Post by thesyndicate on Aug 26, 2014 9:37:18 GMT -6
The crowd stirs, barely awake, toting IVs of lukewarm coffee procured from the lobbies of their Courtyard Marriotts, Residences Inn, or Doubletrees. No one can believe the watches on their wrists when they read 4:45 on a Monday Morning. Their editors have all demanded they hop on this flight to the unusual location of Denver International Airport for the Denver Nuggets annual pre-season press conference. What makes their attendance this year mandatory at such an odd time and place? The Team Owner known only to all as The Syndicate will be making a live appearance.
A hush blows over the mass of bodies as the great door behind the podium opens. GM Ryan Altschuler can be seen in the shadows of the door way speaking back into the hallway he came up, "Yes sir, I'm sure they'll understand....I'm excited too, sir....Yes, we've been keeping an eye on Smith's weight....No, Horace Grant is not dead....Sure we'll consider the idea of $5 Mookie Cookie Night....No sir, no sarcasm here....You too, sir."
Ryan walks to the podium and begins the following announcement: "Ladies and Gentlemen, thanks for joining us this morning for the Denver Nuggets Pre-Season Press Conference I'd like to begin by discussing last year's -" His speech is cut off by an interruption by Will Maukie and Nick Melon in unison, "Excuse me, Mr. Altschuler." After realizing the chorus, Will immediately yells "Jinx!" Now Nick cannot speak for the rest of the press conference which is convenient so that his mouth can be used at Mr. Waukie's discretion as it surely was this off-season.
"I'll answer your question before you ask it, gentlemen, unfortunately due to recent events and witnesses that haven't been located, our owner will not be attending this morning. I've brought along his thoughts and synopsis of the previous season and thoughts on what's to come."
The crowd groans, but as they're already there, they mine as well listen.
Ryan: "We began last off-season as a 1-guard, one man team. We believe we needed to get more talented and much deeper. The current roster reflects this need and the journey began with the trade of that guard, Allan Houston, to the Detroit Pistons for multiple draft picks. Using these picks we were able to assemble a mid-season roster of considerable talent that would see our team perform at around .500 down the stretch. This improvement took us out of the lottery running and thus our pick was surrendered to Phoenix, but we leveraged our talent and cap space, that we had been prudent in acquiring, to field a deeper, more talented, more flexible team this year and for years to come.
First, I want to thank Elden Campbell
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, Michael Adams ![]()
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, Rick Fox ![]()
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, Joe Smith 
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, and the rest of our 1995-96 roster for a valiant effort down the stretch. We could have rolled with our team and probably finished around .500 in a very talented Western Conference which is no small feat. But .500 and another year watching the playoffs from home was not going to be acceptable. After taking over the team, we embarked on a rebuilding plan that saw some tough times, but this year and years to come bears the fruit of this re-build in talent, cap flexibility, and roster depth.
We are having this press conference at the Airport as a symbol of the many miles I've logged this off-season to discuss and orchestrate moves that filled out and improved our roster. In a series of moves we turned Elden Campbell, Rick Fox, Tyus Edney, Eric Montross, and Michael Adams into Dell Curry, Horace Grant, Larry Johnson, Clarence Weatherspoon, and Mookie Blaylock while adding Brent Price and Isiah Thomas as key off-season pieces. At the same time, we reduced salary commitments for next year to $10m allowing us the flexibility to be major players in what is sure to be a deeper, more talented, free agent class.
I'd now like to introduce our roster for the upcoming season, and I'll have them join me as I announce them so they'll be available for your questions.
First, our starting Center, Horace Grant.
Though he played predominately Power Forward during his time in Toronto, his attributes and frame allow him to be a rebounding and defensive monster anchoring our front-court defense and playing big minutes. He also brings enough athleticism to slow down the bigs that we'll surely need to over-come in the playoffs.
Our starting PF, and the People's '95-96 Rookie of the Year, Joe Smith
In a concerted effort to corner the market on nba.com sales of fan-goggles (Foggles), we are starting the PROY at Power Forward. A dominate first year made what could be a tough decision very easy. Though there are 5 players on the roster capable of starting at this position, we feel Smith gives us the best chance to win during the regular season. This may change as we have many capable PFs, and Smith will see time at the 3, 4, and 5 this year.
Starting SF Larry Clarence Johnson-Weatherspoon
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Two players capable of playing the 3 or the 4, we'll be mixing and matching lineups with both players initially grabbing about equal minutes. We like the jump forward CW took in TC adding some quickness, while LJ may be a defensive liability, his supporting cast while he's on the floor should be able to pick up the defensive slack.
Starting SG Dell Curry
Rest assured, Terry Dehere and Brent Price will spend time at Shooting Guard this year, Curry is still an excellent shooter and exemplifies what we like at the position. He is also providing veteran leadership to TD and BP who both continue to develop. We will be in contract negotiations throughout the year with Terry and Dell in hopes that we can shore up the position for years to come.
Starting PG, Mookie Blaylock
The star of our off-season, we lacked a quarterback, a distributor, a defensive stalwart, an All-Star quality Point Guard. After extensive negotiations we were able to land Mookie from the Hornets for a very good player in Rick Fox. Though we love what Fox brought to the table on both ends of the floor, this acquisition fills a glaring hole. We expect Mookie and depth-player Isiah Thomas to mentor young Brent Price who will also log minutes at quarterback this year.
Our bench could easily constitute a competitive starting 5, but as I've already taken too much of your time at this early hour, I'll leave you with the starters and take a few questions. Thank you for joining us. Who's up first?"
A hush blows over the mass of bodies as the great door behind the podium opens. GM Ryan Altschuler can be seen in the shadows of the door way speaking back into the hallway he came up, "Yes sir, I'm sure they'll understand....I'm excited too, sir....Yes, we've been keeping an eye on Smith's weight....No, Horace Grant is not dead....Sure we'll consider the idea of $5 Mookie Cookie Night....No sir, no sarcasm here....You too, sir."
Ryan walks to the podium and begins the following announcement: "Ladies and Gentlemen, thanks for joining us this morning for the Denver Nuggets Pre-Season Press Conference I'd like to begin by discussing last year's -" His speech is cut off by an interruption by Will Maukie and Nick Melon in unison, "Excuse me, Mr. Altschuler." After realizing the chorus, Will immediately yells "Jinx!" Now Nick cannot speak for the rest of the press conference which is convenient so that his mouth can be used at Mr. Waukie's discretion as it surely was this off-season.
"I'll answer your question before you ask it, gentlemen, unfortunately due to recent events and witnesses that haven't been located, our owner will not be attending this morning. I've brought along his thoughts and synopsis of the previous season and thoughts on what's to come."
The crowd groans, but as they're already there, they mine as well listen.
Ryan: "We began last off-season as a 1-guard, one man team. We believe we needed to get more talented and much deeper. The current roster reflects this need and the journey began with the trade of that guard, Allan Houston, to the Detroit Pistons for multiple draft picks. Using these picks we were able to assemble a mid-season roster of considerable talent that would see our team perform at around .500 down the stretch. This improvement took us out of the lottery running and thus our pick was surrendered to Phoenix, but we leveraged our talent and cap space, that we had been prudent in acquiring, to field a deeper, more talented, more flexible team this year and for years to come.
First, I want to thank Elden Campbell
We are having this press conference at the Airport as a symbol of the many miles I've logged this off-season to discuss and orchestrate moves that filled out and improved our roster. In a series of moves we turned Elden Campbell, Rick Fox, Tyus Edney, Eric Montross, and Michael Adams into Dell Curry, Horace Grant, Larry Johnson, Clarence Weatherspoon, and Mookie Blaylock while adding Brent Price and Isiah Thomas as key off-season pieces. At the same time, we reduced salary commitments for next year to $10m allowing us the flexibility to be major players in what is sure to be a deeper, more talented, free agent class.
I'd now like to introduce our roster for the upcoming season, and I'll have them join me as I announce them so they'll be available for your questions.
First, our starting Center, Horace Grant.
Though he played predominately Power Forward during his time in Toronto, his attributes and frame allow him to be a rebounding and defensive monster anchoring our front-court defense and playing big minutes. He also brings enough athleticism to slow down the bigs that we'll surely need to over-come in the playoffs.
Our starting PF, and the People's '95-96 Rookie of the Year, Joe Smith
In a concerted effort to corner the market on nba.com sales of fan-goggles (Foggles), we are starting the PROY at Power Forward. A dominate first year made what could be a tough decision very easy. Though there are 5 players on the roster capable of starting at this position, we feel Smith gives us the best chance to win during the regular season. This may change as we have many capable PFs, and Smith will see time at the 3, 4, and 5 this year.
Starting SF Larry Clarence Johnson-Weatherspoon
Two players capable of playing the 3 or the 4, we'll be mixing and matching lineups with both players initially grabbing about equal minutes. We like the jump forward CW took in TC adding some quickness, while LJ may be a defensive liability, his supporting cast while he's on the floor should be able to pick up the defensive slack.
Starting SG Dell Curry
Rest assured, Terry Dehere and Brent Price will spend time at Shooting Guard this year, Curry is still an excellent shooter and exemplifies what we like at the position. He is also providing veteran leadership to TD and BP who both continue to develop. We will be in contract negotiations throughout the year with Terry and Dell in hopes that we can shore up the position for years to come.
Starting PG, Mookie Blaylock
The star of our off-season, we lacked a quarterback, a distributor, a defensive stalwart, an All-Star quality Point Guard. After extensive negotiations we were able to land Mookie from the Hornets for a very good player in Rick Fox. Though we love what Fox brought to the table on both ends of the floor, this acquisition fills a glaring hole. We expect Mookie and depth-player Isiah Thomas to mentor young Brent Price who will also log minutes at quarterback this year.
Our bench could easily constitute a competitive starting 5, but as I've already taken too much of your time at this early hour, I'll leave you with the starters and take a few questions. Thank you for joining us. Who's up first?"
