The Derrick Coleman experiment came to a close Thursday, two years and many victories shorter than the Charlotte Hornets had expected. Within an hour of their three-team, eight-player trade, however, the Hornets were looking more to what might be than at what might have been.

"We'll still have a good team," said forward and tri-captain P.J. Brown. "We want to get back to where we were last season and get even further."

Said tri-captain David Wesley: "We played a lot last year without D.C. The fact that he's gone doesn't hurt us as bad as (losing) somebody who played the majority of last year. He missed a lot of games. We developed ways to play without him."

They will continue to play without him when they open the NBA regular season Wednesday. Coleman was sent to Philadelphia in a trade involving the Hornets, 76ers and Golden State Warriors, with the Hornets getting forwards George Lynch, Robert "Tractor" Traylor, Jerome Moiso and Chris Porter in return.