Tuesday 27th July - Willie Green Introductory Press Conference

We are just over an hour away from the scheduled start time of Willie Green's introductory press conference, so here is the thread for it. I'll probably end up doing some transcription at some point so if you miss it, or aren't a fan of watching, you'll be able to read the run down later on but for those who want to watch it live - and are free at 11am CT - here it is.

Such a busy news day.

Griff says coaches and GMs around the league recommended Willie Green highly during the intel gathering portion of the process

— Shamit Dua (@FearTheBrown) July 27, 2021

David Griffin: "We have a sleeping giant -- a sleeping giant we're now giving the right leadership."

— Will Guillory (@WillGuillory) July 27, 2021

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

Griff says coaches and GMs around the league recommended Willie Green highly during the intel gathering portion of the process

— Shamit Dua (@FearTheBrown) July 27, 2021

David Griffin: "We have a sleeping giant -- a sleeping giant we're now giving the right leadership."

— Will Guillory (@WillGuillory) July 27, 2021

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Griff is a glorified snake oil salesman

But Booker said Green was amazing so I'm in

Quick, live transcript from Willie Green's intro speech. Forgive any minor transcription errors, as it is live. Here's Green.

''Thank you, thank you. I'd like to start off by thanking God. My family and I were truly blessed and fortunate for this opportunity. I'd like to thank Bob Myers, Joe Lacob, Steve Kerr, and the Warriors organisation for giving me my start in coaching. I'd like to also thank Monty Williams, James Jones, and Robert Sarver. Monty is a true leader, friend, brother, and I'm so grateful to have these last couple of years learning under him; he's taken me under his wing and helped me grow as a coach, a man, a father, a husband.

You talk about presence, you talk about leadership. One of the reasons I'm here is that so many people have invested in me, prayed for me, supported me. I wouldn't be in this position without investment. My college coach in Detroit, Perry Watson, with fundamentals and holding us accountable. He made sure that we were good young men, and that's important. My uncle Gary Green, who's no longer with us, but without him I wouldn't be here. We all have that special person in our lives who makes us go, he was that for me. He was there for me, spoke it into existence, supported me, but also challenged me. That's important. My parents, my grandparents, I'm so lucky to have had a system that supported me. My family, all the moves we had, busy schedule, missing games and dinners - I'm so grateful for you all and I love you all. I'm blessed for this opportunity.

Thank you to Trajan, David Griffin, Mrs Benson, all of the staff here for welcoming us back home to New Orleans, where really my journey started as a father and husband. So it's fitting to be back here today. I'm looking forward to the future and what we can bring here together. Thank you, David Griffin, for believing in me and giving me this great opportunity. I'm excited about it. I'm excited to work with out extremely talented young players as well as the staff here, who will support me as I support them. We're all in it together and I'm looking forward to being connected and taking it to the next level. We can open it up to questions and go from there.''

Questions:
As a rookie head coach, what should we expect the team to look like?

''Well, a Willie Green coached team, number one, we're going to coach with love and accountability. You're going to see a team that goes out to represent the city. We've talked about being joyous, I feel like that's one of the things New Orleans is proud of. The people here they work extremely hard, it's a connected community, but we want to have a good time doing it as well.''

Based on initial conversations about the roster, what made you decide this team was for you?

''After the initial discussions with Griff, Trajan, Swin, it just felt like the right fit. All of our conversations were at all, comforting, and we were all honest with each other. Griff was honest, I was honest about the things that I saw or the things that happened here. Griff was straightforward with me. I felt like this was the right fit for myself and my family.''

People talk about your ability to connect. Where did that come from?

''When I think about coaching, I think I've mentioned this to Griff before, the best coaches are not Xs and Os. People can do that. The best coaches are the people that you know care about you, the best teachers. Connecting with players is just connecting with people. You realise quickly that you have a lot more in common than you don't. That's my approach in basketball. It's easier to get guys to reach their max when they know you care about them. That's my way of connecting with players.''

David references that this is a ''sleeping giant''. Why do you think that's the case?

''Absolutely. Number one, it's great people here. That's the start. High character, people working together, in a partnership and raising the level here in New Orleans. This situation reminds me a lot of Phoenix. Really high talented players, the staff the same, high character people that love to come to work and work together. We're close to taking the next step. I believe going into next season that's our mindset - we have two young allstars, we're putting talent around those guys, and really making this team go.''

Being honest with the front office with what you saw: what did you see?

''Well, one of the things that I asked, that we discussed, was the coaching changes. It was a discussion that I wanted to be honest about and Griff wanted to be honest about. The important piece that we left feeling comfortable with was the fit. Both coaches prior, both good coaches, but the fit was important. It was important for all of us, and we left the room feeling that we all fit together and wanted the same things.''

Being able to have relationships with players: have you spoken to Ingram and Zion yet?

''Yeah, I've been playing a lot of basketball, so I'm behind the 8 ball a little but I've reached out to some of our players and we're gaining traction. Playing a little bit of catchup because of the Finals run that we just had but we're getting there and I'm looking forward to working with all of our guys.''

Coaching for winners recently: what's the main component to consistency?

''Great question. This is something we discussed in the interview process. We have to start with defense. That translates to winning in the regular season but also in the playoffs, which is what we want to be. We want to be a playoff team, we want to compete for championships. To something that moving forward, talking to our staff, we're really going to hone in on.''

He's said all the nice things

But there's still much work to be done to fill out this roster

I feel a whole lot better this off season than last

Willie Green Q+A continued.

When you look at Zion, how do you describe him?

''Zion is a special talent. Quick, fast, speedy, athletic, he can playmake. He can do a lot on the basketball floor. So as we get together with our staff, go through film, the thing about him is that the sky is the limit - it really is. That's what excites me. He's a guy that can do pretty much anything. We'll look at some areas to improve on, but we want to highlight his strengths. What he does well, and how to keep him playing at that high level.''

Similarities to Phoenix - does this team need vets?

''We're continuing to look at the roster and ways to improve, but we do like our team right now. Griff, Trajan, Swin, we're going to work together to continue putting the best team on the floor but I'm excited because I think we're right there. That's what this is about, to help in that process. I'm learning, I'm growing, there's going to be some mistakes, but I'm very excited about where I believe this team can go.''

You're the 3rd youngest HC in the league - how will you fill out your staff?

''We continue to have those discussions, Griff and I, Trajan, but we have a great staff in place already and a lot of the people on our staff I have worked with, played against, and they're going to help me become a better coach. That's what allows us to do our job at a high level - we have really good people. That's what's going to help us through the tougher times, we care and we work hard.''

Anything you take from Monty with this opportunity?

''Monty means the world to me. When he heard that I had the opportunity to go to New Orleans, not only did he make me go but he walked me through the steps. He was so diligent in his process of helping me. I'm so grateful to have learned under a man like Monty, a coach like Monty, a brother like Monty. The reason I'm in this position is that so many people have invested in me and I'm grateful for that.''

What's your approach for Summer League?

''We're getting together soon to make sure that we can continue to get in the gym over that time. I'm going to coach at least some games in Summer League to get us all going in the right direction and start installing the system. I also want to get some team dinners on the road. Obviously dealing with what we're dealing with there's not that much we can do yet but I want to stay connected as best we can.''

Willie Green being presented a jersey pic.twitter.com/g28eipEBhA

— Shamit Dua (@FearTheBrown) July 27, 2021

I don't think I really learned anything from the press conference other than the type of human being Willie is. No idea on his style of play, coaching staff changes, etc...

First Impression: Underwhelmed,

Too, I am surprised he didn't acknowledge that he met with Brandon or Zion. I hope this wasn't the case.

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Originally Posted by HorneyTexan

I don't think I really learned anything from the press conference other than the type of human being Willie is. No idea on his style of play, coaching staff changes, etc...

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You don't usually learn that much from pressers imo.

What I got:

- Team probably still working on roster moves (which we already knew)
- Green wants to coach Summer League to start installing the system, which means we'll probably get some actual roster players on the squad (NAW, Kira, Jax, potentially a draftee this year?) for SL
- Green is optimistic about Zion's playmaking so we'll likely continue to see moments of Zion on the ball
- Defense is a focus

That's about it.

With a better GM we would be in title contention this season

What else does everyone expect? He can't be giving out vital details. I'm sure he has PLENTY to establish and work on with the players all off-season. So we'll probably see him this summer league and having plenty of team meetings.

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Originally Posted by As I See It

First Impression: Underwhelmed,

Too, I am surprised he didn't acknowledge that he met with Brandon or Zion. I hope this wasn't the case.

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Maybe because he hasn't? I'm assuming they are some of the players he talked to. I thought this made it pretty clear:

Being able to have relationships with players: have you spoken to Ingram and Zion yet?

''Yeah, I've been playing a lot of basketball, so I'm behind the 8 ball a little but I've reached out to some of our players and we're gaining traction. Playing a little bit of catchup because of the Finals run that we just had but we're getting there and I'm looking forward to working with all of our guys.''

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Originally Posted by RobertM320

Maybe because he hasn't? I'm assuming they are some of the players he talked to. I thought this made it pretty clear:

Being able to have relationships with players: have you spoken to Ingram and Zion yet?

''Yeah, I've been playing a lot of basketball, so I'm behind the 8 ball a little but I've reached out to some of our players and we're gaining traction. Playing a little bit of catchup because of the Finals run that we just had but we're getting there and I'm looking forward to working with all of our guys.''

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There is nothing clear about that answer at all. He was asked if he has spoken specifically to Zion on BI and his reply was neither yes or no....just a lot of crawfishing and double talk. A simple yes I have or no I haven't would have sufficed.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RobertM320

Maybe because he hasn't? I'm assuming they are some of the players he talked to. I thought this made it pretty clear:

Being able to have relationships with players: have you spoken to Ingram and Zion yet?

''Yeah, I've been playing a lot of basketball, so I'm behind the 8 ball a little but I've reached out to some of our players and we're gaining traction. Playing a little bit of catchup because of the Finals run that we just had but we're getting there and I'm looking forward to working with all of our guys.''

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That's what I took from it. Hasn't met with them, at least not in any extended capacity, but has probably spoken to them via text and maybe a phone call here and there.

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Originally Posted by AusPel

With a better GM we would be in title contention this season

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You think replacing Trajan would make the difference?

I see that Mike D'Antoni is leaving the Nets. Didn't he and Griff have a working relationship in Phoenix? I wonder who will be sitting in the second chair on the bench next to Green.

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Originally Posted by TennMan23

You think replacing Trajan would make the difference?

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Well, he is rumoured to do nothing around the joint

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Originally Posted by AusPel

Well, he is rumoured to do nothing around the joint

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I agree.

Aside from keeping tabs on what's happening internationally, he is only a sock puppet for David Griffin with regard to routine General Manager responsibilities.

Any news on potential Assistants and Staff?