Dallas GM fearthebrow walked through the throng of reporters waiting impatiently inside the Mavs' training facility. He smiled as he knew this would be an interesting media session, the first one since the Penny Hardaway trade. The media in Dallas and around the country had been highly critical of the move, but Mr. fearthebrow remained confident that this Dallas team was headed in the right direction.
He approached the microphones and began to address the media.
"Good morning. Let me just start by saying a few words. Last season was an unbelievable season. Winning the Midwest Division was exactly what we needed after a mediocre finish the year before. We saw an 11 game improvement with the additions of rookie Greg Bucker, Robert Pack, and Gheorghe Mureșan. We saw great improvement in Antawn Jamison, a guy we're really high on. "The Polish Rifle" Eric Piatkowski had another lights out season, and we also saw Penny Hardaway, a hall-of-fame talent, have a season for the record books."
"As we all know, Penny is a once-in-a-lifetime player. The man is truly unstoppable when he wants to be. Unfortunately, things didn't work out the way we wanted them to last season, and we were devastated by the 2nd round playoff loss to the Lakers. Give credit to the Lakers, they were great, but we had no business losing that series after being up 3-1. It was really tough to get through that, and there's still a bitter taste in our mouths from last season's collapse."
"With that being said, last season is in the past, and we decided it was time to focus on the overall direction of the franchise. Yes, Penny is 29 and in the prime of his career. But we felt we had a great opportunity to improve the long-term future and stability of the organization by acquiring a couple of very exciting players that will be a part of our core for many years to come. We also acquired a first round pick in the 2003 draft that we think will pay dividends down the line."
"We have some pieces in place that we're really excited about. We're also always looking for ways to improve. Only time will tell if our plan succeeds, but we like our lineup and expect to raise eyebrows throughout the league. Without further ado, questions, anyone?"
