by Valor on Sat Sep 20, 2008 12:43 am
Bobcats Features
Act Three - Training Camp
September 29th, 2008 5:00pm
"Welcome back guys, hope you all enjoyed the off season, hopefully not too out of shape, I'm gonna let Larry and Leo take over now" Jordan stated after all the Bobcats players have arrived at the Michael Jordan Practice Gym that was built recently.
"Well, I'll start first by introducing myself; My name is Leo, i am 17, 6 foot, 135 pound guy from Hong Kong. I am your new General Manager, nice to meet you. I'll also be joining you guys in this training camp, and sometimes regular practice, since i am still young and in shape, i MIGHT be able to be of help to the training sessions." said Leo, a bit nervously
The guys seemed happy enough with their new GM, and some looked really glad, most likely it's because this is the first time they would get a staff member (besides michael) that would be joining them in practices, not just sitting in office drinking coffee and looking at stats.
"Well, i guess i need no introduction, we've met a few times, some of you have been with me in the off season trainings and also the younger guys, like DJ, were in the summer league earlier on. I am Larry Brown for some others. I hope you guys are prepared for this training camp, not preparing and getting back into shape through it, i want you guys to play the right way in order for the team to win, it's going to be about the team, and you are part of the team, get some rest, i'll see you guys here at 6:30 tomorrow morning for start of the camp, i want you guys to work hard and improve as a whole" Larry finished with that
The players go off for dinner, hanging out, chilling..etc, while the GM Leo goes off and starts practicing shooting. Larry and Michael leaves the place together, talking about their own North Carolina days.
Four Hours Later...inside the Jordan Practice Gym
Larry Brown enters the gym, planning to draw up some plans for the start of the camp.
swish...swish....swish...
"i wonder who that is, practicing shooting this late" muttered Larry quietly as he walks quietly to the court to check out who it was.
It was Leo, the young GM that had been practicing since after the team greeting at 5pm, he had been practicing for 4 hours straight
"wow.. i haven't had a kid with this kind of a work ethic and desire to train and work hard in ages..and he isnt even a player, hes just a general manager! I am starting to like this kid already, just as Michael had said.."thought Larry Brown, impressed at Leo's desire to get better and his love for basketball.
Larry quietly walks out of the court area, and goes off to set his plans and stuff for the camp.
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Two Days Later
So Far the Training Camp has been decent, guys are improving, players are getting to know each other well, and getting to know the GM a little bit well, and are overall impressed with his basketball skills even if he is just an Asian high school player, however.....
"NO!!!, WHAT ARE YOU DOING???!!! You Should have PASSED that ball, not go for a prayer jump shot!!!!! I DONT GIVE A DAMN IF YOU ARE FROM NORTH CAROLINA OR NOT, YOU PLAY THE RIGHT WAY IF YOU ARE ON MY TEAM!" Once again Larry Brown Blows his whistle and screams at the top of his voice towards Raymond Felton, who just doesnt get why he needs to pass the ball so damn often.
"WHAT!! ARE YOU SAYING THAT I CANT PLAY? I SCORED 14.4 PPG LAST SEASON WITH A FG PERCENTAGE OF 41 PERCENT! PRAYER SHOT MY ASS" Felton retaliated with this statement
"I've had it with you, unless you are shooting 100% from the field, i want you to play THE RIGHT WAY and PASS THAT DAMN BALL, come over and sit on the bench for a while, DJ, fill in and continue with the play."
Felton walked to the far corner, sat down, and started sulking...
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October 6th, 2008
It was the Last day of the training camp, and so far progresses have been pleasing, Jason Richardson had improved his Jump Shot and shot selection tremendously, while DJ Augustin, the 9th overall pick in the 08 draft, had shown his Point Guard skills, Shaq looked decent, playing solid defense, grabbing boards, dominating all the Bobcats down low, and even slamming in down once every 3 possessions or so, everything looked great.
"alright guys, its nearly afternoon soon, i wont keep you long cause you are gonna need some rest for the game on the 8th against the Magic in Orlando, its your first preseason game and i want us to start strong. We are just gonna have a game to wrap things up" announced Larry Brown.
"Sweet, what are the lineups going to be coach?"
"The white team, which is going to be DJ, Matt, Jason, Emeka, and Shaq, Raymond Felton and Sean May; against the orange team, who has Alexis, Shannon, Jermareo, Jared, and Leo. The losing team is going to do 250 pushups and 20 sucides." answered Coach Brown
Shaq easily won the Jump ball and got things started, DJ ran a simple pick and roll and resulted in an alleyopp slam from DJ to Jason Richardson.
The White Team quickly jumped to a 12-4 lead, easily stopping the Orange team's offenses and increased the lead to 26-10 by the end of the first quarter, by half time it was 57-38.
However, when the 2nd half began, the White team got too full of themselves, and the Orange team cut the lead to 18 and made it 67-49 at the end of the 3rd.
The 4th saw Leo playing for the first time in the game, when Shannon Brown had accidentally twisted his ankle and needed to get it treated so it doesnt get bad, this is when everything went wrong for the White team.
They had underestimated Leo, and thought that a 17 year old kid couldnt do much against them, Leo proved them wrong, by first hitting a wide open 30 foot 3 pointer, which had surprised everyone in the gym, he then ran the offense at the point for the orange, scoring, making plays, defending, and helped the orange team, with the help of fellow rookie Alexis Ajinca, who had gotten hot in the 4th quarter, and cut the lead to 2, 78-76 with 20 seconds remaining, which they would have possession.
Leo catches the ball on the inbounds play from a good find by Jared Dudley, and called for pick and pop play, a play that he is most familiar with since the start of his playing days; he comes off a nice pick by Alexis, gets open at the right handed 45 degree angle on the 3 point line, his sweet spot, and fired the 3 ball at the buzzer, the whole gym was silent for about half a second when the sweet sound of swish was heard.
Coach Brown was shocked, he had expected the Orange team to play hard, but not win, and certainly not the young GM knocking down a 25 foot buzzer beater off a high pick and pop play. the White team was shocked also, and some held their heads in disbelief.
"Well, i hoped you guys had learned your lesson, never underestimate anybody on the court, go do your sucides and pushups, however, i must say i was impressed with how you have played, Leo" said Larry Brown after calling over the players.
"Na, i just played hard and got lucky on a couple of shots, those guys are way better then me, i played just a couple of minutes and i am really tired, not to mention the past 2 weeks has given me some serious fatigue" answered Leo
"Well, all of you go home and rest, you all put some hard work in the camp, and i'll see you guys on the 8th"
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After every body left, only Michael and Brown are remaining
"what do you think Michael, should we do that?"
"I know what you are thinking, lets just see a few preseason games and see what we need"