The Hornets welcomed Eric Gordon, Al-Farouq Aminu, and Chris Kaman to the squad today. The trio spoke in front of a group that included Hugh Weber, Jac Sperling, Dell Demps, the Hornets media, and James Carville. First impression of the guys is that Chris Kaman is hilarious, Aminu doesn’t have the firmest grasp of the word “apprehensive” (unless he truly is fearful for the future), and Eric Gordon is a lot more aggressive on the court than in the press room.
Monty, as usual, had a few of the most memorable quotes–
“I’m excited. We were putting plays in and [the former Clippers] were standing off to the side listening because they can’t do anything right now, and I was in my mode. I have, like, visions and I’m not counting sheep. I’m counting buckets and defensive stops.”
“We plan on winning. We plan on winning big and we’re not going to settle for anything other than that.” BOOM! MONTY JUST DUNKED IN YOUR FACE! WAIT! ACTUALLY HE JUST SWATTED YOUR ATTEMPTED DUNK. THAT’S HOW MONTY ROLLS. DEFENSE, BABY!
57 responses to “Welcome Your Newest Hornets”
None of them look very happy to be there in that picture…I hope there’s a video coming soon!
haha yea they all look so sad.
I thought the same. They look like some of those hostages you see on the terrorists videos — holding up newspapers to show they’re still alive. I really hope they buy into Monty and the city. You know we’ll support them.
Hahaha
wasnt even gonna read the post till i saw how miserable they looked, no insight though
It’s going to be weird seeing Al Aminu wearing #3 too soon
AA3! Woooooooooooo!
T-P is reporting that Aminu is NOT going to keep #3. It seems like there might not have been enough time to make new jerseys, so they might just be using jerseys of Hornets who just left the roster (#10 and #35 were on the Hornets preseason roster before the trade, but may have been cut to make room for the new guys). Everything after the first sentence is idle speculation on my part.
It’s the jetlag in their faces they’ll be upbeat
Kaman looks like a bada** mofo
Kaman IS a bada** mofo! LOL!
Eric Gordon doesnt have that huge personality of like Kobe or charles barkley but he has game. Chris Kaman is just tough but he has game too. AFA3 is probably a little nervous. All three are talented. Now if we can get them a passing point guard to go along with them….
I think we should seriously put that CP three thing to rest and do the Aa3 just sounds it sounds like it works us do it!
Now I’m happy I don’t have to throw away my CP3 jersey because the front says 3 and New Orleans I could just wear jacket and hide the word Paul on the back LOL
This may be a pipe dream but I think with two moves we can actually contend in West
As long as ESPN is still around thats not going to did til the Hornets prove them wrong.
As long as ESPN is still around thats not going to die til the Hornets prove them wrong
Yea I think we can contend with a trade or add 3 more vets to 1year deals Micheal Redd ,Willie Green and a big man or even Travis Outlaw
travis Outlaw definitely!!
Travis Outlaw signed with the Kings today…would’ve been good
i had 2 throw away a CP and dwest jersey
Hopefully Fletch Mackel didn’t say anything stupid at the P.C because ESPN shoulda hired his bias self
Damn, really pissed of at that photo… at least make a fake smile for the $#$”/$#%#%ing photo. Not happy at all to see them like that…
Especially compared to the photo the Clippers released of CP3 and Chauncey Billups. Smiles a mile wide. Lets just hope we get the last laugh.
Eric Gordon has a very bad smile. People are sometimes mean and call him ugly but he just has a really bad smile. He is also shy and soft spoken. So it takes him a while to warm up to people. Plus this stuff is all new and the Clippers lied to him. He will be happier to be closer to his family I bet. Do not worry he spends almost all of his free time in the gym. This kid is a Hoosier and he always gives everything he has on the court.
Just came back from open practice. I always enjoy those. Jason (42), I think I saw you there.
Of all the people in all the world, what makes you think it was me?
LOL!! Wouldn’t you like to know? 😉
No but seriously, you had a teal 42 jersey on right?
You got me. I kinda stick out if you know what to look for.
Yeah, known Trew for years.
Where was your crown?
I wasn’t all that close to you but I saw you talking to Chris Trew.
My crown was at the jewelers getting polished today. 😉
LOL!
I was a couple of sections over.
This is random, but I am really starting to think Andre Drummond is the next dwight howard/ amare stoudimaire. His stats are kindve low but thats because he isnt fed that much and he plays with lamb and napier. I think if we draft drummond and marshall… with ERIC GORDON. The hornets have something next year. with monty williams development skills
Thomas Robinson = Beast
Perry Jones= Also a Beast
Just got back from the scrimmage. This guy Dyson is really quick. He might be worth picking up. Carl Landry looks rusty. Jason Smith is still having a problem squeezing rebounds.
The interviewed “The L.A. Three” after the game, and all the guys seem fine. They’re not acting completely depressed. . . perhaps “bewildered” is a better term.
If Kaman keeps growing his beard we can start calling him Gandalf from the Lord of the Rings. Lol
I just got done surfing on twitter and thought I’d check out the new guys’ accounts. EG10 and CK both seemed psyched to be in NOLA. Kamen especially. Kamen also said that it was a long day yesterday and today as well. They’re probably just exhausted and as someone else said bewildered. I guess even if youre a young millionaire, moving cross country can be a huge pain is the a**.
Coming from the open game I was disappointed at the fact that the new three players looked like they didnt want to be there
I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt for now. They’re probably exhausted. The announcer asked how they had been enjoying the city, and Gordon said he had flown in late last night.
Both Gordon AND Kaman came in last night. Also, Aminu and Gordon both have demeanors where they don’t talk or smile a lot. Especially Gordon.
Like everyone else I just got back from the open practice. Eric Gordon and Aminu def seemed a tad shy when Rob Nice was talking to them during the interview in front of everyone.
And I dont think they arent happy to be here. I agree with NOLA Hog bewildered is a good term. We have to think about the entire situation, they have to find a place to live, move all there stuff, learn a new city, learn a new system under monty williams and more all under a few days. Its a lot and its probably very overwhelming.
Good points. But you know how our fans are. If a player isn’t smiling and talking up New Orleans or the Hornets every minute of the day, then they must not want to be here.
I don’t know about Gordon or Aminu but Kaman also has a wife that he has to move to NOLA.
I’m sure the team and the NBA has people in place to help with this sort of stuff. Sort of like military people, you know. You get reassigned and the military takes care of packing up your house and getting family moved and such. You just go and do your job. And if not, these guys do make enough money to pay people to handle that.
Yeah but it’s still a task because you’re wanting to make sure all of that goes well. None of these guys have ever been traded so they probably don’t know how smooth the process will go.
Not to mention I’m sure NONE of these guys wanted to be traded. CP3 is all cheesed up in L.A. because HE WANTED to be traded.
Hey guys, Clips fan here. Just wanted to check in on how our old guys are doing.
Don’t expect much from Aminu. He played decent for the first month of the season, then just fell off the deep end. Looked like he lost all confidence, and his face just looks like that.
Gordon is a competitor. He plays to win and believes he’s the best player on the court every night. I’m sure he was heart broken to be traded, since he was really the reason the Clippers were in the position to attract the likes of a CP3 anyways. I’m really pissed at how our management handled him, and he was far and away my favorite Clipper ever. He will literally never smile, and I’m positive that his stoic demeanor is the reason he hasn’t gotten more media attention. Just look at his face after this dunk:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4i-IzjcZOdo
As far as Kaman.. Well.. you’ll love him and you’ll hate him. He’s the most brutally honest interviewee ever. He has great footwork, and is definitely not a stiff. refuses to dunk for some reason, and is a fairly streaky shooter. he averaged 20 ppg one season, and not once in his career has he gone over 30. his career high is 29. He’s useless when double-teamed, and can go into god-mode for quarters at a time.
I’ll be following this team all year, because i love Gordon.. and would like to see if Aminu can do anything, because he looks like he could potentially be beastly, just not anytime soon.
Dude, thanks.
Kaman scored points with me today at the open practice solely based on his mic-work. Getting a poboy with him will be my top goal. As far as dunks, Emeka has conditioned us to not expect many.
Welcome.
Thanks for your input Isaac. You pretty much hit it on the nose at the way I’ve always felt about these guys demeanors. Aminu’s face just looks like that. Gordon is reserved and rather quiet. It’s a good thing his game isn’t as quiet as he is though. Hahaha! This will be Aminu’s second season right? He’s still young. We’ll see what Monty and his staff can do with him.
That was a really funky dunk btw! Thanks for sharing that.
Oh my that dunk was just NASTY. The first time he does that in the Hive the freakin’ ceiling is going to blow off….
Go to Hornets.com to see the video
I really wouldn’t be surprised if Monty’s system landed us a 7th/8th western conference seed. I can’t see him bombing this season, I think we’ll have to leave that to the tumble wolves.
Man I don’t think they want to be here. I hope Demps give them a reason to want to stay otherwise we should find players that are rising stars who do want to be here!!
I just watched the press conference and that made me like Mony Williams more. Its nice to have a coach motivated by defensive stops and not forget about the offensive side. He expressed how he was excited by each player while still being serious and saying he expects greatness out of each of them. He firmly believes this team can win big and if he can convince eric, chris, carl, jj, emeka, and trevor that they can do big things they can. Okafor is ready. He needs to realize he can be better with kaman. I love the fact that Kamn is 7’0. And hearing that eric has confidence, and seeing his highlight tapes where he is aggressive even when he knows his team is outmatched makes me comfotable. Jack has to become a pass first point guard. Obviously Ariza has become a better practice player and he needs to translate it to the game. Prayfully, we can stay healthy. Hopefully they wont even think about the two first rounders, let the fans mull that. Hornets just need to play ball. Aminu work on that jumper. This team is similar to memphis last year. If we even make it to the second round of the playoffs, Im excited. If the players bring the confidence, the sky’s the limit
Oh gee. We play for the Hornets now.. come on guys, at least try to smile.
Looks like a police lineup.
Just met Eric Gordon at Harrah’s. Shook his hand and told him “Welcome to New Orleans.” (Made sure no pics/autos, ain’t that type of fan) Dude responded with “No doubt” and had a smile. Don’t get where all the jerk stuff comes from. He didn’t seem annoyed at all even after what I’m sure was a very long day.
They just got off the plane from LA had to leave there families and team all of the sudden, give them a brake, and at the scrimmage Kaman was pretty funny while Gordon was emotionless and has the nick name of “Hotdog” for some strange reason they would not tell. So give them a while to warm up it’ll be good
Of course they don’t want to be here. Would you? They just got booted off an up-and-comer with tons of potential and landed on a team whose star player just walked out and that’s owned by the NBA. Until all the ownership and other drama dies down, the Hornets are going to be a pariah of sorts. Also, they’ve probably got a bunch of misconceptions about this place due to Chris’s desire to leave. They’re probably thinking, “it can’t be that good, if Chris wants out.” Finally, the trade sends the message that all three of them (and a draft pick) are worth just one Chris Paul. That can’t make you feel good. So yeah, they’re not happy about their situation, but don’t fault them for that. It only seems natural to me. Anyway, these guys are pros, and once things calm down and the season gets in a rhythm they’ll be alright. Just need some time to adjust.