Checking in with Chris Paul: Training Camp Edition
October 3, 2006
Weeks removed from his stellar performance for USA Basketball during the World Championships, Hornets point guard Chris Paul joined his teammates in New Orleans on Monday for the outset of training camp.
Hornets.com’s Jim Eichenhofer chatted with the 6-foot reigning Rookie of the Year to discuss several topics, including Paul’s experience in international hoops competition and the 21-year-old’s recent trips to the bowling alley with his new Hornets teammates.
Eichenhofer: There have been several articles written recently speculating that given your hectic summer, you may be fatigued and could potentially get worn down during the upcoming NBA season. What is your opinion on that subject?
Paul: I’m not concerned about it or even thinking about it. I think a lot of times that is mental. At the same time, you can be thinking one thing and your body will be telling you (something else). We’ll see. Going into training camp, I’m very excited.
Eichenhofer: What is your impression of some of your new teammates? Have you gotten a chance to spend some time with them away from basketball?
Paul: Yeah, all of them. Jannero (Pargo) and I have gone bowling a few times. So has Bobby (Jackson). So I have a couple new bowling partners now [grins]. They didn’t understand how serious I take bowling until we got out of the car and they saw that I have my own bowling bag [laughs].
They definitely have a whole lot of work to do to compete with me in bowling. Pargo’s not bad, though, but they definitely need to start bowling a little more [grins]. They’ve got my number, so they can call me whenever they want to go play.
We have some great guys on this team; Hilton (Armstrong) came over too and we played some cards, watched TV.
Eichenhofer: Now that some time has passed, what is your outlook on how USA Basketball fared in the World Championships? Given that USA Basketball adopted a multi-year plan for the team, did you get the feeling that this was one instance when the U.S. did not win a gold medal but people didn’t act like it was the apocalypse?
Paul: I think our team did extremely well. It’s definitely going to be an ongoing process; it’s not going to be a one-year deal. Everything they did this summer was making strides toward 2008. I think we are going to huge improvements and guys are going to be even more prepared. Everyone this summer was very tight and it was a tight-knit family, which is how you want it to be. Guys weren’t just playing for themselves; they were playing for each other.
Eichenhofer: How much of an advantage do you think it is for other countries, such as Greece, to have played together in the past or have a common style of play that is familiar to their team?
Paul: I wouldn’t necessarily call it an ‘advantage,’ but they definitely get a chance to play with each other a lot more than we do. That’s part of the game. I think USAB did a great job by having a two-week training camp to prepare us for it, as well as keeping a core group of guys together for three years. I think that’s going to make a huge difference. Next year you should definitely see improvements.
Eichenhofer: Do you think in general that many people don’t realize how narrow the difference in talent has become between the U.S. and other countries?
Paul: The rest of the world has definitely caught up. It’s evenly matched, if not sometimes they are a little bit above us. It’s going to be competitive every game, I don’t care who you’re playing against. Every team gets up for games against the U.S. and that’s the way it should be. If a team beats the U.S., their whole summer is made, and (sometimes) the rest of the games are irrelevant.
Just about every team has an NBA player on their roster now. You look at a team like Spain, and just about their whole team is made up of NBA players.
Eichenhofer: You had a chance recently to film one of those humorous ESPN SportsCenter commercials in Connecticut. What was that experience like for you?
Paul: That was a lot of fun. Being up there on ESPN’s campus (in Bristol, Conn.) and getting to see how different things take place every day was interesting. I did a spot with Stuart Scott and with Brian Kenny. It will interesting to see what it looks like after they edit it. I think they are supposed to start running them in November or December.
Weeks removed from his stellar performance for USA Basketball during the World Championships, Hornets point guard Chris Paul joined his teammates in New Orleans on Monday for the outset of training camp.
Hornets.com’s Jim Eichenhofer chatted with the 6-foot reigning Rookie of the Year to discuss several topics, including Paul’s experience in international hoops competition and the 21-year-old’s recent trips to the bowling alley with his new Hornets teammates.
Eichenhofer: There have been several articles written recently speculating that given your hectic summer, you may be fatigued and could potentially get worn down during the upcoming NBA season. What is your opinion on that subject?
Paul: I’m not concerned about it or even thinking about it. I think a lot of times that is mental. At the same time, you can be thinking one thing and your body will be telling you (something else). We’ll see. Going into training camp, I’m very excited.
Eichenhofer: What is your impression of some of your new teammates? Have you gotten a chance to spend some time with them away from basketball?
Paul: Yeah, all of them. Jannero (Pargo) and I have gone bowling a few times. So has Bobby (Jackson). So I have a couple new bowling partners now [grins]. They didn’t understand how serious I take bowling until we got out of the car and they saw that I have my own bowling bag [laughs].
They definitely have a whole lot of work to do to compete with me in bowling. Pargo’s not bad, though, but they definitely need to start bowling a little more [grins]. They’ve got my number, so they can call me whenever they want to go play.
We have some great guys on this team; Hilton (Armstrong) came over too and we played some cards, watched TV.
Eichenhofer: Now that some time has passed, what is your outlook on how USA Basketball fared in the World Championships? Given that USA Basketball adopted a multi-year plan for the team, did you get the feeling that this was one instance when the U.S. did not win a gold medal but people didn’t act like it was the apocalypse?
Paul: I think our team did extremely well. It’s definitely going to be an ongoing process; it’s not going to be a one-year deal. Everything they did this summer was making strides toward 2008. I think we are going to huge improvements and guys are going to be even more prepared. Everyone this summer was very tight and it was a tight-knit family, which is how you want it to be. Guys weren’t just playing for themselves; they were playing for each other.
Eichenhofer: How much of an advantage do you think it is for other countries, such as Greece, to have played together in the past or have a common style of play that is familiar to their team?
Paul: I wouldn’t necessarily call it an ‘advantage,’ but they definitely get a chance to play with each other a lot more than we do. That’s part of the game. I think USAB did a great job by having a two-week training camp to prepare us for it, as well as keeping a core group of guys together for three years. I think that’s going to make a huge difference. Next year you should definitely see improvements.
Eichenhofer: Do you think in general that many people don’t realize how narrow the difference in talent has become between the U.S. and other countries?
Paul: The rest of the world has definitely caught up. It’s evenly matched, if not sometimes they are a little bit above us. It’s going to be competitive every game, I don’t care who you’re playing against. Every team gets up for games against the U.S. and that’s the way it should be. If a team beats the U.S., their whole summer is made, and (sometimes) the rest of the games are irrelevant.
Just about every team has an NBA player on their roster now. You look at a team like Spain, and just about their whole team is made up of NBA players.
Eichenhofer: You had a chance recently to film one of those humorous ESPN SportsCenter commercials in Connecticut. What was that experience like for you?
Paul: That was a lot of fun. Being up there on ESPN’s campus (in Bristol, Conn.) and getting to see how different things take place every day was interesting. I did a spot with Stuart Scott and with Brian Kenny. It will interesting to see what it looks like after they edit it. I think they are supposed to start running them in November or December.
