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ShareDerrick Coleman Re-Signs - Press Conference Quotes
Philadelphia 76ers President and General Manager Billy King announced on Wednesday, August 6, 2003 that the Sixers signed free agent forward Derrick Coleman.
Below are some quotes from the press conference announcing Coleman's signing.
Opening Statement
I’m here to announce the re-signing of Derrick Coleman. I think Derrick knew he always wanted to stay here and I think he knew that we wanted him to stay here. When Derrick and I had breakfast a couple of weeks ago, we talked about the direction the team wanted to go and we said we would just figure out the financial part of it. This is something that I am happy about because Derrick was a big part of our success last year. Having him back to go with what we have already done this summer I think puts us in good shape.
On the reason for wanting to come back to Philadelphia
When Billy and I had breakfast one morning we just sat down and aired out some things about being a part of this team. My whole thing was that I don’t think that I have ever been part of a team where I have been around a bunch of good guys. I think we all get along, and you find that hard in any sport where you have egos. I enjoy those guys, I enjoy playing here and I enjoy being here in Philadelphia. It also gives me access to my wife and kids right down the road in New Jersey.
On the addition of Glenn Robinson
I was excited about that, maybe disappointed in losing Keith. I think both of those guys are great scorers more than anything. I think Glenn gives us an in between game, more inside the lane and he can also shoot the three-point as well as post-up. I really think it is going to give us other options as far as being double-teamed and things like that.
On playing center again
No, no I am not ready. Billy and I spoke about that. One of my old high school coaches told me a long time ago that you guys (the media) always put more emphasis on positions. He always said just be a basketball player. If that’s what I have to do then that’s what I have to do. Do I like it? No I don’t like it.
On looking back at his career and realizing that his longest tenure is going to be here in Philadelphia
Billy and me were just talking about that also. The funny thing about that is that I’ve always been traded back here more than anything, but it’s been great. I really enjoyed it and I look forward to the up coming season as well.
On looking at other teams and signing with them
I’ve talked to a few other teams. To me, being back here in Philadelphia was my main option and I stressed that to Billy at the end of the season. I wasn’t really interested in going anywhere else. I like it here. I like our team chemistry. I like our coaching staff. I told him that if any way possible that I could be back here then I would like to.
On the possibility of going to Detroit with Larry
I’ve been hearing that all summer. I talked to Coach Brown at least once every two weeks, really not about the game of basketball, but about situations that were out there for me. He advised that he thought this was the perfect situation for me even if he wasn’t here. He said I should try to come back to Philadelphia and help the team be successful.
On starting late last season and his up and down relationship with fans in Philadelphia
I just thought that the main thing was with me coming off knee surgery last year. The beginning of the season was just more or less getting into a rhythm. As far as playing the game of basketball, to me is a game of rhythm. It’s a feel for the game that you have to have. Coming off the bench one time and having a good game and two games later coming off the bench having a bad game, just wasn’t consistent enough. Once I thought I got back into the rhythm and got myself in shape and ready to play, I felt great.
On ending his career in Philadelphia
Definitely I would love to. That’s one of the things that Billy and I talked about and I thought it was a great situation and that I would still remain a Sixer.
On playing for Randy Ayers and developing a relationship with him
The thing with Randy and me is the same thing with Coach Brown and me; it’s respect more than anything. He’s a guy who understands the game of basketball, understands miss matches and really gives you input of what’s going on. We’re all basketball players and come from a basketball background. I think the relationship with Coach Brown was that he always let us give our input as to what was going on and I see the same thing with Coach Ayers.
On playing basketball from now until training camp
A little bit I have been playing. Early in the summer I try to get away from the game and concentrate on other things. I ran a camp in July in Detroit for inner-city kids who don’t have the opportunity to come out to the games and watch.
On if there is something about the 76ers organization that makes him seem the happiest of his career
It’s just been great. I thank these guys up here and I thank Ed Snider for just always being open with me. As a player you learn to respect that more than anything. You look at people and they are going to be honest with you whether it hurts your feelings or not. I think that’s all anybody really ever asks for.
On the off season moves and the 2003-04 season
Having this guy back helps because I think it keeps our core intact, with Allen, Eric, Aaron, and now Derrick. I like the addition of Glenn Robinson. I think it gives us another scorer. We now have guys that command double-teams that you have to be aware of on the court. I think that is going to open up others people’s games. I am happy with the direction the team is going and these are some of the things that Billy and I talked about during the interviewing process. I am happy to see that we are doing these things. One thing about Derrick is that he knows how to play and that’s one thing I love about him. He allows you to do other things on the floor that you may not be able to do with other forwards. He knows I respect his background a great deal. Derrick being from Detroit, and myself being from Ohio, we kind of have had a pretty healthy relationship.
When asked if the addition of Marc Jackson would affect Coleman’s playing time
I think the numbers we talked about were like 28-34 minutes a game. Marc is a big part of that and you look at our young guys, Samuel Dalembert and Amal McCaskill, hopefully they can give us some minutes, which will allow us to let this guy go back to his number 4 spot. To me, helps our match ups.
On how much better the team is right now than at the end of last season
I think we have upgraded our depth quite a bit. Derrick re-signing certainly gives us another front line guy now. You look at our perimeter situation and I think we can go five or six deep with some versatility, which I like because it allows you to do some things defensively like switch every cross or switch every screening situation. I like where we are going.
On the signing of Derrick and the effect on the luxury tax
The luxury tax won’t be calculated until the end of next season and that’s the tricky thing about that. You try to anticipate what it is going to be, but at the end of the season they give you a number. This past season the number was higher than any of us would of thought. We’ll just play the year out.
On how rare the commodity of a big man is in the NBA
I knew with Derrick in conversations that he wanted to be back and it was just about getting there financially. We started trying to get Marc Jackson right away at the end of the season. When Brian Skinner left, I think we moved quickly on getting McCaskill. It’s hard to find big men in this league that can play and be productive. Fortunately in the East the big men don’t have to be that big because there is no Shaq and no Yao Ming. If we do have to run up against them in the Finals then that’s Randy’s job to come up with a game plan. I think in the East you need big men who are more mobile. If you look at a lot of the big men in the East they’re not power players down low, some of them shoot three’s or away from the bucket.
On how much better the team is right now than at the end of last season
In my estimation I think we are a better team. I don’t think I can give any predictions because injuries play a big part of the season. I think we are a better basketball team in adding Glenn Robinson as a more consistent scorer. I think Keith Van Horn did a great job for us, but I think in re-signing Kenny Thomas to give us that athletic 4-3 combination. Marc Jackson I think is an upgrade. We have upgraded ourselves in some positions and I think last year we had a great year. We just talked about some fluke plays happening in the Detroit series where, if they hadn’t happened, I think we would have been able to play for the Eastern Conference Championship. So, I think we have upgraded and as Randy said ‘kept our core intact’.
On summer league play
John Salmons really blossomed and gained a lot of confidence. I think Samuel Dalembert just getting back on the floor was good and Sam Clancy too. It was good for Willie Green and Kyle Korver to go Boston and play and then go straight to Utah to play. It gave them more of an understanding of what the program is like because they played a lot more. Sometimes you just play six games in Boston and then you leave. They got to go out and play some more games. So they have a better understanding of what it is like. As a staff we have a good feel for our young players.
Below are some quotes from the press conference announcing Coleman's signing.
 |
I’m here to announce the re-signing of Derrick Coleman. I think Derrick knew he always wanted to stay here and I think he knew that we wanted him to stay here. When Derrick and I had breakfast a couple of weeks ago, we talked about the direction the team wanted to go and we said we would just figure out the financial part of it. This is something that I am happy about because Derrick was a big part of our success last year. Having him back to go with what we have already done this summer I think puts us in good shape.
 |
When Billy and I had breakfast one morning we just sat down and aired out some things about being a part of this team. My whole thing was that I don’t think that I have ever been part of a team where I have been around a bunch of good guys. I think we all get along, and you find that hard in any sport where you have egos. I enjoy those guys, I enjoy playing here and I enjoy being here in Philadelphia. It also gives me access to my wife and kids right down the road in New Jersey.
On the addition of Glenn Robinson
I was excited about that, maybe disappointed in losing Keith. I think both of those guys are great scorers more than anything. I think Glenn gives us an in between game, more inside the lane and he can also shoot the three-point as well as post-up. I really think it is going to give us other options as far as being double-teamed and things like that.
On playing center again
No, no I am not ready. Billy and I spoke about that. One of my old high school coaches told me a long time ago that you guys (the media) always put more emphasis on positions. He always said just be a basketball player. If that’s what I have to do then that’s what I have to do. Do I like it? No I don’t like it.
On looking back at his career and realizing that his longest tenure is going to be here in Philadelphia
Billy and me were just talking about that also. The funny thing about that is that I’ve always been traded back here more than anything, but it’s been great. I really enjoyed it and I look forward to the up coming season as well.
On looking at other teams and signing with them
I’ve talked to a few other teams. To me, being back here in Philadelphia was my main option and I stressed that to Billy at the end of the season. I wasn’t really interested in going anywhere else. I like it here. I like our team chemistry. I like our coaching staff. I told him that if any way possible that I could be back here then I would like to.
On the possibility of going to Detroit with Larry
I’ve been hearing that all summer. I talked to Coach Brown at least once every two weeks, really not about the game of basketball, but about situations that were out there for me. He advised that he thought this was the perfect situation for me even if he wasn’t here. He said I should try to come back to Philadelphia and help the team be successful.
On starting late last season and his up and down relationship with fans in Philadelphia
I just thought that the main thing was with me coming off knee surgery last year. The beginning of the season was just more or less getting into a rhythm. As far as playing the game of basketball, to me is a game of rhythm. It’s a feel for the game that you have to have. Coming off the bench one time and having a good game and two games later coming off the bench having a bad game, just wasn’t consistent enough. Once I thought I got back into the rhythm and got myself in shape and ready to play, I felt great.
On ending his career in Philadelphia
Definitely I would love to. That’s one of the things that Billy and I talked about and I thought it was a great situation and that I would still remain a Sixer.
On playing for Randy Ayers and developing a relationship with him
The thing with Randy and me is the same thing with Coach Brown and me; it’s respect more than anything. He’s a guy who understands the game of basketball, understands miss matches and really gives you input of what’s going on. We’re all basketball players and come from a basketball background. I think the relationship with Coach Brown was that he always let us give our input as to what was going on and I see the same thing with Coach Ayers.
On playing basketball from now until training camp
A little bit I have been playing. Early in the summer I try to get away from the game and concentrate on other things. I ran a camp in July in Detroit for inner-city kids who don’t have the opportunity to come out to the games and watch.
On if there is something about the 76ers organization that makes him seem the happiest of his career
It’s just been great. I thank these guys up here and I thank Ed Snider for just always being open with me. As a player you learn to respect that more than anything. You look at people and they are going to be honest with you whether it hurts your feelings or not. I think that’s all anybody really ever asks for.
 |
Having this guy back helps because I think it keeps our core intact, with Allen, Eric, Aaron, and now Derrick. I like the addition of Glenn Robinson. I think it gives us another scorer. We now have guys that command double-teams that you have to be aware of on the court. I think that is going to open up others people’s games. I am happy with the direction the team is going and these are some of the things that Billy and I talked about during the interviewing process. I am happy to see that we are doing these things. One thing about Derrick is that he knows how to play and that’s one thing I love about him. He allows you to do other things on the floor that you may not be able to do with other forwards. He knows I respect his background a great deal. Derrick being from Detroit, and myself being from Ohio, we kind of have had a pretty healthy relationship.
When asked if the addition of Marc Jackson would affect Coleman’s playing time
I think the numbers we talked about were like 28-34 minutes a game. Marc is a big part of that and you look at our young guys, Samuel Dalembert and Amal McCaskill, hopefully they can give us some minutes, which will allow us to let this guy go back to his number 4 spot. To me, helps our match ups.
On how much better the team is right now than at the end of last season
I think we have upgraded our depth quite a bit. Derrick re-signing certainly gives us another front line guy now. You look at our perimeter situation and I think we can go five or six deep with some versatility, which I like because it allows you to do some things defensively like switch every cross or switch every screening situation. I like where we are going.
On the signing of Derrick and the effect on the luxury tax
The luxury tax won’t be calculated until the end of next season and that’s the tricky thing about that. You try to anticipate what it is going to be, but at the end of the season they give you a number. This past season the number was higher than any of us would of thought. We’ll just play the year out.
On how rare the commodity of a big man is in the NBA
I knew with Derrick in conversations that he wanted to be back and it was just about getting there financially. We started trying to get Marc Jackson right away at the end of the season. When Brian Skinner left, I think we moved quickly on getting McCaskill. It’s hard to find big men in this league that can play and be productive. Fortunately in the East the big men don’t have to be that big because there is no Shaq and no Yao Ming. If we do have to run up against them in the Finals then that’s Randy’s job to come up with a game plan. I think in the East you need big men who are more mobile. If you look at a lot of the big men in the East they’re not power players down low, some of them shoot three’s or away from the bucket.
On how much better the team is right now than at the end of last season
In my estimation I think we are a better team. I don’t think I can give any predictions because injuries play a big part of the season. I think we are a better basketball team in adding Glenn Robinson as a more consistent scorer. I think Keith Van Horn did a great job for us, but I think in re-signing Kenny Thomas to give us that athletic 4-3 combination. Marc Jackson I think is an upgrade. We have upgraded ourselves in some positions and I think last year we had a great year. We just talked about some fluke plays happening in the Detroit series where, if they hadn’t happened, I think we would have been able to play for the Eastern Conference Championship. So, I think we have upgraded and as Randy said ‘kept our core intact’.
On summer league play
John Salmons really blossomed and gained a lot of confidence. I think Samuel Dalembert just getting back on the floor was good and Sam Clancy too. It was good for Willie Green and Kyle Korver to go Boston and play and then go straight to Utah to play. It gave them more of an understanding of what the program is like because they played a lot more. Sometimes you just play six games in Boston and then you leave. They got to go out and play some more games. So they have a better understanding of what it is like. As a staff we have a good feel for our young players.
