Detroit Pistons Preseason Press Conference
Posted: Thu Oct 19, 2017 8:18 am
Good afternoon and thank you for joining us.
As we go into our second year under new management, I'd like to take a moment to reflect on what a success the first year was. Last year was the first year the Pistons had a winning record in 20+ years. We won our first playoff series since 2006, the year we made the playoffs with a 41-41 record. Our Lord and Savior, Anthony Davis, was Defender of the Year and All-League First Team.
Following the season, we had a tremendous draft that will pay dividends in the future. We would never have guessed that Jerrod Stepp would fall to us at #21. I invited him up here to say a few words and field some questions, but with a stamina rating of 30, he got winded on the first step up to the podium and had to sit and catch his breath.
***Points to Jerrod Stepp sitting on bottom step with oxygen mask on***
Maybe he'll make it up here before we're done. Maybe not.
The rest of our draft went well too. Of our 4 second round picks, 3 made the team and will contribute valuable garbage-time minutes and high fives to players coming off the floor. We think Laurent Lezaire has a future as a backup point guard with this franchise. The other 2 guys, whose names I won't bother to learn, will probably play out their rookie contracts, then go sell insurance or cars or whatever guys like that do after a cup of coffee in the league.
I need to inform you that Jerrod Stepp has made it to the second of three steps, but had to stop and get the oxygen mask back on before he passed out from exhaustion.
In free agency, there were reports that we targeted Ricky Rubio and Dennis Schroeder as long-term solutions to our point guard situation. The reports are true. Ricky said something in Spanish that no one at our office understood when we called him with a max offer. We took it that he was saying something negative about 'MERICA, and we only speak English in our office. Needless to say, the conference call ended with us loudly chanting "U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!" for about 5 minutes after Rubio and his representatives hung up.
A similar situation occured with Schroeder, but in German.
Stepp is now on the third step up to the podium, but had to stop to catch his breath again.
The rest of free agency went about as well as planned. We put out offers to several players from last year's roster, and Ramon Sessions and Kyle Singler will return in what will be similar roles. Our big splash in free agency was signing Lance Stephenson to a 3 year, $66 million deal. We think he'll be a valuable addition and would have allowed us to play Rodney Hood as a switchable sub at the 2, 3 and 4 if Hood hadn't been lazy during the offseason. As it is, he will have to split time with James Heise at backup shooting guard.
Speaking of training camp, we felt great going into it, with 10 players with green or better potential. While our best 5 may not have been the best in the league, we felt our top 10 players were better than everyone else's top 10. But then everyone died during camp, and we're particularly disappointed that neither Ramon Sessions or Aaron Brooks bothered to show up in shape.
Our Lord and Savior Anthony Davis has picked up Stepp and is giving him a piggyback ride to the podium. Just like he carries the rest of the team; nay, the entire city of Detroit and all its hopes and dreams, on his back
Overall, I think we've got about the same team as last year. I wholly expect the Pistons to return to the playoffs this year. In the long run, we've got some young players who are capable of developing into the cornerstones of the franchise. Pencil us in for about 50 wins and one playoff series win.
I'll open the floor to questions for myself, Anthony "Messiah" Davis, or Stepp when and if he catches his breath.
As we go into our second year under new management, I'd like to take a moment to reflect on what a success the first year was. Last year was the first year the Pistons had a winning record in 20+ years. We won our first playoff series since 2006, the year we made the playoffs with a 41-41 record. Our Lord and Savior, Anthony Davis, was Defender of the Year and All-League First Team.
Following the season, we had a tremendous draft that will pay dividends in the future. We would never have guessed that Jerrod Stepp would fall to us at #21. I invited him up here to say a few words and field some questions, but with a stamina rating of 30, he got winded on the first step up to the podium and had to sit and catch his breath.
***Points to Jerrod Stepp sitting on bottom step with oxygen mask on***
Maybe he'll make it up here before we're done. Maybe not.
The rest of our draft went well too. Of our 4 second round picks, 3 made the team and will contribute valuable garbage-time minutes and high fives to players coming off the floor. We think Laurent Lezaire has a future as a backup point guard with this franchise. The other 2 guys, whose names I won't bother to learn, will probably play out their rookie contracts, then go sell insurance or cars or whatever guys like that do after a cup of coffee in the league.
I need to inform you that Jerrod Stepp has made it to the second of three steps, but had to stop and get the oxygen mask back on before he passed out from exhaustion.
In free agency, there were reports that we targeted Ricky Rubio and Dennis Schroeder as long-term solutions to our point guard situation. The reports are true. Ricky said something in Spanish that no one at our office understood when we called him with a max offer. We took it that he was saying something negative about 'MERICA, and we only speak English in our office. Needless to say, the conference call ended with us loudly chanting "U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!" for about 5 minutes after Rubio and his representatives hung up.
A similar situation occured with Schroeder, but in German.
Stepp is now on the third step up to the podium, but had to stop to catch his breath again.
The rest of free agency went about as well as planned. We put out offers to several players from last year's roster, and Ramon Sessions and Kyle Singler will return in what will be similar roles. Our big splash in free agency was signing Lance Stephenson to a 3 year, $66 million deal. We think he'll be a valuable addition and would have allowed us to play Rodney Hood as a switchable sub at the 2, 3 and 4 if Hood hadn't been lazy during the offseason. As it is, he will have to split time with James Heise at backup shooting guard.
Speaking of training camp, we felt great going into it, with 10 players with green or better potential. While our best 5 may not have been the best in the league, we felt our top 10 players were better than everyone else's top 10. But then everyone died during camp, and we're particularly disappointed that neither Ramon Sessions or Aaron Brooks bothered to show up in shape.
Our Lord and Savior Anthony Davis has picked up Stepp and is giving him a piggyback ride to the podium. Just like he carries the rest of the team; nay, the entire city of Detroit and all its hopes and dreams, on his back
Overall, I think we've got about the same team as last year. I wholly expect the Pistons to return to the playoffs this year. In the long run, we've got some young players who are capable of developing into the cornerstones of the franchise. Pencil us in for about 50 wins and one playoff series win.
I'll open the floor to questions for myself, Anthony "Messiah" Davis, or Stepp when and if he catches his breath.