Suns Press Conference

[MESSI_2.0]

First of all, I am beyond proud of what my team accomplished last season. We honestly did not expect to win it all. It was supposed to be a year to develop a couple of guys through veteran leadership signed in the off season and work towards the future. We had several guys play beyond their potential to help us bring the championship to Phoenix.

Last season, we signed Chauncey Billups and Jason Terry to fill a void in the PG position. They did outstanding work in their first year here, and we expect them to do the same this year for us.

Changes this season include losing two guys. One was Udonis Haslem, who we have had many great years with. He did not play as much as expected since the arrival of our star, Kevin Love. The other guy we lost is JJ Reddick. He was a sharpshooter for us that played very well throughout the regular season and the playoffs. We simply could not afford to keep him at the price tag that he was given. We wish both guys well in the future.

We had a low key off season, signing several veterans to try to fill the void left by JJ. We are going into the season looking to see who can grab that SG spot. The plan is to keep Chauncey at the 1 and Jason Terry coming off the bench. Our 3,4, and 5 spots will remain the same as last year with Korver, Love, and Biens. We just need to find the right veteran to step in at the 2 to help us continue on another run.

The floor is now open to questions.

[JNR]

GWR: What's your expectations now that you've won a ring? Do you expect to contend again, or do you think your team caught lightning in a bottle?

[MESSI_2.0]

I think we were a team last year that was difficult to game plan against. We had shooters in 4 positions and even at the C position when Bonner would come off the bench for a dozen or so minutes a game. We were also good enough defensively(not good, just good enough) to have a chance to win.
Our expectations this year is to make the playoffs and see what happens from there. Even though we won last year, we are far from the favorites to win it all, so we will have work to do.

[NickMalone77]

Nick Melon; The Advocate: How has Kevin Love come in and changed the culture and expectations of the locker room to be the alpha of this team?

[MESSI_2.0]

Kevin Love is a guy for our team who plays like a superstar, but puts work in like he's a scrub. He is always trying to out work everyone at every position to be the be(a)st. That attitude sparks the rest of the guys to be better than the experts think they are.

[WigNosy]

You matched a substantial contract offer to Ersan Ilyasova last season. How does he fit into the Suns' plans going forward?

[Darth Vegito]

All hail the champ. Well done sir. Real question is can you beat me to the 8th seed this year?

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[MESSI_2.0]

You matched a substantial contract offer to Ersan Ilyasova last season. How does he fit into the Suns' plans going forward?

Ersan ia a guy that fits our system well. He will obviously come off the bench for us and get 20 or so minutes a game shooting the ball.. He is a longer term project but with his age, we hope to keep developing him.

[MESSI_2.0]

All hail the champ. Well done sir. Real question is can you beat me to the 8th seed this year?

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The colors don't scream playoff team, but I've never really been a guy to look at colors. I will be most disappointed if we don't make the playoffs with most of our team returning from last year.

[NOLa.]

I think you've changed perception in this league that you need pretty blues and purples on your team to really not only make a run in the playoffs, but to win a championship when you build your team the way you feel best utilizes your players and by matching your stars skillset with others players like his.

Do you think we'll start to see teams deviate from just trying to gather talent, and instead focus more on build because of you?

[MESSI_2.0]

I think you've changed perception in this league that you need pretty blues and purples on your team to really not only make a run in the playoffs, but to win a championship when you build your team the way you feel best utilizes your players and by matching your stars skillset with others players like his.

Do you think we'll start to see teams deviate from just trying to gather talent, and instead focus more on build because of you?

I think people will always follow something that just worked. Others will continue to gather just pure talent. Sometimes talent wins, sometimes a team with cohesion wins. I think even when people are just trying to acquire talent, they are still looking for a right fit within that talent.

[fearthebrow]

Random Dallas reporter:

First of all, congratulations on the championship. You really did a fantastic job leading your team to the promised land.

With that being said, do you honestly still feel comfortable with Billups leading the way? The man is getting up there in years and his athleticism has declined significantly. With Terry and Van Exel as replacements if Billups goes down with an injury, it seems like you could potentially miss out on the playoffs altogether. Thoughts?

[MESSI_2.0]

Random Dallas reporter:

First of all, congratulations on the championship. You really did a fantastic job leading your team to the promised land.

With that being said, do you honestly still feel comfortable with Billups leading the way? The man is getting up there in years and his athleticism has declined significantly. With Terry and Van Exel as replacements if Billups goes down with an injury, it seems like you could potentially miss out on the playoffs altogether. Thoughts?

Missing the playoffs is always a possibility. We still have faith in Chauncey to run the offense. Despite his loss of athleticism, he is a vet with great handles and passing. His age and athleticism will be balanced by his cerebral play on the court.
Both Terry and Van Exel are guys that can play in spurts to get our team ready if Billups were to go out. We signed a lot of older guys that can come in and get the job done.