September 29, 2015
Let’s not mince words: Media day is a slog, one full of meaningless clichés (ten pounds of muscle, best shape of my life, great group of guys, etc.) and useless quotes. It’s still admittedly a necessary evil, because some of the quotes that the players give are insightful or at the very least, funny.
So, here is the drill: For each player (and I’m not going to feature all of them), I’ll post what I felt was his best quote with very little context. Some of these are funny, some of them are serious. And then on to the next one, rapid-fire style. Ready, go:
On being a Canadian who doesn’t play hockey: “I don’t know what happened, I just never got into hockey when I was a kid. Actually, soccer was the first sport I played and then when I was like five or six years old, I broke my arm playing soccer. And just mentally when I was a kid, I don’t know what it was but I was like, ‘I’m going to keep breaking my arm if I play soccer so I gotta try something else.’ Basketball was the next sport that I tried.”
On what Brett Brown told him to expect in Year 2: “A lot of guys will run me off the line, try to keep me from getting catch-and-shoots, just the whole aspect of seeing what I did last year… He just told me that comes with part of your development because you can’t just keep one aspect of your game the same.”
On what he got his dad for the 40th birthday: “I paid for the party. That’s pretty much what I got him.”
On learning Jrue Holiday got his dad a Porsche for his 40th: “He has me beat then.”
On being fully cleared, but still taking it slow after ACL surgery: “There’s still a little pain, a little tendinitis, but that’s part of the process and something obviously the stronger that leg gets, the less the pain there is. Then again, I’ve been dealing with knee tendinitis since I was 14. It’s pretty much judging the difference between what’s old and what’s something that can be taken care of now.”
On where his three-point shot is at: “I definitely tweaked it a little bit [over the summer], keeping my elbow in. It’s a little different, just getting it a little higher, but everything else is the same.”
On the importance signing the non-guaranteed tender: “It wasn’t necessarily just important, but it’s just kind of believing in myself and taking the risk because looking at it, if it does all work out, it’s going to be great. But you know, it could go the other way as well. So like I said, all of the risk is on me but I like that kind of pressure. It makes me perform at the highest level.”
On his shocking lack of hair: “New season, new look.”
(Rest in peace, JaKarr’s old haircut)
On the balance of passing vs. shooting: “Really it’s just what you see, how people are guarding you. At the point guard position, it’s your job to make sure everybody is happy. You also got to read and feel how the flow of the game is going. I may have an open shot, but it may not be the right shot… Point guard is probably the hardest position on the court because you got four other guys on your team that at some point in time feel like they’re open… and they might not be open.”
On being one of the last men standing from the 2013-14 team: “It’s crazy to say that. I remember when I was trying to make the team I was just thinking that I would love the opportunity to practice with NBA players and get better.”
On hanging with Dario Saric and Brett Brown in Turkey: “Coach and [Assistant Video Coordinator] Chris Babcock came to Turkey to watch Dario in the playoffs so I just met with them too and we worked together. Dario is a good guy, he’s hardworking. He just wants to try to be the best. “
Speaking of Furkan, this absolutely killed me:
On the situation in Sacramento last year: “It was kind of tough. It was almost tough to remain professional at times and I take my hat off to my teammates for not blowing up the scene. Not knowing if you’re going to play 40 minutes, if you’re going to get a DNP, you don’t even know who the coach is going to be the next day. The players could’ve easily destroyed the whole organization, but they remained professional. We stayed positive and competed every night.”
(Note: Landry shook everyone's hand and introduced himself initially when entering the room, a nice touch)
On being the team's longest tenured player: “I think it’s interesting. It’s an interesting position we’re all in. Me being in my third year and being the longest tenured Sixer is definitely interesting. It’s crazy.”
Follow Rich on Twitter: @rich_hofmann
