10-05-2007, 12:28 AM
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#16 (permalink)
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Moderator
Join Date: Nov 2005
Posts: 4,345
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Re: '07 Training camp/Pre-season thread...
Guard Johnson impressing
Rookie free agent from Jackson State 'playing really well'
An interesting name popped out of Hornets Coach Byron Scott's mouth Thursday when he was asked to name the biggest surprise of training camp so far.
"Trey Johnson," Scott said of the rookie free agent from Jackson State. "Undrafted, but he's playing really well."
Johnson, a 6-foot-5 shooting guard, was a late signee by the Hornets after playing summer-league ball for the Miami Heat.
He finished his senior season at Jackson State as the second-leading scorer in the nation, averaging 27.1 points a game. He was selected Southwestern Athletic Conference Player of the Year and led Jackson State to a SWAC Championship and its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2000.
Projected as a possible second-round pick in the NBA draft, he went undrafted, primarily, Scott said, because some scouts were worried about the level of competition he faced at Jackson State.
"You average 27 points a game in any league, that means you can score," Scott said. "He's definitely not disappointed us. In fact, he's surprised us with how good he is."
Johnson said the transition from Jackson State to the NBA has been easier than expected.
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Peterson cramming for season
Guard trying to learn ins, outs of system
Hornets Coach Byron Scott doesn't get phone calls from his players at night unless it's an emergency. But Wednesday night, Morris Peterson, the Hornets' top free-agent signee this summer, called.
It was no emergency, but they talked for more than a half hour. Their conversation involved going over the Hornets' offensive sets, which Peterson is trying to get more familiar with in training camp. Peterson hopes he'll know it entirely before the Hornets play their preseason opener Tuesday night against the Houston Rockets in Oklahoma City.
"He called and had the playbook with him, and we went over everything we ran during practice," Scott said. "I told him to come in early (Thursday), so we could go through it some more."
Handling the exhaustive suicide runs and the lengthy four-hour practices this week has not been a problem for Peterson, who played his first seven seasons with the Toronto Raptors before joining the Hornets.
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