Steve Clifford Introductory Press Conference 1pm ET

[Knightro]

Full transcript now added.

[fklt]

just watched it and I'm impressed. but gotta admit, man, I'm a sucker for 2009 nostalgia. when he started talking about it I was already willing to give him the benefit of the doubt ahah

[Magic#1]

I can't imagine Clifford was our top option. I like Clifford's demeanor and intensity, but this is not the direction I wanted them to go. I really hope I'm wrong. Clifford was very good before this year in Charlotte, but I'm not sure he is the guy who will want a longer and organic rebuild project.

[GoBobs]

Clifford would be a pretty good coach if it was still 2009. His biggest weakness is an inability to innovate and come up with any kind of creative scheme that highlights the strengths of his roster.

He doesn't like young players and he will play vets over them to get every win he can. The problem with this is you never develop anybody.

Clifford says things like "size is what really wins in the league." He plays guys out of position, like Batum at SG to gain a size advantage while some of the most successful teams in the current era are going small.

He gets credit a lot for turning the Hornets around, but we were tanking the year before he arrived, and the only place he has taken us is to the treadmill.

[shadrock]

Pretty much all of the philosophies of Clifford are the same as SVG. A huge focus on defensive rebounding, getting back on D rather than offensive rebounding, defense. I really think this is a great hire.

[shadrock]

Clifford would be a pretty good coach if it was still 2009. His biggest weakness is an inability to innovate and come up with any kind of creative scheme that highlights the strengths of his roster.

He doesn't like young players and he will play vets over them to get every win he can. The problem with this is you never develop anybody.

Clifford says things like "size is what really wins in the league." He plays guys out of position, like Batum at SG to gain a size advantage while some of the most successful teams in the current era are going small.

He gets credit a lot for turning the Hornets around, but we were tanking the year before he arrived, and the only place he has taken us is to the treadmill.

Dont agree. SVG had the same approach to player development, i mean JJ barely played his first three or so years, but JJ has on numerous occasions given a huge amount of credit to SVG for shaping his long and successful career. If there is anything we have proven the last few years, it is that playing young guys and not holding them accountable does not equal good player development.

Ultimately, if a player is held accountable, and the player responds poorly to this happening, then he isnt the kind of player you want anyway. Lets give Steve a chance to do his thing.

[nymets1]

So nobody asked Clifford about his thoughts on who we could get with our draft picks this year and if he plans on playing all the young players. Orlando media needs to stop being soft. If we had the NY, Philly or Boston media this sh-t wouldn't happen. Those 2 questions should have been directed at Clifford.

[Furinkazan]

So nobody asked Clifford about his thoughts on who we could get with our draft picks this year and if he plans on playing all the young players. Orlando media needs to stop being soft. If we had the NY, Philly or Boston media this sh-t wouldn't happen. Those 2 questions should have been directed at Clifford.

surprised they didnt ask him about his favourite color too
thats how exciting these questions always are about obvious things everybody know answers to or nobody cares about

[Skybox]

So nobody asked Clifford about his thoughts on who we could get with our draft picks this year and if he plans on playing all the young players. Orlando media needs to stop being soft. If we had the NY, Philly or Boston media this sh-t wouldn't happen. Those 2 questions should have been directed at Clifford.

And he would have, obviously, deflected them without giving a direct answer...like he should at this stage...Why is everyone so surprised that coaches and GM's don't share their plans and opinions freely?

[Furinkazan]

So nobody asked Clifford about his thoughts on who we could get with our draft picks this year and if he plans on playing all the young players. Orlando media needs to stop being soft. If we had the NY, Philly or Boston media this sh-t wouldn't happen. Those 2 questions should have been directed at Clifford.

And he would have, obviously, deflected them without giving a direct answer...like he should at this stage...Why is everyone so surprised that coaches and GM's don't share their plans and opinions freely?

that doeasnt mean tough questions shoudnt be asked...you can learn a lot even from the way he would answer such question his recation to it and his body language when such tough question was asked

[Knightro]

Steve Clifford on 96.9 The Game's "Open Mike"

Read on Twitter

Text Question: Your favorite Orlando-centric restaurant?
Clifford: When we were in Charlotte and we would come here to play, we actually took a bunch of the players this year, we would always go down to Charley's Steakhouse. We had about 40 people in a private room this past year. I'd put Charley's at the top of the list.

Bianchi: Since you've been gone, this organization has gone through a lot of losing, a lot of coaching turnover, a lot of negativity about the organization. What would you say to fans now that you're back?
Clifford: The goal is to get back to the point where we were during the time I was here with Stan. To be great representatives of our organization, our ownership and our city. But also to win big. At the end of the day, what the NBA is all about is winning in the playoffs and that will be the ultimate goal here.

Bianchi: A lot of Magic fans saw what you did in Charlotte, you took over a team that was 21-61 the year before you got there and in one year you took them to the playoffs. How did you do that and is that possible here in Orlando?
Clifford: The biggest part of that is we had a great summer. We had a great first summer. We had a number of guys who were sick of losing and truly committed themselves physically, mentally, weight room, conditioning level, skill level, everything to giving themselves the best possible shot at playing well. We went from 30th in DRTG the year before we got there to 6th. We went from 29th in defensive rebounding to 1st. That's where it all starts for us here. We need to have everybody, veteran guys and younger guys, locked into what they have to do this offseason to put themselves in the best position to play better next year.

Bianchi: What's more important - player development or player commitment?
Clifford: That's a good question. I would say it goes together. The best players in this league get better every year. You look at the team we had here, two of the key components on that team were Hedo Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis. They were established veteran players and the plan that Stan gave to each of them helped push them to having their best years here. Rashard came here as very much an offensive player and through Stan's prodding and relationship with Rashard, he became an excellent team defender for us which was critical, particularly in those big playoff series. For Turk, Stan was the first coach that really got him to work on his pick and roll game. He utilized him that way and Turk had his two best years here. Regardless of how old they are or how experienced they are, the best players continue to be locked in to player development. It's going to start with their commitment and then a good plan coming from us.

Kravitz: How involved do you plan on being in the draft process?
Cifford: I've worked for five teams. I've worked under five different head coaches. To be honest with you, I've never been anywhere where the coaching staff was heavily involved with the draft. There are great stories in this league about coaches jumping in late in the draft process because of an individual workout or interview and that leading to a very poor decision. Jeff Weltman, John Hammond and the staff here, they've been watching these college guys for years and they're the experts on where they are. Whereas coaching staffs, we don't do any evaluation during the season. The way we did it in Charlotte, I watched the individual workouts. I had interviews with the players. I'll watch film on the guys in our range. If there was somebody I really didn't like or somebody that I really liked a lot, I'd give my input. But I do think as a coach, you have to be careful about how much you're seeing these young guys compared to how much management and the personnel guys have seen.

Kravitz: We know your health was an issue last year, how much did that come up in the interview process with the Magic?
Clifford: Oh a lot. We met twice and had long meetings. In both of them we spent a significant amount of time talking about how it happened. The doctors that I worked with and how I was able to get back. Jeff actually had Dr. Hoffman here, the team doctor, speak in detail with the Dr. Garcia, the team doctor in Charlotte. They shared my medical records here before they hired me. I feel great. I think this is probably the healthiest I've been in a long time. But they were very thorough in that aspect of their search.

Kravitz: It's often hard for the average fan to tell the difference between a great, good and bad coach. In your opinion, what makes the great coaches great?
Clifford: I think it starts at the offensive end. It's purpose of play. It's not beating yourself. Then it's how you utilize your best players. In any team sport, it's all personnel related. The teams that have the best offensive players are going to play better offensively usually, but it gets back to purpose of play. Getting your team to understand who should have the ball, where they should have it and then having the ability in terms of your fundamental play and in terms of execution so you can get your best players the ball there regularly. That is the key offensively. Defensively, now, the key is versatility, positional size and the ability to switch. That's what the best defensive teams are able to do. Three of the four teams that were in the conference finals are top 10 defensive teams. If you watch them, they all play pretty simple systems defensively because they've been built with guys who are terrific individual defenders that have the ability to switch. What that does, you're never bringing two to the ball. You've never in help. It makes rotations very simple. It just makes the whole game easier. Plus, and you saw this a lot more in the Western Conference Finals, switching slows down ball movement. As loaded as Houston and Golden State are, you could see those games were played at a much slower pace than either team would have wanted to play. It's still gonna be dictated by personnel, but the ability to switch defensively and then purposeful play at the offensive end.

Bianchi: Before you took the leave of absence last year, how much were you sleeping? What was an average day like?
Clifford: Most nights I was getting 4 or 4.5 hours. 5 at the absolute most. Now I always sleep at least 6.5 hours. It took me awhile to retrain my body to do that. The doctors told me I had to stop coaching for a while and they had me monitor how much I was sleeping and it was difficult for me to sleep 5 hours at a time. I didn't feel like I needed that much sleep, but what I found out for me, the way I was working and living at 51-52 just wouldn't work for me anymore at 55-56.

Bianchi: Do you stay up late watching all these games?
Clifford: I still stay up late, but I just don't wake up at 5am anymore. I sleep in later. If I go to bed at midnight, I'm gonna sleep until 6:30 or 7 rather than get up at 5am regardless of what time I went to bed.