Welcome to the regular season.

This season could be ugly (hence tonight's artwork — Leap Into the Void by Yves Klein), and the ugliness could very well begin tonight. Here's a closer look at the proceedings to come.

The Hornets did most of the damage on defense, holding opponents to just below .500 eFG and finishing 7th in defensive rebounding. They were great at avoiding fouls (a testament to Tyson Chandler's mental growth), finishing with the sixth lowest free throws made per field goals attempted rate. Despite Chris Paul's pickpocketing skills, however, the team was among the worst in creating turnovers. Defensively, the major upgrade is Morris Peterson, who while aging can man up more consistently than Desmond Mason (who left for Milwaukee). The other major defensive strengths and weaknesses — namely Paul and Tyson Chandler on the positive side, and Peja Stojakovic on the other — remain in place.

New Orleans' offense last season was far below-average, finishing 23rd in points per possession. The main problem: shooting. Peja missed most of last year, so his return helps in theory. Peterson can also bang the open jumper, and that right there is two more big-time shooters than the team had last year (ignoring the very able but sparsely weaponized Devin Brown, who went to Cleveland). If Peterson took all the shots Mason had last year, the Hornets would be much better off. Even better? A solid portion of those will instead go to Paul or Peja (which may or may not be a good thing in the latter case, depending on his recovery).

I'd give the secret to stopping Paul, but one doesn't exist. Stopping Chandler? Send him to the foul line. He shot .527 from there last year. You can hope to turn him over frequently, too — but he handles the ball so infrequently it's tough to make him do anything. The best solution is to keep him off the offensive boards, and well good luck with that, Brad Miller.

Off the bench, the Hornets mainly boast Bobby Jackson with perhaps a sprinkling of youth in Hilton Armstrong and StR favorite Julian Wright. You know Bobby well; Armstrong is an infrequent shooting roleplayer, Wright a possibly anonymous (for the time being) point-forward with lots of get-up.

This game will begin at 5:00 p.m. Pacific. News10 has the television locally, and KHTK 1140 will bring you the sweet yet sultry tones of Gary Gerould. Enjoy, and let's go Kings.