Monty Williams Thinks Some Hornets Players Have Already Quit on the Season


New Orleans Hornets head coach seems to believe that the team still has something to play for this season, but he alleges that some of his players — *cough* Carl Landry *cough* — might not share the same philosophy. Per the Times-Picayune: “When New Orleans Hornets Coach Monty Williams was asked about forward Carl Landry’s availability for Sunday night’s game against the Phoenix Suns, he appeared baffled. Though Landry missed his second consecutive game with a sprained right ankle, Williams said he had no idea what’s going on with the forward’s injury. ‘It’s one of those situations that if I say too much right now, I could be sharp with my words,’ Williams said. Williams praised guard Jarrett Jack (sore ankle), forward Jason Smith (sore thigh) and Al-Farouq Aminu (foot) for playing through their injuries. But without naming anyone specifically, Williams lashed out at players that he believes might have already quit on the season with 13 games remaining. ‘If you have guys who think these games don’t mean anything, those are not the guys we want going forward,’ Williams said. ‘I’ve addressed it. It’s nothing new to our team. Trust me, we’ve seen it, and we’ve seen it here. This is the time of the year where you find out who is playing for the right reasons and who isn’t playing for the right reasons. I’m not going to single guys out, but I know what I’m looking at. I’ve been in the league long enough.’ The Hornets (13-40) are in range of setting the mark for fewest wins in franchise history, although they’re playing an abbreviated 66-game schedule caused by the NBA lockout. The current low point is 18 victories in the 2004-05 season in the franchise’s third year in New Orleans. That team finished 18-64. In an injury-riddled season, Williams has used 22 lineups with 10 players missing no less than two games because of injury.”