Pacers Presser 2016

[PaulyP]

Indianapolis, Indiana 2016

Pacers GM PaulyP walks into the press room eager to address the faces of the journalists

P: Hello everyone, welcome to Indy. Refreshments are being served on the right side of the room should anyone obtain a thirst. Let's get down to it, I have been involved with this team since the foundation of this league and throughout this entire time I can honestly say nothing has hurt as much as our loss on June 3rd. We've had awful seasons, first round exits, injuries, you name it. But nothing leaves you heartbroken quite like being the CLEAR best team for an entire season and losing in that way. We have done our best this summer to get those images out of our minds and use them as fuel for this upcoming year. But once again we would like to extend our congratulations to Nick Malone and his Pelicans organization

-About the offseason-
P: We'd like to acknowledge a change of ownership. Mr. Joshua Fields bought the team in 2000 and has been a great partner for the last 15 years and we wish him nothing but the best while he tears up the Senior Golf Tour. With that said id like to introduce our new owner, Chris McCulley.

CM: Thank you Paul, having just taken over a couple of months ago I must say I am very pleased at the commitment to success and improvement this organization has from top to bottom. Basketball is not something I am overly familiar with but I believe with the current staff in place my role in the Day-to-day operations with the Pacers will be minimal and I hope we can be very successful in the years to come.

-Owner McCulley steps off the podium and returns to his seat as PaulyP once again steps up-

P: We knew going into this summer we were going to be fairly quiet. We didn't have much cap space to work with but by adding Mirotic and Wade we got some guys that can really help us solidify our 2nd unit. Our training camp went pretty much as expected, we have some elder statesman on this team and we acknowledge that these guys wont be as good. Luckily our organization has always prized itself on team play rather than the individual.

So yeah this new season should be really exciting for us, we feel like we should be near the top of the standings once again and we will put in the required work to get us to that destination. I will now open up the floor or questioning--

[NOLa.]

There's been several GMs, some in your division, that believe your team lost a step since training camp. Do you feel you're the favorite to win the Central again? What's with the disrespect to the Eastern finalist lately?

[false9]

Trill Simmons, The Zinger:

Deron Williams is another year older. Is it safe to say you're ride or die with him? Will he be a Pacer for life?

[Inner_GI]

How do you capture the "magic" again this year and get back to the FInals? Is the team still built for the long season?

[ballsohard]

The Bucks think your team is trash, what do you have to say to them?

[garbageman]

Sham Smith, Bulls.com: The Pacers are still an obvious force to be reckoned with and still a contender to win the division, but if last year's lineup didn't win you a championship, this year finds many of your key players older and looking a step slower. Is there any thought about rebuilding right now while your assets can still fetch premium market prices?

[WigNosy]

How quickly do you think your squad will be able to put last year's Game 7 collapse behind them? Do you expect any letdown from it?

[78#]

Could this be the year Shump becomes the man on this team?

[Darth Vegito]

Despite all the talk that your team is not as good as last year, how would you say your experience in the Finals will help you going forward with your pursuit of a ring?

[PaulyP]

There's been several GMs, some in your division, that believe your team lost a step since training camp. Do you feel you're the favorite to win the Central again? What's with the disrespect to the Eastern finalist lately?

We may have lost a step as a whole, but I firmly believe we are still many many steps ahead of everyone else except Atlanta. Its just not sexy enough for the PBSL media to pick us again so we will allow them to jack off the Bulls all they want. I set a high bar last year, I want to see someone attempt to reach that level, I'm skeptical.

[PaulyP]

Trill Simmons, The Zinger:

Deron Williams is another year older. Is it safe to say you're ride or die with him? Will he be a Pacer for life?

Very safe. After his contract is up we'll sit down and discuss money and I'm confident we'll reach a deal. We are the type of organization that values loyalty and that's how it will always be while I'm in charge

[PaulyP]

How do you capture the "magic" again this year and get back to the FInals? Is the team still built for the long season?

Is that an Orlando pun? Good luck to them this year
But your question, I know we can. We were very fortunate with injury last year and if that decides to rear its ugly head then we might be screwed. What saves us though is having someone of the caliber of Deron Williams, you can put 4 Varejao's out there with him and that team might drop 100. Makes it much easier

[PaulyP]

The Bucks think your team is trash, what do you have to say to them?

I had an anonymous source at their presser feeding me information and he seems really down on his luck. I understand I whooped his ass really hard in the playoffs but I didn't expect him to be depressed about it. If anyone sees their GM in public let him know the Pacers openly extend an invitation for them to attempt to take the Central crown.


BTW we aint trash. We're good. Not scary good...but good. Probably good enough

[PaulyP]

Sham Smith, Bulls.com: The Pacers are still an obvious force to be reckoned with and still a contender to win the division, but if last year's lineup didn't win you a championship, this year finds many of your key players older and looking a step slower. Is there any thought about rebuilding right now while your assets can still fetch premium market prices?

The manner in which we lost just makes me more confident to be honest. We were RIGHT THERE. I could taste it...literally. But we are definitely looking to deal If it suits us. Luol Deng is firmly on the trade block after he expressed interest this offseason in going to a bigger market so once we find a suitable trade partner that deal will get done. And if we end up being mediocre halfway through then more of those veteran names will be floated around

[PaulyP]

How quickly do you think your squad will be able to put last year's Game 7 collapse behind them? Do you expect any letdown from it?

We will find that out November 1st at home against San Antonio. I know I'm finally over it and I'm committed to getting their again If anyone else doesn't share that same passion and goal then they need to tell me so I can trade or waive their ass

[PaulyP]

Could this be the year Shump becomes the man on this team?

He took a lot of that Game 7 on his own shoulders this summer and he's come back looking better than before. I want to predict 20 points per game for him but I wont go that bold as of this moment. Deron will continue being the man until he is no longer on this team but Shump is definitely an extremely capable #2

[PaulyP]

Despite all the talk that your team is not as good as last year, how would you say your experience in the Finals will help you going forward with your pursuit of a ring?

Well I cant speak for the other teams that have been to the Finals and lost before but to me it only increases my confidence. I know what it takes now to reach that level and maybe that sounds crazy but unless you've been there in those situations you just might not understand. The team might not be as strong as a whole on paper but weve made subtle upgrades that don't kill any financial flexibility and unless I go brain dead tomorrow I still consider myself to be a Top 5 Gameplanner. Combine that with D-Will and we will be a force yet again in my eyes

[NickMalone77]

Nick Melon; The Adovcate: Indiana is nothing but one of the classier organizations in the entire league. A worthy foe and a damn good finals opponent. Thank you for the fight and battle it was THE BEST series in PBSL HISTORY. Screw the ratings or whoever says otherwise...

Now that that's out of the way, are you expecting Amare Stoudamire to put up the same kind of stats and leadership quality as a starter at the 4 like he was a season ago? Are you looking to experiment with maybe having Dedmon and Oden share frontcourt duties?

[PaulyP]

Nick Melon; The Adovcate: Indiana is nothing but one of the classier organizations in the entire league. A worthy foe and a damn good finals opponent. Thank you for the fight and battle it was THE BEST series in PBSL HISTORY. Screw the ratings or whoever says otherwise...

Now that that's out of the way, are you expecting Amare Stoudamire to put up the same kind of stats and leadership quality as a starter at the 4 like he was a season ago? Are you looking to experiment with maybe having Dedmon and Oden share frontcourt duties?

Same to you pal, truly.

Well I was gonna keep this under wraps until our first game but Amare will start the season on the bench and we'll be using Oden at the PF position. Before it would be Dedmon but he was never really effective there and Oden is the quicker more athletic guy so we're gonna try that out first. However I am concerned about fouls so if things don't go well I expect to change pretty quick