Facing the possibility of a roster with about a half-dozen new faces, Hornets Coach Byron Scott figured some early bonding might be in order this season. What better way to accomplish that than having his team be a captive audience at the outset of training camp, where closeness for a week in Lafayette, Scott hopes, will breed brotherhood. "With six or seven new faces, I just wanted us to get away," Scott said Wednesday at the announcement that the Hornets will spend six days working at Louisiana-Lafayette's Leon Moncla indoor practice facility. "I didn't want practice to end and everybody go home. I wanted us to be in a hotel close to one another.
"We're going to be at the hotel after practice having lunch together and then dinner; they are basically on their own. But you know when you've got guys in the same hotel, they'll start calling each other to see where they want to go for dinner, and that's just to speed up the camaraderie and the togetherness."
The Hornets will travel to Lafayette on Sept. 28 after media-day festivities at the New Orleans Arena, practicing at ULL from Sept. 29 to Oct. 4, including a scrimmage scheduled at the Earl K. Long Gym on campus on Oct. 3.
Hornets President Hugh Weber said Wednesday the training-camp move is helpful to the team's business model, as well, because there are a number of season-ticket holders and sponsors in the Acadiana area.
"We take the approach that everything is integrated, the Basketball and the business," Weber said. "So there had to be a 'win' all the way around. Our businesses and sponsors have a lot of business over here, and we have companies in Lafayette that do business in New Orleans. There were a lot of synergies from that standpoint.
"Ultimately, this is part of what we've talked about for a long time. We feel we want to represent the entire state and the entire Gulf South. This is part of that connection with our fans to this team and the players on it."
In addition to a week of practices in Lafayette, the Hornets will take part in several appearances, including Downtown Alive, a concert series that has been part of the Lafayette community for more than a quarter century.
Weber said the Hornets are not sure whether holding training camp outside of New Orleans is a one-time effort or the beginning of a trend.
"We're going to look at the team side of how this develops, and we've reminded the folks (in Lafayette) that while this is training camp and there's some allure to it, these guys are coming to work and prepare for a long season," Weber said. "That's got to be a priority."
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Staff writer John Reid contributed to this report. Jimmy Smith can be reached at jsmith@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3814.
