2000-2001 Miami Heat Pre-season Press Conference
Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2015 8:51 am
Welcome everybody. First lets talk about last year.
What an up and down year. Dealing with injuries throughout the whole season, our team stepped up and made the playoffs. Unfortunately, we matched up to our achilles heel: the Boston Celtics. Going back and forth, we brought the 1st round to game 7. Lo and behold, we won that game. We won our first playoff series!! I want to give a lot of credit to our team, especially our leader Gary Payton, for powering through against a great team. In round 2, we faced up against the powerful Toronto Raptors. Unfortunately for the opposition, they lost their best player to injury. We know how that feels having lost top players in the past playoff berths. We always prefer to play teams at their best, but we had to play the game that was presented to us. We took that round to a game 7, and holy crap, we won again. In the Eastern Confernece finals (never thought I would say that any time soon), we faced off against the revamped Milwaukee Bucks. We won game one in Milwuakee, but lost game 2 by two points in overtime. We are feeling confident at this point having stolen home court advantage. We lost two heartbreakers at home by a total of 5 points. At that point, we lost everything we had. In game 5, we got blown out by 12 points. Although we were on the brink of making the finals, this past season is the best season in franchise history and I am proud of our team for all that we overcame.
In the draft, we drafted shooting guard Desmond Mason out of Oklahoma State. At this point, he seems like a backup player at best, but who knows, maybe he will develop.
We had a starter going into RFA in Tony Delk. We are really high on his abilities, and see him as a vital part of our team going forward. The VanMemphis Grizzlies won the bid for Tony by maxing him, but not putting any increase in salary. We felt that Tony is worth that money, so we decided to match the offered salary. We are excited to welcome Tony back to Miami. We look forward to his future development and leadership.
In free agency, we were in a bind as we were basically maxed out on salary. We decided to pursue our small forward Jim Jackson. We offered him max salary with a 12% increase in salary per year. He decided to join the Minnesota Timberwolves instead of taking that offer. The only thing I can think of his departure is that the 4th year had a team option. Either way, we wish I'm luck and I hope he has some winter coats to account for the climate change. After his departure, we were looking for a fill in for his position at small forward. We pursued a few players, but we ended up signing the veteran George McCloud. We look forward to seeing what he can contribute to this team.
We headed to training camp without much roster movement other than McCloud/Jackson. We saw rising star Tony Delk take the next step in development. Some of our other players fluctuated up and down. Overall, we are happy with training camp. We want to see how our team performs during the preseason to determine who is going to start on day one of the season.
We have three spots pretty much locked up for starters, but as of right now this is our lineup:
C: vacant
PF: Adam Keefe
SF: vacant
SG: Tony Delk
PG: Gary Payton
We anticipate a battle for the center position between veteran Dino Radja and youngster Todd Macculloch. At small forward, we have the same veteran versus youngster debate between George McCloud and Pat Garrity. Alvin Williams will be backing up the guard positions again this year.
Although we like our team, we find that we are at a crossroads. We don't see the ability to improve much do to cap restrictions in the future, but we have a solid team that does not really allow for a rebuild. Everyone is available to trade. Well not everyone. Tony Delk is not able to be traded due to RFA restrictions.
With this team, we are looking at a borderline playoff team. At best, 3rd in the Atlantic. At worst, last in division.
Alright, the floor is now open to questions.
What an up and down year. Dealing with injuries throughout the whole season, our team stepped up and made the playoffs. Unfortunately, we matched up to our achilles heel: the Boston Celtics. Going back and forth, we brought the 1st round to game 7. Lo and behold, we won that game. We won our first playoff series!! I want to give a lot of credit to our team, especially our leader Gary Payton, for powering through against a great team. In round 2, we faced up against the powerful Toronto Raptors. Unfortunately for the opposition, they lost their best player to injury. We know how that feels having lost top players in the past playoff berths. We always prefer to play teams at their best, but we had to play the game that was presented to us. We took that round to a game 7, and holy crap, we won again. In the Eastern Confernece finals (never thought I would say that any time soon), we faced off against the revamped Milwaukee Bucks. We won game one in Milwuakee, but lost game 2 by two points in overtime. We are feeling confident at this point having stolen home court advantage. We lost two heartbreakers at home by a total of 5 points. At that point, we lost everything we had. In game 5, we got blown out by 12 points. Although we were on the brink of making the finals, this past season is the best season in franchise history and I am proud of our team for all that we overcame.
In the draft, we drafted shooting guard Desmond Mason out of Oklahoma State. At this point, he seems like a backup player at best, but who knows, maybe he will develop.
We had a starter going into RFA in Tony Delk. We are really high on his abilities, and see him as a vital part of our team going forward. The VanMemphis Grizzlies won the bid for Tony by maxing him, but not putting any increase in salary. We felt that Tony is worth that money, so we decided to match the offered salary. We are excited to welcome Tony back to Miami. We look forward to his future development and leadership.
In free agency, we were in a bind as we were basically maxed out on salary. We decided to pursue our small forward Jim Jackson. We offered him max salary with a 12% increase in salary per year. He decided to join the Minnesota Timberwolves instead of taking that offer. The only thing I can think of his departure is that the 4th year had a team option. Either way, we wish I'm luck and I hope he has some winter coats to account for the climate change. After his departure, we were looking for a fill in for his position at small forward. We pursued a few players, but we ended up signing the veteran George McCloud. We look forward to seeing what he can contribute to this team.
We headed to training camp without much roster movement other than McCloud/Jackson. We saw rising star Tony Delk take the next step in development. Some of our other players fluctuated up and down. Overall, we are happy with training camp. We want to see how our team performs during the preseason to determine who is going to start on day one of the season.
We have three spots pretty much locked up for starters, but as of right now this is our lineup:
C: vacant
PF: Adam Keefe
SF: vacant
SG: Tony Delk
PG: Gary Payton
We anticipate a battle for the center position between veteran Dino Radja and youngster Todd Macculloch. At small forward, we have the same veteran versus youngster debate between George McCloud and Pat Garrity. Alvin Williams will be backing up the guard positions again this year.
Although we like our team, we find that we are at a crossroads. We don't see the ability to improve much do to cap restrictions in the future, but we have a solid team that does not really allow for a rebuild. Everyone is available to trade. Well not everyone. Tony Delk is not able to be traded due to RFA restrictions.
With this team, we are looking at a borderline playoff team. At best, 3rd in the Atlantic. At worst, last in division.
Alright, the floor is now open to questions.