http://www.nba.com/hornets/news/quotes1_040624.html June 24, 2004 Allan Bristow, Byron Scott and J.R. Smith Speak To Media The Hornets made high-school talent J.R. Smith their 18th pick. Smith (via telephone) and Hornets General Manager Allan Bristow spoke to the media shortly after the Hornets made their selection to talk about Smith, his skills and his potential to be a great player. J.R. SMITH – 6-6, 220 lbs. St. Benedict's HS (New Jersey) (on if he was surprised by the selection) There were a lot of guys (ahead of me) who surprised me in the draft. It was really like a lot of the previous drafts. Everybody gets surprised, but it's really a relief. (on if he is happy with the fit of the Hornets) Yes, definitely. I love it. It's just really hard to talk now....It's a long-time dream. (on if he had any contact previously with the Hornets) Not much personally, but they had talked with my agent (Arn Tellem). They had wanted me to come in and work out but we just couldn't get together. Coach Scott told me that he was glad they were able to get me....I just can't wait to get down there. (on what his strengths are) I can shoot the ball well and use my athletic ability. Plus, I'm very coachable. (on if he thinks he will make an immediate impact or will it take time) I feel comfortable in what I can do. I can definitely contribute to the team right away. I think I can definitely prove it on the court. --------------------------------------------------------------- GENERAL MANAGER ALLAN BRISTOW (on what led the Hornets to select Smith) We're certainly really excited. I think one of the things that we adddressed during the season and after the season is that we wanted to get athletic and we wanted to get younger and I think you certainly can't get everything in one player but I think we did a heck of a job to get a 19-year-old who has a vertical leap of 44 inches. J.R. came on very strong at the All-Star high school games the last couple of months and he's just been imressive everytime he's been on the floor. We think that he's going to be a tremendous asset to our current team as well as our future and I think he's going to be one of the outstanding off-guards in this league for a long, long time. (on if the Hornets would've preferred not to have gone with a high school player) We all prefer that. I think the whole NBA prefers that, but this is the way it is. We were surrounded by high school players with our pick and it was just one of those things where you have to go with the flow. SOmetimes you just have to do what's right and what's right was to draft J.R. Smith. (on how much he can expect realistically from a high school player in the first year) I just know he has a tremendous amount of athletic ability He's talented and knows the game of basketball. He likes to score; he likes to shoot the basketball. He's got tremendous range. He really has the ability to be the total package. How fast that comes into play here with how fast he learns the game, whether it's six months, one year, two years....I don't know. The maturing process is something that you don't have a whole lot of control over. (on if the Hornets looked to move up around the pick where Kirk Snyder went) We were a little surprised that Snyder lasted that long. He was right there. But I think all things being equal, I think we were happy to get a choice between at least one of those players. It was a little hairy there right at the end because I know what we would've done but I don't think we would've been as happy. Coach Scott and everyone in our draft room would not have been as happy if J.R. hadn't been there. (on the second round) With the 44th pick, we took Tim Pickett and we feel like he's another athletic player, potential draft pick. He'll be able to play multiple positions. Of course, he's going to have to come in and make our squad this year but we feel good about both of our selections. (Pickett) came in and had a terrific workout the other day and we followed him throughout his college career and we feel very comfortable with Tim Pickett. (on what impressed him about Pickett) He's an energy player. His range on his jump shot....He's a very strong player. I think he's the kind of player the coaches like being around because of his high energy so I think he's got a chance to make our club. (on picking two guards in the draft) We felt that we had a couple of choices there and felt that Pickett was just a little notch above them. The best athlete. (on any surprises in the Draft) We felt like we had a group of guys at the 18th pick we felt were on a different level than the other guys and that was a group of 13 and J.R. Smith was in that group. For us to pick at 18, that means some other players had to go in front of the 18th pick that weren't in our group and it just so happens that it worked out perfect for us. It's very similar to the David West scenario last year. HEAD COACH BYRON SCOTT (on drafting a high school player) We got an extremely good basketball player in J.R. (Smith). I said that sometimes high school kids scare you. Allan and I have talked about it for the past couple of weeks but this kid's upside, athleticism, the way he can shoot the ball and the range that he has, the way he gets up and down the floor fits our style and some of the things that we want to do. Obviously, it's going to take him some time to understand what this league isw all about and he's probably going to struggle at times but we're really excited about having J.R. on board. --

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