Hornets can't give DC away

[kevin lok <bostonceltics17@yahoo.com>]

http://www.gastongazette.com/Portal/Sports/Hornets/Hornets12.htm

Hornets
                  can't even give Coleman away
Compiled by
                  Richard Walker
Gazette Sports Reporter
[ HORNETS ]
The "for sale" sign
                hanging around Derrick Coleman’s neck has been put
away,
                because much like in real estate, there has to be a
market for
                there to be a sale.
And with Coleman, a player who
                has been out of shape for most if not all of seven of
his last
                eight NBA seasons, there was no market at all.
Or, as one Boston executive put
                it when asked if his team was interested in trading
away point
                guard Kenny Anderson for Coleman, "No way. That would
be
                trading away one headache for a worse headache."
To put it nicely, the Hornets
                attempts to deal Coleman to Boston for Anderson — the
kind of
                backup point guard the team says it desperately needs
— are
                dead in the water. And that’s with the Celtics
aggressively shopping Anderson around the league.
There are no other takers for
                Coleman elsewhere in the league, either.
So where does that leave the
                Hornets and Coleman, who now appear joined at the hip
more than
                ever?
"I think, hopefully, it will
                be better than it has been," coach Paul Silas said of
                Coleman’s impact on the team. "I’ve talked to him and
                we’ll see. He knows how I feel. But it can work for
him. All
                he’s got to do is come back in reasonably good shape
and help
                us win games."
Doing either part of Silas’
                last comment has been like pulling teeth in recent
years. Since
                nagging injuries starting taking their toll on Coleman
in the 1995-96 season, only once in the years since has he been able
to
                play more than 60 games in a year.
Last season, he hit new lows.
                Coleman played in a career-low 34 games while
averaging
                career-lows of 8.1 points, 5.4 rebounds and 20.1
minutes per
                game.
Worse than that, Silas publicly
                criticized him, Coleman was placed on injured reserve
with the
                less than flattering term "lack of physical
conditioning," Silas even sat him out of five games when he
                was healthy due to "coach’s decision" and the team’s
                record with and without him bordered on the
ridiculous.
Including the 6-4 playoff run,
                Charlotte was 15-24 when Coleman played last season
and 37-16
                when he didn’t. The numbers continued a three-year
trend for
                Coleman in his Hornets’ career, as the team is now
74-80 with
                him and 54-20 without him during his Charlotte career.
However, since Coleman has $18.1
                million left over two seasons of the five-year, $40
million
                contract he signed with the team in January 1999,
there’s no
                chance the team will release him.
So, is there any chance Coleman
                can be effective again?
"All I ever wanted was
                production," Silas said. "He’s got to give me
something for him to play. It’ll all hinge on him coming back
                in shape."
That means the answer may not be
                known until training camp begins in October.