Hornets Conference Notes

[Karried]

After typing all of this they said transcripts will be available but here goes what I typed as they talked - I'm no court reporter - that's for sure!

Hornets owner says we are grateful, grateful, grateful, the most important thing we want to prove is that OKC is a major league city.

Byron Scott - "I'd like to thank the city for extending their arms to us, a time of sorrow for us, city is hurting - we are doing everything we can to bring some joy. We want to have a fun atmosphere in OKC - we are a fast pace team - get OKC involved. I believe OKC is a best place to host our team, I'm very impressed with what I've seen. I've never been here before." We've got very good young people on this team and we are looking forward to being a part of this community. "

Willis Reed - greatest player in the NBA is here - Willis is vice president of operations and will help in the community

Alan Bristol - General manager

Team will be called ? the Hornets says the owner...This season will be referred to as New Orleans/OKC Hornets.

Uniform will have - Hornets - visiting jersey New Orleans with a patch on the shoulder strap says OKC.

When will we see team members practice? Looking at practice 10/02 players arriving. Coaching staff will be here Monday

Financial incentives? A level of risk being assumed 3 ways - city, state, business community

Might mean economically? - NBA impact incredibly large, undeniably strong - world wide exposure - ESPN audience - Owner says working on economic impact before the storm for New Orleans - Hornets brought in excess 150 million dollars to the city ( I hope I got that right)

Can't predict if and when they will go home. This option of staying another year is just a cushion. IT's the leagues hope and expectation that the team will be home next year, this is the NO team. But given the amount of work that has to be done we wanted to protect ourselves if it is not ready - the hope and expectation is that it is a one year move

Broadcast provision? Cox has the agreement in NO - we are in discussion with Cox -goal to get as many games in homes as possible

Players? Acquistion ? JR Smith - we should be excited about... rookie of the month in the West.. Chris Paul -best point guard and best player in the draft...... guy everybody should applaud PJ Brown.... true professional ... BirdMan - Chris Anderson..... team is very young - 24-25 years of age - we expect to cause some havoc ... Jamal ??

How optimistic guarantee 30-40 million revenue and how to sustain optimism? Owner " we were criticized it would'nt work and we put together a good group of people and led the lead of attendance for 8 years in the smallest market in the NBA - when I saw the demographics here it reminded me of Charlotte and I got very excited... if we just get people to come to a game - you will love it! whether we win or lose we want you to say 'that was fun' that's what we try to accomplish - I just see the people embracing us! We are going to prove to the world that OK is a major league city..

Getting off to a fast start - incentive for all parties to drive revenue as high as possible - we are committed and have the full support of legal office and we will do whatever it takes

Training camp roster set - open to the public? No -we have never had but will discuss as it is the first time here in OK - may be possible to have one day open to public

Owner says - this guy will be more than coaching - he is going to help us get out in community- involvement - get players out in community and reaching out and touching - we are going to be selling -make you like us, right coach? Right!

Will other teams look to locate here and will OKC be on the top of list? OKC has been on the list for some time and mayor has made know interest in getting teams here... we view this city as a model - one size mid team market - we have every confidence that a team to be placed here permanently would do quite well

Tulsa teams? Working together - d league team to spread the NBA team to OK ... we will cover everything in your state

Would OKC have same territorial rights as any other cities? Yes

Ticket prices? Plan - Season tickets Many tickets will be $10 offering 1000 per game - $20 or less to make it affordable to experience it and to come back - Season tickets will be under $1000. lower level - make it so everyone can attend - end of season see all 29 Teams and Hornets

Games played in Baton Rouge? Dec and Jan possible March if arena is ready New Orleans

[PUGalicious]

Nice job, Karried. Thanks for doing that.

[Karried]

No problem, I figured some people would be at work and couldn't see the news conference so I tried to type as fast as I could (which isn't all that fast!)..

I can't wait to go to the games! I am very thrilled - everyone seemed very happy with how OKC has welcomed the team - this is an exciting time for our state.

[ColumbiaCowboy]

Man, I am far away (Missouri) and can't get much news about this, but as a City native I'm just so pysched about this and I really, really appreciate you passing this news on, I love it. I'm a life-long Spurs nut so rooting for another team in the division will feel really weird but for this season at least, this is MY team. I hope the press continues to say "New Orleans-Oklahoma City Hornets" instead of just "New Orleans," the benefits of having the sports press saying "Oklahoma City is Major League" every night are just massive, and this will do a lot towards getting us our team finally.
How strong the team will be is a question mark. They were a playoff team every year but one over the last five, but they fell off a lot last season and it'll be hard to bounce back, especially with all the uproar of changing cities. They may start slow, and that could really hurt the fan support. I hope not, but we gotta be realistic. Chris Paul is gonna be a star (although whoever called him "the best player in the draft" was overstating things slightly) but the job we're going to ask him to do is almost never one a brand new rookie can handle alone. He'll take some time. P.J. Brown is going to be a favorite in OKC, that is a REAL player! Magliore's coming off a rough season but we know he can play, too.
I'll be very interested to see how the TV guys and the Oklahoman handle the coverage. It's February...the Sooners are ranked #12 in the nation, have won 6 straight, and are playing at Texas Tech on ESPN. The Cowboys young guns are starting to gel, and although they struggled at first they're now ranked and coming off an upset of Kansas, they're at home against a strong Iowa State team. The Hornets are in last place and playing the Clippers (I'm not predicting that, I think we're not a last place team, this is a what-if). What leads? Will your furniture store start using Byron Scott in its commercials instead of Eddie Sutton? When the Hornets mascot shows up your grocery store opening, will people know who it is?

I think this could be a heck of a great thing. Scott's a fine coach who will go over well in OK, this team's got at least 40 wins in it if they don't get a bunch of injuries. To my knowlege, there's not a bunch of problem children here...that was one worry I had, that we'd get a team and there'd be some ugly holdout or a DUI bust or someone beats up his girlfriend and I don't think OKC will be real tolerant of stuff like that compared to a larger market. We do NOT need the "Jail Blazers" here.
Dang I'm pumped. Roll the balls out right now, I'm ready for some basketball, and as a baseball nut whose Cardinals are about to head back to the World Series, and with football in full swing, to be this interested in pro basketball in September is very weird.

[floater]

Great job, Karried! This is exciting. I am surprised at the level of "Oklahoma City" association the team is making -- the organization move, the lower prices, the name, the patches, the training camp, the community involvement. We seem more than just a temporary location. It's all very exciting.

[flyingcowz]

We seem more than just a temporary location

How so? All the things listed lead me to believe it's just temporary.

[floater]

Flyingcowz, I'm just saying that those aspects -- the patches, name, community involvement, etc are beyond the call of duty for a sports team in a temporary home. It's a credit to the organization. Don't read more into that. It's not a statement of "Gosh, darn those Hornets are gonna be here fer good, yippeee!!"

[floater]

Some conference video:

http://newsok.com/video/1621750/