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Post by bowtothebill23 on Jul 1, 2014 22:17:08 GMT -6
GM Bow Bill: Welcome everyone to the Warriors preseason press conference. Thank you all for being here. Just a quick overview, we will be going over last season, recapping our offseason moves, and then revealing our goals for the future.
GM Bow Bill: Last season, we were bold and claimed it was championship or bust. We got off to the fastest start in league history before an unfortunate injury to Sam Cassell. Still, we hold no excuses, and while we are proud of winning the Pacific and reaching the Western Conference Finals, we are disappointed that in 5 years with having Shawn Kemp, we still have no Finals appearances.
GM Bow Bill: With that said, we came into this season with the goal of acquiring depth that we lacked in our season last year. We also had a personal goal of acquiring some sort of "matchup nightmare." In last year's postseason, we had to deal with 2 of these in Grant Hill and Penny Hardaway. These guys' size, athleticism, and unique skill sets made it almost impossible to match up with them. While we were content bringing the band back together and trying to pick up where we left off before the Cassell injury, we received an offer from the Lakers that we just couldn't refuse. We received one of these matchup nightmares in Cedric Ceballos. We would like to thank Dennis Scott for all of his contributions to this team: he took the leap from fringe star to fringe superstar on our team and we wish him nothing but the best. But in Ceballos, we got a guy who is one of the most athletic in the league, who can score at will, get other teams in foul trouble, and provide incredible rebounding at the small forward position (something we struggled mightily with last year). We also received Travis Best, a rookie who we plan on letting develop under Sam Cassell. We are hoping to eventually turn him into a passable starter/great backup point guard. In free agency, we set our sights on 3 things: signing a center who can protect the rim, finding a backup SG/SF who is passable on offense and can defend, and signing one final decent backup point guard. We are very happy that we got our top 3 targets for each position. At center, we signed Andrew Lang, a solid center who can block everything. We also signed Dennis Hopson, a guy who can both score and defend. And at point guard, we locked up Tom Garrick on a 2 year minimum contract. Tom should provide solid passing and defense.
GM Bow Bill: The goal once again is simple. Win the championship. Anything less is a disappointment. We have the best player in the game and now have depth that we lacked. With Kemp, there is no excuse for us to do anything besides win. We plan on having an even more dominant offense than last season. Hopefully, we will hold our own on defense and not let other teams run wild. On rebounding, we are hoping the addition of Ceballos will push us into that top tier of rebounding.
GM Bow Bill: That concludes this portion of the press conference. We now look forward to you questions. In addition to myself, we have Shawn Kemp, Glen Rice, and new addition Cedric Ceballos here to answer your questions. Fire away! |
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J2
Junior Member
Washington Wizards
Posts: 955 
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Post by J2 on Jul 1, 2014 23:21:36 GMT -6
Johnny Junior, The Washington Post: What's the status of Sam Cassell post-injury? How much are you expecting him to contribute this season?
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Post by coltsguy510 on Jul 2, 2014 8:39:37 GMT -6
Do you think your team will be as dominant this season as it was before the cassel injury last season?
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Post by JNR on Jul 2, 2014 9:13:18 GMT -6
GWR: Kemp seemed to do well in spots at the C position. Are you considering moving him there full time?
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Post by bowtothebill23 on Jul 2, 2014 14:27:08 GMT -6
Johnny Junior, The Washington Post: What's the status of Sam Cassell post-injury? How much are you expecting him to contribute this season? That's something we were hoping to address. The injury to Sam Cassell did in fact affect his abilities. We are hoping in training camp, he will return to near normal form. Otherwise, we will have to use him more as a spark than a key option. |
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Post by bowtothebill23 on Jul 2, 2014 14:29:00 GMT -6
Do you think your team will be as dominant this season as it was before the cassel injury last season? We fully expect to be the best team in the league. Whether or not that means starting 27-2 or something ridiculous like that is beyond me. But we expect to be just as powerful on offense and to improve greatly on the boards. Also, we are expecting a better bench. So yes, I believe we can be even more dominant than before Cassell got hurt. |
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Post by DarthVegito on Jul 2, 2014 14:30:46 GMT -6
When will you realize that Kemp needs help in the front court and that you will continue to fall to more balanced teams each year? Will you ever address this? The fans want to know!!!
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Post by bowtothebill23 on Jul 2, 2014 14:31:08 GMT -6
GWR: Kemp seemed to do well in spots at the C position. Are you considering moving him there full time? GM Bow Bill: Shawn is certainly capable of playing the center position which is a huge luxury in the playoffs. But he is clearly a better power forward, so that is where we plan on using him. Besides, he's won 3 straight MVPs at PF. Not gonna mess with his success. It's the team that needs to get better. |
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Post by bowtothebill23 on Jul 2, 2014 14:35:23 GMT -6
When will you realize that Kemp needs help in the front court and that you will continue to fall to more balanced teams each year? Will you ever address this? The fans want to know!!! GM Bow Bill: We definitely made it a priority to try to find Kemp some help in the frontcourt, unfortunately no one is willing to give up a good center unless he is old and/or expiring. It's impossible to build a perfect team, so we have to have some weakness. Ours is at the center, but we believe we can outscore teams 1-4 that can more than make up for whatever we lose at the 5. |
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Post by DarthVegito on Jul 2, 2014 14:46:09 GMT -6
When will you realize that Kemp needs help in the front court and that you will continue to fall to more balanced teams each year? Will you ever address this? The fans want to know!!! GM Bow Bill: We definitely made it a priority to try to find Kemp some help in the frontcourt, unfortunately no one is willing to give up a good center unless he is old and/or expiring. It's impossible to build a perfect team, so we have to have some weakness. Ours is at the center, but we believe we can outscore teams 1-4 that can more than make up for whatever we lose at the 5. How'd that philosophy work in the playoffs? Not to take any shots but what would you say to those who say the warriors refuse to take any big risks and that their plan of piling superstars around Kemp simply hasn't worked? And why would you choose to deal a more balanced player like Scott over someone who's strictly offensive minded in Rice? You seem adamant on the fact that you can run through the regular season by outscoring everyone which is probably true...but at what point do your regular season wins = a ring out at least a finals appearance? Final question, if you fail once again this year, we'll you finally hit the reset button and admit that your team build was a failure? |
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Post by IamQuailman on Jul 2, 2014 15:46:31 GMT -6
Will Maukie of the Milwaukee Tribune: What are your plans for the recently acquired Cedric Ceballos? Was it painful to move your stud FA acquisition of Dennis Scott to a rival? Or are you thrilled that moving him allowed you to bring in a bonafide star and young guard to backup the fragile Cassell?
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Post by IamQuailman on Jul 5, 2014 16:57:29 GMT -6
Awarded 5 Pts (to Preseason presser pts)! THANKS FOR YOUR CONTRIBUTION!
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