Pistons Pre-Season Press Conference

[Wombataholic]

Good morning and thank you for joining us.

Last season went reasonably well. We won 55 games and pushed the Bulls to 7 games. We lost Anthony Davis for 22 games, which allowed us to experiment with our lineups and find out who should stay with the team going into this year, hence why Odis Jackson and Greivis Vasquez are no longer with us. Our young guys, Stephen Keitt, James O'Connor, and Roy Woodson made valuable contributions. Rudy Gay played well at the ripe old age of 34. C.J. McCollum was as good as advertised.

Heading into the offseason, we more or less had our top 6 guys locked up, so it was nice to be strictly looking for backups and future prospects to develop.

We were happy to bring back Joseph Mercado in UFA to back up Keitt and McCollum, along with a host of other role players that will play 5-10 minutes per game and hand out high fives.

With such a deep draft, we felt that there could be some good value in the picks in the late 20's and decided to buy a pick from the 76ers. We are happy that Brian Coleman fell to us at 27. He doesn't do anything particularly well and his conditioning is appalling, but with a few years with our strength and condition coaches and some good training camps, he'll be a solid backup.

Training camp was a mixed bag, as most camps are. Keitt is looking more and more like the great point guard we know he can be and Davis and McCollum are more or less the same. We were disappointed that O'Connor didn't work harder in camp and took a step back. Rudy Gay took a hit, but he's doing the best he can at his age.

Right now, the starting lineup looks like Keitt, McCollum, O'Connor, Davis, and Woodson. Mercado will be the primary backup at PG and SG, Rudy Gay will back up O'Connor, Trevor Seda will back up Davis and Clint Capela will back up Woodson.

Going into this season, we expect to win around 60 games and compete with the Bulls for the #1 seed in the East. The 76ers should win the Atlantic and the Hawks should win the Southeast.

I'll open the floor to questions.

[JNR]

GWR: Keitt had a great year last year. Do you expect his numbers to be even better this year?

[Wombataholic]

GWR: Keitt had a great year last year. Do you expect his numbers to be even better this year?

We expect his assist numbers to make a significant improvement and shooting percentages to get better. Because of AD's usage rate, there's a limit to how much his PPG can increase, but we think it will be slightly better.

[garbageman]

Sham Smith, Bulls.com: Daniel West was not mentioned in your talk about the probable rotation, but he does look like a promising player. What is his place with the team?

[Wombataholic]

Sham Smith, Bulls.com: Daniel West was not mentioned in your talk about the probable rotation, but he does look like a promising player. What is his place with the team?

We feel his best contribution for the team this season will involve being traded for points or a late first-rounder on day 60.

[Xist2Inspire]

Random Reporter: With Gay well out of his prime, McCollum on his way out of it, and Davis entering the final years of his, is there any pressure to at least make another finals appearance either this season or the next?

[Wombataholic]

Random Reporter: With Gay well out of his prime, McCollum on his way out of it, and Davis entering the final years of his, is there any pressure to at least make another finals appearance either this season or the next?

The Pistons organization does not view success as being all-or-nothing. We don't always have to win or make the finals. Our goal is to perennially be in contention.

[ballsohard]

We;ve seen some mixed signals from the organization regarding James O'Connor. Last season you guys invested a lot of time and money into his development. This, this off-season we saw him on the block for an upgrade and a lot less attention paid to him in Training camp and Player individual talent. Can you discuss these progressions and digressions in feelings for him in terms of investment from the franchise?

[Wombataholic]

We;ve seen some mixed signals from the organization regarding James O'Connor. Last season you guys invested a lot of time and money into his development. This, this off-season we saw him on the block for an upgrade and a lot less attention paid to him in Training camp and Player individual talent. Can you discuss these progressions and digressions in feelings for him in terms of investment from the franchise?

With James O'Connor, we thought we could get decent value for him, improve defensively at the SF position, and push the need to offer a 4th max deal (Davis, McCollum, Keitt) down the road. A deal was very nearly done, but we had second thoughts about it and decided that we could re-tool at other positions to make up for O'Connor's shortcomings. I can't say he'll be here past his first contract, but he's here for now.

[NOLa.]

Your team came the closest to knocking off the eventual champs in the playoffs. What was missing on your team last season that you have to counter the bulls this season? Do you feel you would win if you were to matchup now?


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[Wombataholic]

Your team came the closest to knocking off the eventual champs in the playoffs. What was missing on your team last season that you have to counter the bulls this season? Do you feel you would win if you were to matchup now?

The difference between us and the Bulls last year came down to rebounding. Looking at the box scores in the playoffs, in the games where we were able to keep things close or win, we were able to keep team rebound differential close. To fix this, we went out of our way to sign backup centers, power forwards, and small forwards that are rebounders first and foremost.

We like our chances against the Bulls this year. I think the winner of the Central division is going to represent the Eastern Conference in the finals.