Monte McNair Introductory Press Conference, Weds. Sept. 23, 11:30 AM PT

Introduced as GM, was alone at table to start things up.

Said thank you for opportunity to lead Kings basketball operations.

"Excited to work with coach Walton"

Then right to questions.

Ham...Asked about his vision he sold the front office, tear down, rebuild.

"Compete hard, build winning habits" "Be consistent, keep flexibility, compete for playoffs but have work to do" His job is to keep flexibility and be aggressive when the time comes

Associated press:

"What are biggest challenges because of covid etc and irregular season"

Mcnair said he is preparing for draft.

Cunningham:

"What sticks out at you with roster"

McNair, a lot of talent/versatility he and Walton seem to agree on playing hard and building winning habits.

Jason Jones:

"Tell us about prior relationship with Walton before coming here, how they'll work together"

McNair, he and Walton didn't know each other but have mutual friends. Luke's going to be our coach next year, aligned vision.

Sac Observer:

Basically we've stunk for 14 years, what are you going to do to change that?

Flexible and be ready

Anderson from Bee:

Asked about Fox's talents, what he sees

McNair bright future no detailed answer

Matt George KHTK:

Asked about Bagley, what McNair thinks

Excited to work with Luke to see him develop.

Taking a break lol, not a secretary

More to come.
 
Listened to it. A lot of softball questions.

1. Only player McNair mentioned voluntarily is Fox.
2. Said nice things about Walton, Bogi, Bags, and Hield--when prompted.
3. Sounds like he'll want to resign Bogi.
4. Mentioned wanting to be flexible and aggressive when appropriate.

My take: everyone is on the table, except Fox.
 
Iced Espresso is doing the good work here.

I don't know if there was much "new" at this press conference other than McNair confirming that Walton will return as coach next year.

Other than that, it seemed like McNair had some canned responses and pretty much stuck to them. Doesn't give us a whole lot of idea about his philosophy of building a team other than being willing to be aggressive in making moves when the time is right. Kings will run and space the floor.

As far as a press conference goes, not too impressive if you ask me - he doesn't give me confidence that he's a guy with a vision who is going to take charge and start building things his way. I can't imagine his interview went this poorly, since he was the guy that was hired.

I'll wait on results...we've got a draft and free agency coming up, and until then there's nothing at all to evaluate but a lousy press conference, but I can't say this really inspires confidence.
 
Capt. Factorial said:
Iced Espresso is doing the good work here.

I don't know if there was much "new" at this press conference other than McNair confirming that Walton will return as coach next year.

Other than that, it seemed like McNair had some canned responses and pretty much stuck to them. Doesn't give us a whole lot of idea about his philosophy of building a team other than being willing to be aggressive in making moves when the time is right. Kings will run and space the floor.

As far as a press conference goes, not too impressive if you ask me - he doesn't give me confidence that he's a guy with a vision who is going to take charge and start building things his way. I can't imagine his interview went this poorly, since he was the guy that was hired.

I'll wait on results...we've got a draft and free agency coming up, and until then there's nothing at all to evaluate but a lousy press conference, but I can't say this really inspires confidence.
Click to expand...

Came off as having a bit of stage fright. I can understand the nerves, but he will need to get rid of those nerves ASAP because he has a lot of high achieving individuals that he has to lead.
 
Livinthedream said:
Came off as having a bit of stage fright. I can understand the nerves, but he will need to get rid of those nerves ASAP because he has a lot of high achieving individuals that he has to lead.
Click to expand...

Agreed. And this may well be his first time being in front of the cameras in his career.

I'm not sure whether to say "the draft can't get here soon enough" so I can see what he's going to do, or "thankfully the draft's still far off" because I'm not sure this front office has its sea legs yet.
 
Ham again, "What does he want from a second in command"

McNair "Only as good as the people around you"

Cunningham: "What he sees in team that he likes and wants to do"

McNair "Fox's speed, ability for team to shoot the 3"

Amick : "How similar to Houston are you going to do things?" "Any new approaches"

McNair "Play fast, space the floor, roster is different than Houston and will dictate how to build team"

Sac Observer "Dumars, is chief something or other strategy guy thing, Will you consult him on trades/moves etc"

McNair "Joe is going to assist Vivek in all aspects in the organization, I was hired to be head of basketball ops so that's what I'm going to do" "Joe will be a great resource for me"

Sactown Royalty : "What is one area you want to focus on for team needs"

McNair "Consistent effort, winning habits

When we have opportunity to improve team we'll be ready to go full steam ahead.

Anderson: "What he sees on Buddy analytically"

McNair "Elite shooter, spacing"

Jones: "Asked about Bogi"

McNair "Big part of team"

Ok there was more, but that's all you get. Tired.
 
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So refreshing to hear flexibility and to be ready to improve team.

We should see some trades here and hopefully no more middling vets taking up the loot.
 
Some points from the press conference:

General:
- Has been involved in all aspects of front office in Houston.
- Wants to recreate winning culture like in Houston.
- Wants to be flexible, aggressive but disciplined in building roster.
- Small market team challenge: have variety of ways to improve the team. Draft pick is essential to build team.

Coaching and play:
- Excited to work with coach Walton.
- Wants to play fast and space the floor.
- First priority for team: need to be more consistent in effort day in and day out.

Player comments:
- Fox: values the creation of offense with his speed and attacking the defense. Sees a bright future and noted Fox as what he is most optimistic about the Kings.
- Bagley: a bright young talent hampered by injury last year. Reportedly he's been working on his game in offseason.
- Buddy Hield: provides spacing with elite shooting.
- Bogdan: versatile offensively.

Front office:
- Ken Catanella: is a huge asset. Has experience working with him on trades.
- Joe Dumars: is reporting to Vivek directly. Makes it clear that Monte is the one responsible for trades and draft picks. Will be a great resource.

That was an underwhelming introductory conference. I kind of expected his opening remarks to be more substantial. Maybe he still needs to do more background work before he can address the press.

The journalists disappointed me by not asking open ended questions. Why would you provide a likely answer when you ask a question? Monte was happy to repeat what was in the question and added minimal detail.

Maybe he is one that gets the job done and doesn't like to make exaggerated promises. Would have loved to see some answers that might reveal how he thinks and what ideas he has for the roster.
 
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Livinthedream said:
Came off as having a bit of stage fright. I can understand the nerves, but he will need to get rid of those nerves ASAP because he has a lot of high achieving individuals that he has to lead.
Click to expand...

He was scared to death up there. From the jump it looked like he might dip out and crawl under the table. Hopefully he got the jitters out of his system and will be able to communicate and perform better going forward.
 
I agree that McNair was a bit stiff, but I think it's just him being cautious. McNair's tone changed when Amick came on. Think that version of McNair is the one we'll see once he gets going.
 
He's been a part of the Sloan Analytics Conference for 15 years so it's not like he hasn't been in front of a camera/audience before. He may not have been the guy answering questions from the media at a press conference before though. And it's not like he's going to come out there and say who he wants to trade or anything, so non-committal answers and vague generalizations shouldn't really be a surprise. The only takeaway I have at this point is that Buddy Hield's chances of sticking with the Kings at least a couple more years have probably gone up with McNair taking over. Statistically speaking, Buddy is elite at the one skill most basketball analytics experts agree is indispensable. Speaking of, for those of you who watched, did anyone ask him about Mike D'Antoni being available? That seems like an obvious follow-up question.
 
Excited to work with coach Walton. Jeebus. Well, that just likely anchored at least the first half of next season. At least.
 
McNair should be on 1140 sometime around 4:30 pm.

Hey Dave if you read this, sometime after your morning show let us know what you think man.
 
hrdboild said:
He's been a part of the Sloan Analytics Conference for 15 years so it's not like he hasn't been in front of a camera/audience before. He may not have been the guy answering questions from the media at a press conference before though. And it's not like he's going to come out there and say who he wants to trade or anything, so non-committal answers and vague generalizations shouldn't really be a surprise. The only takeaway I have at this point is that Buddy Hield's chances of sticking with the Kings at least a couple more years have probably gone up with McNair taking over. Statistically speaking, Buddy is elite at the one skill most basketball analytics experts agree is indispensable. Speaking of, for those of you who watched, did anyone ask him about Mike D'Antoni being available? That seems like an obvious follow-up question.
Click to expand...


I can't see someone coming from the Morey system seeing Buddy as anything but a huge piece. In fact, stating this again, practically the whole team on paper fits. If they don't see it something is wrong. The only question is if this does become Walton vs. Buddy/Fox does he have what it takes to make the call. Look, it very well could have been a style directed to Walton last year, in fact I'm leaning more towards that however his sets after he was fired from LA were thoroughly blasted prior to him coaching in Sac for many of the reasons they were blasted after this season ended. They played faster in LA for sure, but Waltons usage of many of this teams main pieces when injuries weren't a factor has to be frightening for any GM "watching the tape" or looking at the stats. This has the makings of another Karl/Cuz scenario and if Vivek didn't learn the lesson about being too patient, well, bet on the under with this franchise for another decade or more.
 
coolhandluke said:
Some points from the press conference:

General:
- Has been involved in all aspects of front office in Houston.
- Wants to recreate winning culture like in Houston.
- Wants to be flexible, aggressive but disciplined in building roster.
- Small market team challenge: have variety of ways to improve the team. Draft pick is essential to build team.

Coaching and play:
- Excited to work with coach Walton.
- Wants to play fast and space the floor.
- First priority for team: need to be more consistent in effort day in and day out.

Player comments:
- Fox: values the creation of offense with his speed and attacking the defense. Sees a bright future and noted Fox as what he is most optimistic about the Kings.
- Bagley: a bright young talent hampered by injury last year. Reportedly he's been working on his game in offseason.
- Buddy Hield: provides spacing with elite shooting.
- Bogdan: versatile offensively.

Front office:
- Ken Catanella: is a huge asset. Has experience working with him on trades.
- Joe Dumars: is reporting to Vivek directly. Makes it clear that Monte is the one responsible for trades and draft picks. Will be a great resource.

That was an underwhelming introductory conference. I kind of expected his opening remarks to be more substantial. Maybe he still needs to do more background work before he can address the press.

The journalists disappointed me by not asking open ended questions. Why would you provide a likely answer when you ask a question? Monte was happy to repeat what was in the question and added minimal detail.

Maybe he is one that gets the job done and doesn't like to make exaggerated promises. Would have loved to see some answers that might reveal how he thinks and what ideas he has for the roster.
Click to expand...


We'll all find out pretty early if this is another PDA or Vlade. One being more deer in the headlights, the other being far more nonchalant. Ideally you want someone in the middle but if we've seen both, deer in the headlights when your team is showing signs of fracture is one of those 4-5 year setback kind of things. I don't think Vivek will survive another one of those. Lets not forget about the noise that's already starting rising from minority ownership over the years. If even one of them has the ear of Adam Silver this could become very sticky. I don't think Vivek is ready for a game of politics on that level.
 
Iced Espresso said:
McNair should be on 1140 sometime around 4:30 pm.

Hey Dave if you read this, sometime after your morning show let us know what you think man.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the heads up. Listened to it:

1. Again, the only player McNair mentions without any prompt is Fox. In fact, Fox was the only player that he mentioned in the entire interview.
2. He's much more relaxed in this interview than the press conference. As Amick said, he's a dude.
3. Mentions being aggressive in all aspects--on and off the court.
4. Mentions Houston and high quality shots--translation, shots at the rim and 3 pointers.
5. Mentions flexibility. Translation, only way a huge contract like Harris or Horford comes over is if Philly sends a ton of picks.

My take: get ready for a lot of wheeling and dealing. All players, except Fox, are on the table.
 
kb02 said:
Thanks for the heads up. Listened to it:

1. Again, the only player McNair mentions without any prompt is Fox. In fact, Fox was the only player that he mentioned in the entire interview.
2. He's much more relaxed in this interview than the press conference. As Amick said, he's a dude.
3. Mentions being aggressive in all aspects--on and off the court.
4. Mentions Houston and high quality shots--translation, shots at the rim and 3 pointers.
5. Mentions flexibility. Translation, only way a huge contract like Harris or Horford comes over is if Philly sends a ton of picks.

My take: get ready for a lot of wheeling and dealing. All players, except Fox, are on the table.
Click to expand...

I think Doug helped him relax some too, he sounded excited, articulate, professional. No creepy Pete vibes.

Respect for him saying how important the people around you are.

I'm going to add the lead assistant coaching wise after Igor left. Said he was going to work with Luke to figure that out, could be internal. If you think about that, I'm sure Luke doesn't want to worry about it being a replacement for him potentially later, and will want to have a lot to say about that.
 
Iced Espresso said:
I think Doug helped him relax some too, he sounded excited, articulate, professional. No creepy Pete vibes.

Respect for him saying how important the people around you are.

I'm going to add the lead assistant coaching wise after Igor left. Said he was going to work with Luke to figure that out, could be internal. If you think about that, I'm sure Luke doesn't want to worry about it being a replacement for him potentially later, and will want to have a lot to say about that.
Click to expand...

He was much better on the radio. Sounded like he enjoys talking shop with players. Less comfortable with the formal setting of a press conference.
 
how McNair appears in front of the camera and in a presser is irrelevant. The number one question I wanted an answer to was the direction he intends to go and he mentioned speed and floor spacing and the Kings have a few players on the roster already with that ability so it will be interesting to see who he drafts at 12 and further.
 
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