Posted: June 26, 2002
Head Coach Frank Johnson spoke with reporters just minutes after the Suns selected high school star Amare Stoudemire with the No. 9 pick in Wednesday’s draft. Check back later tonight for interviews with Chairman/CEO Jerry Colangelo, Suns President/GM Bryan Colangelo and Senior VP of Player Personnel Dick Van Arsdale.
Question: Why did you decide to go with the high school kid over a couple of more experienced players like Jared Jeffries and Caron Butler?
Johnson: We certainly liked his upside. We are rebuilding here certainly with youth. We have the No. 3 position pretty secure in Shawn Marion. We like the progress of Jake Tsakalidis. The one position we were lacking at was the No. 4 position. We are drafting a young player with unlimited potential. There is a lot of work to be done there as well. He’s not going to come in here and be a major contributor right away. It’s going to take a lot of work. That’s one of the things we had said about him. He has a desire to be very good.
Question: After the seventh pick the Suns’ War Room staff gathered together. Did you figure one of your guys was going to be there?
Johnson: We knew one of our guys would be there. We had talked about (Jared) Jeffries, (Chris) Wilcox and Stoudemire. We’ve always been very, very high on this kid. He plays above the rim. We need that. He could have a defensive presence right away. It’s going to take some time, but my thing with him is just to tell him to compete everyday he’s out on the court. And not to put any added pressure on him and expect him to score a lot of points. That’s not what I’m asking him to do. I just want him to come out and compete hard. I think he will do that.
Question: What separated Stoudemire over the other choices, such as Jeffries?
Johnson: Certainly no disrespect to Jeffries. He came in and had a very, very good workout. We just loved Amare’s athletic ability to complement Jake. He’s someone that plays above the rim. He’s very athletic, a weak-side shot blocker. He’s also a power forward in the truest sense, but it’s going to take some time. It’s going to take some time for him to get used to this NBA game and what it takes to be a pro.
Question: Can you talk about the risk with taking a high school player?
Johnson: Yes. You take a gamble with a kid like this, but he has a desire to do well. He has a desire to be good in this league. He has a good work ethic. He’s a good listener. We’ve learned that certainly from our scouts and from watching him. When someone shows him something he was able to respond pretty quickly to it and we like that. In Shawn Marion and Amare Stoudemire we have two guys that can play above the rim. We’ll be exciting. We are looking to push the ball up and get out and run.
Question: Will he be in a Suns’ uniform this year or will be used in a trade later?
Johnson: He will be in a Suns’ uniform – tomorrow.
Question: Does this send a message to the fans to be patient in the future and that this is a player for the long haul because he’s so young?
Johnson: It says we are rebuilding with youth. We traded for Joe Johnson last year who was a lottery pick. We drafted Amare Stoudemire. We have Shawn Marion, who is a very young player. We have Jake Tsakalidis, who is also very young and Stephon Marbury is still very young. He’s been in the league for a couple of years. We are retooling and we certainly want everyone to be patient, but when they step onto the court, they will compete every single night. And that’s what the fans want more than anything, just guys who go out there and work very hard. I’m very confident in Amare and in the rest of the guys that they will do that.
Question: Are you looking at this pick a few years down the road?
Johnson: This franchise is looking at the future. There is no question about that. That didn’t just start with this draft. That started when we acquired Joe Johnson and getting a second first round pick. That was when that decision was made. We didn’t want to go in the first round (of the playoffs) and go out. We wanted to build.
Question: Did any of the previous picks before your ninth selection surprise you, such as Dajuan Wagner being taken sixth by the Cavaliers?
Johnson: No. I had heard that all along. I had heard they coveted Wagner and he was someone (Cavs Head Coach John Lucas) had wanted. He felt that Wagner was a little like Allen Iverson and that he could play him and (Andre) Miller together.
Question: What does Stoudemire need to work on most right now, his offensive game?
Johnson: No. I’m not worried about that right now. I don’t want him to be concerned about his offensive game right now. First, I just want him concerned with just playing. I’m not going to put pressure on this kid that he’s got to come in and score points and turn this franchise around. His offensive game can certainly get better, but the thing he can do right now is that he can come in and play hard. He can rebound above the rim. He can run. He can make athletic plays. On the defensive end he’ll be giving us some physical presence. He’s a big body. He doesn’t know how to play yet. He’ll learn. When we were sitting down and talking, we were saying, ‘OK. We got to have patience. That’s the biggest thing.
Question: Is his game similar to Ben Wallace?
Johnson: I think Ben Wallace is certainly very strong and very athletic. I think Amare has more down low. He is solidly built. He’s like 246 (pounds). He is solid with room to get bigger.
Question: Is he a power forward or can he play center?
Johnson: He’s a four. I don’t want him to think he’s got to play two positions. Let’s let him concentrate on one position and handling that. That’s it.
Question: How much of a consensus was there on him? I heard there was some debate on this pick.
Johnson: No. It wasn’t on this pick (No. 9).
Question: I know you guys liked Jared Jeffries. Do you think Stoudemire provides more of back to the basket game and is better on the boards?
Johnson: I would say right now Jeffries has better post moves than (Stoudemire). There is no question about that. Jared has had two years of college experience in a solid program. Now when you talk athletic ability there’s a big difference there. That’s what we liked. We feel this kid can be a quick learner in terms of playing with his back to the basket. That’s why we have Marc Iavaroni now. We brought him to work with our bigs and he’s doing that right now with Tsakalidis and some of our other guys.
Question: Was there ever any concern about his background with all the high schools he’s played at?
Johnson: We certainly did our background check. Everything checked out with this kid. He’s gone from high school to high school, but there was never any trouble in his past. We didn’t find any.
Question: Do you have guys that can help teach him how to become an NBA player?
Johnson: It starts with me. I’ve got to show him how things operate in our league. How he is suppose to carry himself. I even had a chance to do that a little bit when he was here for two days. I’ll talk to him about what it takes to be a pro and how you handle yourself in public. Another thing is that a guy he has been friends with is (former NBA guard) Dee Brown in Florida. He has had a close friendship with him. I’m sure Dee has also told him that as well.
Question: How does Amare compare to some of the high school kids that came out last year. Is he further along than Kwame Brown and Tyson Chandler?
Johnson: I don’t know that. I can’t say I honestly scouted Kwame Brown to see where he was. They were long athletic kids. I would say he’s on par with those guys.
http://www.nba.com/suns/news/johnson_020626.html
I also found it interesting what Johnson had to say about they didn't want to be a first round playoff team and they wanted to rebuild. Should the Suns go all out and rebuild and trade Nash/Hill/Barbosa etc.?
