2011 Houston Rockets Preseason Press Conference

[78#]

Jeremy Rodriguez - PR guy:

Before we get started with the press conference, we would like to pay tribute to two former Rockets greats who recently announced their retirement. The first was the only number one pick in Houston Rockets history in 1992 and was an All-Star every season for the Rockets as well from 1992 to halfway 1999. He also led the Rockets to their highest win total ever in 1993 with 58 wins and their 2nd highest win total in 1994 with 57 wins. He was also All-Rookie 2nd team in 1992, All-League First Team in 1993, 1996, and 1997, All-League 2nd team in 1994 and 1996, Defensive Player of the Year in 1997 as well as many other accolades during his team here. So please, give a hand to the one and only SHAQUIIIILLE OOOOOO' NEEEAL!!!!. Thank you Shaq for the greatness you showed on and off the court during your time here.

Next we have another center who was actually acquired for Shaq halfway thru the 1999 season and only played here for 9 1/2 seasons as a Houston Rocket from 1999 to 2008. During his time here, he was a 7-time All-Star, All-League 2nd team in 2003 and All-League 3rd team in 2001, 2005, 2006, and 2007. He also helped the Rockets win their only Western Conference Championship and NBA Finals appearance in 2004. So get up and everyone and please show your appreciation for BIG Z HIMSELF, ZYDRUUNAUS ILGAUUUSKAS!!!!!!![/i]

78: Thanks Jeremy. And thanks to Shaq and Big Z for their time here and congratulations in retirement. Wish you guys the best. Well thanks everyone for coming today to talk about the 2011 season. The last two seasons we've made the playoffs and last season the team really stepped up in their 7 game series against the San Antonio Spurs. We still consider ourselves in re-tooling as our younger guys continue to improve while surrounding them with key veterans. We also want to congratulate Ronnie Brewer for being named All-League 1st team defense. A tremendous accomplishment for a guy who continues to work hard each season and improving in training camp for 6 straight years while being the longest tenured Rocket up to this point.

We're gonna look at how the offseason went before talking about training camp and pre-season.

The draft started out with us getting Bismack Biyombo from Zaire, home of also Dikembe Mutombo and for you boxing fans, the Rumble in the Jungle where Muhammad Ali upset George Foreman for the heavy weight title. Bismack had a great training camp and has the potential to be a very good defender, rebounder, and shot blocker for many years to come. He has the chance to be an eventual starter long-term.

Free Agency is where we believe we filled all of our needs this off-season. We first re-signed Al Horford to a 4-year max contract with a player option. We believe this deals us both flexibility for the future. Al had a tremendous training camp and he really has the look to becoming a star player on both ends of the floor.

We next signed Eddie Griffin and Marcus Banks to three year deals with team options. Eddie will bring tremendous depth behind Diogu and Horford with his rebounding and defense, and he can start if needed. Marcus definitely fills a need as a starting shooting guard who can score an defend. I think he will have a breakout year. We also signed two key veterans to add depth to the perimeter in Tayshaun Prince and Franciso Garcia.

Our two-deep depth chart will look like this:

Center - Ike Diogu will once again be the starter. He's a strong down-low scorer and rebounder, but has improved his post defense this offseaon. He has the potential to be a 20/10 guy. Eddie Griffin will be the backup.

Power Forward - Al Horford once again starts with his versatility inside and out. Eddie Griffin will also back him up.

Small Forward - Ronnie Brewer builds off his All-League 1st team defense performance to become the primary starter for the first time in his career. He's earned. Francisco Garcia will back him up.

Shooting Guard - Marcus Banks gets the nod here while Francisco Garcia will also back him up.

Point Guard -Ty Lawson is the guy here. He's close to becoming an All-Star player. Chris Quinn barely edged out TJ Ford for the backup spot.

C - Diogu, Griffin
PF - Horford, Griffin
SF - Brewer, Garcia
SG - Banks, Garcia
PG - Lawson, Quinn

Thank you everyone and now we will be taking questions.

[Xist2Inspire]

Random Reporter: Now that Horford's officially been locked up long-term, does the focus now shift from rebuilding to competing? If so, where do you see yourselves in the Midwest division title picture?

[78#]

Random Reporter: Now that Horford's officially been locked up long-term, does the focus now shift from rebuilding to competing? If so, where do you see yourselves in the Midwest division title picture?

Honestly, we've tried to compete while rebuilding. Even though we sneaked in the playoffs the previous two seasons, we feel we left some wins on the court. Our main goal has been winning while being fiscally responsible in order to avoid the luxury tax since our points are still limited from the previous massive tax bill and spending points on TC insurance. In the Midwest, we feel we can compete with any of the teams, but during the long course of the season, you have to look at the Spurs and TWolves as the favorites while seeing the Mavs and Jazz as competition as well. The key will be improving our top 10 defense from last season and heavily improving on the offensive end of the floor where we were in the bottom 5. We feel we have done that with improvements of our young core and the addition of Marcus Banks and Francisco Garcia on the perimeter.

[JNR]

GWR: Last year Banks had one of the worst postseason performances in league history. Is he ready to put all of that behind him and take over this season?

[LoCo89]

Jean Baptiste, Van Memphis Free Press

Can you talk about the expectations you have for Ty Lawson going now into his 3rd season?

[NOLa.]

You've made your way into the playoffs the padt couple of seasons as a lower seed. Do you think this is the season you grab a top 4 seed for first round homecourt advantage?

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[WigNosy]

Do you think Eddie Griffin will handle the move to the bench well after starting for some pretty successful teams?

[78#]

GWR: Last year Banks had one of the worst postseason performances in league history. Is he ready to put all of that behind him and take over this season?

I was hoping he would being primarily a SG, but apparently he still has gotten over it by shootin 36% from the field in preseason. But I will make some changes with the offense by bringing more motion and limiting 3-pt shooting.

[78#]

Jean Baptiste, Van Memphis Free Press

Can you talk about the expectations you have for Ty Lawson going now into his 3rd season?

We definitely want him to be a scorer, but he also needs to distribute the ball better. He's improved every training camp, but he really needs to be more efficient from the field. In the preseason, we ran an outside focus offense and he was a primary scorer. Obviously it didn't work out well.

[78#]

You've made your way into the playoffs the padt couple of seasons as a lower seed. Do you think this is the season you grab a top 4 seed for first round homecourt advantage?

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I really don't think we will get a top 4 seed unless our offense improves drastically. The problem is, we just don't have that one go to guy right now. I expect us to run alot of motion offense and try to attack the inside in the process. We're just not that dynamic offensively. We do hope to make the playoffs and get a higher seed than 8, but our offense is still a real work in process.

[78#]

Do you think Eddie Griffin will handle the move to the bench well after starting for some pretty successful teams?

We hope so, but with injuries in this league, we expect him to start at times. Also, Diogu has a player option after the season so there's a good chance Griffin will start next season for us.

[ballsohard]

At what point will you decide to send Al Horford to the Bucks for moderate assets that set you back for years again?

[78#]

At what point will you decide to send Al Horford to the Bucks for moderate assets that set you back for years again?

Probably once he gets a blue/blue PF/C who's a downgrade from Horford.

[NickMalone77]

Nick Melon; The Advocate: You let Thaddeus Young walk in free agency after disappointing training camps and a stable enough place on the depth chart. Lance Stephenson seems to be of the same mold. With Garcia's step back after camp, any notion to look to play Stephenson more on the wing or let him play out his days before you eventually move him?

[78#]

Nick Melon; The Advocate: You let Thaddeus Young walk in free agency after disappointing training camps and a stable enough place on the depth chart. Lance Stephenson seems to be of the same mold. With Garcia's step back after camp, any notion to look to play Stephenson more on the wing or let him play out his days before you eventually move him?

Luckily, unlike Thaddeus, we TC insured Lance so his potentials are still there and overall he improved his ratings so we look at him as a long-term member. Right now Garcia is the primary backup at SF/SG, but Lance may get some PT later in the year. Right now, he's low on our DC.