January 31, 2008

Hornets.com caught up with New Orleans supersub and fan favorite Ryan Bowen in the locker room for a recent conversation. The 6-foot-9 forward filled us in on meeting fans at Armstrong International Airport after the San Antonio win, the story behind the “Do the Hustle” music clip, his spring-loaded knee brace and his status as an alternate for the 2008 NBA slam dunk contest:

Hornets.com: What was your reaction to coming back to New Orleans after the trip to San Antonio on Saturday and seeing Hornets fans at the airport to greet you guys? Have you ever experienced that in the NBA?
Bowen: [smiles] No. That was crazy. That was the first time I’ve ever had that in the NBA, coming back from a game and having people at the airport. It was really neat to see those guys want to come out there. They didn’t want to hassle us or anything; they just wanted to say “Great job, and we’re behind you.” That was really neat to see.

Hornets.com: Did you get to talk to some of the fans?
Bowen: Yeah. It was a carload of three or four guys. I stopped and said hello. They wanted to take a couple pictures, so we did that and it was fun. It was very nice on their part to do that.

Hornets.com: I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but they’ve started playing a clip from the song “Do the Hustle” every time you score a basket during home games. What do you think?
Bowen: I like it. You know, a few of us on the bench were talking, and we were trying to figure out what my song should be, because they hadn’t been playing anything when I scored. Adam (Haluska) and a few of us did some brainstorming and thought that we needed to find something that incorporates hustle. So I was like, “What about that ‘Do the Hustle song?’ ”

I went up to (the team’s staff) and said, “In the (rare) event that I do score, could you play that ‘Do the Hustle’ song?” I thought it was kind of fitting.

Hornets.com: How do you explain your recent upswing in the number of slam dunks you’ve been getting?
Bowen: A spring-loaded knee brace! [laughs] I’ve been accused of that lately. [smiles] But seriously, I’ve been running the floor a lot better the last couple weeks, and with Jannero (Pargo) pushing the ball so well, I’ve been getting a few of those dunks on fast breaks.

Hornets.com: Your teammates seem to get a huge kick out of it whenever you dunk. I know that the Hornets tried to get Julian Wright considered as a participant for the dunk contest. Do you feel you were unfairly overlooked when the NBA selected Gerald Green, Rudy Gay, Dwight Howard and Jamario Moon?
Bowen: [grins] I definitely feel like I was overlooked. You see, the night they announced (the dunk contest participants) was the same night I got my first dunk of the season, so it was too late. I thought maybe there was an outside chance of getting picked, being that (with All-Star Weekend being held in New Orleans) I’d have the home crowd cheering for me and everything.

But (the NBA) told me I’m something like the 400th alternate for the dunk contest, so that’s good. If the 300 or 400 guys ahead of me get sick or can’t participate, I’m in.

Hornets.com: If somehow the league decided to add a fifth participant for the dunk contest and chose you, what kind of chance would you give yourself against those four guys?
Bowen: I’m trying to petition the league to put in a “hustle contest” at All-Star Weekend. You roll a basketball out on the floor and see how long it takes each guy to dive on it. Maybe you throw five or six balls out there and see how long it takes for a player to collect all of them and put them back in a ball rack. I think that would be fun for the fans to see a guy go all-out.

In most of the All-Star competitions, the guys are a little reserved and laidback. To be able to go all-out would be great. That’s what I’m waiting for right now. Maybe one day they’ll add that.

Hornets.com: A lot of NBA players have summer basketball camps, but yours seems to be pretty unique. Is it safe to say that you’re the only guy who has “Floor Burns” in the title of their camp?
Bowen: I don’t know. There are other guys who have some pretty unique ones, too. A guy I know from Burlington, Iowa, named Vern Reed, and I came up with the idea for the camp. The first title we came up with was “Skinned Knees,” but we thought maybe that was a little too graphic. [grins] “Floor Burns” was perfect. And we have a lot of fun doing the camp.

Hornets.com: In addition to the normal shooting and defensive slides that every camp offers, how do you teach diving on the floor for loose balls and drawing charges? Are there special drills for those things?
Bowen: We do a take-charges drill, where you work on getting set (defensively). One thing (people overlook) is that you have to fall properly, so you don’t get injured. Some guys hurt their wrists or something like that because they land incorrectly.

Hornets.com: I noticed on the brochure for your camp that one of the mottos for the event is “Teaching young people how to get the most out of what they have.” Why did you choose that slogan?
Bowen: At a young age, kids are at all different levels. The kid who is a star in third grade, a lot of times, might not be a star or even play when they get to high school. It’s about working on what you have and what fits into your game.

Hornets.com: Could you make an analogy from that to your NBA career?
Bowen: Definitely. People have doubted me all along the way, but I’ve just stuck to the way I play and what I can do. When you do that, good things will happen.