Archive for the 'Basketball' Category
NBA Draft – Photos
Some (unused) photos I took while up at the 2009 NBA Draft for DraftExpress.
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NBA Draft Media Day – Photos
Some (unused) photos I took while up at the 2009 NBA Draft Media Day for DraftExpress.
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Ed Stefanski Conference Call
A while back I had the opportunity to interview Sixers President and General Manager Ed Stefanski. Recently Michael Preston of the Sixers PR staff reached out to me and gave the opportunity to be on a conference call with Ed, which I gladly accepted. I was in the middle of a vacation, and was actually scheduled to drive back that day, but when the opportunity to interview the guy running the Sixers comes up, you fit it into your schedule.
The story has been very well covered by Depressed Fan, SixerSoul, TrueHoop, Passion and Pride, Recliner GM, and The 700 Level, so I won’t spend too much time on the details (even sixers.com put a piece up on it). I mainly was involved to get some quotes for a piece I’ll be doing for RealGM, and I’ll post some of my highlights, as well as the transcript which you can check out by clicking the read more link.
My main point of the post was to say how well the Sixers are doing. No, I’m not talking in terms of how good of an offseason they’re having, which to this point has been a success in every facet. That’s a given. But the media relations for the Sixers, of which Ed is certainly doing his fair share, is tremendous.
This is a town where you have Andy Reid refusing to give any insight to card carrying members of the media, much less holding a 30 minute conference call with wanna-be’s, bloggers and straight up fans. Where the Phillies regard the media as being constantly against them, and even have their manager challenging a member of the media to a fight (not that I necessarily disagree with Charlie’s desire to punch Howard Eskin). For the vast majority of the time, it seems the aggravation from front office personal is a detraction.
With the Sixers and Ed Stefanski, it’s the complete opposite.
Not once during the call did either Ed Stefanski or Michael Preston act like they were talking to the junior varsity team. They were both open throughout. Very few organizations give such guys the time of day.
I don’t necessarily expect the front office to be fully honest, in fact some times I think it behooves them to not be. So when Andy Reid purposefully gives the media nothing, it doesn’t bother me. Being open and forthright to the media (or, in this case, Joe Citizen) isn’t going to win the Sixers any games, and it doesn’t cover up for any mistakes made.
It doesn’t alter the destination, which ultimately is what we’re in it for. But it does make the ride a heck of a lot more fun and enjoyable. And, for that, I thank Ed Stefanski and the Sixers PR staff.
As for what I found most interesting:
- Ed thinks Louis Williams is a “hell of a basketball player”. Pretty strong endoresement. Here’s to hoping Ed’s right.
- When describing Thaddeus Young and his work this offseason: “His handle has gotten better, we’ll only know when the season starts if it’s gotten good enough to play the bulk of the minutes at the 3.”
- “We wouldn’t have gone that route [signing Theo Ratliff] if Jason Smith [had not gotten hurt].”
- On Marreese Speights summer league performance: “He did everything we asked of him, but it’s only summer league. But, on the flip side, if he had sucked in the summer league, we all would have been upset, and all of the guys on this call with me would have said “oh my god”…If the kid has it and wants it, the skills are there, so as I said we’re happy he had a good summer as opposed to not having a good summer.”
- On the Andre Miller contract negotiation: “He does not have any representation right now, so we’re in limbo in that respect. So once he gets representation we’ll sit down and see where their side is”.
- On Andre Miller’s age: “That’s all the things you take into consideration [his age, and whether he'll fit in when the team peaks]. Where Andre is in his career, what type of team we have. They’re all the things that once we discuss, Andre, myself and his agent, they’re all the things you have to discuss and see where his head is. There’s no doubt all those things come into play. ”
- On the last question of the press conference, he stated there are no moves currently in the works, and expects to have the team he has right now.
- Ended the conference with: “Guys, the one thing I just want to say it, be very fortunate that it worked. Because you never know, when you put a plan together, whether it’s going to be executed. Luck is involved in all of this, and it came out pretty good.”
And, of course, the humorous part of the interview:
Blogger: Ed it’s Brian from Depressed Fan.
Ed: Depressed who, from what?
Blogger: Depressed Fan.
Ed: C’mon! Get a little more excited.
[laughs]
Blogger: It’s mostlythe Yankees these days.
[laughs]
Click “Read More” for a full transcript of the interview.
1 commentThe Best laid plans of Mice and Men
originally published at sixers.realgm.com.
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Thoughts on the NBA draft
I’m a draft junkie. The NBA draft is the only draft I really get this way over. I don’t watch college baseball at all, and I just can’t get into the football draft as much, as it’s far too long and drawn out. The basketball draft is Christmas week for me. Having been working with the guys over at DraftExpress this past year has only made me even more of a junkie.
So, for some reason, this year I’m compelled to put down my thoughts on the draft for all to see, so that in a few years time I can look like a complete buffoon. I write this knowing full well that some of my opinions will probably look preposterous when these players rookie contracts expire. That being said, this is my opinion of the draft.
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