Why the Charlotte Hornets must hear a lot more from Terry Rozier to be successful
Terry Rozier is no longer the Charlotte Hornets’ “new guy.” He knows it’s on him to lead.
A year removed from arriving in Charlotte with a three-year, $56 million deal, Rozier says he’s prepared to speak up more on a young team.
“I’ve had a lot of time over six months to figure out how I can be a better leader: Get to the guys, talk to them how they like it,” Rozier said after the first of two weeks of voluntary team workouts at Spectrum Center.
“Not trying to be somebody’s captain all the time and being in somebody’s ear. But if I see somebody” messing up, address it.
Last season, as Rozier fit in, Marvin Williams and Bismack Biyombo were the veteran mentors. Williams got a buyout to join the Milwaukee Bucks, and has since retired. Biyombo is a free agent, so it’s no given he’ll be back with the Hornets.
This camp is intentionally low-key after the Hornets went six months without any group activity. There will be lots of scrimmaging, but minimal teaching and installation by the coaches.
The players don’t know when they will be back together after these two weeks, with the exact start of next season yet to be determined by the NBA. Commissioner Adam Stern said recently that next season likely won’t start until January.
But for Rozier, who flipped between point guard and shooting guard last season, it’s the first step toward greater responsibility.
“It’s a lot different than last year,” Rozier said. “It’s a job I’m ready for; I know I’ve got to be more vocal and take on that leadership role.”
Much sharper
Hornets coach James Borrego had no expectations going into the first team workout since the Hornets beat the Heat in Miami on March 11. What he saw was surprising and encouraging.
“It was much sharper, much better, than I expected,” Borrego said. “I think we’re going to get more out of these two weeks than I expected.”
The Hornets and the other seven teams that weren’t in the NBA restart can practice daily through Oct. 6. Each practice can include up to an hour of scrimmaging. Borrego did a full hour of 5-on-5 Wednesday; while the 18 players got winded at the end, Borrego came away impressed by how they retained conditioning.
Borrego compares this to pickup games at Spectrum Center prior to training camp commencing; more about competition and bonding than correction.
He doesn’t know what will follow.
“We don’t know what’s on the backside of this,” Borrego said. “All we can control are these two weeks and let’s get the most out of it and enjoy each other.”
Biyombo and Nic Batum were the two players off last season’s roster who opted not to participate. The players, coaches and basketball staff are quarantined from Charlotte’s general population the next two weeks, to mimic the health protocols for the NBA bubble on Disney’s campus.
Fluctuating focus
Rozier said it’s been hard for players to stay focused on conditioning and development. First, they couldn’t come to the Hornets’ gym, and later they were limited to individual workouts with coaches.
He says he’s never before gone six months without playing in some sort of organized game, and that’s probably true for most of his peers.
“I’m not going to sugar-coat and say, ‘Ah, six months is nothing.’ It’s been tough on all of us,” Rozier said.
“I have been in-and-out of being focused and in-and-out of being motivated. This bubble is helping me. The last two months, I’ve been super motivated. Being here with the guys got me super motivated.”
Rozier said the Hornets provided the players bicycles and weights to exercise at home until the training facility could reopen. That was no substitute for a gym, and that hurt his attitude for a while:
“This is my life, what I grew up doing. Six months is way longer than I’ve had to sit out from games.”
This story was originally published September 23, 2020 at 5:08 PM.
