Bobcat's Open Practice

[dalacat]

Just talked to Jeffery and he said it was a lot of fun having all the fans there at last night's open practice. It sounded like there was a dunk contest at the end. Any thoughts on Jeffery's dunks how the team looked? I know Jeffery is excited for the season to start.

-DC

[Plowright]

Great to hear dalacat. I think you will be pleased to know, and please do tell Jeff that when we got him at 31 on draft night we were ecstatic! I had him going between Orlando at 19-25 Memphis. The great thing about him is he is very mature for a rook, 3 years at Vandy really paid off and hes gone from being labelled a slasher to a 3 point specialist. It is great to label guys, but I think hes just going to turn into a good basketball player. His play in summer league was great, he seems to come off screens really well and is already a very very good defender. I reckon he could surprise people getting some fast break dunks in transition as he is pretty athletic. I for one hope he gets a decent amount of playing time this year. It seems in pre season Dunlap has very much been working him into it slowly, don't suppose you can shed any light on that? Has Dunlap spoken to Jeff? Either way when regular season comes round I hope he is our number 2 option at the 3 rather than sliding Henderson over. Anyway if you speak to him let him know we can't wait to see him play!!! As a fellow European, its great to see more international players making the NBA as well.

If anyone went to the open practice please give us some observations

[isguros]

Was there a dunk contest, or is the defence in that worse of a shape?

[ammofan]

Well I got there at 6:30. That's the time it said on the ticket I printed off the site. The practice definitely didn't start at 6:30 because I was there for like 20 mins and then it ended. Quite disappointing.

But Jeff Taylor definitely is the best dunker on this team. He can do some CRAZY stuff. He even through down a between the legs. Dude has ups. Hendo would be the 2nd best. MKG didn't even try and missed his one dunk and Tyrus did a layup :|

They also had a dance off with the rookies...but they didn't even do it. They just laughed.

And then they tried to get Kemba and Bis to do it but they basically refused. Kinda dumb.

But whatever...I'm just ready to get in the arena on opening night and watch us play.

[ncstamey]

i have a few iphone videos of the dunk contest I will upload and post on this thread tonight or tmorrow

[TheBeagle]

Well I got there at 6:30. That's the time it said on the ticket I printed off the site. The practice definitely didn't start at 6:30 because I was there for like 20 mins and then it ended. Quite disappointing.

But Jeff Taylor definitely is the best dunker on this team. He can do some CRAZY stuff. He even through down a between the legs. Dude has ups. Hendo would be the 2nd best. MKG didn't even try and missed his one dunk and Tyrus did a layup :|

They also had a dance off with the rookies...but they didn't even do it. They just laughed.

And then they tried to get Kemba and Bis to do it but they basically refused. Kinda dumb.

But whatever...I'm just ready to get in the arena on opening night and watch us play.

Wow, they screwed you, ammo. It was originally (at least what they sent out to STHs) supposed to be 6 but they switched it to 5:30 at the last minute, which is why I wasn't able to go.

[Veteran_Picksetter]

I got there at 5:30 and saw the whole thing.

MKG's jump shot is downright bizarre when you witness it up close. He has this weird wrist-twist motion right before the release. It's like he's trying to harness extra energy for the final wrist flick. He must be downright stubborn about his shooting form, because I can imagine every coach he's ever had trying to change that shot. It was a shock to see it occasionally go into the basket, and I'm talking about during drills with no defense on him.

Jeffrey Taylor was easily the most entertaining dunker on the team. He had one "forearm-down-into-the-rim" dunk a la Vince Carter years ago.

MKG didn't look like much of a dunker in his one attempt during the dunk contest. I know his length is great and his vertical measured solid at the combine, but you would never know it from what we saw at the practice. It's a good thing that defense, hustle, and rebounding win games, instead of dunking creativity.

When they assembled for the dunk contest, I could hear Dunlap say "Now, Cory(Higgins), I expect you to dunk too", or "participate too", or something like that. I couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic, kidding around, or maybe it was some inside joke. Cory didn't attempt any dunks.

Most of the practice time was spent running various shooting drills. The bigs on one end, and the guards/wings on the other end.

DaJuan Summers ran drills with the bigs. I always thought he was going to be a SF in the NBA, but maybe not.

Matt Carroll had the microphone for a while and said some nice things.

At the end, fans got to go down to the court and get autographs from the players. Some of us got onto the actual playing court before a guy waved us off to the light blue perimeter.

I got about 10 feet from Gerald Henderson while down on the court. Dude is all arms and legs, but with just enough muscle. I'm 6'3", and he definitely looked every bit of 6'5". He's perfectly built to be a perimeter NBA basketball player.

Every fan at the practice was allowed to get two free tickets to see the Nov. 7 Phoenix game. That was pretty cool.

It was a nice time, but I would have liked to have seen a little scrimmage, and there wasn't much teaching going on. It was mostly just for fun and show. It WAS cool to get down on the court. I got a picture of myself "shooting a 3"(without a ball) down there.

[BlockParty]

Thoughts of dunk contest have pretty much been covered. A few additional things:

Our team is by far the most "in-shape" for the roster than any team in our history (yes Okafor and GW were under 6% body fat, but even Diop looked in his best shape since he's been in Charlotte..though still awkward).

Mullens 3-point shot is effortless and at one point when he was one of the few players on the court at the beginning he made 15 in a row (granted there was no defense, but 14 of them were bottom of the net swishes).

Tyrus' head seemed to be lost during the shooting drills, he'd miss multiple 3 foot jump hooks and get noticeably frustrated.

The Bobcats sales team is in full force, as was the basketball operations staff (though I don't remember seeing Cho or MJ), Rod arrived late and Fred was there the entire time.

The shooting drills mentioned invite competition. As VP mentioned bigs at one end, guards/sf at the other, but then they were split into 2 groups that competed with each other, trying to get to a set number of "makes". I like that Dunlap is even making the fundamentals competitive (after all, Dunlap will be measured on wins/losses).

During the STH orientation, two new things this year for the STH's..at selected places around the arena, there will be STH-only concession stand lines. The second thing is, if you are selling your tickets through their online process, they seem to have modeled the stub-hub approach (my word, not theirs)...you set the price, higher than face value, you can tailor it to drop the price in increments if the ticket remains unsold closer to game day, and your proceeds from tickets sales don't go as a credit against future bobcat ticket purchases, but right into your checking account.

[BlockParty]

Here are two videos with portions of the dance contest...further proof these guys need to keep their day jobs! I was sitting a few rows off the court near the player's entrance tunnel, so the angle isn't the best.

2012-13 Rookies


2011-12 Rookies (no time for open practices last season)

[Zoolander]

Thank You Guys so much for the info and uploading vids!! Much appreciated!