What stood out to people? I have a baby barely sleeping next to me and there's no way I turning on anything with audio.
The audio is crap. I'm curious about what was said at the 21:05 mark and beyond; you can't hear the questions being asked of him, so his responses (dodging the questions, but gives "something" away with his non-answer) are indecipherable. Oh well.
He talked about the great trust and relationship that he, Larry, Nate, and Paul have. The bottom line this year is getting into the playoffs. Thinks the number of wins to do that will be in the high 40's. Says it's hard to predict if we'll get in, but says we'll be a "tough out." He does look at other teams, but he spends 95% of the time thinking about how "we" can improve. They have to focus on their own business. James Jones will be missed. But likes the leadership the assistants & Nate provide. The fact they're growing up as a team, means that the baton is being passed and it's time for guys like Roy & Aldridge to assume that role. Really likes the team and isn't actively pursuing anything, but admits you have to be opportunistic in this business. So if a good deal comes along, they'll look at it. Says he & Nate learned a lot from each other. He wants to be a great manager for Nate. The fact he wants to do everything he can to help Nate is where he's grown the most. Has a good relationship with all the players, some more than others, but he talks with players every day. Thinks this will be a year he'll be involved everyday with the team. Going to be a lot of competition in the preseason, and he's always wanted that. He can't wait to watch it. Thinks it's too early to make goals, wants to see them together more. Gave praise to coach Popavich (sp?), saying he's one of the most emotionally intelligent coaches he's been around. Has the ability to always say the right thing in any situation. Says that to get to the bigtime, you can't do it with 6-7 guys anymore. It takes an entire team. You need defined roles and Nate does a good job of that. And if it doesn't work, they now have the ability to make changes accordingly. When they did a trade with New York, one of their goals that they set in motion was to have the ability to make their own choices as they go forward. Now they have that ability. Tom Penn had a big influence on that. Thinks they have guys that will show leadership they haven't seen before. Wants them to be unselfish but have some toughness, and they could over-achieve. Phrase an assistant came up with is "15 = 16". If they have 15 committed players, they get in the final 16 (playoffs). Talked about the community and people coming up to him and saying "thank you" for what he and Nate have done for the team. He hasn't seen that before. Thinks Portland is unique in that way. He feels very lucky. They weren't originally going to publicize Rudy's arrival. Says Rudy teared up a bit when he arrived at the airport, then he got a little emotional too. Says Rudy told him, "I feel it." He now knows how important it is for the team to be respectable, on and off the court, Rudy sees that, and Rudy fits in perfectly. Rudy scrimmaged today. When asked how Rudy did, Pritchard just said, "He did a good job" and held back a grin. Then restated that there's a lot of competition. Pritchard agrees it is hard to simmer expectations on Oden. Maybe it's because he hasn't played for so long, but the things that Oden can do, not yet at full speed, not many people can do that. He has a chance to be special. Only Oden can hold back Greg Oden. Oden is as humble as they come. Says that it's kind of like when Duncan came into the league and just wanted to be a part of the team. He's a student of the game. You only have to tell him one time. There's an "it" factor, and Greg has it. His whole thing will be conditioning, but he's working hard and he's good weight-wise. Might be around 279-280. Livingston is heckuva player, but they'll stick with what they have. Go Beavers! - that's me, not him.
noknobs I gave you +2 rep for the recap (nice work! you rock!) and -1 for the "Go Beavers" Go Ducks! -Pop
repped noknobs, you are a machine! hmm seems everybody here repped him but hes still at zero? maybe he is a laker fan and summarily rejects our rep as tainted.
Aww, well I'll take it. Small price to pay for knocking off the #1 team in the nation. I've got work to do. But I have a plan...
