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Post by bowtothebill23 on Mar 15, 2014 0:00:42 GMT -6
(There's been a lot of standard pressers so I'm gonna try something different. Let me know what you think.)
Jack Markson's, Lead Writer for The Golden Take, Media Day Account
"The Offseason Debacle", "A Warrior's Retreat", "War Over Before Beginning". I've read all the articles, heard all the talking heads. It's been a long offseason ever since the MVP, Shawn Kemp, sustained a concussion in Game 2 of the Western Conference Semifinals against the eventual champion Lakers. Then the debacle of an offseason ensued. My team missed out on Plan A, nearly (and should've) missed out on plan B, and struggled to put any talent at all around our core. We went from a 62 win dominating team to a team many think might miss out on the playoffs. After losing one of my favorites in Muggsy Bogues, I just want to put the offseason behind and start the season.
Luckily, it's Media Day: a day where the media finally get a look at the team, interview them, and get a behind the scenes look at the way things will be run this year. Media Day doesn't start till 2, but I arrive at the arena at 8 am to get a look at practice and set myself up for the event.
Walking into the arena, I run into Shawn Kemp. Over the past 3 years, I've become very good friends with Shawn, the only player still on the team from the creation draft. Although practice doesn't start until 10, Shawn's a regular, getting to practice early to get some extra work in. I catch up with him about how his offseason went. I ask him a couple quick question about Muggsy, Dennis Scott, and other moves. "You know, losing Muggsy hurt, man. That's my guy and we've played together for 3 years now. It was fantastic being able to play alongside him for the last 3 years. We reached the WCF together and brought home a Pacific title. That's a bond that can't be broken. The Cavs got a good one." "I was the first one [GM/Coach] Bow notified when he reached the agreement to bring in Dennis. I was on the phone with him about 30 seconds later, talking excitedly about how we gonna be able to score at will for the next 5 years. I'm still not sure what exactly happened the first few days, but he's here. And we've played a couple times, he's good: REAL good."
We walk into the arena to the unfamiliar sound of a basketball bouncing (Shawn is usually the first one to show up). Dennis Scott is already here, working on his corner 3. He sees Shawn and smiles. "You're late old man" (Despite only having 3 years of NBA experience, Dennis is 2 years older than Shawn). SK: "Not everyone can play basketball 24/7. Some of us have a life." DS: "Wow, DAT ATTITUDE! And you wonder why you don't have a ring!" SK: "How about making the playoffs? That'd be a novel idea to you, huh?" DS: "You wanna talk or you wanna play?" SK: "I wanna beat your ass."
They start with a couple warm up drills: First Shawn puts his arms in Dennis' face as he shoots. This is my first look up close at Dennis: and boy is he special. Even when Shawn Kemp is actively trying to jump and block his shots, Dennis just drills 3 after 3 in his face. This kid might shoot .500 from 3 one year. Next, Shawn takes Dennis into the post and practices his post moves and inside game. It's obvious Shawn is as good as usual, but also obvious that Dennis, while still not great, has much improved his defense. Dennis then works on trying to score inside on the 3 time All NBA Defensive First Teamer. He has some surprisingly good success, but still could use some work.
SK: "Hey we got about 30 minutes till practice. Quick game to 15?" DS: "Loser buys first team dinner." SK: "Let's go." It's a ton of fun watching these 2 competitors go back and forth. It's not really a grind, but each player keeps putting buckets together and going on runs. Up 14-11, Shawn backs Dennis down before facing up, lobbing the ball to himself off the backboard, and posterizing Dennis. SK: "THIS IS MY TEAM! DONT YOU FORGET IT!"
I sit down and talk to them for a little, giving a small interview before the main one later on today. JM: "Have you gotten a look at the schedule? What do you think?" SK: "Yeah. I love it. We get the Grizz 4 times in the first month. It's kind of fitting because if we would've made it to the WCF, we would've faced off with the Grizz. It's kind of a start for redemption." JM: "Dennis, what was your initial reaction of your S&T?" DS: "I was a little disappointed at first. I thought I had shown Bo enough for him to keep me. But I quickly got over it when I realized I'd be playing with this dude." JM: "What are your goals for this season?" BOTH: "To win."
They both leave. I'm left sitting to myself, smiling. This is a team no one gives a shot to. They're an afterthought almost for the title race. And I almost bought into it. But in these last 2 hours, I gained a sort of hope. These next 5 years are gonna be fun.
GM Bow Bill, Shawn Kemp, and Dennis Scott sit down and go over the offseason; talking bout the trades for Scott and Murdock, the signings of Bol, Pierce, etc., and their plans for the future with the star-studded FA next year and the potential high pick in the Hornets' 1995 pick.
The trio is now open to answering your questions. Fire away. |
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Post by DarthVegito on Mar 15, 2014 0:26:26 GMT -6
Like the format. So what are your honest expectations for the regular season? What seed would you be happy with?
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Post by bowtothebill23 on Mar 15, 2014 7:49:56 GMT -6
Like the format. So what are your honest expectations for the regular season? What seed would you be happy with? GM Bow Bill: Thanks for the question. We don't expect to win 62 games again. That came with the luck of having a weak west along with having great players and role players and finding the right gameplan quickly. I still think we can push for the 50 win mark. As for seed, as we've shown in the past, seed isn't a huge deal. It's more important to experiment and find different gameplans that can work against different teams. We just want to be in a position where we have a legitimate chance to make a run in the playoffs. So if we've figured our team out, as long as we're in the playoffs, I'm happy. |
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Post by NOLa. on Mar 15, 2014 11:36:12 GMT -6
It's fair to say that the Warriors, Lakers, and Kings have taken steps back for different reasons. However, the improvement of Dennis Scott gives you two young elite players. Do you think another division title is in store for Oakland?
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logpmess
Junior Member
Miami Heat
Posts: 557 
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Post by logpmess on Mar 15, 2014 14:10:13 GMT -6
You have a very well rounded team. What do you think is your biggest weakness, and what are you going to do to overcome that weakness?
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Post by TrayWithAnA on Mar 15, 2014 14:11:55 GMT -6
(Don't have a question at the moment but I wanted to say I love the format.)
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Post by Conroy on Mar 15, 2014 15:17:42 GMT -6
Sports Guy Bill Simmons here, next year only Dennis Scott and Murdock will be on the books, Kemp will assuredly be getting a super max in the very near future, leaving enough space for either a few guys on decent deals, or 1 other max, is this something you've given any thought to?
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Post by Nick Malone 77 on Mar 15, 2014 18:12:43 GMT -6
Nick Melon; Charlotte Observer: While everyone talks about the bonds of unity and the almost homoerotic relationship forming out of ruthless Kemp-aggression with KempScott, not that there's anything wrong with that, I wanted to talk about another sharp shooter that's been an Allstar before in Ricky Pierce. How important is his play going to be from other teams doubling up both Kemp and Scott?
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Post by coltsguy510 on Mar 15, 2014 18:23:41 GMT -6
Do you plan on making any more moves this season? Or do you think you'll stick with what you got?
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Post by bowtothebill23 on Mar 15, 2014 19:36:48 GMT -6
It's fair to say that the Warriors, Lakers, and Kings have taken steps back for different reasons. However, the improvement of Dennis Scott gives you two young elite players. Do you think another division title is in store for Oakland? GM Bow Bill: Obviously, we'd love to add another division title. We really love to compete with the Lakers and Kings, and I respect those GMs so much that I realize it's going to be very hard to win the division with a complete roster overhaul along with missing some key pieces. Like I said, our goal is to put ourselves into position for a playoff run. We'll compete night in and night out, but in the end, I don't know if it'll be enough to compete with those powerhouses up top along with up and comers like Blazers and Sonics. |
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Post by bowtothebill23 on Mar 15, 2014 19:38:30 GMT -6
You have a very well rounded team. What do you think is your biggest weakness, and what are you going to do to overcome that weakness? GM Bow Bill: Thanks for a question. And it's a very easy one to answer. Rebounding. Last year we had Kleine and Kemp in the top 25 for rebounders and had Harper adding 6 along with Bogues adding 4-5. This year, Manute struggles to grab boards, and Scott, while an amazing scorer, is a major weakness on the glass. We're going to have to find a way around it and play to our strengths. But that's going to be a tough obstacle this year. |
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Post by bowtothebill23 on Mar 15, 2014 19:42:55 GMT -6
Sports Guy Bill Simmons here, next year only Dennis Scott and Murdock will be on the books, Kemp will assuredly be getting a super max in the very near future, leaving enough space for either a few guys on decent deals, or 1 other max, is this something you've given any thought to? Absolutely. Scott, Kemp, and Murdock alone can't win a title. We decided to try to get 3-4 big contracts as our core. Obviously we have 2 main pieces in Scott and Kemp. We still would like 1 more. We threw a max at Sherman Douglas to try to shore up our PG spot, but he passed up the extra 2 million for the 5th year. We'll be active in trade talks with teams that are looking to move stars. We'll try to get our 3rd/4th piece by next season. |
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Post by bowtothebill23 on Mar 15, 2014 19:45:34 GMT -6
Nick Melon; Charlotte Observer: While everyone talks about the bonds of unity and the almost homoerotic relationship forming out of ruthless Kemp-aggression with KempScott, not that there's anything wrong with that, I wanted to talk about another sharp shooter that's been an Allstar before in Ricky Pierce. How important is his play going to be from other teams doubling up both Kemp and Scott? Great question, Nick. Ricky Pierce, IMO, is our X Factor. We know Kemp is going to put up MVP play and put up 30-10 with great defense. Scott should come in around the 20-25 ppg range as an efficient guy along with playing good D. You need at least 3 good scorers. Ricky Pierce will be the guy looked to, at least in the beginning, for that extra 15-18 points we need out of our 3rd option. If he can do that relatively efficiently, we'll be a top 4 seed. If he's struggling to do that or doing so with a True Shooting % like last year, we might be battling just to make the playoffs. |
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Post by bowtothebill23 on Mar 15, 2014 19:47:05 GMT -6
Do you plan on making any more moves this season? Or do you think you'll stick with what you got? This team probably is not talented enough to win a championship. So we will absolutely be looking to make moves and upgrade our roster to put us into contention. This team has the 2 main pieces. We just need our 3rd/4th piece to really be a title contender. |
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Post by IamQuailman on Mar 17, 2014 12:16:23 GMT -6
Will Maukie, Milwaukee Tribune.
The acquisition of Dennis Scott quite possibly could be the move of the year, in my opinion. Congratulations on that. That said, losing Muggsy might be a bigger hit to your team than many may think. Do you think Kemp and Scott are ready to shoulder the load of the team?
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Post by bowtothebill23 on Mar 17, 2014 16:32:55 GMT -6
Will Maukie, Milwaukee Tribune. The acquisition of Dennis Scott quite possibly could be the move of the year, in my opinion. Congratulations on that. That said, losing Muggsy might be a bigger hit to your team than many may think. Do you think Kemp and Scott are ready to shoulder the load of the team? Thanks for the question. Obviously, we were thrilled to bring in Dennis, but we were ok with letting Muggsy go. Muggsy does some things very well like distributing and stealing, but he supremely struggles scoring and defending since he's so small. He played fine for us, but we weren't comfortable maxing him and are confident we can find a better pg within a year. |
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Post by IamQuailman on Mar 17, 2014 16:54:52 GMT -6
AWARDED 5 POINTS (Count towards your 93-94 media day press release 5-pt accrual)! THANKS FOR YOUR CONTRIBUTION!
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credit loco for photoshop
