NEW ORLEANS, LA. – New Orleans Hornets General Manager celticmaestro announced today that he has no intention of stepping down from his new position despite the sorry state of the franchise. Instead, he made some groundbreaking deals off the court to help team develop. Following the resignation of Coach of the Year Byron Scott he moved to appoint former Coach of the Year, and hometown-boy Avery Johnson and has teamed him with defensive mastermind Tom Thibodeau as his Assistant. Thibodeau, who helped lead the Boston Celtics to the NBA Championship, is said to be delighted to have the opportunity to work with Coach Johnson, who was introduced at a press conference with the GM and franchise Point Guard Steve Nash.
“Why would I step down? When I came here I wasn’t fully aware of the circumstances, but I saw it as a great opportunity and a challenge. With the changes we’ve made in these 24 hours we’re confident that the future is bright and that this ball club will be on an NBA basketball court in June sometime very soon.” Maestro also denied that he is shopping 2-time MVP Nash. “We’re confident we can put Steve in a situation that gets him a final shot at a ring. He deserves that.” Said Maestro. “He’s easy to build around because he’s the best passer in the NBA. Look at his track record, he’s made people better and he’s in fantastic shape, one of the best in terms of physical condition I’ve ever seen and that enables him to be at his peak for years to come.”
Coach Johnson said that Nash’s fast-break style of basketball would suit his coaching-style perfectly, “Steve Nash runs the offense the way it should be run. The offense will run through him, of course, and his leadership will help on the defensive end. He’s committed to the cause. Tom (Thibodeau) and I have talked about one thing and that’s defence. Without it we’re vying for the top pick in the lottery. With it the possibilities are endless.” Maestro supported this and said that anyone he brings in will be defence-first players. “With Steve running the offense, we wont have a problem scoring which is why any changes we make will be on the defensive end and any players we bring in will be defensive specialists.”
When asked about his aims for the upcoming season, Steve Nash had this to say: “Firstly I need my MVP award back after I was robbed of my three-peat and for that to happen we need home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. That’s going to be difficult of course, but my trust is in the coaching team and in our GM to get things done.” When asked about his time in Phoenix, Nash said, “I loved my time there, we were close, but not close enough. That was a great team we just hit some walls.” Will his time in New Orleans be better? “Yes.”
As the presser closed, the Hornets had an unusual Big Three posing for photographs: GM celticmaestro, Coach Avery Johnson and their former MVP Steve Nash in the middle. A new regime in New Orleans is very much underway; there was no comment on a proposed move to the new state-of-the-art arena known as The Terrordome. Perhaps news on that will come gift-wrapped with some players that will make New Orleans fans giddy once again. But for now, the word on everyone’s lips is no longer crisis, but defence.
Topic: 2008 CelticsBlog draft board. (Read 915787 times)