Felton and May Ready For Games to Begin

Raymond Felton and Sean May won an NCAA Championship as teammates at North Carolina in 2005. Felton was named to the NCAA Final Four All-Tournament Team and capped his junior season by winning the Bob Cousy Collegiate Point Guard of the Year award. May was voted the MVP of the NCAA Final Four after scoring 26 points and grabbing 10 rebounds against Illinois to help the Tar Heels claim the title. The Bobcats selected Felton with the fifth overall pick in the 2005 NBA Draft and added May with the 13th overall pick.

Now the pressure is on.

The Bobcats will play their first game in the Reebok Rocky Mountain Revue in Salt Lake City, Utah, at 8:00 p.m. on Friday against the Seattle SuperSonics, and it is no secret that expectations are high for the former Tar Heels.

“We’ve put pressure on them now that we want them to excel,” Assistant Coach John-Blair Bickerstaff said. “We want them to be the leaders of this basketball team along with the guys we had on the squad last year, like Matt Carroll and Bernard Robinson. We want Raymond and Sean to get a lot of minutes. We want them to get a lot of experience and just continue to grow from the college level into the NBA players that we want and expect them to be.”

The bar is set high for Felton and May not only because of where they came from and what they were able to accomplish at North Carolina, not only because they were both lottery picks this year, not only because the eyes of North Carolina will be focused on their hometown heroes, but because Felton and May impressed Bickerstaff, the rest of the Bobcats coaching staff and their teammates in Bobcats mini-camp these last two weeks and gave them a reason to expect great things.

“I was really impressed by both of them,” Carroll said. “I really didn’t know what to expect. I think for everyone coming in, whether you’re the top draft pick or you were drafted or not, it’s tough to come in here because you’re used to playing the college style of basketball. College and the NBA are a lot different, but the two of them have adjusted really well.”

Felton and May have helped ease the adjustment into the NBA by trying to keep the pressure off themselves. They learned at North Carolina not to get caught up in the media’s expectations, their fans hype and the pressure of being expected to not just win, but to excel.

“Camp has been great,” Felton said. “It was a chance to play with my teammates and get a feel for them. I feel really confident going out to Utah right now. I don’t really think there will be too much adjustment to the pace of the NBA. Coach Bickerstaff loves to push the ball down the court and then get into the offense if you don’t get anything out of the transition. That’s basically what Coach (Roy) Williams liked to do at North Carolina. I’m really feeling at home right now.”

May, too, is feeling like he belongs. He stresses how right now, he is just having fun with the fact that his dream is taking shape in the NBA, but he also realized in mini-camp that he will be taken to task for what he does on the court.

‘It’s less teaching than in college,” May said. “College is about teaching the fundamentals. They expect you to know how to play here already. I like that. You just go out there and play, but they’re really big on keying in on your mistakes and things you’re messing up principle wise. For us, it’s been good and fun, and hopefully it will continue to be fun.”

That’s not to say that either Felton or May is unaware of the fact that even though they have reached this level in their careers, it is up to them to hone their skills and acquire some new ones if they want to elevate their games to the next level. Felton spent mini-camp working on his long-range shooting, while every day after practice, May put in extra time with Coach Bickerstaff working on a new dimension to his game – perimeter shooting. He looks forward to seeing that part of his game develop in Salt Lake City.

“It’s just something that I’m trying to work on to add more to my game,” May said. “I work with Coach Bickerstaff every day on facing up the basket, shooting the ball, footwork and different techniques. Rebounding the basketball is something I’m always going to pride myself in doing. If I don’t go to the Rocky Mountain Revue and average 10 rebounds, that doesn’t mean that come the season I’m not going to be on it. Right now, it’s an opportunity to work on different things. In college, I never had the opportunity to play on the perimeter. These games will allow me to do that.”

Both May and Felton spent mini-camp not just working to add new skills to their repertoires, but they also know they can’t forget to stay true to the work ethic and skills that have gotten them this far already.

“All I’ve got to do is just take care of my body and just come out and play basketball like I always play,” Felton said. “You’re at a different level, and yes, all the guys are better than you or at the same level you are, but at the same time, you’re still playing basketball. The guys you’re playing against have two legs and two arms just like you. You’ve just got to play basketball. You can’t be scared of anyone.”

With mini-camp completed, both Felton and May are excited to take to the court against some new NBA competition. This will be their first chance to show their teammates, their coaches, their fans and themselves that they have earned the right to be here and can handle the pressure that comes with it.

“I think we’re both looking forward to finally playing some games,” May said. “Hopefully it will be good to play against somebody with a different colored jersey on.”

Added Felton, “I’m still living a dream, but still it’s a business. This is my job now, so I can’t just be sitting and being in la-la land. We’ve got to get down to business.”

By Matt Rochinski, BobcatsBasketball.com