On going back to France
"It’s always good to go back and see your family. When you come here in September, you have your mind fresh. It’s going to be a long season and we want it to be a long season because we really want to win the championship."
On starting
"I like to come off the bench. I don’t mind if Matt Barnes starts. It’s just a matter of winning a championship.I don’t mind if guys start or come off the bench. It’s all about team here and getting this team to the next level. That’s what I’m looking for. I want to give my team the best energy to win basketball games."
On whether or not he feels less pressure coming off the bench
"There’s pressure all the time. It’s all about team. When you work hard and practice and someone’s starting, you just have to give the best energy that you can when you start the game or if you come off the bench. I don’t care if I start but I really want to come off the bench."
On the addition of Barnes and not always having to defend the opposing team’s best wing
"I always take the challenge. I’m not going to play 48 minutes so someone has to replace me on guys like Kobe Bryant, LeBron, Dwayne Wade so I think that’s why we have a good team this year and hopefully we’re going to go to the finals and win it."
On learning from mistakes
"We learn as a team. I think that we went to the finals as a team and we know how hard it’s going to be for everybody, especially in the east. Washington got stronger. Cleveland got stronger. It’s going to be a very interesting post season and a very interesting season so I’m excited about it."
On his wrist injury and how it affected his offseason
"I want to take care of my wrist first and make sure when I come back in camp we have a good team and we’re not missing anybody. I can’t wait to start tomorrow. I’m happy to see all the guys. We went to the finals last year and I want to go back again. You can tell this flag up here is fresh (Pietrus pointed to the 2008-09 Eastern Conference Champions banner)."
On mourning the Finals loss
"It was tough. It was tough because the Magic haven’t been in the finals for 15 years but as a player and as a group, we worked hard. The Lakers were in this position but they lost it last year and they came back and won it all. We have to learn from them and learn from us. It’s not going to be easy to get back to the NBA Finals but if we play the same way, we can make it. And we really want it."
Mickael decided not play for France this off-season because of his wrist injury. He said that it was hard for him to sit out, but he knew he needed to to make sure he would be healthy for the upcoming season.
Pietrus is a pretty funny guy. He asked Josh Robbins about seeing him hurt his wrist last year and told the media about how much he missed them.
"It’s always good to see you guys. I miss you. Sincerely, I miss you."
It’s cool to see a guy like Pietrus that you don’t hear talk much and see his personality really come out. He just seems to love being out there and loves being part of this team. He’s just another Magic player who really enjoys himself, but also knows when he needs to be serious.
(Andrew Melnick is Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger. Subscribe to his RSS feed and add him on Twitter to follow him daily.)