<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">NEW ORLEANS -- All-Star forward Jamal Mashburn of the New Orleans Hornets, who has missed the entire NBA season with a knee injury, will return to team practice on Jan. 26, the team said Wednesday. The Hornets said a date has not been set for a return to the lineup. "Everything's going well," Mashburn said Wednesday in an interview with WWL-TV. "I'm right on pace, and on the basketball court down in Miami." Mashburn, who was in town to take the team picture, has been rehabilitating the knee in Florida. The team said he had been working out on the court for two weeks without any pain or swelling. "Rehab is going perfect," Mashburn said. "I don't have the pressure in Miami and I can focus on what I have to do." Following three straight losses, the Hornets are 22-16. Mashburn, who has yet to play a game for coach Tim Floyd, injured his knee during an intrasquad scrimmage before the first preseason game in October. He underwent surgery</div> Link: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?section=nba&id=1708558
This is very good for the Hornets. Baron has shown that he's in the upper echelon of players in the league, but even a single great player can't carry a team for a whole season, and we're seeing that with the decline in the Hornets' fortunes. With Mash's return, it will be a huge psychological boon for the team, since he can't be expected to be in all-NBA form right off the bat. But even contributing at a limited level will be better than what they had before, and hopefully we'll see the 'Willis Reed Effect' take place.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting starman85:</div><div class="quote_post">This is very good for the Hornets. Baron has shown that he's in the upper echelon of players in the league, but even a single great player can't carry a team for a whole season, and we're seeing that with the decline in the Hornets' fortunes. With Mash's return, it will be a huge psychological boon for the team, since he can't be expected to be in all-NBA form right off the bat. But even contributing at a limited level will be better than what they had before, and hopefully we'll see the 'Willis Reed Effect' take place.</div> true that, although mash will probably start off slow the entire team should play better. the entire team becomes better all around with the addition of another bonified scorer in mash and will take some pressure of b diddy to produce all the scoring. hopefully the bugs will be able to turn it around although the hornets seem to traditionally go through several peaks and valleys throughout the season. oh why hornets do you have to be the model for inconsistency?
