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CLEVELAND CAVALIERS MEDIA CONFERENCEJune 28, 2013Anthony BennettMike BrownCarrick FelixChris GrantTAD CARPER: All right. Without further adieu, I'll turn it over to Cavaliers General Manager, Chris Grant for some opening remarks, and then we'll have a little photo session following that, and open it up to Q & A. Chris. CHRIS GRANT: Thank you Tad. Welcome out to Cleveland Clinic Courts, everyone. Obviously a very exciting day for the organization from last night and through this morning. We were able to add three very young, talented men that are our kind of people, that are workers, they're about our culture that are willing to give up a little bit of themselves for the greater good of the team. We did an extensive amount of research over the last year. Our scouting department led by David Griffin, Trent Redden and (Indiscernible) Ilgauskas did an amazing job, and these guys probably know as many background checks as we did on them, that people were constantly telling them that the Cavs keep calling about them. So we did a lot of work, and at the end of the night last night, we're very excited and very happy, and it's really an honor to welcome Carrick Felix and his family. Sergey Karasev who is actually about to tip off in a game in Russia right now. He took a red eye last night, and of course, Anthony Bennett and his family from northeast Ohio and to our organization, welcome. TAD CARPER: All right, we'll open up for Q & A. If you'd just raise your hand, and we'll bring a mic to you. If you could also identify yourself, and what outlet you are covering for today? First up? Q. Hey, Anthony, I'm Tom with the Associated Press. Welcome. Last night you said there was no pressure in being the number 1 pick. But do you feel some responsibility in proving to the Cavaliers that you were worthy of that selection? ANTHONY BENNETT: Yeah, of course, coming in with the surgery, I didn't have a chance to workout, so, you know, I've just got to go hard every practice, every game, you know, just trying to take care of my body. Q. If I could follow with Chris, Chris, you have a track record of the last couple of years with making the right pick with the first one or the fourth one. What convinced you that this was the right guy for the Cavs? CHRIS GRANT: Really through all our research with our scouting department and our evaluators during the season, first time we saw Anthony, I think all of us walked out of the gym just amazed with his ability and talent. The more we got to know him and learn what kind of person he was and that he was an incredibly hard worker and he was going to do whatever it took to be the best that he could be, it became a very easy decision for us. Q. Anthony, what is the strength of your game, and what area do you feel you need to get better at? ANTHONY BENNETT: I feel like I'm versatile, I can go inside out. I can rebound. I'm unselfish. I don't play with an agenda. I just want to help the team get wins. I feel like one part of my game, I do need to get better at is my defense. But I'm here, you know. I'm put in a position to work hard every day, use the facilities, you know, and get better. Q. To follow‑up with that, asthma was an issue in a couple of the stories that I read with you. Has it ever forced you to be taken out of the game or not finish a game? ANTHONY BENNETT: No, it's not really an issue. I think it's under control. I just feel like, you know, high altitude areas or if I'm sick or anything, that when it kind of starts bugging, other than that, I'm fine. Q. You said in New York you haven't been sleeping the last week. I'm wondering if you slept last night or you stayed up last night? And Carrick, could you tell us how you spent last night and where you were when you found out the Cavs had drafted you? ANTHONY BENNETT: I was just chilling with family and friends and everybody that came out from Toronto. It was just a really cool experience. I've got to thank God for everything. CARRICK FELIX: I was at home with my family, my grandparents, cousins and my daughter actually come into town. And we were just all just sitting in front of the TV and I was holding my daughter, and my name was called and I was just overly excited. I kinda just walked outside. I didn't have any emotion, I just walked outside. It's a blessing to be here, a great opportunity, and, again, just thanking God for this chance. Q. Anthony, Doug Smith of the Toronto Star. People would ask you to describe your personality and the path that you took to get here, how would you tell it? ANTHONY BENNETT: I'm just an all-around great guy. I always look out for people. I feel like, you know, I just want the best for everybody. You know, I'm a hard worker too. On the court I'm unselfish, and I do whatever it takes to get the win. Q. Anthony, you and now your new teammate Tristan are both from a suburb of Toronto, Brampton, Ontario, lived just minutes from each other, and now you'll be beside each other in the paint. I know you weren't a statistics major, but what are the chances of that happening? Two guys being drafted at the highest from their country at the time and playing in the same organization? ANTHONY BENNETT: I mean, it's a real blessing, you know just to show that Canadian talent is on the come up. I feel like me and Tristan have become best friends. He's been my go‑to guy because he's from Canada. I'm sure there are a lot more other guys that I can go to on the team just because. Even if I'm here in Cleveland or back home in Brampton, I can talk to him anywhere I am. Q. Follow‑up for Chris, both guys, Canadian guys, both are surprises for the outsiders. What is in the waters north of the border? Are there some similarities in their personalities and in their games? CHRIS GRANT: I think there are some similarities. They're good young men that are hard workers and they care about the team. They're the kind of guys we want in our culture. But Canada basketball is really on the rise right now. I have a feeling there will be another Canadian picked rather high next year based on the media reports. So they've done a nice job and kids have grown and become talented. We're excited to be part of that. Tristan has grown amazingly in the last few years, and we expect Anthony to do very much the same. Q. If I heard you right last night you made reference to the fact that you've only played basketball for six or seven years. Why the late start and what was it like for you picking up the game as a teenager, and how has the development gone? ANTHONY BENNETT: I played before when I was living in the city of Toronto in the Jane and Finch area. There were a lot of basketball courts around, and I had a lot of people interested in the game. So I wasn't really serious about it. I was just playing around and shooting just wasting time. Then I moved out to the suburbs, and no basketball courts. It was like a city that was just buildings. So it was a lot of dirt. Then I don't know. I just started growing. Everybody was like you should probably play basketball, and I was like, all right. So I gave it a shot, and look where it got me now. Q. Coach Mike Brown, Mike, you've gotten to know Anthony a little bit out west there. How much of an influence were you in your conversations with Chris Grant to take him number 1 overall? COACH BROWN: You know, Chris and his staff have done a remarkable job in the draft process in the past years as we have all known. So I followed his staff's lead. I gave input about it. I'm extremely excited that Anthony is here. But this process was driven by Chris, and with me having a voice just like everybody else did but I wasn't the one that made the decision or I wasn't the sole one that pushed for it. It was a group thing. He did play with a teammate of my son's though, and I had a chance to watch him quite a bit last year. But that was just out of the joy of watching the game of basketball, and not thinking that we'd ever work together. Q. Mike, I'm just wondering, obviously Anthony and Tristan seem to play the same position, so how do you plan on making that work? COACH BROWN: They've got to go out and compete. They're both competitors and they might be buddies. But at the end of the day when they cross that line, I think they're going to get after each other, not only to make themselves better as individuals, but to make the team better. So, it's great to be able to have depth in all areas on the floor. And Anthony is a guy that has definitely added that to us. I like the fact that, like you said, he is versatile. He's different than the bigs that we have, so we can use him in a lot of different ways. Q. Chris, last night the three guys you drafted are either two‑position guys or combo guys or hybrids or whatever you want to call them. Was that a conscious strategy or did it just work out that way? CHRIS GRANT: It didnÂ’t work out that way. We like guys that can play multiple positions and guys that have a lot of skill. It just helps you put different combinations on the floor, which can make it difficult to guard. A guy like Anthony, you put him in pick‑and‑roll with Kyrie and Dion, and that's going to be tough to deal with for the other teams. So we like guy that's can do those things. Ultimately though, those guys have a primary position, and the fact that they can play another position is a benefit. Q. Anthony, I read somewhere that you used to keep a list of the people that you had dunked on. What motivated you to do that, and how long was that list before you stopped and why did you stop? ANTHONY BENNETT: I just thought it was like pretty fun to do. It was just between me and my friends growing up in Canada. Just, you know, just thinking about it they were like you should write a list of people you've dunked on, and I was like, hey, why not? So it went up. Every game, every game, it kept going. I think I gave it like a year and a half until I got to like 100 and I stopped. Q. Are you going to ask the Cavs to play Oh, Canada before the games? ANTHONY BENNETT: If it happens, I'll be happy. Q. What's going on above the border? Why are so many Canadian kids now becoming elite players? ANTHONY BENNETT: I feel like there is a lot of Canadian talent practicing with each other. Just pushing everybody else to get better. I feel like the prep school route has kind of taken a huge toll on that too, because you go to prep school, you're preparing and playing against top level competition in the states, preparing ourselves for college. And once you get to college, you're already there, you know? Q. Carrick, for people that haven't seen you play, who is your game modeled after? Who is a guy that you kind of model your game after? CARRICK FELIX: I would say like a Jimmy Butler type. I'm a guy that's defensive minded. Defense is where I thrive at. I'm going to compete. I'm a high‑energy guy, and I'm going to go out there and run the floor. Just go out there and make plays. Q. Mike, these first two picks in the first round are offensive minded guys. You were brought in here for defense. Are you confident that with what you've seen so far on film from last year and adding a couple of guys this year that you'll be able to turn this team around defensively? COACH BROWN: I'm not trying to throw those guys under the bus; I'd say it to their face. But we had Damon Jones and Daniel Marshall here and we were one of the top defensive teams in the league. [laughter] These guys will figure out how to get on the floor. If they can't figure out that they've got to play defense, they'll be doing what they're doing right now. Q. Anthony? We hear you're a tweener, youÂ’re undersized at the power forward spot. Is that a hindrance? Do you look at that as a challenge? How does it affect your game? ANTHONY BENNETT: I don't think it affects my game. I've been playing at this height for college and in my high school too. So I feel like my 7'1, 7'2 wing span kind of helps making up for me being 6'7" or 6'8". TAD CARPER: Okay. Well, thank you, everybody. Thanks to our special guests on stage here today. We can't wait to get started. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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