Hollins Helps Set Tone Against Magic

By MATT ROCHINSKI
bobcatsbasketball.com
July 11, 2007

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ORLANDO – Ryan Hollins is beginning to figure things out.

After spending his rookie season in 2006-07 between the Charlotte Bobcats and the Fort Worth Flyers of the D-League, Hollins is now the resident veteran on the Bobcats 2007 Orlando Summer League team.

That’s because fellow teammates Raymond Felton (one game), Adam Morrison and Alan Anderson (two games each) completed their summer obligation early, leaving Hollins as the only player on Charlotte’s roster with any NBA experience when the defeated Orlando 95-77 on Wednesday, moving its record to 2-1 overall.

“Man, it happens quick,” Hollins said. “You don’t really look at being in your second year and being the veteran out there, but with the rest of the guys out, it came pretty soon for me. It’s kind of a weird feeling, but you just have to prepare yourself by watching guys and emulating what the vets do because you’re kind of a vet now.”

With his three regular-season teammates watching from the sidelines, Hollins knew he had to step up and inject the Bobcats intensity and work ethic into his summer teammates.

“I knew we had a lot of guys not out here, and I knew I had to play harder today to try and get our guys going” he said. “We had a pretty bad game yesterday. I don’t think we had the energy that the Bobcats normally have, and that’s what the Bobcats are all about. I knew today we had to come out with extra energy.”

Hollins did and had his best game of the summer so far, finishing with 13 points on 6-8 shooting and adding six rebounds and two blocked shots. He also teamed with rookie Jermareo Davidson to shut down the Magic’s big men inside, holding Marcin Gortat (six) and James Augustine (six) to a combined 12 points.

“(Bobcats assistant) coach (Paul) Mokeski was a big influence for me there,” Hollins said. “He told me, ‘Maybe your offense might not be there, but we can never accept your defense not being there – not playing physical, not rebounding and not blocking shots.’ So I took it upon myself come out and try to set the tone defensively and help the team out.”

Mokeski was thrilled with Hollins’ performance against Orlando.

“I really do think he stepped up, and I think that comes with him feeling comfortable with his role,” Mokeski said. “If you feel comfortable with your role, then you can help the other guys out. Some guys treat summer league as a punishment, and it’s not a punishment, it’s an opportunity. Ryan is grasping that opportunity.”

Hollins also jumped on the opportunity to throw down a couple of his signature rim-shaking dunks to get his teammates going early on.

The first came just before the five-minute mark of the first quarter when he elevated over two defenders and converted a powerful one-handed jam while being fouled. He missed the ensuing free throw, but his throwdown pushed Charlotte’s lead to 17-6 and established a double-digit cushion the Bobcats would hold for the majority of the contest.

“That’s what I do,” Hollins laughed. “I want to play hard and bring energy to the team by making plays like that. If I’m not doing that, there’s something wrong.

“Getting off to that fast start was important to us. It’s the first five minutes of the game and first five minutes of the second half that can dictate the tempo. You set the tone. What coach Mo told me is that you have to get that first hit on them to establish the tone and let them know you’re there.”

Hollins gave the Magic another reminder of Charlotte’s presence early in the second frame, as well. He spun past Gortat, drove the baseline and left mouths gaping around the gym when he powered down a one-handed, underhand reverse jam that put the Bobcats up 35-19 and locked cruise control in the rest of the way.

“If I know there’s someone slower on me, I’m going to try to get around them, and if they’re smaller, I’m going to shoot over them,” Hollins said. “That’s the thing about being a student of the game – I’m trying to be more versatile and learn new things every day, and things are progressing.”

This summer has been even sweeter for Hollins considering the way his trip to Orlando ended last season. He played just 5:55 in Charlotte’s opening game against Miami after going down with a sprained right ankle that caused him to miss the rest of summer league.

“This summer league is big. I’ve been thinking about it since last year because it was burning me up to sit out here and watch my teammates,” he said. “I was trying to come back and play, but my ankle was so swollen that they wouldn’t let me do that because they wanted me to be ready for training camp. But I’ve been thinking about summer league ever since. I really didn’t get a chance to play much last year, so I knew this was going to be huge for me, and I’m just trying to make the most of the opportunity.”

Notes: Hollins wasn’t the only one who impressed on Wednesday. Gabe Muoneke stepped into the starting lineup and scored a game-high 31 points on 11-15 shooing, including 4-7 from three-point range, after averaging just 6.0 points in the first two contests.

Point guard Bobby Brown also came through with his best summer performance, scoring 17 points and dishing out five assists while turning the ball over just twice in 32 minutes.

“It’s critical for those guys to come out and play like that in the summer, particularly for a guy like Gabe who is getting a little long in the tooth, because he doesn’t have many opportunities left,” Bobcats assistant coach Jeff Capel, who is coaching Charlotte’s summer league team, said. “That’s why we put him in the starting lineup today. With Alan, who would have been in the starting lineup, not being here, we knew we could go with (Jackie) Manuel or Gabe, and we decided to give Gabe the opportunity to show what he can do, and he proved himself today.”

Two rookies who have shined throughout the summer league didn’t lose any of their luster either. Jared Dudley scored 17 points, hauled down a team-high nine rebounds and dished out a team-best six assists, while fellow draftee Jermareo Davidson added 11 points with four rebounds and one blocked shot.

“That’s team basketball,” Capel said. “I thought we were very selfless on both ends of the floor. I thought yesterday we were a little selfish. Today we did a great job of playing off of each other offensively and covering for each other defensively.”

Charlotte will next take on New Jersey at 3 p.m. on Thursday at the RDV Sportsplex. You can catch all your Bobcats action right here live.