Hornets Menu - stick a fork in 'em, they are done

As a huge Hornets fan and season ticket holder, I must proclaim with honesty,full factual analysis ... The 2009-10 Hornets are done. Stick a fork in them now.
Credit is due on many levels:
Effort: This team plays hard, scraps and does much with little.
Playing better than .500 ball without CP3 for more than 20 games now is a huge accomplishment.
Rookies Shining: As ESPN agreed, Collison and Thorton are the best rookie combo in the NBA this season, hands down.
Aside from Collison's turnover propensity at times, he has been - dare I say it - as good as CP3 as a starter.
Thorton is a cold-blooded scorer. Once he masters the finer points of the NBA game (drawing contact going to goal and earning more free throws, for example), this stud will be unstoppable.
Okafor: many doubted and questioned the swap of Chandler for Okafor. I never did, and Okafor has proven me right. Aside from being overmatched against bigger centers, he is a double-double machine, and intimidates with his shot-blocking more than Chandler ever did. Problem is he can't defend the post and subsequently gets in silly foul trouble.
There you have you shiny, happy news.
Now, back to reality.
As it stands at this moment, the Hornets' are at best a .500 team right now. Why? They are horrible defensively. When is last time they held a team under 50pts in a half and/or 100 pts in a game?
The number of uncontested layups and wide-open shots every game is unexplainable.
Check that.. I can explain: Lack of effort and discipline, more so effort. Defense is about intensity and effort, and to allow uncontested shots at the rim is (no pun intended) indefensible.
Anyone with knowledge of this team also knows, they are in a straight-jacket when it comes to contracts.
The heavy contract shackles of Peja, MoPete, and Posey have left needle eye's room to improve the roster.
And even worse about The Creaky 3 (my copywright is pending on this name) is their on-court performance.
(Following names have been changed to protect the innocent)
No-Shot Posey looks like he has cement in his shoes on D. All he takes are 3s, and my guess is he's hitting 25% of those.
Pejunk scores 20+, then can't hit a shot for 2-3 games.
NoPete... someone, anyone explain to me how he's getting a quarter worth of playing time????!!
Watch how often he gets beat defensively, I dare you. It's ugly.
And it's laughable how often he shoots an air ball or complete brick every game.
I've been screaming at TV for a month now --- how can this staff steal minutes from Thorton and play a washed-up MoPete??
One of the local sports guys, Mackel I think, said it best:
Aside from CP3, Collsion, Thorton, Sanguilla (sp?)and Okafor, and maybe Peja, the rest of the Hornets roster is garbage. Well said.
Finally, will this team make playoffs?
I pray NO.
Best course of action: Miss the playoffs, save the embarassment and get the lottery pick.
Then go into off-season, pick your new head coach and re-mix this whole team recipe, because this current menu has some very very unappetizing ingredients.