Q. You stuck with your coach, Mike Woodson, when other franchises would have made a change. What made you so sure you had the right guy for this job?
[b]A. When we hired Woody we knew we were going to rebuild the roster, which we did. We got rid of all the players that were on the roster the year we bought the team and we went with youth. The challenge with that is you have to give a coach an opportunity to play those players and those players to play through mistakes. And I think we felt that we weren’t in a position to properly judge Woody until the end of last year when we started adding veterans. Each year he’s been here our record has improved, five years in a row now. And we’re right where we had hoped to be, which was a team that was on the rise.
Q. Did this team this year exceed your own expectations by becoming one of the top four teams in the Eastern Conference?
A. Each year we’ve tried to get better and tried to improve so we could put ourselves in a position to be one of the premier teams in the Eastern Conference. And I think we’re on our way to becoming a premier team in the East. From that standpoint we are pleased. In the beginning of the season Woody set a lofty goal that a lot of people felt was unrealistic, and that was not only to get into the playoffs but also to get a top four seed. And we achieved that goal. But that’s one step in this process. Now the next step, more importantly, is the postseason. And we want to continue to grow in that part of the season as well.
Q. What will serve as your guide going forward?
A. If you look at highly successful franchises, take the Braves for example where they won 14 division championships, there’s been a consistency there where they didn’t necessarily have a revolving door, whether it was the GM, coach or the players. If we feel someone is underachieving then certainly we’re going to make a change, and we’ll be prepared to do that. But with great teams there’s a sense of stability.
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