Great Scott! Byron Really Can Coach

With the New Orleans Hornets off to another decent start this season, head coach, Byron Scott has emphatically dispelled rumors that surfaced a few seasons ago, that he wasn't a competent head coach and that the man responsible for the success of the New Jersey Nets during the era of their consecutive NBA Finals appearances, was actually New Jersey assistant coach, Eddie Jordan, the current head coach of the Washington Wizards.

With last season's surprising - and encouraging - success, Scott earned a different label for himself; that of educator, or motivator - anything, but incompetent.

Scott earns extra points too, at least with me, for his ability to get his young team to succeed last year amid a constant barrage of outside distractions related to their Hurricane Katrina upheaval that forced them to play their "home" games in numerous arenas - the majority in Oklahoma City, where the fans there immediately fell in love with the team.

Obviously, the drafting of point guard Chris Paul has helped both, the Hornets franchise and Scott, but the reality of the situation is that Scott is coaching a very young team that has overachieved under his direction - and continues to show signs of improvement, which is usually a sign of excellent coaching.

Hornets general manager, Jeff Bower, didn't hire Scott, but he has been very supportive of the coach and has candidly expressed his praise for Scott.

"Byron has given us a chance to win every night," Bower said. "Through his confidence level, his preparation and approach, he has our entire team sold on it."

Scott, it seems, has sold a lot of people on the fact that he can coach this game - including me.