S9 Supersonics Presser

[BigDaddyd8720]

Welcome in everybody to the 9th edition of the Supersonics Press Conference!

We have a lot to be excited about this season and we can't wait to get into it but first, let's talk about last season.

One could look at our record and think "of course, another bad season for this franchise. what's new" But I don't look at it that way. We got off to a great start but for some reason we had to play the second half of November twice. The first time we played was great for us. We looked like a team that may be starting to put it together. The second time? Not so much. Seems like we lost momentum fast and once we realized it was a lost season, we agreed as a team to try and get the best draft pick we could get. Kevin Johnson performed exactly as we expected, averaging a double double on his way to winning ROTY. Pinckney and sundvold had solid seasons too. We finished with a top ten defense and when we were competing we had a top half offense. So now to talk about how we believe we can build on that bit of success we had last season.

First, we were able to get a good pick in the draft and came away with a top 3 player in Rex Chapman. We just need to work on his defense and soon he and KJ are going to be a fearsome duo on the backcourt. But in the short term, He'll be a fantastic bench player behind Sundvold this season. We were also able to trade back into the draft and get Will Perdue who has a really good chance to become a starting next to Pinckney in the near future. He's got a lot of room to grow but he should be able to develop quickly. But the biggest move this offseason has to be us getting Kiki Vandeweghe. I'll be honest, I didn't really expect him to sign with us but boy am I glad he did. And this preseason showed he's still an elite scorer and that's something we have been missing. Speaking of elite scoring, did yall see him drop 53 on the Pistons? Gets me giddy just thinking about how many times he's gonna do that this season.

What's our outlook for this season? Well I know we still have a lot of young guys on this team but I definitely believe that if we can get our gameplan down, then we can compete for a playoff spot. KJ, Sundvold, Kiki, Pinckney, Green as our starters with McMillan, Chapman, Perdue, and Teagle being the main bench players should make us significantly more competitive this season. Our biggest hole is probably working on Green's discipline. Fouling at a rate of 5.2 per game is unacceptable. It's only preseason and we will put him in better position to help this team succeed. But other than that, this team looks poised to compete again. KJ averaged another double double, kiki was the leading scorer at 36.7ppg, and Pinckney took a huge step forward avergaing 21/12. We also had the 2nd highest FG% in the preseason. Just need to find a way to generate a few more shots per game.

All in all, the future looks bright for this team. We know we aren't quite where we want to be but we are definitely moving in the right direction.

I will now open it up for questions.

[tbone963]

With Perdue and Duckworth still needing time to develop, do you see yourself using capital (picks or players) to go after a more developed center to anchor down the front court? Or are you taking a more patient approach with these guys?

[Darth Vegito]

What do you think about the other teams in your division? Who's better, who's worse and where do you think is a reasonable finish in your own division?

[Eazy P]

Kiki's preseason numbers were crazy good. Do you see this same production translating to the regular season and beyond?

[BigDaddyd8720]

With Perdue and Duckworth still needing time to develop, do you see yourself using capital (picks or players) to go after a more developed center to anchor down the front court? Or are you taking a more patient approach with these guys?

We have been on the phones with multiple GMs seeing if we could work out a deal for our front court, but have not had success yet. Yet being the key word. We will continue to look to improve our team this season, but in the event we don't, I fully expect us to have a good season and come back even better next season.

[BigDaddyd8720]

What do you think about the other teams in your division? Who's better, who's worse and where do you think is a reasonable finish in your own division?

As always, our division is very tough. It always seems like at least 4 teams are competing for the playoffs. Trailblazers and Lakers look poised to make yet another playoff run and I'm sure they're gonna make some moves along the way. The Warriors always find a way to compete even when they think about not competing. The Suns and Clippers look like they took a step back this season but both are just as young as our team. I would say a reasonable finish is 4th in the division this season with a chance at 2nd or 3rd if we get the right gameplan and/or make some moves to improve our front court

[BigDaddyd8720]

Kiki's preseason numbers were crazy good. Do you see this same production translating to the regular season and beyond?

Absolutely, He's been an elite scorer as long as I've been in this league. He will definitely be featured in our offense and we're hoping he's exactly what we've been missing on offense all these years.

[greepleairport]

You’ve put together yet another solid squad, but do you expect the results to match the quality of the team? Finally? Outside looking in, we can’t seem to understand why the teams in Seattle have failed to meet expectations. Seems like last year all it took was a resim to derail the entire season


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[WigNosy]

Steve Duin, the Oregonian:

Kiki's arrival in San Antonio heralded the era of the Spurs being title threats. Do you expect him to have a similar impact in Seattle?

[BigDaddyd8720]

You’ve put together yet another solid squad, but do you expect the results to match the quality of the team? Finally? Outside looking in, we can’t seem to understand why the teams in Seattle have failed to meet expectations. Seems like last year all it took was a resim to derail the entire season


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Last year, we were not really in a place to compete, at least not during the offseason. We knew we had an uphill battle and we were going into the season just hoping to get guys playing time and come away healthy. We had that first good sim so that kinda gave us some hope so we looked to maybe get back to competing sooner. But that resim humbled us and allowed us to stay the course. It's possible that we could have made a move last season that would have kept us from getting Kiki. I 100% believe this team will at worst be a fringe playoff team. And then with another solid offseason, we can cement ourselves back in the playoff races year in and year out

[BigDaddyd8720]

Steve Duin, the Oregonian:

Kiki's arrival in San Antonio heralded the era of the Spurs being title threats. Do you expect him to have a similar impact in Seattle?

This is a team sport, we still need everyone else to step up to Kiki's level in order us to feel like we are title contenders. That being said, if we are able get Kiki's scoring with our defense that we've had over the years, there's no reason to think we can't compete for the title very soon

[Mike Lowry]

How likely are you to push your chips in sooner than expected now that you signed Kiki?
What would you think are your biggest needs to support your build?

[BigDaddyd8720]

How likely are you to push your chips in sooner than expected now that you signed Kiki?
What would you think are your biggest needs to support your build?

We’re at the point where we are very close to being a perennial playoff team. If the right deal presents itself, then I’m not going to pass it up. We really need another big man to help green and Pinckney. But anybody with a good big man that could help us either doesn’t want to trade or is asking for too much from us. I know kiki isn’t getting younger but next season looks to be the season where we won’t accept anything less than our first playoff series win. But if anybody has big men to spare, we’re willing to listen to all offers


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