Pat Williams Talks About Orlando’s Run in the Playoffs
May 28, 2009 – 8:15 am by Will Brinson
Pat Williams. Awesome dude. Brilliant mind. Senior VP of a great basketball team. Second smartest basketball mind in my family, coincidentally. And right now, he’s feeling really, really good about the Orlando Magic’s chances to make it to the Finals (although I assume; he doesn’t actually say that).
But he does talk about how awkward it is to possibly eliminate LeBron (the NBA wants him in the Finals obviously), the state of refereeing in the playoffs, what it’s like to have won four No. 1 picks, magic Ping-Pong balls, and putting the right pieces around Dwight Howard.
On whether they’re getting fined for eliminating LeBron:
“Here’s what I think what happened — the LeBron/Kobe thing has been so visible and so publicized, but unbeknownst to the public, before the playoffs started we were 8-3 with Cleveland over the last three years. Right now we’re 11-4 with them over the last three years. I think people also miss the fact — and was underneath the radar screen — that Denver has just put together this marvelous group with this unbelievable chemistry.”
On adjusting to the officiating:
“Well, that’s always been the case. I remember my friend, the late Joe Axelson … said that these athletes are so great and so gifted that when you make rule changes or alter the game in any way, they have the ability to adjust. And players do have the ability to adjust; I think the main thing they want is consistency, that the game will be called the same in the early stages as the late stages.”
On having the No. 1 overall pick four times:
“Well, Chris, the secret there is the Ping-Pong balls. We have a Ping-Pong farm out near Disney property and that’s what happened this year — the Clippers learned from us and they went down to Disneyland in Orange County, California (we’re in Orange County, Florida) and those Ping-Pong balls only grow in those two Orange Counties. And we sprinkled pixie dust on them and they’re raised there and they grow up knowing that if they really, really do their job, they can end up in a machine in Secaucus, New Jersey one year.”
On putting the pieces around Dwight Howard:
“Otis Smith and his staff have done a marvelous job. Otis understands, and working with Stan Van Gundy, that it’s not just throwing talent together; it’s having a cohesive mix.”
Listen to Pat Williams on KLAC with Chris Myers and Steve Hartman
Tags: Dwight Howard, NBA, Orlando Magic, Pat Williams
