Miami Heat 1996 Press Conference

[logpmess]

Welcome everybody. We are here at the end of free agency ready to talk about our upcoming season.

Before we talk about the future, lets divulge into the past. We had a good season last year. We had to see the likes of Hakeem and Rex Chapman go due to salary reasons, but we got younger and still had a successful year. We managed the 8th spot in the East, which matched us up against the two time defining champions, the Celtics. We were within one point of winning in the Boston Garden, but could not turn it around after that. We were swept, but it gave us a promising outlook for the future.

This offseason was a less than active one for our team. We shipped out Will Perdue, again due to salary reasons, but we were able to pick up a future first round pick. In the draft we got Tony Delk. He is going to be transitioning to our backup shooting guard position for this upcoming year. Although he is a little small for a shooting guard, we have big hopes for him in our future. 



We didn't make any impact in free agency. We are looking at a big development during training camp. We want to see our new player Tony to grow fairly quickly. He needs to develop a jumpshot in order to make it in this league. We are ready to see both Jim Jackson and Adam Keefe take the next step in development. We are still open to picking up another player or two to fill out or roster. 

We look forward to the following starting line up at the beginning of the season:
C- Sharonne Wright
PF - Adam Keefe
SF - Jim Jackson
SG - Jeff Hornacek
PG - Gary Payton
With this line up and Cliff Robinson coming off the bench, we hope to improve our seeding from last year and be around the 4/5 position in the playoffs. We have yet to make it out of the first round, so winning a playoff series is also a goal.

Through all of this, we have yet to talk about the glove, Gary Payton. He is primed to become the leader of this team. In the past he was overshadowed by dominant figures such as Hakeem Olajuwon. This team is his to govern. We anticipate a big year out of him. We hope for him to add at least 3 points per game this year.

With all of that being said, the floor is open for questions. 

[Nick Malone 77]

Nick Meloan; Charlotte Observer: How does it feel to win the feudal family war between you and the Clippers?

[logpmess]

Aug 25, 2014 17:53:08 GMT -6 Nick Malone 77 said:

Nick Meloan; Charlotte Observer: How does it feel to win the feudal family war between you and the Clippers?

All I can say is that the league is better off without that asshole. I wish the new Clippers regime the best of luck. Finally the clippers fan base has a manager that they can respect. But to actually answer your question, it feels great. The better Messina won, like usual. 

[Deleted]

Aug 25, 2014 17:57:05 GMT -6 logpmess said:

Aug 25, 2014 17:53:08 GMT -6 Nick Malone 77 said:

Nick Meloan; Charlotte Observer: How does it feel to win the feudal family war between you and the Clippers?

All I can say is that the league is better off without that asshole. I wish the new Clippers regime the best of luck. Finally the clippers fan base has a manager that they can respect. But to actually answer your question, it feels great. The better Messina won, like usual. 

bahahah

[WigNosy]

Last year the Heat got the #8 seed and have not really made any significant moves since. If you plan to outdo last year, are you expecting growth from within, expecting other teams to get worse, or do you have a trade up your sleeve to shake things up?

[logpmess]

Aug 25, 2014 17:59:15 GMT -6 WigNosy said:

Last year the Heat got the #8 seed and have not really made any significant moves since. If you plan to outdo last year, are you expecting growth from within, expecting other teams to get worse, or do you have a trade up your sleeve to shake things up?

We are looking for a strong training camp and a possible additional training sessions in order to grow from within. We need to develop our depth as I am currently confident with our current starters.

[IamQuailman]

Will Maukie, Milwaukee Tribune. Whose job will it be to fill the void left by trading Will Perdue? Do you think Sharonne Wright can hold off on his own, or will this be a Center by Committee type rotation?

[TrayWithAnA]

I was gonna ask about Clippers GM but you destroyed him before I could get here.

How are you looking at the upcoming season? Do you see it as an improvement on last season?

[logpmess]

Aug 25, 2014 18:53:29 GMT -6 IamQuailman said:

Will Maukie, Milwaukee Tribune. Whose job will it be to fill the void left by trading Will Perdue? Do you think Sharonne Wright can hold off on his own, or will this be a Center by Committee type rotation?

We are looking for Wright to come into his game. We know what he can bring to the table. He is our center of the future and the future starts now. 

[logpmess]

Aug 25, 2014 18:59:23 GMT -6 TrayWithAnA said:

I was gonna ask about Clippers GM but you destroyed him before I could get here.

How are you looking at the upcoming season? Do you see it as an improvement on last season?

We overvalued some people last year, so this year we are looking to have a fair evaluation of every one of our players and really work on game planning around our team to make the difference. I anticipate improving off of last year, or of course we could completely fail and not improve. But yeah, I'm going with improving. 

[bowtothebill23]

With probably less talent than last year, can you say that this is part of your plan? Are you expecting a down year before making a splash with all the cap room you'll have?

[logpmess]

Aug 25, 2014 19:47:46 GMT -6 bowtothebill23 said:

With probably less talent than last year, can you say that this is part of your plan? Are you expecting a down year before making a splash with all the cap room you'll have?

We have a chance to make a real push with the guys we have. I really feel like we are one or two pieces away from being a real contender. Our talent may seem like less this year, but we are just going to change our game planning to focus on the talent we have. With the leadership of Payton and the ability of Jackson, we should have a team that can make a run in the playoffs. 

[NOLa.]

Gary Payton and Jim Jackson look to be in their prime, does this add any pressure to make a trade and push yourself into contention? A big man could really complete this team

[logpmess]

Aug 26, 2014 8:33:24 GMT -6 NOLa. said:

Gary Payton and Jim Jackson look to be in their prime, does this add any pressure to make a trade and push yourself into contention? A big man could really complete this team

We feel that a big man could make this team a lot better, but as evident in some of our previous investments with big men, we need a certain type. So, going all out for a big man is not our primary focus. We would like to see Sharonne Wright really step up and take responsibility for his position. 

[J2]

Johnny Junior, Washington Post. Being in the Atlantic division, a division known for its big men, with a starting post pair of Sharone Wright & Adam Keefe doesn't exactly inspire confidence. With your one glaring hole, how do you see yourself being able to compete? What type of gameplan will you look to implement?

[logpmess]

Aug 26, 2014 15:44:37 GMT -6 J2 said:

Johnny Junior, Washington Post. Being in the Atlantic division, a division known for its big men, with a starting post pair of Sharone Wright & Adam Keefe doesn't exactly inspire confidence. With your one glaring hole, how do you see yourself being able to compete? What type of gameplan will you look to implement?

Everybody will have a role. We have full confidence in Sharone and Adam starting down low for us, with our size coming off the bench in Ostertag and Robinson. We are going to be relying more heavily on our superstars to produce, so this team is now Payton and Jacksons to run.

[IamQuailman]

Awarded 5 points (towards preseason presser 5pt cap).