S50 Pistons Press Conference

[ballsohard]

[[[A man with a grizzled beard and stoic look on his face walks to the table. He's a familiar face, but looks more weathered than the last time he's been seen. He has a few sets of paper in his hands as he straightens them and lays them down on the desk where he's going to sit down. He cracks his neck and sits down and looks ahead at the reporters. This man is no longer wearing his fancy suits of the past; he's in a pair of slacks and a team polo. He has scars on his arms and a noticeable new tattoo, a tear on his face. He sits down, clears his throat and starts talking into the microphone.]]]

Balls O'Hard: Let's talk about the obvious things first. First, the last time you all saw me, I was in jail and I now I'm here. Second, my new face tat, I know you see it, so we can stop avoiding it. These two topics and be addressed at the same time because they both are from my time in Tax jail. I'm out, not because I served my time, but because I became the aggressor in defeating it. The tax jail plagued me for seasons, severely handcuffing me from doing what I needed to do to be competitive. That's where the tattoo comes from. Now as many of you know, a tear tat stands for killing someone. I'll let you know, I have not turned into a murderer.... of people. The reason for the tear is because I murdered this tax through being aggressive and reshaping the team.

Balls O'Hard: Now i'm out and I have to move from getting out of jail and murdering the tax to digging myself out of a talent hole the tax left me in. It's a challenge I'm very excited to take on, and its a challenge I think we've got started on last year and continued our progress this offseason. Last year we drafted Daishen Nix who we think has an incredible future. Daishen has the potential to be a potent scorer, ball hawk and solid rebounder and we see him at the 2 spot long term, however he may play a fair amount of 3 this year. We believe as of now he is a fundamental piece moving forward.

Balls O'Hard: Then this year we fell in the draft, because as we all know the game has to be on hard for the Pistons, but were happy that Cade Cunningham fell to us. Cade has a big future as a scorer, a solid defender, and a great ball handler. Cade is also a tremendous athlete and we think he can develop as a long term Point after some training. Cade can shoot, drive and takes care of the ball already. We see Cade taking a role off the bench to start this year. We also had a pretty nice free agent acquisition in Arden Silva who has moved around a bit in the league. We think Adren is a great fit in what we're trying to do around here. He is a shooter, he's a defender and he gets turnovers. He and Freddy Hughes help spearhead what we're trying to do in Detroit.

Balls O'Hard: So what are we trying to do in Detroit that's so different? Well, I think when I first came here my model was a model of getting talent on the court, and it works. We had a great run with that team we put together and were close to winning one with that group, but what ive learned is that the talent model isn't as sustainable as our new model, which is surrounded by fundamentals. We will forcus on 3 core values: defense, ball control (offense and defense), and internal development. You'll see as the years go by, we're not going to necessarily be going after players who are the best at their position, but we will be going after whos best for us as a team and how they fit into out core values. That's why you see us going after a guy like Freddy Hughes.

Balls O'Hard:The important thing we want to remember is that this is a journey, not a sprint. We're not relying on one players TC, we're relying on the team talent and how the pieces fit. This will take a lot of time to acquire, draft, or develop the talent internally. I say this all because we have no illusuions on what our team will be this year. We will be developing, which means we will have a lot of teaching moments and losses that come with them. That is ok. We will not develop a losing mentality. We will be rotating players in and out to see what they bring and determine who is ready now and who isn't. We have not really even started creating a lineup at this point.

Balls O'Hard:Any questions?

[garbageman]

Sham Smith, Bulls.com: While other teams cashed in chips upon noticing that they were in the Williams division, where immediate competition looked slim, the Pistons continued to play a game of patience. Did you, at any point, consider cashing in and trying to compete this season? And either way, what contributed to that decision?

[AngryBanana]

Chet Youbetcha, Dimmadome News: Are you going to embrace a full on slow build (which appears to be frowned upon by many GMs now a days), and try to rebuild your point bank among other tasks, or do you predict that you are just waiting for the right moment to compete?

[JNR]

GWR: Can you expand on your comment about Hughes? What do you see in him as a veteran presence for your team?

[ballsohard]

Sham Smith, Bulls.com: While other teams cashed in chips upon noticing that they were in the Williams division, where immediate competition looked slim, the Pistons continued to play a game of patience. Did you, at any point, consider cashing in and trying to compete this season? And either way, what contributed to that decision?

That’s a good question. I think the answer really is we don’t have much or enough to cash in, so it’s not really an option for us. Even if it were I think the only trades we will make are if it fits Into our core strategy we mentioned above.

[ballsohard]

Chet Youbetcha, Dimmadome News: Are you going to embrace a full on slow build (which appears to be frowned upon by many GMs now a days), and try to rebuild your point bank among other tasks, or do you predict that you are just waiting for the right moment to compete?

I think you always have to be ready for the moment. In that I mean, as a GM you have to be in asset accumulation mode and be ready to either use those assets on your own team to build or be able to use them to get what you need for your build. To answer your question directly, we’re committed to a slow build but will strike if and when the iron is hot !

[ballsohard]

GWR: Can you expand on your comment about Hughes? What do you see in him as a veteran presence for your team?

He’s really an experiment to see how a player with his talent set works with how we intend to game-plan. He’s a lab experiment for us in regards to game planning and how his player archetype fits.

[NOLa.]

There was plenty of comments and memes coming in after Pauly's divisional draft, and it was almost all attacking it. As someone who liked the strategy (if you're given the opportunity, why not?) and knows competitive teams can change on a dime, can you give me a solid defense for Pauly for how the division was drafted?

[ballsohard]

There was plenty of comments and memes coming in after Pauly's divisional draft, and it was almost all attacking it. As someone who liked the strategy (if you're given the opportunity, why not?) and knows competitive teams can change on a dime, can you give me a solid defense for Pauly for how the division was drafted?

That’s a fun question, thank you! Ive got a galaxy brain theory on why Pauly drafted this way.


He saw he had a short window and didn’t have what it took to complete - at max he has 2 years in his window. He also saw the teams he was drafting were rebuilding teams on the verge - and KNEW the division would be tough during his rebuild which allows him to tank better.

So he drafted that way to be out of everyone’s rebuild window as they’re loaded up when he rebuilds. And then when they’re done competing he’s loaded up on a weaker division.

Boom!

[K-100]

You gambled on Arden Silva's potential with a $80M/4 contract. Are there other players in the league that offer a blueprint for what kind of player you see Silva becoming as a Piston?

[Eazy P]

What your timetable for your team to get back to competing again now that you are out of the tax ?

[ballsohard]

You gambled on Arden Silva's potential with a $80M/4 contract. Are there other players in the league that offer a blueprint for what kind of player you see Silva becoming as a Piston?

Absolutely, Freddy Hughes is that guy!

[ballsohard]

What your timetable for your team to get back to competing again now that you are out of the tax ?

I think it will take anywhere from 3-5 seasons to make the playoffs and be a threat if I don't rush things. Players come into the league so unprepared now-days that you have to set them off to the horizon for a bit to grow up.

[Darth Vegito]

Would you say your strategy is to basically watch the Utah Jazz and that while they are contending, the plan is to steer clear since it would be futile to even try?

[ballsohard]

Would you say your strategy is to basically watch the Utah Jazz and that while they are contending, the plan is to steer clear since it would be futile to even try?

It would definitely would be a 'danger' to 'field' a team against them, and we told the team that in TC .

[Darth Vegito]

Would you say your strategy is to basically watch the Utah Jazz and that while they are contending, the plan is to steer clear since it would be futile to even try?

It would definitely would be a 'danger' to 'field' a team against them, and we told the team that in TC .

Touche'

[greepleairport]

Congrats on getting out of tax jail! Love that tat. As Sham Smith noted, you're being patient. What denotes a successful S50 for you and the Pistons, Balls? How will you measure it? Will it be (s)O'Hard?