Charlotte Hornets 1997-98 Media Day

[Nick Malone 77]

Charlotte Hornets Media Day

- After the third consecutive season of reaching the playoffs, the Hornets were hanging in there even after a disappointing first round loss to the New York Knicks. A lot of the squad would not be returning via free agency but the pieces of a young and promising future were starting to emerge. Derek Fisher and Theo Ratliff had made a noticeable impression since coming over from Milwaukee that they could be fixtures in teal and purple for many years to come. Chris Childs had played a crucial role since coming over from Washington that he could be the combo guard off the bench that could play critical minutes when the starters needed a rest.

Of course, there was the team leader, Tom Gugliotta, that expressed much regret in leaving the city where he's played a majority of collegiate and pro basketball. He smiled with feeling like he had returned home from a brief but strange trip that never mixed as a member of the Bucks.



- So with the core of Hornets emerging to rise for the upcoming season to come and money to spend heading into free agency, the plan was put in place to improve this team with pieces that could be added to the core and mix that up with veteran talent that could play in crucial stretches on the second unit. News broke that we had won the RFA bid on Nick Van Exel whom would have made an exciting tandem to play with Gugliotta in the pick and role game but alas, it was not to be. His home team in Los Angeles decided to match our maximum offer and now he can lead the ships in LA with Latrell. Is there even water in LA for the Clippers to sail on?

- That didn't deter us from our goals though. We had a high priority set on a few select free agents and were aggressive with our offers to most of the notable talents that were unrestricted free agents. Out of the maximum amount of offers we were handing out, there was hope that we could snag at least 1 maybe 2 of our targets on the first day which talents could sign. We were excited to announce the signing of Jamal Mashburn. Some were critical of the offer handed out to "Mash" as we'll call him here in Charlotte with the amount of cash given to him over a long term commitment but given his age and time in Portland, we saw his play grow and figured he would be a dynamic offensive weapon and an integral facet for our starting lineup. We hope Mashburn's time here in Charlotte can turn him into one of our leaders for many years to come.




- Next was the approach of signing Roy Tarpley. Tarpley is a no nonsense and aggressive player that we learned first hand during his time with the Knicks. Playing next to one of the best centers in the NBA in David Robinson formed a fearsome combination that gave fits to our many combinations of "Name-A-Center" & Gugliotta these last few years. We're hoping that he can step right in and play productive minutes at the 4 or 5 while we continue to develop our young center of the future in Theo Ratliff.




- We added former Hornets back to the squad in Dan Majerle and Nate McMillan that we hope can provide sage wisdom to a lot of our younger players here in Charlotte. They may asked to start on a given occasion but we can give them the ball and they know how to take care of it and spot up for their own shot which we hope can be found by our newest acquistion that we traded for within the last 48 hours.




- Standing at 5'10. We saw a talent that was being wasted in Phoenix with the influx of point guards they brought in that would be taking time and minutes away from Damon Stoudamire. Granted, it came with a heavy cost in dealing away teen sensation, Brad Daugherty but sometimes sacrifices have to be made. He and his contract will be missed, sort of. With the opportunity given to Damon to start and play next to Tom Gugliotta and Jamal Mashburn along with Theo and Derek Fisher, we feel like we have the young pieces in place to compete at a high level but also contend when others may count us out. Possibly validating that GMOY campaign started by those fine people of Milwaukee recognizing our efforts.

[J2]

In just a few short days, you went from a team with no backcourt at all to a team with 3 promising young PG talents in Damon Stoudamire, Derek Fisher, and Jacque Vaughn, with veteran Chris Childs also in the mix. We already know what Damon means to you, but what about the other two? Also, who's in at Shooting Guard? Will one of your PGs slide over to that spot?

[Nick Malone 77]

Nick Malone: Great question and congrats again on your teams incredible ride to the NBA Finals last season. I hope our two teams can meet in the post season in this upcoming season ahead. We know we needed to fix our back court and striking out during free agency, left us with little time to scramble and figure out our options for what to do. When we acquired Derek Fisher, he was buried on Milwaukee's depth chart behind the insanely talented Terrell Brandon. Fish is an incredibly hard worker and willing to work within the confines of our system and has done so to really improve his game. He just needed minutes and he figures to be the primary backup to Damon at least for now.

We drafted with the final two picks Kevin Ollie and Jacque Vaughn. Both are really raw and undeveloped talent but Jacque really wanted to show teams that passed on him that he's a skilled value pick that has a high propensity for defense and holding onto the basketball. Kevin Ollie didn't pick up as fast as Jacque did but who knows, I think this season will be an important one for both to learn from and get some minutes to get a feel for the NBA but we won't put them in situations where they will be required to log heavy minutes.

Also, for the meantime, while we are still working on finding a permanent solution at least for this season at the 2 guard, Chris Childs will slide over to that spot. He can be a unique combo guard and I'm excited to see what he can do when he's slotted in the starting lineup. But you never know when an opportunity pops up to improve the squad and we're always looking.

[NOLa.]

The Central division looks terrible and the defending champions Pacers might not be able to pull off another title, even though they do it every single season after we say they can't. Bucks look to be the early favorites, but do you think you deserve some mention as a favorite yourself and why?

[Nick Malone 77]

Nick Malone: The Sim League Gods have predicted the Central Division to be the worst division maybe ever of what's happened since this past off season. I mean, I think it'd a tad unfair that the first 5 of 6 picks of next years draft potentially could belong to Central Division squads. I mean, there's still alot of talent on each collective team that doesn't make it an easy challenge to play some of these squads night in and night out. You have Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Stacey Augmon, Michael Finley. All talented players that don't make any of these teams a cake walk.

That being said, I think the Bucks have amassed quite the talented squad in Milwaukee and deserve all the mention in the world to be the "Favorites" to win the division but I wouldn't count out my team either. I really believe the young team here can gel with the mix of talented vets and of course, our best player, Tom Gugliotta. There's a lot of game to play but I wouldn't be shocked if it was a tight race between the Bucks and I and maybe the Pistons towards the final week of the regular season for the Central division crown.

[Inner_GI]

We all know what Gugs can do, but where do you see your secondary scorer coming from after shipping out Daugherty? How does this effect you team's goals this season?

[Nick Malone 77]

Nick Malone: I very easily think after Gugs we can see a lot of the secondary scoring come from Damon or Mash or even Tarpley when we need some muscle and scoring in the paint.

[aburns211]

Are you concerned at all with the youth of your backcourt? Do you expect a learning curve or are you confident that they are ready to contribute now?

[Nick Malone 77]

Oct 22, 2014 20:16:29 GMT -6 aburns211 said:

Are you concerned at all with the youth of your backcourt? Do you expect a learning curve or are you confident that they are ready to contribute now?

Nick Malone: Looking at my back court, the longest tenured members are Childs and Derek Fisher. I think there will be some adjustments that will have to be made but all of them are talented to some degree. Definitely they all have a hill to climb to fight for minutes but I think with their youth and skills on the defensive side of the court, they are all talented basketball players and I'm excited to see how they all play out together and within one another.

[Soundwave]

Clark Kent, Daily Planet:

Is this the season Nick? Is it?
You always seem poised to make your move or blow it up at any given moment. Which way are you leaning today? And will one bad or good sim sway that feeling like it has in the past?

[rpf]

Ice T, Fuck Eazy: Is Thomas James Gugliotta ready to become SLOe's 1st white MVP? How many times did Eazy send indecent proposals to the Hornets organization?

[J2]

With the triumphant return of Nick Anderson to Charlotte, has the thinking moved from "We could win the Central" to "We'd better win the Central?"

[Nick Malone 77]

Oct 23, 2014 11:07:24 GMT -6 Soundwave said:

Clark Kent, Daily Planet:

Is this the season Nick? Is it?
You always seem poised to make your move or blow it up at any given moment. Which way are you leaning today? And will one bad or good sim sway that feeling like it has in the past?

Nick Malone: Regardless of how a certain stretch of games go for this season, the moves we made were made with every intent to get younger and build our franchise with key cogs like Mashburn and Damon and even our depth with Gugs to compete at a very high level. Before the move to get Damon, I'll admit, there was some panic with having an aging and declining Center on our roster that was eating up a huge chunk of our cap space and really restricted us from making many moves.

Now that we have this outlook, we can afford to be a little bit more patient and keep adding and moving forward. I expect us to compete along with the Bucks and Pistons to be right there for the Central Division at the end of the year.

[Deleted]

Did you just call guys "depth" ?

[Nick Malone 77]

Oct 23, 2014 11:24:04 GMT -6 rpf said:

Ice T, Fuck Eazy: Is Thomas James Gugliotta ready to become SLOe's 1st white MVP? How many times did Eazy send indecent proposals to the Hornets organization?

Nick Malone: We think Tom Gugliotta is our rock and foundation to everything this organization represents. Do we think he's a Top 5 player in the NBA? Yes. The NBA thinks so as well with him moving up to All League First Team but as long as there's a Kemp or a Penny or a Zo in the discussion, I don't think Tom will ever get his shot to hold the MVP trophy as much as it hurts me to say.

Eazy and the Spurs have never called about Gugliotta or an offer that was an outright insult. I always try to find the best deal for both parties without it seemingly looking like some sort of framed set up like some other GM's are purported to do to more inexperienced GM's around the league. We are very fortunate to have a winning organization and always willing to talk deals.

Even with the fine people from that state that smells like Garbage whenever we ride through it, New Jersey.

[Nick Malone 77]

Oct 23, 2014 11:57:03 GMT -6 J2 said:

With the triumphant return of Nick Anderson to Charlotte, has the thinking moved from "We could win the Central" to "We'd better win the Central?"

Nick Malone: I wouldn't go that far J2. I'll just say that this season in particular, with the way the rest of the division is set up, I'd be shocked if it wasn't the Bucks or Pistons or I representing the Central Division as the #2 seed in next year's playoffs.

[Nick Malone 77]

Oct 23, 2014 15:09:13 GMT -6 ballsohard said:

Did you just call guys "depth" ?

Nick Malone: I like to think of my team as having layers.....Like an onion. All different and special and to the core.