Adam Morrison looks just as he did as a college star at Gonzaga, from the floppy long hair that bounces with every jump shot to his trademark mustache.
The Charlotte Bobcats hope the rookie's game carries over just as easily.
Two days into training camp, it's clear the lanky, six-foot-eight forward has the chance to find plenty of playing time for a team in desperate need of his scoring touch. The question is how long it will take for him to adapt to an NBA game that will doubtlessly find opponents planning to be physical with him.
``It's a good core group of guys around here and I'll get the opportunity to help this team out right away,'' Morrison said after Wednesday morning's workout at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. ``My main goal is to do whatever it takes to get on the floor and let everything else take care of itself.''
There seems little concern whether Morrison _ the third overall pick in June's draft _ has enough offensive skill to make it in the league. He averaged an NCAA-best 28.1 points as a junior last season, including five games with at least 40 points, while shooting 50 per cent from the field and 43 per cent from three-point range.
He picked right up while playing for the Bobcats in the summer league in Orlando, averaging 24.6 points.
That's exactly what's needed in Charlotte, home to a young team entering its third season. The Bobcats seem set at point guard with Raymond Felton, the fifth pick in the 2005 draft, and at power forward with former rookie of the year Emeka Okafor anchoring the frontcourt.
The plan is for Morrison to slide in as part of that nucleus.
``He's getting respect from his teammates because they know he brings a specific weapon to our basketball team, which helps everybody,'' coach and general manager Bernie Bickerstaff said.
His teammates already have taken plenty of notice.
Felton still remembers watching Morrison break down in tears during the final seconds of Gonzaga's loss to UCLA in the NCAA tournament in March, which turned out to be Morrison's last college game.
``I saw a kid that hates to lose, a kid that loves the game,'' Felton said.
Sean May, a first-round pick in '05 who missed much of last season with a knee injury, played with Morrison during the summer league and touted the rookie's understanding of the game.
``He's smarter than most players,'' May said. ``He doesn't make too many mistakes. When he does, he corrects himself. You don't see that with a lot of rookies. He's going to be a special player.''
He certainly stands out on the Trask Coliseum court with his throwback look, the hair and mustache that seems lifted from a Pete Maravich-era highlight reel. Then there's his uniform: He wears shirts under his Bobcats jersey with sleeves stretching below his elbows, a baggy-clothes cloak over a 205-pound frame.
The biggest question following Morrison still centres on whether he can defend, a criticism he dismisses.
``During the summer, I had to show my array of skills and it was good for me to kind of prove I can play both ends of the floor a little better than people give me credit for,'' Morrison said. ``I think all the negativity was just, `He scores 28 points a game so we'll find something negative,' which is fine. Nobody ever lit me up for 30 or anything, so I don't know why it all came about.''
Bickerstaff, for one, was quick to point out that Morrison is ``more than a one-dimensional player.'' But he's also quick to caution anyone from expecting too much too soon.
``The one thing I've found over the years,'' Bickerstaff said, ``is that you have to be patient with rookies.''
