1981 SuperSonics Presser

[BigDaddyd8720]

Welcome in everybody to the Seattle SuperSonics Pre-season Presser!

Thank you all for coming today and I'll just get right to it. I didn't expect to be in rebuilding mode after just one season but here we are. We had a major injury that really derailed our momentum and so we decided to try a different direction. It wasn't easy giving up Robert Parrish but the deal we were offered was just too good to pass up. I think we are better suited for the future and we're gonna look to develop our young guys into the stars we know they can be. Obviously we would have liked a better outcome for last season but it just didn't go the way we had hoped.

On to the draft. We drop in the lottery but even still, I really liked the players we were able to pick up. We were able to trade up in the draft without really sacrificing any future picks so that 's always a huge win, and we ended up with 3 first round round picks. Danny Ainge has all the tools to become an elite player in this league for years to come. He had a great training camp and showed he's willing to put in the work to truly become the face of this franchise. Lewis Lloyd definitely surprised us. We had hopes that he would be a really good rotation man for us but his offseason has proven that he may need to soon be in the starting lineup. We will definitely look to get him some playing to see what he's capable of but he's already got us excited for what's to come from him. And then we got Danny Schayes with our last pick in the 1st round. We liked his potential and with losing Parrish, we really needed to make sure we got someone to fill his spot. While he had a decent offseason, he is still far from where we would like him to be but he's gonna get the opportunity to develop. I wouldn't be surprised if in a year or two he's making splashes and starts getting people to notice him. All three of these guys can definitely grow into being core pieces for this franchise for many years to come. Just gotta make sure we as the GM and coaches do our jobs and put them in places where they can succeed.

Our offseason training was fantastic for us. We saw pretty much everyone take a step forward and it showed on the Training camp results that we finished #1. I'm sure last season people probably thought this team would be rebuilding for many years but that playoff push may come sooner than we think. Lloyd and Schayes both seem to be on the verge of solidifying themselves as bonafide starters so be on the lookout for them next season. While we had a brief moment of having Norm Nixon on the trade block, we met with him and he's really excited to be working with these young guys. He's stated he believes this front office has brought in the right pieces and hopes he can be the leader we need him to be to help these young guys develop. It's very exciting when you know you already have that veteran leadership in the locker room. Really gets everyone excited.

Our expectations for this season are simple: Play hard and win games. We're gonna come out swinging. We don't feel like we HAVE to wait multiple years to compete. Why not start right now? We know we're young and nobody is expecting anything from us but that's exactly what we want. So go ahead and doubt us, take it easy on us if you think it's an easy win. Because if you do, that's when we will strike. I've got experience in a past life of rebuilding teams and this team has all the makings to be ever better this time around. This season is going to be all about laying it all on the line. We're gonna lose some games, that's obvious, but nobody will be able to question whether or not we fought until that last buzzer goes off.

Thank you for joining us today and I will now open it up for any questions

[WigNosy]

Steve Duin, Blazers beatwriter for the Oregonian...

You've told us you like the way your youth is developing, but do you have a particular focus you're expecting the team to play to? Are you going to be a slow-it-down, grind-it-out team? A run-and-gun team? An "all offense, no defense" team (or vice versa)? Simply put, if you're going to "fight hard" how exactly do you intend to approach that fight?

[BigDaddyd8720]

Steve Duin, Blazers beatwriter for the Oregonian...

You've told us you like the way your youth is developing, but do you have a particular focus you're expecting the team to play to? Are you going to be a slow-it-down, grind-it-out team? A run-and-gun team? An "all offense, no defense" team (or vice versa)? Simply put, if you're going to "fight hard" how exactly do you intend to approach that fight?

Great question! Our biggest problem last season was we were great at home but terrible on the road to start. Part of that reason was we could not generate enough scoring on the road. So we are going to try and dial up a gameplan that focuses more on offense. I think our guys are solid on defense but we need to take advantage of when we have the ball. There's a lot of talented scorers on the team and I think if we try to do too much on offense, it will hurt us. So definitely look for us to try and put up points and hopefully still make some plays on defense

[tbone963]

Harry Hanson, Hotlanta Herald: You started the offseason with a rebuild and now you say you'll probably compete. Are you leaning one way or will you let the season decide your move? Is there anyone on your team untouchable at the moment?

[BigDaddyd8720]

Harry Hanson, Hotlanta Herald: You started the offseason with a rebuild and now you say you'll probably compete. Are you leaning one way or will you let the season decide your move? Is there anyone on your team untouchable at the moment?

Just because we’re in rebuild doesn’t mean we won’t compete. I want to see what this team is capable of, we’re gonna move people around to see if we can find something that works. We’re not expected to do anything so it will take the pressure off these guys to play more freely. And if we happen to figure out something early on, we’re gonna go with it


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Jedihero]

Has your season direction changed at all after the dissapointing 1-7 start?

[BigDaddyd8720]

Has your season direction changed at all after the dissapointing 1-7 start?

Yes and no. We didn't have high hopes this season but we also didn't expect to have the worst offense in the league. SO with that, we're gonna change some things up and see if it works. If it doesn't work, then we may start looking to offload some pieces and look towards next season. Just a matter of if these guys want to win here or go somewhere else. But I also think we have a great group of guys here who can really bring this franchise to the top, just gotta convince them to buy into the system.