Lakers Preseason Press Conference

[Deleted]

[[[ The room is full of of reporters. A lot of them are on the phone, some are scrolling though their beepers and turning them on silent. The room is familiar, mostly the same as last year with one key change. A championship trophy sitting on the side of the podeum. The Lakers GM is in the background office reviewing his notes before the conference as the door opens. Silence ensues. Balls O'Hard walk to the podium. Takes a glance at the trophy and smirks quickly at it before focusing on his notes for one more moment. He looks up at the camera and begins. ]]]

Balls O'Hard: "Good morning and thank you for coming. We have a lot to talk about today. There was a lot of moves questioned by media and of course internally that we made to start last season and again, following suit this season. Last season we made a controversial move and had to move forward from the Mitch Richmond relationship and gave up one of the better 2's in the league to a team we ended up meeting in the championship. This year we had to make another tough decision in moving a key cog in our championship team in Beniot Benjamin. Beniot was a very large part of our team, much like Mitch was the year before. Beniot was the key defensive force on a championship team and we're sad to see him go. We wish Beniot a lot of personal sucess, but we wish his team ill fortune." [Smirks] |||They think i'm joking, trying to show wit. I'm not, not only do I wish the Sonics ill fortune, but I wish them to get a blown out tire testing this new Ferrari's handling out. |||



Balls O'Hard: "Now we understand with a controversial move like this there will be scrutiny. We understand that and our shoulders are broad enough to handle that criticism. With that being said, we didn't have a huge splash in the offseason as many have expected. We drafted an extremely raw prospect in Bruce Bowen, who we think has all the tools to become a shut down defender and signed a few guys on the roster we think can help us plug a few holes. We don't consider this team a finished product by any means, but we do expect to defend our title with vigor."  
|||These press conferences always bore me. Political mundane go through the motion type of actions that come with the job. A terrible waste of time. Something the sheep fans crave for. Something anyone with any type of brain would know is just lip service. The media is another animal. Another dumb animal, sitting, watching, waiting for a mistake. Something to cling on to. Something to help rise them to the top. They fight so hard to get there, to have their moment in the sun, but what lies at the top of a cesspool is still sewage.|||




Balls O'Hard: We full expect our players to develop their game over the offseason. We won last year with an extremely young team, and we expect with the coaches working with our players starting Training camp tonight, we have reason for optimisim for growth for all of our players. We full expect CeBall to make tremendous growth, as he as every year he's been doing every summer in the league. We expect KJ to continue to drive to be the league's best point guard. We expect Mark Macon to continue to grow into a solid starting 2, which is what we believed he could be when we drafted him.  Jayson Williams, we think can grow into one of the best rebounders in the league starting this season. We have many reasons to look forward to this season."
||| Now I know what you drama leeches are thinking, he didn't mention Larry Johnson. He must have forgotten, there must be descention within the ranks. Wrong. Larry has proved he doesn't handle sucess very well. Case and point last season after winning ROY he comes back to us without touching a basketball. This one needs disrespect to fucntion, to be great. Obviously not directly from me, or he would kick and scream like a child who's father told him to eat his veggies. No, I need a much more indirect route. A route that can be a scapegoat. I'll make the media my pawns.|||  


Balls O'Hard: Now with that being said I think we can move forward to some media questions. who wants to go first?
||| So I can not answer your question. |||

[[[ O'hard steps back from the mic to wait for the first question.]]]

</FONT>

[WigNosy]

There was a lot of talk out of L.A. suburb Sierra Madre on talk radio that last season about the "Year of the Johnson." Now that you've moved Benoit, do you think this will need to be the "Year of the Jayson" for your team to repeat?

Also, how did you really feel about the league's Official Hairless Cat of Record giving your team a B- grade for its free agency period?

[PaulyP]

Jon Snow, Westeros Sports Network. Congratulations on your title O'Hard, very great job. What do you believe will be the toughest part of defending your chip? Will it be getting motivated every night? Will it be having a huge target on your back from 29 other teams?

[TrayWithAnA]

blah blah blah blah expectations?

[Deleted]

Mar 13, 2014 12:33:35 GMT -6 WigNosy said:

There was a lot of talk out of L.A. suburb Sierra Madre on talk radio that last season about the "Year of the Johnson." Now that you've moved Benoit, do you think this will need to be the "Year of the Jayson" for your team to repeat?

Also, how did you really feel about the league's Official Hairless Cat of Record giving your team a B- grade for its free agency period?

Balls O'Hard: Thank you unnamed reporter. You know, you really should give your name because I feel you may have a future in this business. Our team's success will hinge on how much Jayson progresses or regresses. Sure, that's a lot of pressure to put on one guy, but we believe in him. If you noticed, as we got deeper and deeper into the playoffs last season we relied more and more on Jayson's rebounding ability off the bench. We feel that was a lot of pressure on a young guy so we feel pretty comfortable with giving him a shot to start the season. If he's just not ready yet, then we will try to remedy that issue. 

Balls O'hard: On to your next question. We appreciate feedback of all sorts from many different publications around the league. This was no different. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and we felt it was a fair grade, whatever that's meaningful for, to give us a B-. We certainly don't think the writer's central division bias or his strong connections to the Dallas Mavericks owner had anything to do with the rankings as a whole. We wholeheartedly support any publications on our behalf; unless they're slanderous of course. 

[Deleted]

Mar 13, 2014 13:00:26 GMT -6 PaulyP said:

Jon Snow, Westeros Sports Network. Congratulations on your title O'Hard, very great job. What do you believe will be the toughest part of defending your chip? Will it be getting motivated every night? Will it be having a huge target on your back from 29 other teams?

Balls O'Hard: Thanks for your question Mr. Snow. Regarding the toughest part of defending, I would say the things out of your control and that starts and stops with injuries and the timing of them. No one really has much control over these issues, but like last season we will try and mitigate this issue. We know we have a target on our back from certain teams, but that's not the team's we're worried about. There are certain guys that run their mouths about beating so and so, or winning 4 games in a row; but it's the guys who have the experience and have been to the mountain that we direct our focus on. Throughout the season, and hell, the offseason, you'll see a lot of paper champions. People claiming how great they or their teams are, but like a baby crying for attention all you have to do is ignore it and that noise will go away. 

|||Unless of course it doesn't. Then you've got to take matters in your own hands.. and smother the noise.|||

[Deleted]

Mar 13, 2014 13:23:12 GMT -6 TrayWithAnA said:

blah blah blah blah expectations?

Balls O'Hard: Excuse me? 

|||Remember what i said earlier about the media and a Cees pool?||| 

[TrayWithAnA]

Mar 13, 2014 13:36:34 GMT -6 ballsohard said:

Mar 13, 2014 13:23:12 GMT -6 TrayWithAnA said:

blah blah blah blah expectations?

Balls O'Hard: Excuse me? 

|||Remember what i said earlier about the media and a Cees pool?||| 

What exceptions for this season have you?

[logpmess]

Tony toni tone reporting from the starr gazette. You went into the playoffs last year as the fourth seed. How do you plan to improve upon that record this year? Also, who do you see as your biggest threat in the Western Conference to repeat as Western Conference Champions?

[LoCo89]

Jean Baptiste Étienne from La Révolution de Vancouver, Memphis Branch . What are your thoughts on the Dallas Mavericks GM, Mr. Vegito proclaiming your team 2nd best in the West in comparison to the... let me see if I can find it... the "Great Dallas Mavericks"? As the defending champions do you have any comments?

[Deleted]

Mar 13, 2014 13:40:40 GMT -6 TrayWithAnA said:

Mar 13, 2014 13:36:34 GMT -6 ballsohard said:

Balls O'Hard: Excuse me? 

|||Remember what i said earlier about the media and a Cees pool?||| 

What exceptions for this season have you?

Balls O'Hard:  Expectations are to have an eye on the present and the other on the future. So, like always, it's to win now without restricting ourselves in the future.

[Deleted]

Mar 13, 2014 16:34:38 GMT -6 logpmess said:

Tony toni tone reporting from the starr gazette. You went into the playoffs last year as the fourth seed. How do you plan to improve upon that record this year? Also, who do you see as your biggest threat in the Western Conference to repeat as Western Conference Champions?

Balls O'Hard: Good question. It's always our goal first and foremost to win the division and then conference in the regular season. We've failed to do that 3 years in a row. We think as our guys mature we can get a little more of a stranglehold onto the division. That's proven tough so far. Take for example last year, the Pacific had what was probably the 3 best teams in the league and the 3rd best in the regular season won the whole thing. Nothing is given. We think our players understand that after having a 'blow the door off the hinges' season 2 seasons ago. We think that mentality will carry us.

[Deleted]

Mar 13, 2014 16:38:43 GMT -6 LoCo89 said:

Jean Baptiste Étienne from La Révolution de Vancouver, Memphis Branch . What are your thoughts on the Dallas Mavericks GM, Mr. Vegito proclaiming your team 2nd best in the West in comparison to the... let me see if I can find it... the "Great Dallas Mavericks"? As the defending champions do you have any comments?

Balls O'Hard: "Why we couldn't possibly comment on that. We all know the very public .. chemical imbalance and mental issues he was suffering from after his finals loss. 2 seasons ago, during his press conference he relapsed into another episode. He thought he was in a palace connected to his arena and John Stockton was his servant. When Stockton tried to inform him that he wasn't a king, or in a palace a year later, he was traded. We also were witness to the trial for the failed hit he put on craigslist on the referee that threw out Mitch Richmond in a game after being bribed by him a few seasons ago. We can only thank our stars that the jury found him unfit for trial. We all know he has been heavily medicated in the past and perhaps he was on a little too much or too little before making those comments.



I do know he's under public watch after cursing out the Deputy commissioner for announcing Penny as a Point guard during the draft. I can only wish him well in his recovery.




Reference: fbbsimleague.proboards.com/thread/460/dallas-maverick-media-conference

[gmessi2]

Bill Plaschke here from the L.A. times. Rumors have it that many players on your team are worried about being shipped off during the season. How do you keep them level headed to make sure they produce on the court? Do you have some key targets to go for during the season?

[78]

How did training camp go?

[NOLa.]

Mar 13, 2014 18:30:58 GMT -6 78 said:

How did training camp go?

[Deleted]

Mar 13, 2014 18:30:58 GMT -6 78 said:

How did training camp go?

Really well outside of LJ. He on the other hand had a tank training camp about as bad as the rockets two seasons.

[Conroy]

Sports Guy Bill Simmons here. First off congratulations on an excellent season and winning the title. I hate you for it, I will never forgive you for it, but damnit I respect you for it. Some say winning a title makes you hungry for more, some say it can let you become complacent. What has it done for the Lakers organization?

[Soundwave]

Clark Kent, Daily Planet.
Any truth to the rumors that LJ is on the block?
Also, it has come to our attention that you have received a large offer to become the assistant G.M/assistant vice president to President and CEO Soundwave in Toronto. Is your time running out in L.A.?

[Nick Malone 77]

Nick Melon; Charlotte Observer: While everyone is talking about "best backcourt's" in the game today, how do you feel about having one of the best and richest in terms of value and youth group of wings in the entire league with the collection of Bruce Bowen, Weatherspoon, and Ceballos?

[bowtothebill23]

Jack Markson here from The Golden Take. You went on the record yesterday saying you could only stomach a 1 year rebuild because you hated losing so much. Having traded LJ, do you consider this a rebuild or a reload?

[Deleted]

Mar 14, 2014 8:29:04 GMT -6 Conroy said:

Sports Guy Bill Simmons here. First off congratulations on an excellent season and winning the title. I hate you for it, I will never forgive you for it, but damnit I respect you for it. Some say winning a title makes you hungry for more, some say it can let you become complacent. What has it done for the Lakers organization?

 Balls O'Hard: It's made us hungrier for more without a doubt. We've moved in a  direction to help us win multiple championships not just 1. We we in the right place at the right time last season and we have to be prepared for that again. 

[NOLa.]

Last season was a memorable one for Lakers fans for a few reasons. The championship is the obvious one but the ride there was a rollercoaster with stretches of dominance and then meltdowns at home against less talented teams, and even you said your team was "streaky". What came together for you in the playoffs to pull out multiple Game 7 wins and coming through in the end?

[Inner_GI]

In some ways it looks like your team didn't get any better this year. With the extreme talent in the C and PF spots in the Pacific, how do you see your team performing in the division, and did you maybe sacrifice this year for success down the road by shipping out Benoit and LJ?

[Deleted]

Mar 14, 2014 12:03:44 GMT -6 Soundwave said:

Clark Kent, Daily Planet.
Any truth to the rumors that LJ is on the block?
Also, it has come to our attention that you have received a large offer to become the assistant G.M/assistant vice president to President and CEO Soundwave in Toronto. Is your time running out in L.A.?

Balls O'Hard: No truth to the rumors at all. LJ is here to stay.