NBA.com Q&A with Kenny Anderson

[Alex Wang <awang@mit.edu>]

NBA.com has a short Q&A with Kenny Anderson. Personally, I find him 
somewhat incoherent. What does he mean about Antoine Walker getting
the big contract? Who is "they" in that sentence? 

Anderson also brings up his excellent 96-97 season where he led the
Blazers in points, assists, and steals on the way to a 49 win season.
I believe he hopes that this coming season with the Celtics will 
resemble that season because he'll have more of a role creating the
offense with Mercer gone.

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Q: Is a lot of the craziness of last year's short season out of the way?

Kenny Anderson: I think it was really tough on a young team last year, 
50 games. I'm glad its over. We'll get back in the groove of things at 
training camp. It's going to be interesting for a lot of the teams that 
did well in a 50-game season, to see how they do over a full season. 

Q: You were one of the guys that everyone said could make the jump right
out of high school. Today many guys are making the jump, what are your
thoughts on them making the jump?

Anderson: Who am I to tell a kid not to go out and make millions? Most of
the kids doing it are from the inner city, so they are trying to take care
of their families. I could never have done the jump because I wasn't
physically ready to. Some of these big guys can do it. 

Q: Did the Ron Mercer move surprise you?

Anderson: No, somebody had to be moved and he was up for renegotiation and
he had asked for a lot of money. It's a business. I think they gave Antoine
Walker a hard time, getting all that money. 

Q: As a point guard is it hard dealing with a different group of people
every year at camp?

Anderson: It's the way the league works. You have to come to training camp
and play, regardless of the situation. Changes will always be made and you
have to accept that. My main concern is staying injury free in these
upcoming years.

Q: Do you like what Pitino has done personnel-wise on your team?

Anderson: I like it, what is does for me, it puts more responsibility on me
in the backcourt, and I like that. I didn't feel I had that last year. If
Paul Pierce can play the two a little bit, I think we can be more aggressive
now with Danny Fortson.

Calbert Cheaney is a great role player as well. I liked the changes, and I
always want more responsibility in the backcourt. Something I haven't had
since '97 with Portland. With all the great teams that do well, they stay
together for 5 to 6 years, it's a known fact.

By just making changes you aren't necessarily going to get things
accomplished. Its tough in this business, when guys ask for X amount of
money, and didn't do X amount of work. 

Q: A lot of people think you can't win playing the kind of pressing style
you play, over the course of 82 game. What do you think about that?

Anderson: I think certain nights we can do it. I don't know if we are going
to do it a lot this year. I believe it worked a lot last year, pressing
didn't hurt us, it was a lack of attention span, forgetting defensive
rotations.