Penney
For His Thoughts
Nov.
5, 2003
It has all happened so
fast for Burger King Tall Black Kirk Penney, the second Kiwi to play in the
NBA.
One moment, he is
virtually packing his bags for
Life is weird in the
NBA. Penney tried to explain recent events to the NZ media ...
Q:
Several teams appeared to think you were up to the mark in the NBA ... were you
that surprised to get this contract?
Penney: It definitely was a
surprise. You just don't know where or when it's going to happen, but you soon
learn to deal with the highs and lows and keep an even keel throughout.
Anything could happen.
Q:
Is this a short term contract?
Penney: You know, I can't
really answer that right now. It depends how I play and some other factors come
into it. We'll just have to see.
Q:
Was your debut all you expected? How did you feel afterwards?
Penney: It was great to get out
there and to make the first shot was special. I had no experience in
Q:
You're played in the pre-season and summer league. How different was this
occasion ... the real thing?
Penney: I'll probably know a
bit more after tonight when we play the defending champions,
Q:
Were you aware that
Penney: I knew they were. I had
a good summer league against them and they wanted to bring me into veterans camp, but at that stage, I had committed to
Q:
Any chance of Sean playing against you tonight?
Penney: I just had lunch with
him and we were both hoping to play. The Spurs can't activite
him until
Q:
How good is it to have a friendly ear like Sean's to bounce stuff off at this
time?
Penney: I just had lunch with
him, Shane Heal and [Spurs centre] Rasho Nesterovic. We were just bouncing stories from the Aussie
series and I was asking Sean about the
Q:
What sort of feedback did you get from the
Penney: I think they understand
the situation I'm in. I was just happy to get some time ... pretty surprised,
actually. It was fan, but it's a difficult situation to walk into. They
understand there will be some growing pains, but tomorrow we've got a day off
and we can get some practice time. That's what I need now.
Q:
How have you adjusted to the bigger three-point shot?
Penney: I'm getting really
comfortable with it. In
Q:
What exactly is your role on the team?
Penney: Roles are changing
every day. For me right now, I'm kind of glad to walk into this situation,
having had experience with
Q:
Will you play tonight?
Penney: Well, I'll be on the
bench, but the rest is up to the coach. I don't know if I'll play tonight, it's
hard to tell whether they'll base it my performance last night, on my
reputation, on how I look in the shootaround ... I
haven't practiced once with this team, so they're still determining where I
stand.
Q:
So practice is very important to your future with the Heat?
Penney: That's when you go up
against the guys you are competing against for court time ... Eddie Jones, Rasual Butler, whoever.
I just think