05 Jazz Press Conference

[c_prej]

After last years press conference I will keep it short and sweet. Welcome Mr. Gordon you are a welcom piece to our team. FA did not go exactly as planned but we were able to pick up a solid play in Mr. Thomas. Any questions................. figures just like last year nobody here to see our team. Come on guys lets get to practice and prove some people wrong!

[The JNR]

What are your goals for the season?

[c_prej]

( running......... SIR .....SIR....SOMEONE ASKED A QUESTION......really...... hmmm........tell them I will be there in five minutes)

[c_prej]

Sorry for the delay. We are looking to make a decent run for the playoffs this year. Our team has very young players that we feel are goin to blend very well together. Gordon is looking promising and hopefully will be the deep threat we know he can be. We are moving Williams to pg, his natural position. Perking worked on his post defense this offeseason and is ready to show it off. Walker and Lewis, speak for themselves. We planned to bring in more players via FA but it did not pan out. We were looking at a few defensive vets to add to this young squad on top of thomas but just were not lucky. We are still trying to figure out our staring lineup. The one we are goin with right now we feel gives us balance all around.

[janjanjanjan3]

Mike Prada of Bulletsforever, the signing of Tim Thomas was a steal! We've heard rumors that Antoine Walker is getting impatient with your organization, and wants to go to a contender, can you comment on this?

[c_prej]

I talked with Walker before FA started. We had a very long conversation on what is in our plans moving forward. From this I gather he still want to be a part of our organization. He is a lil aggrevated that our plans to date have not helped us get back to the playoffs, but he see that the future is looking better. He is hoping this year the Jazz can show him we are contenders and we will give him a shot at a ring one day.

[Xist2inspire]

J. Felders from SI.com here. You had a lot of options available with the #5 pick in the draft, and there were even rumors that you were looking to trade the pick. What led to your eventual selection of SG Ben Gordon, and just how much are you expecting him to contribute this season?

[c_prej]

Yes we had a very tough decision with the our pick. We had a few options and it took to the very last second to make up our mind. After all the trade talks fell through we narrowed it down to two players. We went with gordon because we felt he can give us our best shot at winning games. We like his range and are hoping he will come in and shine. We are excpecting a pretty good season and hopefully he can deliver.

[Conroy]

Sports guy Bill Simmons here with Walker expiring and Lewis being your only high dollar guy still under contract next year did that play into only signing Thomas to a one year deal to remain flexible next year?