New Hornets coach Jeff Bower and newly hired lead assistant Tim Floyd are in the midst of their most intensive teaching since taking over from Byron Scott earlier this month. The first six games under Bower were played in a span of 10 days, leaving limited practice time beyond what was devoted to the next opponent. But the 102-99 overtime victory against the Bucks on Wednesday night in the New Orleans Arena was the Hornets' only game in a span of six days. New Orleans (7-9) next plays at the Kings on Sunday. Bower said that most of the practice time during the condensed schedule was spent "cleaning up" areas that needed cleaning up. But this week more time has been spent installing new "execution points" on offense and defense, which will continue throughout the season.
"It's been pretty balanced (between offense and defense)," Bower said. "We want to give teams a fresh look. The level of scouting in this league dictates that you keep putting in fresh things to give teams something new to prepare for."
Bower said a general point of emphasis has been to take the good "spurts and segments" that the team has had periodically and extend them until they put together a full 48 minutes of "very good" basketball.
HORNETS 102, BUCKS 99 (OT): Rookie Darren Collison made a tying 3-pointer and knocked the ball away from the Bucks to end a potential game-winning possession at the end of regulation. Then in overtime he scored three points, including a tie-breaking free throw, and made a key steal to rally the Hornets. Collison finished with 18 points, eight assists, seven rebounds, and two steals in 36-plus minutes.
The Hornets made just 36.6 percent of their field goals and committed a season-worst 23 turnovers, leading to 20 Bucks' points. They overcame that by making 28-of-31 free throws and whipping the Bucks on the boards, a season-high 61 to 49.
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