OAKLAND, Calif. -- Priority No. 1 for the Hornets this offseason was to get some help for Chris Paul and David West. After watching his team get manhandled by the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs last season, coach Byron Scott knew that his team needed more depth.Well, the Hornets are now deeper. But whether Paul and West get some more help remains to be seen.
The basic plan in New Orleans is to have either rookie Darren Collison or Bobby Brown cut into Paul's minutes and for Darius Songaila or Ike Diogu to do the same to West.
"I'm going to make a conscious effort to make sure I give C.P. and David time off," Scott said Thursday at the team's shoot-around before a game against Golden State. "What I mean by time off is not playing 39 minutes a game. Try to keep their minutes to a minimum so that they can be fresh toward the end of the season.
"In doing so, obviously Bobby and Darren, our backup points, and Darius and Ike will get a chance to play the four position and get comfortable in it. Hopefully it works out the way I'm planning on it working out."
On the surface, it seems like Scott -- and the organization -- might be asking a little too much from those guys. Brown played sparingly in Sacramento and Minnesota last season and expecting him to consistently spell Paul over the course of an entire season might be a reach. Collison is a rookie. Enough said.
Up front, the issues are pretty much the same. Songaila has a legitimate track record in the NBA, but his rebounding has gotten worse in each of the past three seasons and he is more energy guy than rotation guy.
Diogu has been an enigma his entire career, and the Hornets are his fifth team already. Less than two months into his rookie season, Diogu laid 27 points on the Pistons -- including going 13-for-15 from the floor -- but, unfortunately, that was his career high point.
The real question seems to be whether or not those backups to Paul and West are good enough. Or, in essence, are Scott and the Hornets expecting way too much from them.
"It would be nice for one or two of them to have a career year, but we're just looking for consistency from the bench," Scott said. "That's the biggest thing. We don't want our bench to lose leads for us. You would like to have a bench you have a lot of confidence in that can come in not only when your starters aren't playing well but to pick up the energy. It would be great if two or three guys had career years. That would help our starters."
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