, ‘Oh, we can do this or we can do that.’ It’s all psychological … though. You’ve just got to go out and play. We’ve been doing a good job of competing, but our offense has been so stagnant. Tonight, we got out and ran.”

Jared Dudley added 16 points, while Steve Nash dished out 12 assists for the Suns, who had shot 40 percent through two losses to open the season, including one to New Orleans in their home opener Monday night.

“We made a few more shots, but more than that, we continually created offense,” Nash said. “To be consistent in creating good offensive opportunities was a step in the right direction because in the first game against New Orleans, I thought we missed some shots we usually make. But in our second game (against Philadelphia), we just looked really hesitant, out of synch and kind of like we were dumbfounded a little bit.”

Hornets shooting guard Eric Gordon missed a second straight game with a bruised right knee, and this time New Orleans could not compensate for the prolific scorer’s absence.

Carl Landry led New Orleans with 17 points, while Emeka Okafor had 10 points and 16 rebounds, but the Hornets shot only 29 percent (26 of 90), the second worst shooting performance in team history.

“We’ve got scorers on this team. Everybody on this team can average double-digit points. Just the ball didn’t fall,” Landry said. “It’s unusual for a team to shoot (29) percent for the game. Unfortunately that was something we did tonight. It will turn around.”

Gentry thought his team’s intensity on the defensive end, more so in terms of contesting shots than rebounding, played a big role in the Hornets’ shooting struggles.

“We did a great job of challenging everything at the rim,” Gentry said. “It wasn’t our offense. It was our defense that won the game.”

Suns center Marcin Gortat scored 12 points and blocked four shots while playing with a splint on his injured right thumb. Shannon Brown added 11 points and Grant Hill 10 for Phoenix, which shot 42 percent (33 of 78). Warrick was 6 of 12 from the floor and 6 of 7 on free throws.

Jarrett Jack scored 12 points and Marco Belinelli grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds for New Orleans, which outrebounded Phoenix 57-47 and had 24 offensive boards, more than any team in the NBA in this first week of the season.

The Hornets had 23 second-chance points, but could have had a lot more if not for their shooting woes.

“We didn’t play hard, and that’s a sign I didn’t do what we needed to do … to have the team ready,” Hornets coach Monty Williams said. “We couldn’t throw it in the ocean. That happens on occasions, but our defense was not there tonight.”

The Hornets got away with poor shooting in the first half, but it finally caught up with them halfway through the third quarter, when they were still just below 30 percent again (17 of 59).

Nash pulled up for a 3-pointer to give the Suns a 61-51 lead. Dudley then scored inside after baiting Chris Kaman to leave his feet on a ball fake. Frye followed with a 3 from the corner that fell through after a high bounce off the rim. Then Gortat capped a 10-0 run with an inside basket that made it 68-51.

New Orleans was unable to get any closer than nine points after that.

New Orleans hit only four of its first 20 shots (20 percent), but trailed only 16-14 at that point. Halfway through the second quarter, the Hornets were 10 of 35, but still trailed by only four after Okafor’s free throws.

Soon after, the Suns raced to their first double-digit lead when Nash fueled a 6-0 spurt with fast-break feeds to Hill for a layup and Warrick for a dunk, making it 43-33.

New Orleans finally got over 30 percent — barely — when Belinelli hit his second 3 and Greivis Vasquez set up Okafor’s dunk to make it 52-45 at halftime.

Hakim Warrick scored 18 points in a reserve role, and the Phoenix Suns won for the first time this young season while handing the New Orleans Hornets their first loss, 93-78 on Friday night.
Channing Frye added 10 points and 16 rebounds for the Suns, who had opened the season with two losses, one to New Orleans in their home opener Monday night. Jared Dudley added 16 points, while Steve Nash dished out 12 assists.
Hornets shooting guard Eric Gordon missed a second straight game with a bruised right knee, and this time New Orleans could not compensate for the prolific scorer’s absence.
Carl Landry led New Orleans with 17 points, while Emeka Okafor had 10 points and 16 rebounds, but the Hornets shot only 29 percent (26 of 90).
Marcin Gortat scored 12 points while playing with a splint on his injured right thumb. Shannon Brown added 11 points and Grant Hill 10 for Phoenix, which shot 42 percent (33 of 78). Warrick was 6 of 12 from the floor and 6 of 7 on free throws.
Jarrett Jack scored 12 points and Marco Belinelli grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds for New Orleans, which outrebounded Phoenix 57-47 and had 24 offensive boards, more than any team in the NBA so far this season.
The Hornets had 23 second-chance points, but could have had a lot more if not for their shooting woes.
The Hornets got away with poor shooting through the first half, keeping the game close with defense and rebounding, but it finally caught up with them halfway through the third quarter, when they were still just below 30 percent again (17 of 59).
Nash pulled up for a 3-pointer to give the Suns a 61-51 lead. Dudley then scored inside after baiting Chris Kaman to leave his feet on a ball fake. Frye followed with a 3 from the corner that fell through after a high bounce off the rim. Then Gortat capped a 10-0 run with an inside basket that made it 68-51.
New Orleans responded with a brief 10-2 surge but was unable to make up enough ground to get any closer than nine points the rest of the way.
New Orleans hit only four of its first 20 shots (20 percent), but trailed only 16-14 at that point because of its typically tough defense and rebounding.
The Hornets were 10 of 35 halfway through the second quarter, but still trailed by only four at that point after Okafor’s free throws.
Soon after, the Suns raced to their first double-digit lead when Nash fueled a 6-0 spurt with fast-break feeds to Hill for a layup and Warrick for a dunk, making it 43-33.
New Orleans finally got over 30 percent — barely — in the final minute of the second quarter when Belinelli hit his second 3 and Greivis Vasquez set up Okafor’s dunk to make it 52-45 at halftime.
Notes: Brown got a technical foul in the second quarter for arguing with officials. … Suns coach Alvin Gentry also was called for a technical foul in the second quarter. … New Orleans entered the game having won four straight against Phoenix, including the last three meetings last season. … A near scuffle occurred early in the fourth quarter between the Suns’ Robin Lopez and New Orleans’ Trevor Ariza, who were each assessed technical fouls, but Brown and Jack quickly stepped between them before it escalated. … New Orleans’ offensive rebound total was higher than they had in any game last season.

“When you look at the schedule and you’re 0-2, you think there’s a chance you’ll go 0-66,” Gentry said. “You look at the schedule after you win and you say, ‘Oh, we can do this or we can do that.’ It’s all psychological … though. You’ve just got to go out and play. We’ve been doing a good job of competing, but our offense has been so stagnant. Tonight, we got out and ran.”

Jared Dudley added 16 points, while Steve Nash dished out 12 assists for the Suns, who had shot 40 percent through two losses to open the season, including one to New Orleans in their home opener Monday night.

“We made a few more shots, but more than that, we continually created offense,” Nash said. “To be consistent in creating good offensive opportunities was a step in the right direction because in the first game against New Orleans, I thought we missed some shots we usually make. But in our second game (against Philadelphia), we just looked really hesitant, out of synch and kind of like we were dumbfounded a little bit.”

Hornets shooting guard Eric Gordon missed a second straight game with a bruised right knee, and this time New Orleans could not compensate for the prolific scorer’s absence.

Carl Landry led New Orleans with 17 points, while Emeka Okafor had 10 points and 16 rebounds, but the Hornets shot only 29 percent (26 of 90), the second worst shooting performance in team history.

“We’ve got scorers on this team. Everybody on this team can average double-digit points. Just the ball didn’t fall,” Landry said. “It’s unusual for a team to shoot (29) percent for the game. Unfortunately that was something we did tonight. It will turn around.”

Gentry thought his team’s intensity on the defensive end, more so in terms of contesting shots than rebounding, played a big role in the Hornets’ shooting struggles.

“We did a great job of challenging everything at the rim,” Gentry said. “It wasn’t our offense. It was our defense that won the game.”

Suns center Marcin Gortat scored 12 points and blocked four shots while playing with a splint on his injured right thumb. Shannon Brown added 11 points and Grant Hill 10 for Phoenix, which shot 42 percent (33 of 78). Warrick was 6 of 12 from the floor and 6 of 7 on free throws.

Jarrett Jack scored 12 points and Marco Belinelli grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds for New Orleans, which outrebounded Phoenix 57-47 and had 24 offensive boards, more than any team in the NBA in this first week of the season.

The Hornets had 23 second-chance points, but could have had a lot more if not for their shooting woes.

“We didn’t play hard, and that’s a sign I didn’t do what we needed to do … to have the team ready,” Hornets coach Monty Williams said. “We couldn’t throw it in the ocean. That happens on occasions, but our defense was not there tonight.”

The Hornets got away with poor shooting in the first half, but it finally caught up with them halfway through the third quarter, when they were still just below 30 percent again (17 of 59).

Nash pulled up for a 3-pointer to give the Suns a 61-51 lead. Dudley then scored inside after baiting Chris Kaman to leave his feet on a ball fake. Frye followed with a 3 from the corner that fell through after a high bounce off the rim. Then Gortat capped a 10-0 run with an inside basket that made it 68-51.

New Orleans was unable to get any closer than nine points after that.

New Orleans hit only four of its first 20 shots (20 percent), but trailed only 16-14 at that point. Halfway through the second quarter, the Hornets were 10 of 35, but still trailed by only four after Okafor’s free throws.

Soon after, the Suns raced to their first double-digit lead when Nash fueled a 6-0 spurt with fast-break feeds to Hill for a layup and Warrick for a dunk, making it 43-33.

New Orleans finally got over 30 percent — barely — when Belinelli hit his second 3 and Greivis Vasquez set up Okafor’s dunk to make it 52-45 at halftime.

Notes: Brown got a technical foul in the second quarter for arguing with officials. … Gentry also was called for a technical foul in the second quarter. … New Orleans entered the game having won four straight against Phoenix, including the last three meetings last season. … A near scuffle occurred early in the fourth quarter between the Suns’ Robin Lopez and New Orleans’ Trevor Ariza, who were each assessed technical fouls, but Brown and Jack quickly stepped between them before it escalated. … New Orleans’ offensive rebound total was higher than they had in any game last season.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

New Orleans Hornets

It is difficult for me to properly convey the joy in my heart as a New Orleans Hornets fan at the outset of the 2011-12 NBA season. The Hornets top players left, David Stern mismanaged the Chris Paul trade and the national media left us for dead. However, early on in the NBA season, the Hornets are undefeated which is more than many so-called superior teams can say. Take a closer look at five “random” NBA teams with worse records than the Hornets.

New York Knicks: 1-1

The first indication that Chris Paul wanted to leave the Hornets was when he indicated that he’d like to play for the Knicks. New York played horribly in the 2011 NBA Playoffs and things aren’t much better in this NBA season. The only thing keeping the Knicks from being winless is an early season NBA matchup versus the old Boston Celtics.

Boston Celtics: 0-3

I’m sure most Celtics fans will blame their 0-3 start on the loss of Paul Pierce. However, the Hornets are still undefeated in this NBA season despite Jarrett Jack and Eric Gordon each missing a game. The Hornets won their home opener over the Celtics by 19 points. It may be awhile before the Celtics are contenders in the NBA again.

Dallas Mavericks: 0-2

Of all the NBA teams with worse records than the Hornets, the Mavericks have been the least impressive. The 2011 NBA champions look like a totally different team this year. I thought Lamar Odom would help compensate for the loss of Tyson Chandler, but I was mistaken. The Hornets should finish ahead of the Mavs in the Southwest Division.

Los Angeles Lakers: 1-2

I was mortified at the prevalence of Lakers fans in the New Orleans Arena during the Hornets NBA Playoff series versus L.A. I wonder what all of those fans are thinking now. David Stern laid waste to the Lakers in the failed trade with the Hornets. Once one of the best teams in the NBA, the Lakers may no longer be the best NBA team in L.A.

Los Angeles Clippers: 1-1

I still can’t figure out why Chris Paul preferred playing for the Clippers to the Hornets. The Clippers never make the NBA Playoffs and the Hornets usually do. Early on, it looks like the Clippers need more than Paul and Blake Griffin to become an elite NBA team. I can’t wait for the Hornets to play the Clippers in New Orleans on March 22.

Other “random” NBA teams with worse records than the Hornets

Chicago Bulls: 1-1, Orlando Magic: 1-1, Utah Jazz: 0-2, Memphis Grizzlies: 0-2

Patrick Michael was born in New Orleans and currently resides in the Big Easy. A loyal New Orleans NBA fan, Patrick was a diehard New Orleans Jazz fan and now cheers for the Hornets. Patrick was in the New Orleans Arena the night the Hornets were one win away from the Western Conference Finals.

Sources

“2011-12 NBA Season Summary,” basketball-reference.com

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