Hornets The Surprise Team Of NBA

When I last blogged about the New Orleans Hornets it was following Media Day, and about all I knew was the team had an infusion of new talent, what I didn’t expect was the Hornets to be the NBA’s hottest team to start the season. The Hornets jumped out a franchise best 8-0 start before dropping their first game of the season in Dallas to their Southwest Divisional rival Mavericks.

The Hornets racked up impressive wins against some of the NBA’s best teams on their way to an 8-0 start, including the Denver Nuggets, San Antonio Spurs, Milwaukee Bucks, Miami Heat and the Portland Trailblazers before falling to the Mavericks by three points on the road. It has been an impressive start to the 2010-2011 NBA campaign and here are a few of my favorite images from the first few weeks of the season.

Let me start with a few frames from the most anticipated match up of the year so far the New Orleans Hornets against the Miami Heat.

November 5, 2010; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Hornets point guard Chris Paul (3) scrambles for a loose ball during the second quarter against the Miami Heat at the New Orleans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

If Paul looks a little close, well he was very close, he nearly collided with me on the baseline, but the athletic player he is, he avoided me and everyone else courtside.

The big draw to this game was of course “The King” Lebron James taking to the court in New Orleans for the first time as a member of the Miami Heat, the Hornets entered the game undefeated and if you asked most fans before the game, they would have told you they would be happy with just a competitive game, but the Hornets controlled the game nearly the entire night and went on to a 96-93 victory in a game that told the rest of the league, that the Hornets were for real.

November 5, 2010; New Orleans, LA, USA; Miami Heat small forward LeBron James (6) drives between New Orleans Hornets center D.J. Mbenga (28) of the Congo and guard Marcus Thornton (5) during the first half at the New Orleans Arena. The Hornets defeated the Heat 96-93. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

November 5, 2010; New Orleans, LA, USA; Miami Heat small forward LeBron James (6) drives with the ball against the New Orleans Hornets during the second quarter at the New Orleans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

November 5, 2010; New Orleans, LA, USA; Miami Heat small forward LeBron James (6) passes the ball as New Orleans Hornets small forward Trevor Ariza (1) defends during a game at the New Orleans Arena. The Hornets defeated the Heat 96-93. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

November 5, 2010; New Orleans, LA, USA; Miami Heat small forward LeBron James (6) throws powder into the air prior to tip off of a game against the New Orleans Hornets at the New Orleans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

November 5, 2010; New Orleans, LA, USA; Miami Heat small forward LeBron James (6) dunks during the second quarter against the New Orleans Hornets at the New Orleans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

Here are a few more random shots from the game.

November 5, 2010; New Orleans, LA, USA; Miami Heat shooting guard Dwyane Wade (3) shoots over New Orleans Hornets center Emeka Okafor (50) during the first quarter at the New Orleans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

November 5, 2010; New Orleans, LA, USA; Miami Heat shooting guard Dwyane Wade (3) and New Orleans Hornets center Emeka Okafor (50) reach for a loose ball Miami Heat shooting guard Dwyane Wade (3) a game at the New Orleans Arena. The Hornets defeated the Heat 96-93. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

November 5, 2010; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Hornets power forward David West (30) grabs a rebound over Miami Heat power forward Udonis Haslem (40) during a game at the New Orleans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

November 5, 2010; New Orleans, LA, USA; Miami Heat shooting guard Dwyane Wade (3) drives with the ball against the New Orleans Hornets during the second quarter at the New Orleans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

November 5, 2010; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Hornets Honeybees cheerleaders perform during a game against the Miami Heat at the New Orleans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

November 5, 2010; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Hornets center Emeka Okafor (50) shoots over Miami Heat center Zydrunas Ilgauskas (11) of Lithuania during a game at the New Orleans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

November 5, 2010; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Hornets shooting guard Marco Belinelli (8) of Italy shoots over Miami Heat power forward Chris Bosh (1) during the first half at the New Orleans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

Wanna see more from the Heat vs Hornets check out the full gallery here

I started off with photos from the Miami Heat game first because it was the more interesting game, secondly because the season opener was nearly a disaster. The opener against the Milwaukee Bucks wasn’t a great night for me as I discovered I had a problem with my main basketball lens, my 70-200mm f/2.8 began focusing erratically, the images looked good when I tagged on the back of the screen, some people call it ‘chimping’ I call it tagging, something I do to mark my selects for quick downloads and edits so I can get the photos to the wire quickly.

Anyways, I wasn’t sure what the problem was I changed settings multiple times and all indications were the camera was focusing, which it was, the problem I discovered following the game was the lens was malfunctioning, I did manage to get some photos out, but my focus was off for nearly 80% of the game.

October 27, 2010; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Hornets small forward Trevor Ariza (1) celebrates with point guard Chris Paul (3) after a score against the Milwaukee Bucks during the first quarter at the New Orleans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

October 27, 2010; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Hornets point guard Chris Paul (3) controls the ball during the second half against the Milwaukee Bucks at the New Orleans Arena. The Hornets defeated the Bucks 95-91. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

For the following game, I borrowed a lens to shoot with since mine was sent in to the good people at Canon Professional Services for repairs. I was back on track with a working lens and it was a big game as Carmelo Anthony and the Denver Nuggets were in town. Below are a few frames from the game.

October 29, 2010; New Orleans, LA, USA; Denver Nuggets power forward Shelden Williams (23) has the ball knocked away by New Orleans Hornets power forward David West (30) during the first half at the New Orleans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle..

October 29, 2010; New Orleans, LA, USA; Denver Nuggets small forward Carmelo Anthony (15) on the court during the third quarter against the New Orleans Hornets at the New Orleans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

October 29, 2010; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Hornets point guard Chris Paul (3) shoots over Denver Nuggets shooting guard Arron Afflalo (6)during the fourth quarter at the New Orleans Arena. The Hornets defeated the Nuggets 101-95. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

October 29, 2010; New Orleans, LA, USA; Denver Nuggets small forward Carmelo Anthony (15) has his headband knocked over his eyes on a play during the fourth quarter against the New Orleans Hornets at the New Orleans Arena. The Hornets defeated the Nuggets 101-95. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

October 29, 2010; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Hornets center Emeka Okafor (50) shoots over Denver Nuggets power forward Shelden Williams (23)during the fourth quarter at the New Orleans Arena. The Hornets defeated the Nuggets 101-95. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

October 29, 2010; New Orleans, LA, USA; Denver Nuggets small forward Carmelo Anthony (15) watches from the bench during the first half at the New Orleans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle..

The most recent home game I covered was a visit from the Los Angeles Clippers, I missed the Hornets home game against the Portland Trailblazers since I was assigned to an LSU football game the same night. For the Clippers game I had my lens back from Canon and it was my first chance to test out the lens.

November 9, 2010; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Hornets power forward David West (30) shoots over Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan (9) during the third quarter at the New Orleans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

November 9, 2010; New Orleans, LA, USA; Los Angeles Clippers point guard Eric Bledsoe (12) has his shot blocked by New Orleans Hornets center Emeka Okafor (50) during the second half at the New Orleans Arena. The Hornets defeated the Clippers 101-82. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

November 9, 2010; New Orleans, LA, USA; Los Angeles Clippers center Chris Kaman (35) shoots over New Orleans Hornets small forward Trevor Ariza (1)during the first quarter at the New Orleans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

November 9, 2010; New Orleans, LA, USA;New Orleans Hornets point guard Chris Paul (3) defends against Los Angeles Clippers point guard Eric Bledsoe (12) during the first quarter at the New Orleans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

November 9, 2010; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Hornets power forward David West (30) dunks against the Los Angeles Clippers during the third quarter at the New Orleans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

Below are a few of places my images from the first few weeks of the season have appeared.