Pritchard Presser
02-11-2018, 04:06 PM
Interesting stuff to discuss here.... (Tweets courtesy Jim Ayello IndyStar)
Kevin Pritchard: "I had six players come up to me -- and this has never happened to me as an executive -- and say, 'Keep this team together.' They feel like they are overachieving and have a chip on shoulder and have opportunity to try and get into the playoffs."
Kevin Pritchard on Al Jefferson: "Al meant more to us than he did to any other team. He's like our most important player. ... He's not playing much, but the influence he has on our team is gripping. He really has team's ear. Didn't want to take a player like that off our team."
Pritchard on deadline: "My history is to make a lot of change. Quick change. Not be scared of turning over roster quickly. ...But at the end of the day, what came back to me was that convo w/ one player, who looked me in the eye & said: 'We deserve to see this thing through.'
Pritchard: "We want to be flexible going forward. We have a lot of cap space. We have $5.8 million in cap space. That becomes very valuable during the draft." Talked about being aggressive with taking on contracts and adding picks.
Pritchard on core and attracting FAs: "I don't think there's any doubt (our core is attractive). And Herb saying he wants to spend $ and build a better team. ... We're going to use Victor, Myles and Sabonis as major attractions."
Pritchard on Myles Turner: "He's got to get stronger. That's No. 1 And he has to get a post game because they're switching and putting smaller guys on him. ... He has to start winning battles for dirty rebounds. And he knows that."
Pritchard: "If there's something that's going to make us better, Herb (Simon) has given me the green light."
Pritchard on Vic: "The more I watch the team, the more I realize we have a really special player. And we can put complimentary pieces around him."
Pritchard on Glenn: "He's going to get after it the next two weeks. Two practice after AS Break, and that's really when we'll be evaluating (his progress). ... He's worked so hard. He needs a chance."
Pritchard on win-loss expectations. "We're ahead by a factor of 6 7 8 games right now. More than that, I watch this team when they get down, you can see them stay together. ... They believe, and I see (that)."
Pritchard: "I feel like in this business, it's easy for players only to get into yourself (and your own progression) ... and you forget the teamness of basketball. The strength of this team is they really look our for each other."
Pritchard on rainout: "We've been in constant contact with the league. The problem is anywhere you put it is bad for them or really bad for us. And no one wants that. ... My guess is in the next couple of days, we'll hear something."
Pritchard on Sabonis: "I give Ryan Carr, our head of scouting, a lot of credit. He pounded the table on that kid in the draft. And when we were negotiating the trade, he said, "Look, I think we can use him better than OKC has."
Pritchard on first round picks gaining value. "It's interesting. I don't know many trade deadlines where only one got traded. Only Cleveland traded theirs."