Matt Walsh Press Conference

Stan Van Gundy: “Welcome. We are pleased today to announce the signing of Matt Walsh, who most of you are very familiar with having played his college basketball at the University of Florida. We had brought Matt to work out before the draft and we were very happy to get him on our summer league team. He had very good performances out there. We were impressed not only with his shooting but with his passing in particular, and his overall knowledge of the game and intelligence. We are very happy to have him on a team right now that doesn’t have a lot of perimeter players. He’s working extremely hard with our other young guys to get ready for training camp. He will get an opportunity there, along with everyone else to prove what he can do. So, welcome Matt Walsh and now I will open it up to questions.”

Question: You have been through a lot in the past few months. Are you happy with how everything turned out?

Matt Walsh: “Yes, I couldn’t be happier. If I had been told before the draft that this was the situation I would be in, I wouldn’t change my decision for anything in the world.”

Question: What areas in your development are you concentrating on to get ready for camp?

MW: “The biggest thing is my strength. We have been lifting four days a week, trying to put on some good weight. On the court, shooting is going to be one of the important things. But just working with the guys down here and getting to know Wayne (Simien) and Dorell (Wright) and the rest of the guys.”

Question: How did you feel after not being drafted and having to be discovered at training camp?

MW: “There was about an hour that I felt real sorry for myself. But then I was like, forget this, there is nothing I can do about it. I’m just going to do what I have to do in summer league and obviously it worked out good and it worked out fast, so I didn’t have to sweat it out for a long time. Like I said, after an hour after the draft, I started looking to the future and looking at what I had to do to make a team.”

Question: Have you ever played with Jason Williams?

MW: “Jason has come up to (University of) Florida to play with us in the summer and he is unbelievable. He comes like once a summer and puts on a show and leaves everyone wanting to see more. I look forward to playing with him.”

Question: Have you talked to him?

MW: “I haven’t talked to him, but I can’t wait to get on the floor with him. He’s unbelievable. If you run the floor, he’s going to get you the ball.”

Question: Did you ever imagine you would play with Shaq (Shaquille O’Neal)?

MW: “No. I think it’s the first thing my family and friends asked. Did you meet Shaq yet? I can’t imagine wanting to play with anyone else more. It’s Shaq.”

Question: Stan, what is the next step for Matt, in terms of development?

SVG: “Well I think he hit on it pretty well. Basically, he has got to continue to get stronger. I think that is the case with most people you bring in here out of college. He’s got to continue to work defensively. I think the important thing for us, strengths-wise, is that he is a good passer and he can shoot the ball. He needs to knock down perimeter shots for us, consistently, which is obviously something we are looking for right now.”