The Milwaukee Bucks announced on Monday, July 31 that they had traded Jamaal Magloire to the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for guard Steve Blake, forward Brian Skinner and center Ha Sueng-Jin.

Steve Blake spoke with the Milwaukee media this afternoon, Friday, August 4, and answered their questions.

Opening Statement by Steve Blake:
I’m glad to be here. I got in last night and was getting all my physicals done today. This seems like a great opportunity for me to work with a great coaching staff and play with the players that are already here. There is a lot of great talent here, coming to a playoff team, and it is something I am really looking forward to. I am really excited to be here. Are there any questions?

Is that why you're happy to be here, because you get the opportunity to win now that you are with the Bucks?
Steve Blake: This is an opportunity to win more games. We didn’t have a lot of wins last year in Portland. The Bucks are a really good team that I liked watching last year and I really look forward to playing with these guys.

What was your first thought when you found out you got traded to the Bucks? We've heard you were working out pretty hard in the off-season because of the opportunity you thought you were going to have with Portland.
SB: I had been working really hard out in Portland. I did have a good opportunity out there so when I found out (about the trade), I was a little shocked because I wasn’t expecting it. But as the days go by, you start to realize what opportunities you have and you start to get more excited about what you're about to do. That's basically how I was feeling.

Is it nice to know your role coming into this season with this team?
SB: I haven’t really discussed with anybody the roles and things. We'll see how things work out. Just to know that I can come out here and compete, play hard and have an opportunity try to help a team get better.

Larry (Harris) said that he told you you would have significant minutes and a chance to earn significant minutes...even if technically he says that Mo (Williams) is the starter right now. Do you feel good with that situation?
SB: As long as I have an opportunity, that is all I can ask for. As far as starting, that is nothing we should make a big deal out of. We are all on the same team. We are all going to be competing with each other and trying to beat other teams. So we are just going to have to work together and move on from there.

Talk about your season last year...You were the third string point guard and by December you were starting...What happened that you took advantage of that and wound up starting 57 games?
SB: When I first got out to Portland, it was a new situation for me. In training camp, like I told everyone that year, I did not play that great in training camp. So I started out third string and as the season played out I just got better. I started playing more of my game and getting more comfortable with the players out there. Coach (McMillan) recognized that, and then that’s when he gave me an opportunity to start one game and then started 57 games after that.

One thing Larry (Harris) said, too, is you'll bring the defense. You're a little taller than Mo (Williams). Talk about defending point guards in the NBA and maybe how you learned to in your three years?
SB: You just have to be ready for who you are going to play against. You have to know them and study them. You have to move your feet you just have to really be prepared. Every guy is talented.
I will just tell you now that you’re already comparing me to Mo (Williams) and things like that. You don’t have to do that. We are on the same team, we will be playing together and we just have to be our own players and do our best.

Who are the toughest point guards you have to face in the NBA?
SB: The toughest guys are like (Allen) Iverson and (Stephon) Marbury; guys who have the green light to shoot whenever they want. Those guys are kind of hard to guard. Last year I had a lot of experience covering shooting guards,also. Playing with Sebastian (Telfair), he would have to guard the point guard so I would be covering bigger guards a lot of the season. Even when I started with Juan Dixon they would put him on the point guard and put me on the shooting guard. So I have experience covering both positions.

Charlie Bell did some of that here last year, so that's a big plus, isn't it?
SB: I think so. Big guards try to post me up and I like to mix it up a little bit. Play gets physical down there.

Do you feel any pressure coming to this team in this situation?
SB: I don’t really feel pressure. I am sure there is some pressure to be there. I am just going to come in and try to fit in as well as possible and try to help the team.

When you signed as a free agent with Portland, obviously you thought you would be there a little longer. They made so many changes this year, so were you thinking this could happen or did you feel any uncertainty before the trade was made?
SB: I was uncertain that it was going to happen. I signed (in Portland) for two years, so you expect to be there for two years. But the opportunity came up for Portland to make a trade and for Milwaukee. They both thought the trade was good for either team, so I can't argue anything. I am just going to go with it and make the best of it.

What did you think of the Bucks last season with (Andrew) Bogut and with the changes they made?
SB: Bogut had a great first year and is a very talented young guy. Of course, Michael Redd. Everybody knows about him, one of the best shooting guards in the league. So as a point guard, you can't help but be very happy to be coming to play with guys like that. Bobby Simmons is a guy I have known for a little while. So I definitely look forward to playing with those guys.

When did you first hear your name might be in the (trade) mill for moving?
SB: The day before it happened. (laughs) I really didn’t know I was going to be traded. I really thought I was going to be in Portland next year. That is why I was kind of shocked when it first happened.

Talk about your offensive game...I know you hit 41 percent from three-point range. It sounds like you are not a guy that really looks for your shot, but if it is there, you are willing and ready to step up and shoot it?
SB: I am a point guard. I like to get everyone involved. I want my teammates to score before I do, and if guys like Bogut and Redd are going to get double teamed, I am going to be ready on the three-point line to shoot it and knock it down, or to keep the ball moving to the next guy to knock a shot down. I like to get out in the open court, find guys and play good defense. Those are the things I like to try to do.

What was the biggest adjustment coming from Maryland...you had great success in college winning the National Championship...to the NBA? What struck you as the biggest adjustment right away?
SB: A couple of things. The size and strength of every guy. Plus you don’t realize it when you’re younger when you watch the NBA, the different schemes that are used and how even on defense there are different things to do. So just to learn all that really quickly is kind of tough at first but you catch on pretty quick.

What influences have your coaches had on you, especially Nate McMillian last year?
SB: Coach McMillian is a great teacher. He played point guard himself and is always teaching you. How to keep a guy off of you if he is pressuring you...finding guys and setting guys up. So he was always teaching through practices so that was always good to have.

Going back to your high school days, what was it like playing basketball at Oak Hill Academy?
SB: That was a great experience. When I first got there I wasn’t aware of the history that they had. When I first got in the gym, you see Jerry Stackhouse was there, Stephen Jackson and all these guys that are in the NBA. We had a great team ourselves. We ended up winning the National Championship and going undefeated. It was basically like a college experience before you went to college, because all the players got to live together, we all traveled together, we only played like four home games. So we went all over the country playing so it really made you prepared for college.

You eluded this in coming to a playoff team...How exciting is it for you to keep the Bucks up there, where they're in the playoff mix?
SB: Very exciting because losing is not fun and we did a lot of that last year. It’s like an emotional roller coaster so when you win, things are great, and when you lose things aren’t so great. So I know that the Bucks are winning and that they are going to continue to get better. If I can help in anyway, that’s what I want to do.
Any more questions? Thank you.