he highlights from Flip Saunders’ chat with the media this morning.
His reaction to the NBA Draft Lottery:
“It was a combination of reactions. I think number one is that when we saw that Philadelphia bump up and Golden State move down, at that time we knew that we were in the top three, and I think everyone was ecstatic that it was one of the few times that we were moving up. I said, ‘Hey, we’re in the top three. That’s great. Now let’s be greedy.’
“When it kept on going, and we got number one, it was as it told somebody, it looked like a bunch of kids playing little league that were getting ready to go to Dairy Queen, they’d just won a game. They were jumping around like little kids. It was exciting, especially – we had a lot of our staff that was down here watching in the locker room, management people, and especially going through the year that we went through, to see that when you’re going through games and you’re losing games and you’re in a rebuilding process, even though your guys are getting a little bit better, sometimes you need something to give you a little shot in the arm. This was definitely something that gave us excitement. It should give the whole D.C. area a lot of excitement.”
On the top pick and the options, John Wall and Evan Turner:
“One guy is maybe the most versatile player in the draft, in Turner, and the other guy is the most dynamic player in the draft. We’ll just go through the process. The thing is, we don’t have to worry about who anybody else takes. We can control where we go. We’re excited about the opportunity. We’re excited about what it will do to our franchise, and I think we’re going to get a player that is going to be dynamic but is also going to make other players on our team better. I think that’s one of the main things that you look for, especially when you have a young team that’s coming along. I think what it does, too, is that when you have someone like whoever it is, it’s sets you from an opportunity in free agency to have people that are going to say, hey, maybe I want to go there. You look and see if we can get the right person in free agency, you pursue it. If not, you have opportunities down the road.”
More on Wall:
“He’s one of the few point guards that have come out of college that is a point guard. A lot of times when players come out of college, they’re in a motion-type offense where they get rid of the ball and they just kind of play. They don’t run a lot of pick and rolls. They don’t make a lot of decisions where he’s been a guy that he’s had as much enjoyment giving assists to his teammates as he has scoring. So he’s almost a pass-first type of point guard that can make other people better. A lot of times, you get players at our level that you’re having to turn maybe a scorer into a two guard or a ppoint guard, and that mentality sometimes is tough. That’s why the great ones, you don’t have to do those type of things. I think he’s one of those guys that you don’t have to teach him. You’re going to have to teach him, but he’s not going to have to learn where it’s a total different position.”
Even more on Wall, mentioning the character issues, such as Wall wearing his jeans around his waist, having no tattoos, even cutting off his braids at age 14.
“He talks a lot about an image the responsibility he feels he has to young players that look up to him. When you have a player that understands and looks at things that type of way, there’s no questin he’s going to have a great impact, whatever team, whatever city he’s in.”
On the lottery giving the Wizards the feeling that they can officially turn the page, turn the corner after last year:
“I think we knew that when the draft was going to come. But I think when you get the number one pick like that, all of a sudden, you’re saying, ‘Now we’re moving forward.’ Just the excitement there is everywhere, walking around town, people coming up and talking, in the building, our staff itself, the players, there’s just a renewed interest right now. You guys were saying, Josh [Howard] gets hurt at the end, and it’s like what else bad can happen? Well now, all of a sudden, you see good things starting to happen. There’s a happiness and excitement to everything that’s going on.”
On how different Filp feels compared to a year ago at this time:
“I felt good a year ago. I feel great now, just from the standpoint of the direction that we’re going. I came here last year, I knew some of the players and everything, but I think right now I’m even more involved in the direction that we’re going: how we want our players to play, the type of players that we want to bring in, the direction that we’re going and the path that we’re going to take.”
On Irene Pollin bringing the luck:
“To see the shock on her face, that picture was worth a thousand words. Everything they’ve meant to the community, this team, bringing the team here, having the Capitals here, building this arena and then making the decision that they werer going to sell, it’s only fitting that they leave this team with something that they can be proud of.”
On how having the top pick affects planning for later picks in the draft:
“You’re not going to duplicate that player, and you probably won’t dupliate that player in free agency so when you’re going to get one of these top picks, pick int eh top threee, you’re probably getting an impact player that’s going to be able to come in, he’s going to be able to play a lot, start or play a lot. When you do those things, it helps you in your evaluation process, as far as the other tplayer sthat you’re going to look to bring in.”
On how bringing in Wall might affect the play of Gilbert Arenas:
“It won’t affect it at all.”
Does Flip have a preference for the No. 1 pick:
“Yeah, I probably do.”
Will he reveal it?
“No.”
On larger draft plans, given word that the Wizards are looking to add picks.
“This is a very deep draft because of the uncertainty in the collective bargaining agreement. So many players have come out, as far as underclassmen. I think there’s going to players that in a normal year would be drafted in the second round, the middle of the second round, that might not even get drafted this year because of the number of players that are coming out.
“I think we’re going to be very active. We’ve talked about how we want to build this team, not just for now but also for the future and for the long term, and how important that we have a good foundation of some good young players, to bring some other good young players with that would be beneficial at this point along with mixing in a couple of veterans.”
On Arenas:
For him, it’s been a whirlwind as far as getting his thing done. Most importantly, he’s got community service he’s got to take care of so he’s got to actively work to do those things, get involved in the community with some youth people and do things that are important outside of basketball. We haven’t talked to him much about basketball at this point.
On what this means for D.C., which is now home to multiple young, exciting talents:
“It’s great for the people of this area when you see the talent, [Alexander] Ovechkin, [Stephen] Strasburg and now the number one pick that we’re going to have. The people are getting an opportunity to see some good young players, and I think what happens – what we’ve seen with Ovechkin – is that if you get a good young player that is a dominant player, it sets your team up for a long, long time, to be successful and make runs to try to win titles. I’m came here to do that a year ago with a certain team, and now we’re going to do it with a different team.”
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