Portland Preseason Presser 2014-2015

[kucoach7]

GM Kevin U. Coach VII: Welcome back to another year of Blazer basketball! Let's start by talking about the elephant not in the room, Ron Artest. Last year Ron broke his leg, AGAIN, 29 minutes into the first game of the season. He then came back to help us make the playoffs only to injure his leg, AGAIN, 24 minutes into the second playoff game. We made a competitive offer to him and he chose to leave for Indiana. All in all it was a fitting end to his anticlimactic tenure here. I would say that I wish him the best but I don't. We made the playoffs all four years Ron was here and yet he only really played in the first of those playoff runs. Would we have won a championship with a healthy Ron? Maybe, probably not but maybe. All I can say is good riddance!

SG Derrick Rose: Now that all that salt is out of the way, I just want to say thank you to all the fans for supporting us. Last year was tough. We had to play most of the season short-handed. Then we had to play even more short-handed in the playoffs after Hamed and Ron went down, yet me made it through. We've won 5 playoff series in 4 years after the Blazers only won one in the first 17 years. That is a huge accomplishment. However, I had a sit-down with Kevin and Coach Toni this offseason and talked things over. My goal, since I got here has been to change the culture of this organization and yet, we still don't have sell-out crowds, even during the playoffs. After years with a stable core, the locker room was still ice cold so we decided to change things up.

GM Kevin U. Coach VII: Early in the offseason we met two goals we had, bring in a stretch four and bring in another facilitator. It is great to see Jonas back in Portland, having lived up to the potential we saw in him when we drafted him in the second round years ago. We're also excited about what Ish can do on both ends of the floor for years to come. However, after a lack luster UFA and a TC that only went well for Derrick, Jonas, and Ish, we panicked a bit and that panic helped us to fulfill our other three goals for the offseason, get younger, cheaper, and deeper. It was painful to lose Hunter, a guy who has been amazing for us but we feel like the Gortat/Perkins combo should be able to keep up the high standard for rim protection he has set. Thad Young is kind of a Luol Deng 2.0 but only 26 and on a great contract.

Coach Toni Kukoc: This year our plan is to play Derrick off the ball more. When he was carrying such a heavy load as the lead facilitator and scorer, he struggled with turnovers. Hopefully he can get in a post up position and get easier cuts to the basket more often. We're looking for Ish to do what Chauncey did for us two years ago, take the tough defensive assignments, take care of the ball on offense, and make timely buckets. With him and Thad patrolling the perimeter, we hope to get more steals this year, something we've struggled with in the past. We're really excited to see Jerekbo out there with Rose. Hopefully he can stretch the floor to give more room for Derrick to do what he does and to hit open threes as the defense collapses on Derrick as he drives.

GM Kevin U. Coach VII: We'll now open the floor to questions.

[NOLa.]

Take us through your round 1 series against the Warriors after Artest, yet again, injured himself. The series went to 7, with no many giving you a chance even with a healthy Artest.

What did your team do so well that gave you an advantage against the Warriors?


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[IamQuailman]

To further the Kings question, it is being repeatedly asked if the Warriors have a clear shot at the division with the Kings stepping back. How do you react to this, considering the team most are asking about is the team you demolished in Game 7?

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No Trade List: Hornets

[kucoach7]

Take us through your round 1 series against the Warriors after Artest, yet again, injured himself. The series went to 7, with no many giving you a chance even with a healthy Artest.

What did your team do so well that gave you an advantage against the Warriors?


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Coach Kukoc: I made a simple adjustment by switching Hunter on to Anderson. I'd been reluctant to do this all series because I felt like we needed Hunter to battle it out with Jordan but it turned out the switch allowed Hunter to overpower Anderson and put up a big 29 and 10 while Darko was able to hold his own against Jordan. Oh yeah, and Rose put up 33 and 12. That always helps. Sometimes over the past few seasons we've just been able to say, "Well, he got us here it's up to him to get us to the next stage." And he comes through. That is why we've turned down countless offers for him.

[kucoach7]

To further the Kings question, it is being repeatedly asked if the Warriors have a clear shot at the division with the Kings stepping back. How do you react to this, considering the team most are asking about is the team you demolished in Game 7?

Sent from my Phone
No Trade List: Hornets

D-Rose: First of all, we beat them by 4 in overtime so I don't want to say that we demolished them. Secondly and very unfortunately, we haven't come close to a division crown. For whatever reason, we play much better in the playoffs. Finally, our division could be a dog fight. The Suns, Sonics, Warriors, and Clippers all look scary. There are a lot of stars in this division with great teams around them. I hope we can compete.

[garbageman]

Tell us a little more about your pickup of Ish Smith in RFA. Was it a surprise that the Pistons didn't even try to get some value back, and if they had, what would you have been willing to give up in order to keep Ish as a Blazer?

[NickMalone77]

Nick Melon; The Advocate; What into the decision to shuffle the deck chairs around and trade away Deng and Steven Hunter in exchange for a multitude of centers and Thaddeus Young?

[Bowtothebill23]

When you look at Rose's ratings, they look like they're good enough to be an elite level point guard. Can you talk a little bit about why you've found that Rose is best suited off-ball?

[78#]

What was your thinking behind trading for two centers and do you feel Rose can equally be an elite SG as he has been an elite PG?

[kucoach7]

Tell us a little more about your pickup of Ish Smith in RFA. Was it a surprise that the Pistons didn't even try to get some value back, and if they had, what would you have been willing to give up in order to keep Ish as a Blazer?

It wasn't too big of a surprise that they did not match. I firmly believe that to win a player outright in RFA you have to overpay them and I feel like Ish is overpaid given his athleticism. I would have been willing to give up points, which seemed to be the going rate for RFA sign and trades this year.

[kucoach7]

Nick Melon; The Advocate; What into the decision to shuffle the deck chairs around and trade away Deng and Steven Hunter in exchange for a multitude of centers and Thaddeus Young?

We had two motives for those moves, depth and flexibility. From a depth perspective, these moves gave us two solid defensive bigs, something you need when you play the likes of Hunter/Love, Aldridge/Stoudamire, Griffin/Chandler, etc. As far as flexibility goes, we're living well over the cap and Hunter's deal was guaranteed for next year. If we choose, we could let Young and Gortat walk. It would also be easier to deal them this year if things go south and we feel we need to get under the cap this year.

[kucoach7]

When you look at Rose's ratings, they look like they're good enough to be an elite level point guard. Can you talk a little bit about why you've found that Rose is best suited off-ball?

I think his style of play (attacking the rim) makes it difficult for him to be the primary ball handler and the primary scorer without turning the ball over a ton. Hopefully, Ish can get him some more open lanes. We also hope that his assists won't fall off a cliff. He is a better passer than a ball handler and attracts a lot of defensive attention, which should mean others are open.

[kucoach7]

What was your thinking behind trading for two centers and do you feel Rose can equally be an elite SG as he has been an elite PG?

I kind of covered this with the Hornets question but we feel you have to have two rim protectors in the Western Conference given the competition. Also, Gortat has some PF-like attributes, a little quicker, has a jump shot, decent perimeter defender, so I think he'll be a great 4-5

[Inner_GI]

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