Oct. 16, 2002

Saunders

Opening Statement: We're a team that's somewhat in flux from the standpoint of the uncertainty of Terrell Brandon's situation, the point guard position. So what we've done is, we have looked at things and prepared for life without Terrell. The signing of both Troy Hudson and Kendall Gill boosts our backcourt a little bit and gives us both added depth and some better leadership in the backcourt. And up until this point we've had a very good camp; we've had some guys that have been injured — Wally [Szczerbiak] dislocated his little toe and his been out for about five or six days. We expect him to get back sometime next week. Joe Smith practiced two days and had a groin pull, so we don't anticipate him being on the floor for another week and a half to two weeks. The guys have worked hard and we've been doing some different things offensively, and I think our biggest improvement as a team is going to be our ability to defend people out on the perimeter. We'll probably try to utilize the zone even more this year because I think we'll be bigger at times more than we were last year.

Q: Are there any teams out there that made some moves during the offseason that have really impressed you going into this season?
Saunders: I think there are a lot of teams in the West that are continuing to get better. I think that Houston — with the addition of Yao Ming and hopefully a healthy team with [Maurice] Taylor coming back, with Glen Rice coming back, with Steve Francis being healthy — from day one, I think they look to make a bigger impact. The Clippers, with the addition of Andre Miller solidifying their point guard position. I think also Memphis has more talent. They're still young, and it's very difficult to be in the Western Conference where it's extremely difficult to win games. I think from the standpoint of looking at our conference, there is no question that every team has pretty much done something to try to get better.


Q: What are the things in the regular season that make a team like the Lakers seem so unbeatable in the playoffs?
Saunders: They're a great team. It's the same situation as when Chicago was on top. Every year you have 29 teams and you have 28 teams that have a lot of hurdles to jump over and obstacles to veer around. And only one team does it, and that's why they are the reigning champs. What teams do is that you set your team up not to go out and try to win games or win a playoff series, but you figure out what you are going to have to do to beat the Lakers. Because, ultimately, when you start the season the goal is to win the championship if you're a playoff-type team. You prepare to play against them knowing that if you are in the playoffs, you're going to have to play them early, middle or late. And in order to win you're going to have to beat them. Overall, for the league, it's good because every time you have a team that's the dominant team in the league, when that team comes in to play in your place, it's a natural rivalry. So I think it's great for the league.


Q: With Joe Smith coming along a little slowly due to injury, is that an opportunity for a guy like Loren Woods to see some more time in preseason and show some things?
Saunders: I think that we were much more effective as a team when we were able to stay big a year ago. I think we're going to make a conscious effort to stay big, and him not being there does create some opportunities for someone to step in there. Loren has worked extremely hard since Boston, where I didn't think he played very well in our summer league. He worked out in Phoenix for about six weeks, put on 16 or 17 pounds, gained a lot of strength and has carried that through so far in training camp and through the first three exhibition games.