<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">New Orleans - The Hornets tipped off what will most likely be a busy, pre-draft workout season with an abnormality that GM Allan Bristow says you don't see very often: they worked out four college seniors. "It?s more of the abnormal to have four seniors come in," said Bristow regarding the selection of talent the team brought in to evaluate. That talent included two players who have won an NCAA Championship in Hakim Warrick of Syracuse University and Jawad Williams of the University of North Carolina, a force who drove his Oklahoma State team for the last two years to the NCAA Tournament in forward Joey Graham and a player of the year from the ranks of a smaller NAIA Division I school, Oklahoma Christian University, in Jarred Merrill. Hornets.com caught up with these players, Bristow and Head Coach Byron Scott to get their take on the workout, the upcoming draft and how much being in school and playing basketball for four full years helps players develop. </div> http://www.nba.com/hornets/news/workout_050518.html <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> HAKIM WARRICK - 6-9, 219 - Syracuse University (on how he did) I think I did pretty well. This is my second one (workout) so I just tried to go out there and just have fun. (on staying in school four years) I think it benefited me. I felt that it could only help me by coming back both draft-wise and as a person just overall in life it would better me. And being so close to graduation coming back and getting my degree?that?s something that you can get back. You can?t get your senior year back. You can?t go there and there?re not too many people in the league that got their degree so that?s something that I definitely wanted. (on the hardest things about these workouts) A lot of times it?s just going out there, trying to relax and have fun. It?s a lot of pressure. It?s a really important time for all of us and you can only make one first impression so you want to go out there and work hard but it?s tough to just go out, relax and play because there?s so much pressure and you want to do well. (on what he showed today) I think I showed that I was athletic, that I can handle the ball a little bit, shoot the ball a little bit, that I?m willing to learn. I just want to go out there and work hard, do what I?ve got to do to help the team and continue to improve on whatever I can. (on the Hornets) You get a workout like this with a team that has a high lottery pick?I think that I can really go out there and show them that I can really help this team. </div> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> JOEY GRAHAM - 6-7, 225 - Oklahoma State University (on doing well in the workout) That?s the plan. The main thing is to come in here and try to have fun. You?ve got to go to a lot of different places. You get to meet a lot of different people, some of the people that we didn?t get a chance to play this year?.like Jawad Williams and Hakim, we only played them once. So you get to meet new people and make new friends. (on what he?s hearing about where he?ll get picked) There?s a lot of talk about lottery. There?s a lot of talk about late first-round. Wherever. It doesn?t matter to me as long as I have fun and make it. (on being big and tough enough to be NBA ready) That?s pretty accurate. I like to stay physical. I?ve always played kind of physical. Having a football background and being competitive with my brothers, it?s something that just carried over to the court, the aggressiveness and staying physical. </div> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> JAWAD WILLIAMS - 6-9, 218 - University of North Carolina (on the workout) I think I did pretty well. I showed some of the ability that I wasn?t able to show during the year and I finished pretty strong today. (on if people overlooked him a bit at North Carolina) That?s part of sacrificing to win a national championship. I have something a lot of people don?t have and now it?s just up to me to show my ability out here. (on some of the skills he showed today) My ability to shoot the long ball, handle the ball and just make decisions with the ball in my hands. (on if the Hornets would pick him in the Draft) I hope so. It?s a great environment and it gives me a chance to play with one of the guys I should?ve been playing with (this year at North Carolina) in JR. </div> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">JARRED MERRILL - 6-9 1/2, 220 - Oklahoma Christian University (on how he did) I think I did pretty good, being that it?s my first workout. I just tried to be confident playing with D-I guys and I?m coming from NAIA. I just tried to get that respect and play hard. (on if the coaches were looking to see how he measure up with the NCAA D-I players) Definitely. That?s just natural. Seeing a guy come from the NAIA, you want to see if he has what it takes. I?m sure they were. (on if he?s extra ?hungry? to make it to the NBA) You?re dang right. My agents tell me you?ve got to be that guy that?s grimy and you?ve got to get it. Coming from Oklahoma Christian (University) some guys might think you?re soft, so you?ve kind of got to lay it on the line every time and that?s what I try to do. </div> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> HEAD COACH BYRON SCOTT (on the day) For a first workout, I thought it was good. We experimented a little bit on some things that we wanted to see and some things that we wanted to do so it?s still a little work in progress as far as what I want to do with the workouts, but I thought the guys did it extremely well considering the circumstances. It?s tough. It?s a first workout for them as well. College ball is over and I?m sure they had some nervous butterflies going on but overall, I think they did a really good job. (on what he takes from the workouts) When you see a guy on tape, I don?t think you get a real clear view of what they?re all about. When you see guys on tape, their team and coaches have certain things that they want them to do, allow them to do on the basketball court so when we get them out here, we get a chance to see if they really know how to play the game of basketball. You just try to take them through various drills to see what they can do with the ball, without the ball and what they can do on the defensive end as well. (on if the team has a good idea who they?d select if they get the number one pick) We?ve got a pretty good idea but it?s still one of those things where you want to go through all of the preliminaries and you still want to work guys out and you still want to see what they can do. But I think we all have a real good idea of who we?ll pick. (on if the top tier picks like Chris Paul, Marvin Williams and Andrew Bogut will come for a workout) I hope so. That will be indicated by what happens on the 24th. Hopefully we?ll get the first or second pick and all of those guys will be here. (on college seniors being more polished that the younger players) You can tell the guys that are seniors. You can see that they?ve had four years of teaching the game of basketball so that gives you a pretty good idea. You can see a lot of high school kids that aren?t polished and there are some that are but it?s a big difference when you see the guys that one to college for four years compare to guys that went to college for one year or guys that didn?t go at all. (on being excited about starting workouts) I?m very excited and I think that goes for everybody on our office. Allan (Bristow) and I sat down one day and were talking about how glad we were this day was here because it?s no fun just sitting around talking about all these guys. It?s a lot more fun when you get a chance to see them and work with them. So myself, the staff, Jeff (Bower) and Willis (Reed) are all excited about this thing getting starting and having these guys in today and we?re looking forward to having a lot more workouts in the next two to three weeks. </div> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> GENERAL MANAGER ALLAN BRISTOW (on if it?s an exciting time for him) Yeah, it is. We had a good group of seniors. There?s a special place in my heart for the seniors. It?s more of the abnormal to have four seniors come in. These guys have had four years of college at their universities. It?s good to see that. I sort of wish that was the norm instead of the abnorm. These guys got rewarded and hopefully they?ll get rewarded in the draft and in the NBA by staying four years. We had two players today that had won national championships with their universities and Joey Graham who had a stellar career at Oklahoma State and they had a couple of years of going deep into the tournament so these guys got rewarded by staying in. (on if there will be a lockout) That?s tough to say. Hopefully things will get resolved but right now, they?re trying to get it resolved and hopefully it is. (on being able to pick the guys they worked out today) Today was a good gauge. You?ve got to understand how the draft works. Each draft is a little different. I think we?ve got a good mixture of guys that are going to be throughout the draft and that way, it sort of gives you a benchmark to say ?okay, the talent level is at this spot.? Each draft is a little different and I think we brought in a good array of different guys that will be drafted. (on if the Hornets would trade the 4th or 5th pick, if they got it, for lower first-round picks) There are options. I think, again, those are low probabilities. We want a special player in this draft and for us to go through this draft or go through this year without getting a special player is going to be very difficult for us. When we mean special player, we want a guy that?s going to be one of the faces on this franchise for a long time that really gets us up to another level. I don?t think there?s going to be that many in this year?s draft and so it?s better to be at the top than it is at the middle or lower in the round. (on how many players are special in this year's draft) That?s hard to say. Until they come in, do the drill work, you get around them and see them sweat, it?s just very difficult to say. We?d like to think there are four or five guys in this draft that are special that we?re going to have a shot at. (on if he thinks the draft has depth) Yes I do. I think that?s the one thing this draft has got. You?ve going to see players sticking on rosters that are drafted in the 30?s and, of course, we?re going to have a high pick in the second round and I think that we?ve got a very good chance of getting a player that?s one of those guys that?s just slips out of the first round and I think we haven?t been in that situation for quite a while and I think we do have a shot at getting a good player. </div> I will keep this updated as new workout information comes out.
....Are you serious? Warrick at 4? He's a mid to later first rounder. At 4 you can get better talent like Deron Williams, Green, Paul, Granger, and it continues.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Swish15:</div><div class="quote_post">I think they should go with Gerald Green but thats just my opinion. I also like Felton at #4.</div> Felton is stretch at number 4. Deron Williams or Chris Paul will most likely be available at 4, and both are better overall PG's in comparasion to Felton.
Hornets go point guard with their fourth pick. They will then have their backcourt set for the next ten years, with JR Smith and either Deron Williams, Chris Paul, or Raymond Felton. Felton would be the better pick for the Hornets because of his ability to run the fast break with JR on his side. Both WOULD have been on UNC last year in their championship run but JR decided to go pro.
I think Felton would be a good fit because he's a more physical player than most of the guards in the draft.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Having already expressed the desire to select a point guard with the fourth pick of the 2005 NBA draft, the Hornets auditioned five candidates Friday, including two of the top three rated at the position. North Carolina's Raymond Felton and Illinois' Deron Williams, both early entries, led a group that also included LSU's Antonio Hudson, Maryland's John Gilchrist and Auburn's Toney Douglas. </div> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Felton's quick feet and speed impressed Hornets coach Byron Scott, who dined with Williams and General Manager Allan Bristow on Thursday night. "Raymond was good. You could tell he came from a school and system that understands what it is to put out basketball players," Scott said. "He understands how to play. He's very quick. He didn't shoot the ball well today, but I've seen enough tape to know he's capable of knocking down shots." The Hornets were the fourth team for which Felton has worked out, joining the Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers and New York Knicks. "No matter where I go, I want to have a great performance, have a good workout, learn some things, get a chance to meet some of the coaches I see on TV," said Felton, who is 6 feet 1. "It's all about trying to have fun when you come in. You've got to be serious, and it's got to be about business. But you've got to have fun with it, too." </div> Source
