Houston Rockets Press Conference.

[78#]

Location: The Summit, Houston, TX
Speaker: Lowell Ramos

Was yesterday a great day or what? We really took care of business in training camp. In fact, I'll say we've been taking care of business all off-season. First, we took care of the luxury tax. The bill has been paid. It was a big bill. A really terrible bill, but you know, this organization really wanted to win big. We were tired of losing, tired of making lousy trades, tired of young players really not developing so we decided to get aggressive and we wanted to win and we started to win. We go to the playoffs. And then we go to the Finals. Unfortunately we suffered some bad luck and things didn't work out for us. So we had to start over. We made some bad deals, got ourselves in debt, and had to pay a price. Personally, I like to win at all costs, but you have to play by the rules sometimes. Well, it took us a couple of seasons, but we're debt free everyone and things are starting to look great. We're building something here and it's gonna be big. We're building from the bottom up. We basically had to and it was the right thing to do. Get young players, develop them, add veterans around them and keep building.

You guys remember the draft lottery? It was horrible for us. We were slated 4th and thought, "you know, we're gonna land someone really good". Well, we got hit hard. We dropped two spots. Not one spot, but two. Oh boy was that tough. We did the usual stuff, made a list and waited our turn. Well, I'm out of town and at my hotel room I get a call from our GM 78 who was communicating with the Sonics GM, who's a great guy by the way. Loves to win, he's a winner. Well, he wants our pick. I asked 78 who does he like and what does he want to give us in return. 78 tells me he likes Omer Asik who we all liked as well. Great kid, really tough, likes to hit the boards, plays tough defense. Well I ask who is he willing to give up. 78 tells me Al Horford. "Al Horford?" I asked. He says, "yeah Al Horford." I'm thinking, "Asik is really good, but we just don't have enough stars here." Thaddeus is a cornerstone, but he can't do it alone. Getting a kid like Horford gives us two guys with the potential to score and defend. Is that great or what? So I tell 78 to do the deal. It's time we start making some good deals around here because we've done some terrible deals for a long time. I really think this is a great deal for both teams. Asik is gonna be great on that squad and we get time to develop Al.

The draft wasn't finished guys. We had a high 2nd round pick. We looked at a few guys. Some we liked, some we didn't. Well, we got someone we liked. Someone we really liked. J.J Hickson anyone? We liked him before training camp, but we like him alot more now. He's gonna be great. His potentials shot up and he could be a real contributor for a long time. He was +41 yesterday everyone. +Forty-one. This kid is gonna be great.

Finally we get to free agency. You know, free agency hasn't meant much here in a long time. When you're in debt, when you make bad deals, you can only sign guys for cheap. We did the best we could, but it wasn't good enough. Well, we had 34 million in available cap room. First thing we did was we brought back our captain. We told him he would get a nice deal from us and we didn't let him down. Big Z has been great here for a long time. He's a first ballot HoFer in my book. Whoever thinks otherwise has some real problems. Real stupid problems. So he's here and he will be a great person to be around for the young guys including Al.

Next we signed Michael Redd and Rafer Alston. I love them both. They can come in and start right away if needed. Great guys to have on the roster. We still have Chauncey Billups as well who we love. The guy is a winner and a leader. We later added key veterans to fill the roster. We still have Thaddeus Young and Ronnie Brewer who had great training camps as well. Thaddeus is going to be a star. He's gonna help his win big long-term. And Ronnie you know can defend. Trust me, you don't want this kid guarding you.

Finally, we're building an arena. The arena is going to be built. And the city of Houston will pay for it. We need it, we deserve it. The Summit has become a disaster. It's old. It only has 16,000 seats, only 20 luxury seats and no club seats. Are you kidding me? No club seats? I'm sure I could build an arena in New Mexico have more than 20 luxury seats and some actual club seats. It's embarrassing. So we're gonna get a new arena and the city of Houston will pay for it.

Alright you guys have any questions?

[Xist2Inspire]

Random Reporter: What are your goals for this season with so many vets in the mix? Are you trying to let your young core taste playoff competition early to inspire future success?

[JNR]

GWR: Where do you see yourself in the Midwest?

[RPF]

Mr. Nets: I just have one question, why are you quitting? Now that's going to be a tremendous day, I mean really really tremendous. We will build a wall, not just any wall mind you, a really great great wall and you'll have to fill out applications just to get back in. I like you, I think you're a swell guy but, let's be honest here, you're not a winner and the city of Houston needs winners and you're frankly not a winner. Quit and make Houston great again.

[78#]

Random Reporter: What are your goals for this season with so many vets in the mix? Are you trying to let your young core taste playoff competition early to inspire future success?

Well, we want to win as many games as we can each season. We filled our roster to the best of our capabilities without giving up long-term value. If things don't work out, we could move some guys.

[Bowtothebill23]

Jack Markson here. Do you believe Horford can be a #1 player on a team that can win a championship? Or are you still on the lookout for your future #1?

[78#]

GWR: Where do you see yourself in the Midwest?

The Midwest has taken a hit this year. We saw that disastrous trade in Utah, utterly disastrous. Someone should have ripped up that trade and tossed in the garbage. It was bad, real bad; Also other teams have been hurt in training camp. Speaking of training camp, we had that insurance that was supposed to make things ok. Everyone was like, don't worry about training camp, we have this brand new insurance that will make things ok and no one will be hurt from training camp. Do you think the teams who had insurance are really satisfied with how things turned out yesterday? I'll let you know, I voted against the insurance and I would do it again. I could find a used cars salesman who would be able to sell better insurance than what we have here. It's embarrassing. The Nuggets are old overall. The Spurs are tired of trying to win and coming up short. I think we will compete fine in the division.

[78#]

Mr. Nets: I just have one question, why are you quitting? Now that's going to be a tremendous day, I mean really really tremendous. We will build a wall, not just any wall mind you, a really great great wall and you'll have to fill out applications just to get back in. I like you, I think you're a swell guy but, let's be honest here, you're not a winner and the city of Houston needs winners and you're frankly not a winner. Quit and make Houston great again.

Listen, I don't know who you are, but no one is quitting here, ok?. Speaking of the Nets, who I like by the way, but they are not doing so hot right now. They have this great lineup yet we don't see them enough and I'm sure the people up there are getting anxious about their performance. New York/NJ are fickle about their teams. If you don't win enough, they don't just stop watching, they let the whole world know how they feel. But I wish them well. Their GM is a great guy, a little too nice maybe, but overall a great guy.

[78#]

Jack Markson here. Do you believe Horford can be a #1 player on a team that can win a championship? Or are you still on the lookout for your future #1?

Well Al has potential to be something special. He really does. And we also think that Thaddeus has the potential to be that guy as well. Both guys have the potential to be great.