Hornets News
Campbell might play tonight
Center activated; Drew is placed on injured list
11/23/02
By John Reid
Staff writer/The Times-Picayune
Center Elden Campbell was activated before Friday night's game and reserve guard Bryce Drew was placed on the injured list. Campbell had missed the entire training camp, including all eight exhibition games and the first 11 regular-season games, resulting from arthroscopic surgery on his left knee.
This week, he practiced for the first time and moved without limitations. Coach Paul Silas said he would like to play Campbell for some limited minutes tonight against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Campbell didn't participate in all of the pregame warmups Friday and did not dress for the game.
"I'm going to see how it feels in the morning," Campbell said.
Drew, meanwhile, missed the first 11 games after having surgery to repair an orbital wall fracture of his left eye Oct. 30. The injury occurred when Drew received an inadvertent elbow during practice.
"Its been a little over three weeks and my doctor said it's going to take six weeks to heal," Drew said. "I just started to run three days ago."
OLYMPIC HOPES: Point guard Baron Davis wants to play in the 2004 Olympics for the U.S. basketball team. Davis was a member on the U.S. team that didn't win a medal at the World Championships in Indianapolis this summer.
"It would be fun, and I definitely would love it," Davis said. "We had a lot of stars on this year's team, but we didn't play up to our capabilities."
Davis said last month that USA Basketball coach George Karl didn't utilize him enough during the World Championships.
But Davis said he wouldn't have problems if either the Philadelphia 76ers' Larry Brown, Los Angeles Lakers' Phil Jackson or Miami Heat's Pat Riley were selected to coach. They are the front-runners.
TOP REBOUNDER: Hornets forward P.J. Brown has six double-doubles and has grabbed 14 or more rebounds three times this season. Brown's 4.3 offensive rebounds-per-game average ranks second in the league.
In the past three games, Brown has averaged 13.3 points and 13.7 rebounds, including a season-high 16 rebounds against the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday night.
PLAYOFF CAPABLE: James Dolan, the Knicks owner and chairman of Madison Square Garden, accompanied the team to New Orleans for Friday night's game. He said the Knicks are capable of making the playoffs, despite their slow start. The Knicks did not make the playoffs last season, ending a string of 14 straight seasons.
"I think he sees the same things that I do," Knicks coach Don Chaney said of Dolan. "If we're healthy and this team plays the way it's capable, there's a very good chance. In other words, we're not looking at this as a throw-out season. I have a job to do and I do it. I don't worry about things I can't control. I think one thing about our owner, he's 100 percent behind the team."
SLOW START: The Hornets had one of their worst starts at New Orleans Arena. They made six of 21 shots and were outscored 31-16 by the Knicks in the first quarter.
Jamal Mashburn, who scored 14 of his team-high 37 points in the first quarter against Philadelphia on Tuesday night, missed four of his first five shots and was held to five points in the first quarter against the Knicks. He finished with 25 points.
RETURN VISIT: Forward Lee Nailon, who was released by the Hornets and signed by the Knicks before the start of the season, made his first return to New Orleans. Nailon, a backup forward, played just four minutes and went scoreless, attempting one shot.
HOT SHOOTERS: Knicks guards Latrell Sprewell and Allan Houston combined to score 38 of the Knicks' 53 points in the first half. Houston went 11 of 13 from the field for 23 points; Sprewell made six of 13 shots for 15 points
Campbell might play tonight
Center activated; Drew is placed on injured list
11/23/02
By John Reid
Staff writer/The Times-Picayune
Center Elden Campbell was activated before Friday night's game and reserve guard Bryce Drew was placed on the injured list. Campbell had missed the entire training camp, including all eight exhibition games and the first 11 regular-season games, resulting from arthroscopic surgery on his left knee.
This week, he practiced for the first time and moved without limitations. Coach Paul Silas said he would like to play Campbell for some limited minutes tonight against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Campbell didn't participate in all of the pregame warmups Friday and did not dress for the game.
"I'm going to see how it feels in the morning," Campbell said.
Drew, meanwhile, missed the first 11 games after having surgery to repair an orbital wall fracture of his left eye Oct. 30. The injury occurred when Drew received an inadvertent elbow during practice.
"Its been a little over three weeks and my doctor said it's going to take six weeks to heal," Drew said. "I just started to run three days ago."
OLYMPIC HOPES: Point guard Baron Davis wants to play in the 2004 Olympics for the U.S. basketball team. Davis was a member on the U.S. team that didn't win a medal at the World Championships in Indianapolis this summer.
"It would be fun, and I definitely would love it," Davis said. "We had a lot of stars on this year's team, but we didn't play up to our capabilities."
Davis said last month that USA Basketball coach George Karl didn't utilize him enough during the World Championships.
But Davis said he wouldn't have problems if either the Philadelphia 76ers' Larry Brown, Los Angeles Lakers' Phil Jackson or Miami Heat's Pat Riley were selected to coach. They are the front-runners.
TOP REBOUNDER: Hornets forward P.J. Brown has six double-doubles and has grabbed 14 or more rebounds three times this season. Brown's 4.3 offensive rebounds-per-game average ranks second in the league.
In the past three games, Brown has averaged 13.3 points and 13.7 rebounds, including a season-high 16 rebounds against the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday night.
PLAYOFF CAPABLE: James Dolan, the Knicks owner and chairman of Madison Square Garden, accompanied the team to New Orleans for Friday night's game. He said the Knicks are capable of making the playoffs, despite their slow start. The Knicks did not make the playoffs last season, ending a string of 14 straight seasons.
"I think he sees the same things that I do," Knicks coach Don Chaney said of Dolan. "If we're healthy and this team plays the way it's capable, there's a very good chance. In other words, we're not looking at this as a throw-out season. I have a job to do and I do it. I don't worry about things I can't control. I think one thing about our owner, he's 100 percent behind the team."
SLOW START: The Hornets had one of their worst starts at New Orleans Arena. They made six of 21 shots and were outscored 31-16 by the Knicks in the first quarter.
Jamal Mashburn, who scored 14 of his team-high 37 points in the first quarter against Philadelphia on Tuesday night, missed four of his first five shots and was held to five points in the first quarter against the Knicks. He finished with 25 points.
RETURN VISIT: Forward Lee Nailon, who was released by the Hornets and signed by the Knicks before the start of the season, made his first return to New Orleans. Nailon, a backup forward, played just four minutes and went scoreless, attempting one shot.
HOT SHOOTERS: Knicks guards Latrell Sprewell and Allan Houston combined to score 38 of the Knicks' 53 points in the first half. Houston went 11 of 13 from the field for 23 points; Sprewell made six of 13 shots for 15 points
