<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">On the work of his staff: Their work ethic and that of the support group was really tremendous. It was a collective effort in terms of the guys out there watching basketball games. On being hired early and having an additional year to scout: That year where all we had to do was go watch games was a tremendous advantage for us. It gave us the opportunity to go out and work, watch players, do our due diligence and do background work. I think that was really big. I think the decision that everybody made to hire people for that year, to be able to go out and get that work done. That was the key to everything. If it hadn?t have happened that way, we would have had to rush and get our structure organized in terms of how you wanted to do things and our philosophy. We had a chance to do all these things together as a staff. So that was really a big advantage to us. On the advantages that year created in scouting players: You could see guys in different elements. You could see them in summer league. You could see them in exhibition games. You could see them in playoffs. You could see them in regular season games. You could somewhat find out about the consistency of those players. We?ve always stated that guys just needed an opportunity to play. Out of deference to the other teams and looking at their track records and how they draft and how they assess talent, that?s always important. You know Indiana does a good job in terms of talent. You know Sacramento and those teams do a good job. Plus, these players have been in winning environments. Those are the little things that enter into it.</div> Full Story
