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**girllovesthegame** · 01-27-2010, 11:56 AM

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OAKLAND, CALIF. - There were some whispers going around last fall that LSU basketball alumnus Marcus Thornton had told associates on the Tigers' team that he would be starting for the Hornets by midseason.

"Nah, " Thornton said, moments before Game No. 44 of the New Orleans Hornets' regular season, two games past the precise midpoint of the 82-game slate. "I didn't say that."

If Thornton did confide to friends that he'd be in the starting lineup, he was awfully prescient.

Thornton, acquired by the Hornets from the Miami Heat on draft night for two future second-round draft choices, made his starting debut Monday night against the Portland Trail Blazers, hours after New Orleans traded guard Devin Brown to the Chicago Bulls in part because of Thornton's abundant potential.

As someone once said, it ain't bragging if you can do it.

"One thing Marcus never lacks, " said Hornets guard Chris Paul, "is confidence."

That sentiment was echoed by New Orleans' other resident star, forward David West.

"I just think he's a confident basketball player, " said West, "and that's a good place to start in terms of coming in. So he's pretty confident in his abilities and he's a guy who's pretty mature as well, as far as not getting flustered in certain situations and proving himself in terms of being able to make solid plays."

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Tooeasy · 01-27-2010, 08:51 PM

hes puttin a hurtin on the warriors tonight! i love the defensive intensity that he shows, he really tries to fight through screens and looks to have a lot of pride on that end of the floor.

RollWithEm · 01-28-2010, 07:33 AM

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Originally Posted by Tooeasy

i love the defensive intensity that he shows, he really tries to fight through screens and looks to have a lot of pride on that end of the floor.

I really like that, too. I see this a lot with the second round picks and undrafted guys that stick around for many years in this league (Ben Wallace, PJ Brown, Bryon Russell, Eric Snow, Eduardo Najera, Trenton Hassell, Matt Barnes, Keith Bogans, Ronny Turiaf, and even guys like Stephen Jackson and Michael Redd early in their careers). They figure out that no matter how easy it was for them to score in college, the only way for them to carve out a niche for themselves in the NBA is to play hard and consistent defense. It's nice to see a young player figure that out early in his career. That's the only way for teams to really get value out of late picks in drafts nowadays.

Now I just hope his defensive intensity rubs off on some of the veterans who struggle to maintain focus on that end of the floor ***cough*** DWest ***cough*** Peja.

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