Milwaukee Bucks Media Day

[IamQuailman]

Press Conference and Interviews forthcoming...

[IamQuailman]

MC: Ladies and Gentlemen, I'd like to present to you the Milwaukee Bucks GM Ian Quailmen.

GM: Good evening, everyone. It's a busy time in the NBA, and as you have heard and seen, we've been going to work throwing a few "bucks" around to build this team into a championship contender. It was great to make it back into the playoffs last season, only to leave early on. But we've maintained a young, hungry energetic core while bringing on board some veteran talent to solidify our front court. So without further ado, let me introduce 2 old (not pun intended!) faces and 1 new one:

Antonio "Protector" Davis


Vlade"Stallone" Divac

and introducing...


Shareef "Why Can't I Hold All These Balls" Abdur-Rahim

So I'm opening the floor to questions for each of our signees (new and returning) and myself. Don't be shy.

[bojangles837]

Scott van pelt here. I have a question for shareef. Why is it that you cant hold those balls?

[IamQuailman]

Shareef: Hi Scott, I'm not really sure. I hear you are good with holding balls in your hands, among other places. Maybe you can teach me some pointers?

GM: ...ANDDDDDD we can't wait to see that spitfire attitude translate to smashmouth ballin' on the courts this season. Next question?

[ItsPaulyP]

GM Quailmen, what is your goal for the season? Do you think your team has a legitimate chance to win the title? And were you at all cautious extending a $7M per year offer to an aging Vlade Divac?

[BallSoHard]

Reporter You seem to be a team with some big holes in terms of skillsets and a team without much identity. You don't really have a true passer and have a few 'Tweener' type guys in Tim Thomas and Shareef. Do you think that will ultimately prove too much and this season will end much the last season, or are you planning on your teams continued growth to kind of correct those inadequacies?

Also Where are you at in your rebuilding plan?

[IamQuailman]

GM Quailmen, what is your goal for the season? Do you think your team has a legitimate chance to win the title? And were you at all cautious extending a $7M per year offer to an aging Vlade Divac?

GM: Thanks for the questions. Our goal for this season is to compete for the NBA title. That's our goal each and every season. It was our goal the year we ended up having the 2nd to worst record, and it was our goal last year when we went to the playoffs and had an unfortunate first round exit. I believe we have an exceptional amount of talent in not only our starting five but our key reserves, and I truly believe that that talent can and will bring us to the Finals.

With regards to Vlade Divac, last season he came into our team about halfway through the season and was key to lifting our team to the playoffs. In fact, he wanted to resign with the team this off-season prior to Free Agency. However, I shared with him our plans for the future, and after some deliberation we were able to find a number agreeable to both sides. In this league, age means not much at all, with stars like Karl Malone, John Stockton, and Scottie Pippen all performing at a high level well into their late 30s. We strongly feel that Vlade will fall into that category as well. By the way, Vlade, I gotta add that we've installed a shuffleboard court in the lockerroom for your leisure time after practices. Along with recorded episodes of the Price is Right and I Love Lucy.

[IamQuailman]

Reporter You seem to be a team with some big holes in terms of skillsets and a team without much identity. You don't really have a true passer and have a few 'Tweener' type guys in Tim Thomas and Shareef. Do you think that will ultimately prove too much and this season will end much the last season, or are you planning on your teams continued growth to kind of correct those inadequacies?

Thank you, Mr. Reporter. I like to say that the identity of this team lies in its ability to play hard nose defense. Our coach, Seymour Butts, emphasizes the importance of defense in practice, day in and day out. It's funny that you mention our "tweeners". Last season, after acquiring Tim Thomas, we had him playing power forward. This season, look to see him play a little at both forward spots, possibly leaning more towards small forward. Now that may bring a question up of "Whoa whoa. What about Gerald Wallace?" We sat down with Gerald this offseason and asked if he would be comfortable with a little experiment of sorts... at least for the beginning of the season. He is always up for a challenge, and he seemed very interested in the opportunity. So it is possible that you could see a big line-up of Vlade, 3 "tweeners" as you like to call them, and Arenas on the court at the same time.

Another reason we were really excited to bring Vlade back is that he is a passing big man. There were games last season when he even surpassed our distributors in terms of passing the ball. Mix in there that both Shareef and Tim can distribute the ball when needed, and I like where our team's distribution dynamic is going.

Also Where are you at in your rebuilding plan?

This is an interesting question here, as our rebuilding plan is fluid. It started a couple years back when we decided to go completely young, with good players like Lamar Odom and Jason Terry and Brendan Haywood. However, after deciding to go a different direction by infusing veteran talent in with your young guns of Gilbert and Gerald and now Shareef, I think this team will hit in stride right where we left off. Gilbert and Gerald are both entering their 3rd year now, and their best basketball is ahead.

Gilbert has continued to grow each season. Last year he focused on being a facilitator and a scorer, as we could see in his uptick in assists. Look for him to continue to grow as a passer. Also, we are really excited to see Gerald turn it up this year. How many second year players get named to the All-Defense First Team? I can only think of two: Shawn Marion and Gerald Wallace. Marion, might I remind you, did that while playing for the Bucks. Coming out of the draft, Gerald was labeled "Shawn Marion Lite". But I'm starting to wonder if this is the year that Shawn Marion could be labeled "Gerald Wallace Lite".

Also, I'm not sure anyone noticed, but a big reason for our early exit was the loss of Antonio Davis. He was an integral part of our frontcourt rotation. When he went down with patella tendonitis, his defensive presence was definitely missed. But I am happy to say that his rehab is about 99% (if not 100%) complete and we can't wait to see him back on the court.

[BallSoHard]

Reporter Wait, did I just hear that correctly Mr. Quailman? You're placing you getting swept in the playoffs off of a backup getting injured? Do you think your lack of accountability in the front office leaks on to the court?

[bojangles837]

Shareef: Hi Scott, I'm not really sure. I hear you are good with holding balls in your hands, among other places. Maybe you can teach me some pointers?

GM: ...ANDDDDDD we can't wait to see that spitfire attitude translate to smashmouth ballin' on the courts this season. Next question?

All I needed to know. Thank you...waiittttt i read that wrong, haha

[IamQuailman]

Reporter Wait, did I just hear that correctly Mr. Quailman? You're placing you getting swept in the playoffs off of a backup getting injured? Do you think your lack of accountability in the front office leaks on to the court?

GM: I love how the media likes to twist words. Who let this guy in here? I said a big reason, not ONLY reason. Go back and look at the stats from the last few weeks pre- and post-AD's injury. Losing AD was detrimental to our front court rotation, as we relied on him as not only backup power forward, but as the backup center. Obviously, the blame cannot solely be placed on Antonio. Our players hold themselves to high expectations, and they have all bee working hard to improve their game and work towards the greater goal of a Championship. Rome wasn't built in a day, but we laid a foundation for winning last season.

[The JNR]

Stromile Swift: Hey it's Stro. I got a question for Tim Thomas.

Reporter: I don't even know if Tim is here...

Stromile Swift: Shut up I'm talking. Hey Timmy, do you miss me? Also, folks, don't forget to tune into my upcoming journal series, "Gettin High With Stro"!

[IamQuailman]

GM: I'll be sure to, um... relay that message to Tim.

[BallSoHard]

GM: I love how the media likes to twist words. Who let this guy in here? I said a big reason, not ONLY reason. Go back and look at the stats from the last few weeks pre- and post-AD's injury. Losing AD was detrimental to our front court rotation, as we relied on him as not only backup power forward, but as the backup center. Obviously, the blame cannot solely be placed on Antonio. Our players hold themselves to high expectations, and they have all bee working hard to improve their game and work towards the greater goal of a Championship. Rome wasn't built in a day, but we laid a foundation for winning last season.

Reporter I'm not sure if it's twisting your words if you say a backup is a big reason you lost a series when you got swept. With that line of thinking, should i place Antionio Davis in my MVP ballot?