Now that all the “I’s” are dotted and the “T’s” are crossed, New Orleans native Tom Benson is the new owner of the New Orleans Hornets.

Benson, who already owns the New Orleans Saints, reportedly bought the Hornets from the NBA for $338 million.

The NBA acquired the team in 2010 from majority owner George Shinn, who founded the franchise in Charlotte in 1988.

The purchase is a big one for Benson, the Hornets and the city of New Orleans.

For Benson, it puts him in an elite category with individuals such as Paul Allen (Seattle Seahawks/Portland Trailblazers) and Mike Ilitch (Detroit Red Wings/Detroit Tigers) as an owner of two professional American sports franchises.

For the Hornets and their fans, New Orleans is and will be the home for the Hornets for the foreseeable future. Talk of a new owner possibly trying to relocate the team has made the 2011-2012 season uneasy. But NBA commissioner David Stern made it clear that he wanted the Hornets to remain in Louisiana, and the Benson deal will do just that.

Benson has owned the Saints for almost 27 years, so the Hornets have gained a businessman who knows how to not only run a company, but also how to run a professional franchise.

The Saints have become a consistently top-tier NFL team since 2006 and won the Super Bowl in 2010, so Benson knows what it takes to have a successful franchise.

But to ultimately be successful, a team has to have star players and a great coaching staff. The Saints acquired quarterback Drew Brees and head coach Sean Payton in 2006, and the franchise experienced immediate success, winning the NFC South division title and going to the NFC Championship Game.

Will Benson shake up the unsuccessful Hornets in a similar fashion?

In order for the Hornets to be successful, the team needs more “star power.” Shooting guard Eric Gordon has shown sparks of stardom, but he has been injured throughout most of the season and has already refused to sign a long-term deal with the Hornets.

The Hornets’ blunders this season cannot be blamed solely on head coach Monty Williams or general manager Dell Demps. But it remains to be seen whether Williams or Demps have done enough during their tenures in New Orleans to convince Benson to allow them to stay with the Hornets next season.

After Benson bought the Saints in 1985, he hired a new head coach (Jim Mora) and a new general manager (Jim Finks) in 1986.

Is Benson willing to spend the amount of money it will take to acquire NBA superstars?

It is not a secret that Benson has made huge moves to try to find success with the Saints. He traded his whole draft in 1999 to acquire running back Ricky Williams from the University of Texas with the No. 5 overall draft pick. He also took a chance on Brees after Brees had surgery for a torn labrum in his right (throwing) shoulder.

Furthermore, Benson said during a press conference Friday that the Saints were close to completing a long-term deal with Brees. The deal is expected to make Brees one of the highest paid players in the NFL.

If Benson is willing to push the salary cap, arrange long-term contracts with high-guaranteed money and offer large signing bonuses to acquire star players for the Hornets, the future could be looking bright for the Bees.

Could the Hornets suffer from being the Saints’ “little brother”?

Benson is going to learn quickly that the monetary success he is having with the Saints is not going to happen immediately with the Hornets. The merchandise sales from the Saints are among the best in the NFL, whereas the Hornets are not anywhere close to the top in the NBA.

The sports fans of New Orleans do not have the same passion about the Hornets as they do the Saints.

The Saints have sold out the Superdome for the past six seasons, and the team boasts 73,000 season ticket holders. The Hornets have not been nearly as successful. The Hornets reached a club-high 10,000 season ticket holders last season in the New Orleans arena, which holds 18,500 people.

With Benson’s attention split between the two franchises (and his other businesses), it would be no surprise if he favors the more profitable Saints at times and puts the Hornets on the backburner. The downfall of owning two franchises is Benson is not allowed to focus solely on one franchise.

But according to Forbes.com, Benson is worth 1.1 billion dollars, which was enough to convince Stern that Benson would be able to maintain the Hornets franchise.

With all things considered, Benson’s purchase is good for the Hornets. The young 85-year-old has found the formula to success with the Saints, and his desire for money and passion for winning will drive his motivation to make the Hornets a lucrative and successful franchise.

If you are a fan of good basketball and the NBA, I hoped you missed Monday night’s game between the New Orleans Hornets and the Charlotte Bobcats.

The Hornets and the Bobcats, which are arguably the two worst teams in the NBA, put together offensive performances that would rival that of LSU’s offense in the 2012 BCS National Championship game.

The first three minutes of the game included nine missed shots, three turnovers and only two points.

Needless to say, the first quarter was low scoring and ended with the Hornets leading 20-14. The two teams combined for 11 turnovers in the first quarter and only 15 made field goals.

The second quarter actually showed an increase in production by both teams, but the Hornets still finished the half with 24 missed shots and 39 percent shooting.

Charlotte found its stroke in the third quarter and looked like a competent NBA team, scoring 26 points on greater than 50 percent shooting.

But in the fourth quarter, the teams combined for only 28 points.

The Hornets and the Bobcats entered the game as statistically the worst scoring teams in the league, averaging 88.6 and 87.1 points per game, respectively.

But astonishingly enough, the two teams lowered the bar even more when the final buzzer sounded and the game ended with a 73-71 Charlotte victory.

Only seven players scored in double figures – four from the Hornets and three from the Bobcats. Hornets point guard Jarrett Jack and Bobcats shooting guard Gerald Henderson shared the top scoring honors with 15 points each.

New Orleans finished the game shooting 38 percent from the field, and Charlotte shot 43 percent but went 0 for 12 from 3-point range. I think it is safe to say no one on the Bobcats is going to compete with Steve Kerr anytime soon for the highest 3-point shooting percentage in NBA history.

Along with the abysmal 3-point shooting from the Bobcats, maybe the only other reason why the Hornets were close to a victory was because Charlotte had more turnovers than it did assists (17 to 16).

I’m not sure if the 10 fans who were at the game enjoyed it, but after watching it on television, I would not be surprised if Cox Sports Television decided to air a rerun of the Louisiana High School basketball State Championship game during the next time these two teams played.

But on the bright side, maybe this game taught some non-athletic kids a valuable lesson:  Even though you can’t make a jump shot, if you’re tall enough, you can still make it into the NBA.

Most teams that are 8-26 and have lost three starters and a key reserve to injury welcome the All-Star weekend break with open arms.

But the All-Star weekend might have hurt the New Orleans Hornets more than it helped them.

The Hornets went into the break winning four of their last six games, and it seemed like the group of mostly reserves were starting to click together as a unit.

Sure New Orleans’ four wins were against teams that currently have a .500 record or worse — the Utah Jazz, the Milwaukee Bucks, the New York Knicks and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

But the two losses came on the road and were an overtime loss to the Indiana Pacers and an 8-point loss to the No. 1 team in the West, the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Plus the Knicks were high on Lin-sanity (point guard Jeremy Lin) and were riding a seven-game winning streak before the Hornets went into Madison Square Garden and stung New York back into mediocrity.

Then came the All-Star break where most teams rest up, get healthy and get focused for the second half of the season.

Not the Hornets.

New Orleans has lost five of its first six games after the break, including three by double digits, and returned no players who were previously injured.

Whatever unity and flow the group gained before the break has seemed to disappear as the Hornets have looked like the team that won only four of its first 27 games rather than the team that won four of its last six games before the break.

The Hornets were plus four in turnovers over the six-game span before the break, including forcing the Knicks to turn the ball over 21 times. They fell to minus nine in turnovers over the six games after the break, including turning the ball over 20 times against the Sacramento Kings.

New Orleans was red hot from behind the arc before the All-Star break, shooting 40.86 percent from the 3-point line while holding opponents to just 29 percent.

But the Hornets have slumped after the break, shooting only 31.03 percent from the 3-point line while allowing opponents to shoot 37.35 percent.

In fact, New Orleans had missed 24-straight 3-pointers at one point during the six-game span.

Shooting guard Marco Belinelli’s shooting has dropped significantly from behind the arc since the All-Star break. He has made only six of the team’s 20 made 3-pointers since the break. During the final six games before the break, Belinelli made 14 of the team’s 35 made 3-pointers.

It might be starting to feel like summer in New Orleans, but since the All-Star break, it has been nothing but ice cold for the Hornets.

New York Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin has had arguably one of the best starts to a career in NBA history, scoring a record 136 points in his first five games as a starter and leading his team to a 6-0 record in his first six starts.

But Lin’s fairy tale did not have a happy ending Friday when the Hornets’ 89-85 victory in New York snapped the Knick’s winning streak and brought Lin back to reality.

The Hornets’ (7-23) game plan was simple: put pressure on the 23-year-old Lin and force him to make mistakes.

And that’s what happened.

Lin, who averaged six turnovers per game during the previous six games, turned the ball over four times in the first five minutes of action. The Hornets were able to build a quick 12-4 lead during that time.

Lin ended the first quarter with just two points and five turnovers.

New Orleans pulled ahead 27-13 after the first quarter by shooting 56 percent from the field while holding New York (15-16) to a season-low 29 percent shooting.

Lin eventually found his shooting touch, pulled the Knicks within two points and finished the game with 26 points. But the Hornets never relinquished the lead and kept the pressure on the young point guard, forcing him to turn the ball over a season-high nine times.

The win was a season’s best third-straight victory for the Hornets.

It’s easy to see that the Hornets have finally started to gel as a team. The team’s newer players like rookie power forward Gustavo Ayon and point guard Greivis Vasquez look more comfortable in Hornets head coach Monty Williams’ system and have boosted their production as of late.

After recording his first career double-double Wednesday against the Milwaukee Bucks with a 12-point, 12-rebound performance, Ayon earned his second career double-double against the Knicks by scoring 13 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.

Vasquez has averaged 8.2 assists per game during the month of February after averaging less than 4.0 assists per game during the previous months.

Vasquez is not the only Hornet who is distributing the ball as of late. As a team, New Orleans has moved the ball well around the court and has made extra passes to find open shooters.

New Orleans has averaged 22 assists per game during the team’s three-game winning streak, and the Hornets finished Friday’s game with assists on 23 of its 32 made baskets.

New Orleans will need to continue playing at a high level if it hopes to dethrone the current leaders of the Western Conference when the Hornets travel to Oklahoma City Monday to play the Thunder.

Victories have been hard to come by for the New Orleans Hornets this season.

But when the final buzzer sounded on last night’s 92-89 victory against the Milwaukee Bucks (12-17), the Hornets (6-23) had successfully extended their winning streak to two.

A two-game winning streak does not seem like much of an accomplishment for a 66-game season, but the Hornets have not won back-to-back games since opening the season at 2-0 in late December.

New Orleans began its streak Monday when the team beat the Utah Jazz (14-14), 86-80.

During the victory against Utah, the Hornets outscored the Jazz 25-15 in the third quarter and never looked back.

The Hornets won in a similar fashion against the Bucks, extending a halftime lead to seven and limiting the Bucks to 38 percent from the field through three quarters.

What’s more astonishing than the actual victories is that the Hornets have won without their top three leading scorers – shooting guard Eric Gordon, point guard Jarrett Jack and power forward Carl Landry.

But players like shooting guard Marco Belinelli and center Chris Kaman have stepped up in the absence of these players and have provided the production the team desperately needed.

Belinelli made a career-best six three pointers during the victory against the Bucks last night on his way to a 22-point game. Kaman, who recently rejoined the team after sitting out seven games while the Hornets were trying to trade him, came alive against the Jazz with 27 points and 13 rebounds. He followed that up with another double-double last night when he scored 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.

Defense has also played a big role during the winning streak, as the Hornets held the Jazz and the Bucks to well below their season scoring averages.

But that is nothing new for New Orleans head coach Monty Williams, because he has stressed defense during his first two seasons with the team. Last season, the Hornets were No. 5 in the league in scoring defense, holding opponents to 94 points per game. The Hornets have held opponents to 92.9 points per game this season, which is No. 10 in the league.

With the two victories, the Hornets have gone 31-6 during the Williams era when holding opponents to under 90 points.

New Orleans will try to keep its streak alive Friday when the Hornets travel to New York to face the Knicks, who are currently riding a seven-game winning streak of their own.

No one thought it was going to be easy for the New Orleans Hornets entering the 2011-12 season with no Chris Paul, no owner and no general direction as to who would lead the squad throughout the season.

But the Hornets (4-22) have found no answers 26 games into the 66-game season and remain without a superstar, ownerless and scrambling through numerous different starting lineups with hopes that something will finally work.

Last night’s 90-67 defeat at the hands of the Chicago Bulls extended New Orleans’ losing streak to seven games ­­— the team’s second longest losing streak of the short season.

The Hornets thought they were building a strong foundation for the future when the team, with the help of NBA Commissioner David Stern and the NBA office, traded Paul to the Los Angeles Clippers for shooting guard Eric Gordon, center Chris Kaman, small forward Al-Farouq Aminu and the Minnesota Timberwolves’ first round draft pick.

But Gordon got injured one game into the season, has played only once more and refused to sign a contract extension. The Hornets tried to trade the aging and highly paid Kaman, but found no appropriate suitors. Aminu has remained just a role player, earning only a handful of starts and averaging 4.7 points per game and 4.2 rebounds per game. Finally, the Timberwolves went from the league’s worst record in the 2010-11 season to currently sitting just one game out of the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

If luck were a lady, she has already thrown a drink in the face of the Hornets and stormed out of the bar.

In fact, of the 16 players to suit up for the Hornets this season, only four players have played all 26 games — center Emeka Okafor, shooting guard Marco Belinelli, point guard Greivis Vasquez and Aminu.

The Hornets have tried to shuffle up the lineup, searching for a starting five that could find a way to win games. Twelve players have started at least two games for New Orleans, but only Okafor has started all 26.

With the injuries and uncertainty throughout the squad, it is not a mystery why the Hornets have the second worst record in the NBA.

The Hornets are facing its worst season since the 2004-05 season when New Orleans went 18-64, which resulted in the Hornets earning the fourth overall pick in the 2005 NBA lottery and acquiring Paul from Wake Forest.

But there is still more than half a season to be played, and it’s possible the Hornets could get Gordon and company back to full health and answer a few of the so far unanswered questions that have haunted the team all season.