Breaking News: Byron Scott Let Go, GM Jeff Bower Steps in

Update: Ric Bucher and Marc Stein are now saying the Hornets will have GM Jeff Bower coach the team and Tim Floyd will be the top assistant. This should be fun to watch!

Marc Stein is reporting that New Orleans Hornets coach Byron Scott, who was the coach of the year in 2008, has been fired by the team. This seems odd considering his recent track record. It's also way too early to be firing coaches in the NBA. Give him at least 20 games, right? Here's an excerpt from Stein:

Scott won NBA Coach of the Year honors in 2008 after he and franchise point guard Chris Paul led the Hornets to a 56-26 record and the Southwest Division title. The Hornets then defeated Dallas in the first round of the playoffs and were within one win of the West finals before losing Game 7 at home to the San Antonio Spurs.

The Hornets slumped slightly to a 49-33 record last season, thanks partly to a flurry of injuries. They were pounded in the first round of the playoffs by Denver, losing the final home game of the season -- Game 4 of the series -- by a whopping 58 points.

Scott hung onto his job after the early exit but couldn't survive New Orleans' poor start, even though the many holes on the Hornets' roster -- with no consistent scorer at the wing positions and little depth -- appeared to be beyond his control. A number of league observers considered a coaching change inevitable if the Hornets struggled this season.

So what does this mean for Portland who travels to New Orleans tomorrow? Are we going to be facing a team in shambles or an inspired team who just needed a change psychologically? Either way, I'm looking forward to this matchup, hopefully we can contain CP3.