2003 NBA Entry Draft Night
Thursday, June 26, 2003 – Air Canada Centre

Grunwald

(When did you know Chris was the guy?)

Grunwald: "Early this morning I was doing some work, getting things down on paper, and trying to think through our team and what we needed to do and I think it became apparent that at that time, I was going to make that pick. We had a meeting this morning with our staff, it wasn’t unanimous but it was a consensus pick that this would be the person that would be best for our team now and in the future. He’s very talented, he’s very versatile, very long. He has good basketball skills and good basketball IQ. I think he can play inside and I think he can play outside and I think he’s a hard worker. The reports from Georgia Tech and his high school tell us that he is a hard worker and that he has a lot of potential and if he puts in the time and effort, he can realize that potential and become a very good player in the NBA."

(Can he play right away?)

Grunwald: "That’s always tough, particularly for a guy who is 19 years old and I think we have to understand that but I’m sure Kevin (O’Neill) will give him the opportunities that he earns. How many minutes he plays and what role he has will be determined by how he plays."

(Ever think of trading this pick?)

Grunwald: "Yes, I definitely thought of trading this pick because I thought we could move back a few spots and still accomplish a lot of the same things. I thought there were a few players in this draft that could really help us and I thought we could add another piece to our team that made sense, but I wasn’t interested in trading back into the late lottery or out of the lottery."

O'Neill

"I thought Chris was the guy, all the video of him shows him as being really thin, Glen touched on this, he’s put on some weight already. I think he’s committed to a strength program and working hard. He realizes he needs to get a little bit bigger. Sometimes that stuff is overrated, we had Richard Hamilton in Detroit last year, who is as thin as they get, and was really strong and played all 82 games, took the most shots, really played hard all the time. You shouldn’t read anything into that NBA body stuff, he’s(Bosh) a basketball player, he’s a good athlete and so I think he’s a guy we expect to come in here and contribute. He’s going to have to work on everything, no NBA rookie, including the top three guys aren’t going to have to work on something, it’s a huge jump to go from playing college basketball or high school basketball to the NBA. There will be an adjustment phase for him, even for individual workouts, and I was fortunate enough to be here to have a chance to work him out the day he was here, he even got better during the workouts because he is an intelligent young man and he picks up things quickly, he played for a good coach in Paul Hewitt at Georgia Tech so I think he’s going to make some strides and he’ll make him quickly, but every rookie hits three or four rookie walls along the way and they struggle. He’s not going to be a guy who avoids that, he’s going to have some of those."

Bosh

CHRIS BOSH

(On an NBA body and putting on weight)

Bosh: "An NBA body, well if you can play you can play, that is why we are all here. That comes with time and I’m not worried about that. I have a chance to make it to the NBA at a high level and I think I can do it.

(On not returning to college)

Bosh: "What are my reasons for coming back to college and risk the chance of getting hurt, but Georgia Tech is a great place… a great place."

(What do you think about the team and coming here?)

Bosh: "As far as the team, there is a lot of potential in the Raptors because of them having so many injuries last year, there is no telling what they could have done if they were 100 per cent, so I just hope I can come in and help out where ever I can to win more games."

(On playing along side Vince)

Bosh: "It would be great to play along side him and even him just mentioning my name, just him knowing of me, I’m just real excited about that, he’s an NBA All-Star and a great player and if he’s healthy, the sky’s the limit for the Raptors.

(Where do you fit in?)

Bosh: I see myself fitting in whatever way possible, wherever they need me to play, that’s where I will fit in. I hope I get a chance to play and that depends on how hard I work. It’s going to be a lot of hard work ahead to be able to get my foot in the door, to be able to play with the other guys, so it’s just a matter of being tough and being mentally strong, strong enough to do it.

(Play small forward or power forward?)

Bosh: "To me, I’m going to start out at the 4, but I hope to eventually move out to the perimeter a lot because I think that helps complement my inside game, you can go inside and outside, that just makes you much more versatile.

(Will you seek help from the veteran Raptors?)

Bosh: "I’m not going to be too proud to ask for help. If I don’t know something or I want to know something, I’m definitely going to turn to the veterans and ask for help because they’ve been there before and they know exactly what I’m going through. I’ll definitely ask them and hope they help me, I just want to thank them in advance."

(What did you think of Toronto?)

Bosh: "It was my first time being there, but it was a beautiful city. I just saw the arena, it’s a very big arena, I hope that a lot of fans come see us play night in and night out. I got to meet the coaching staff and everything went really well.

(What would you like to weigh before training camp?)

Bosh: "I would like to weigh around 235. That’s my goal. Hopefully, if I can overcome that, that’s fine. If I can’t get that heavy, that’s fine with me too."