BY RYAN ARENA
L’Observateur

The Hornets’ selection of Marcus Thornton in Thursday’s NBA Draft was like the cherry on the sundae for LSU fans.

The week began with one of the most thrilling victories in Tigers history, continued with a championship-clinching win Wednesday as the Tigers steamrolled Texas in the College World Series, and now effectively ends with the school’s best and most popular basketball star staying home in Louisiana.

Can’t get much better than that, no?

On the topic of the national championship, I have to say that watching the LSU baseball team just feels inherently different than watching any other personal “home team”. Be it the Saints, the Hornets, LSU football or basketball, or even the Voodoo (RIP), I’ve been kind of conditioned to expect the worst and hope for the best. Probably because none of those teams have been consistent winners as I’ve grown up, with the exception of LSU football — and they’ve had their share of failures.

LSU baseball? Dominant. They’ve won six national titles not just in my lifetime, but in my lifetime as a sports fan. They make the NCAA tournament virtually every single year. In short, I don’t know the LSU baseball team to fail. Things always seem to just work out.

Sure, Texas entered Wednesday as the top seed. But did I favor Texas to win? No way. Did I think that somehow, someway, a bad break would come up and bite the Tigers? Not a chance. They’re an anomaly in Louisiana, a team that gets the breaks — and one that makes their own.

I didn’t watch the NBA Draft on Thursday night, but I followed it from my computer at the L’Observateur office. Suffice to say, from picks 16 to 21 my work productivity was nil as I held out hope for an impact player (of course, at 21 in the NBA draft, everyone’s got some warts).

I was really hoping for the Hornets to bring in Ty Lawson, and nearly hit the roof when he went to Minnesota — that was a shock considering the Wolves had already selected two point guards. It made sense minutes later when Lawson was traded to Denver, which is pooling a ridiculous amount of talent these days.

From there, I was set on either Darren Collison or DeJuan Blair. Considering teams had enough concern over Blair’s knee to drop him into Round Two, the Hornets likely made the right pick. Collison doesn’t solve their need for a serious bench scorer, nor does he add sorely, SORELY needed size to the equation, but he’s a fantastic player whose only true liability seems to be size — as a feisty backup, maybe he’ll allow Byron Scott to rest Chris Paul once in awhile.

As for Thornton, anyone who saw him play against North Carolina in the NCAA tournament is probably pretty stoked about the pick. If he pans out, he could give them that scoring lift off the bench. One would hope he has the opportunity, and doesn’t go the way of Brandon Bass.

There were a lot of trades too, so some random thoughts on that front.

SHAQ JOINS THE KING: No idea what to really make of this trade. Shaq had a solid season, no doubt, but its 2009, not 2001, and I think a lot of people are overstating exactly how much of an impact player the big man is at this stage of his career. But he’s still a presence, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t looking forward to seeing those two physically dominant monsters on the court together.

VINCE CARTER’S GOING TO DISNEY WORLD: Unless Orlando just isn’t feeling the economic downturn, I’m thinking this might mean the end on Hedo Turkoglu in Orlando — he’s going to demand a lot of cash, and both Carter and Rashard Lewis are making huge salaries.

Turk’s one of the more underrated players in the league, especially when it comes to making baskets down the stretch. He’s a good passer, a good rebounder, a good 3-point marksman…he’s a huge reason Orlando got to the Finals.

On the other hand, Carter has a well-earned reputation as an oft-injured malcontent. But examining closer, even playing on a bad New Jersey team for the past few seasons, Carter has shown up for work — he’s played 82, 76 and 80 games in each of the last three seasons respectively. He shoots respectably from the field, and he’s a legitimate threat to score 22-to-25 points a night in the NBA — Hedo can’t match that.

Of course, if they can manage to keep both somehow, the Eastern Conference war between they, Cleveland and a healthy Boston will make the entire season worth watching in and of itself.