It’s over.

The Hornets hung tough for 30 minutes tonight, doing their best to show some pride and not go down without a fight. The Nuggets looked laid back all the while, knowing that they’d put together a back-breaking run at some point. That came at the end of the third quarter, with Carmelo Anthony taking it strong to the rack and J.R. Smith flame throwing triples. The Hornets could do nothing but force up some tough shots against the imposing Denver defense and wait for their season to end.

Final score: 107-86. A convincing 4-1 series win for the Nuggets.

Congratulations due to Denver. They proved to be by far the better team. All throughout the series they played physical and aggressive defense, they executed a good game plan, and they just had too many offensive weapons for us to handle. I expect to see them in the conference finals.

For us Hornets fans, naturally we start wondering what comes next for our team. (Actually, I think we already started that after the Game 4 debacle). There will be plenty of different arguments about that, and lots of them will have valid points. No doubt, changes have to be made.

But where to start? Earlier today I posted the following in the comments:

I have a hard time blaming any one person in particular for this mess. Sure, it would help if George Shinn had deeper pockets. It would also be nice if Jeff Bower could undo some of the moves he did/didn’t make so we’d have a deeper and more talented roster. It would be great if Byron had more coaching skills, if our players could stay healthy and productive, and if they consistently put forth maximum effort. Also, the economy isn’t helping and we’re playing the wrong team at the wrong time.

It’s all the perfect storm for the Hornets right now. The fastest way out of it is for everyone involved in the organization to ask themselves how they can do better in future and then strive to do so. They won’t get far if they’re busy assigning blame.

So where to start with the changes? I say find those people (players, coaches, trainers, scouts, management, whoever) within the organization who don’t accept responsibility for their role in creating this storm, and get rid of them. Start right there, and we can only get better.