Rockets Preseason Press Conference

[78#]

phpBB [video]

[42PhD]

Dr. Rocker from the Cleveland Rocker:

Do you feel there are no Queen cover bands because musicians are that stupid that they don't appreciate Queen, or do you feel is that they are that smart and know they can not in any way do justice to Freddie?

[78#]

Dr. Rocker from the Cleveland Rocker:

Do you feel there are no Queen cover bands because musicians are that stupid that they don't appreciate Queen, or do you feel is that they are that smart and know they can not in any way do justice to Freddie?

Its probably the latter. I'm sure many people appreciate Queen but realize there's only one Freddie Mercury and no one can do him justice. He was just great and there's no one like him.

[78#]

Press conference begins.

The offseason started with the retirement of Hersey Hawkins. He was our first pick in the creation draft and was a big face of the franchise for many seasons including our only divisional title in 1993-1994. We're glad he retired as a Rocket and now is a part of our front office and we hope to keep him with us for as long as he wants.

[78#]

Next was the draft. We were fortunate to land Tayshaun Prince with the 6th pick in the draft which was a big surprise. We feel he has tremendous upside as a wing scorer and defender.

[78#]

Next restricted free agency came along and we signed both Larry Hughes and Bonzi Wells to offer sheets for a 4 year max. We projected them to develop into max type players and were hoping we could land at least one if not both. There wasn't much negotiations between the Jazz or Lakers who indicated they would match the offers. It was unfortunate, but those are the rules of the game. But at least we were happy that quality guys were interested in signing with us.

[NickMalone77]

Would you consider this season a failure if you didn't make the playoffs considering what you gave up to acquire Webber?

[78#]

Finally free agency started and during the draft and restricted free agency, we were talking with the Minnesota TWolves who had alot of interest in both Prince and our young SG Jason Richardson. We felt this was a perfect opportunity to make a move for their superstar since already had a max level player in Zydrunas Ilgauskas who we could not find a suitable trading partner. Due to having a max level player in his prime and two very young prospects, there was a feeling that something had to be done to move forward. Since there was little interest in Big Z, we acted on obtaining Chris Webber for our young prospects. We really commend the JNR for being a trustworthy, honest, and fair trading partner which is very hard to find in any league. Unfortunately our trade didn't generate much discussion, but maybe it was for the fact that both sides were rewarded fairly.

Obviously landing a player like Chris Webber is a game changer and we're happy to have him for the next few seasons. We feel pairing him with Big Z will fortify a front line that can match with any in the league and that's big advantage offensively and defensively.

[78#]

Would you consider this season a failure if you didn't make the playoffs considering what you gave up to acquire Webber?

Not necessarily. This is year one of our plan. Obviously, we expect substantial improvement, but there wasn't much room to improve after acquiring Webber. We feel we need one more player to really fortify this team and hopefully we can acquire him this year or next offseason.

[Xist2Inspire]

Random Reporter: With the improvements that both Prince and Richardson made in training camp, is there any feeling that you might have acted too soon?

[78#]

Random Reporter: With the improvements that both Prince and Richardson made in training camp, is there any feeling that you might have acted too soon?

Not really. We really needed to make a deal whether it was trading Big Z or the two prospects. We expected them to develop well but we really wanted to place a max caliber player with Big Z.



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[WigNosy]

How much time does Big Z have left in Houston?

[78#]

How much time does Big Z have left in Houston?

He has two years left on his contract. He's the biggest reason why we traded for Webber.


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[RPF]

How much pressure pressure is on this team this season considering the other 2 texas teams met in the Western Conference Finals?

[78#]

How much pressure pressure is on this team this season considering the other 2 texas teams met in the Western Conference Finals?

There's always pressure whether or not the two other Texas teams are playing well. We want to compete every season because we never know whether this is our last season or not.


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[IamQuailman]

Awarded 5 pts!