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(L-R) Ernie Grunfeld, Susan O'Malley, Jackie Songaila (wife), Darius Songaila, Abe Pollin, and Kornelija Jurgaitieme (Lithuanian Acting Ambassador to the United States)
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On the signing of Darius Songaila:
“This is a special and happy day for me because we have acquired somebody that we know is going to help our team. This is a guy that a lot of teams in this league have tried to get, and I send special kudos to my guy, Ernie Grunfeld, who did a great job with getting Darius here."
"We know that he is capable of doing a lot of great things. He can shoot, he’s a great defender player, he can rebound, and he is a good solid player. We’re very happy to have him.”
On his remaining plans for the off-season:
“I’m hoping we can sign Jared. We’re working with his people to sign him because I think he’s an asset for us. If we can also find somebody else that can help us, we will. We’re always looking to improve. I have to give a lot of credit to Ernie. Look at the guys that he has brought to this team, that’s our nucleus. He’s done a great job and I’m very proud of him.”
On Eddie Jordan:
“He’s a great guy and a great coach. He’s part of what we’re looking for…consistency. Having Eddie with us for the next few years is great.”
WIZARDS PRESIDENT OF BASKETBALL OPERATIONS ERNIE GRUNFELD
On the signing of Darius Songaila:
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"He’s a veteran player, he’s played in a similar system to what we run, he can make a 15-foot jump shot, he’s a very good passer and he’s a good defensive player. He knows how to play the game of basketball. We like players like that and he likes to win.
"He’s also had intensive international competition. He’s been on the big stage in big moments, and I think he’s going to fit in very well with what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to build a team that’s competitive for years to come and the bar is being raised.”
Lithuania's Acting Ambassador to the United States Kornelija Jurgaitieme presents Darius Songaila with traditional Lithuanian gifts at a press conference yesterday at Verizon Center.
Mitchell Layton/NBAE/Getty Images |
“He flew in yesterday from Lithuania and he’s going back to play with the Lithuanian National Team that’s going to go play in Japan. The US team will be there also -- Gilbert Arenas and Antawn Jamison are trying out for that team right now. So we’re real excited to have him.”
On the Wizards:
“It’s very important to have stability and continuity. You can’t change the whole team over every single year and expect the good chemistry to continue. We feel our chemistry is good; we really started to gel at the end of last year. At the same time, we said that we’re always looking for ways to improve our team and we identified a couple of areas that we wanted to improve on."
"One of the areas was to get a frontcourt player who can pick-and-pop, who knows how to play in this system, who can make 15-foot jump shots and who can bang on the inside as a good rebounder. Darius can do that for us in the power forward spot and he can also play some backup center if we need to go small in certain situations.”
On the Wizards’ depth:
“We want players who are competing every day in practice and earning their minutes. You have to be a deep team in the NBA because injuries are part of the game; it’s a long season. You want to have a lot of different players to give your coaching staff an option to use different types of rotations. We feel that we’re a better team today than we were at the end of last season."
"Obviously there’s a reason we play the games. The team has to come together, but we feel good about where we are right now. We feel we’re very competitive. We showed at the end of last year that when we play up to our ability we can play with anybody in the league, and I think that we’re improved now. We feel good about where we are and we’re very excited about the upcoming season.”
On why the Wizards targeted Darius Songaila:
“We’ve had our eye on Darius for several years now. He’s a complimentary player; he doesn’t need the ball in his hands all the time to be effective. We have some players on the team that are obviously playmakers. Players like Gilbert (Arenas) and Caron (Butler), who can get their own shots, and Darius can spread the defense. Gilbert is one of the best penetraters in the game, and when he gets into the middle, the big men can’t come over and help as much as they could in the past because if they do, we have someone who can knock down the 15-foot jumper."
"We also like his character. He’s a good person and he’s an extremely hard worker. We did our background checks on him and every place he’s been you only hear very positive things about his professionalism, his work ethic, his work in the community, and his desire to win. He had the total package for us and he’s the type of person that we like to have in this organization.”
WIZARDS FORWARD DARIUS SONGAILA
On playing for the Wizards:
“I’m going to come in and do the things that I do. I’m not going to be the most athletic guy on the floor. I’m not going to be dunking like crazy, but I can make a shot and I can pass, and one thing I can guarantee is that I’m going to be playing tough and hard. I’m real excited about being here and I’m excited to share this moment with my wife. I’m looking forward to being here next season.”
On why he chose the Wizards:
“Obviously, it’s an up and coming team; the last two years they’ve been to the playoffs as a winning team. It’s a young team, and like Ernie (Grunfeld) said, I love to win. I’ve been on winning teams all my life and I see an opportunity to come in here and contribute to the winning.”
On playing in a familiar offense:
“It’s going to be easier because the system is the same kind of Princeton offense (that was run in Sacramento). A lot of stuff goes through the big guys around the elbow area. Being in Sacramento for two years and learning from the best -- Vlade (Divac) and Webb (Chris Webber) and Brad (Miller) -- I think I became a better passer and decision maker and I think I can contribute in that way.”
On his ability to play in the post, set screens and hit jump shots:
“I think that’s a big reason why I’m sitting here right now.”