CB Draft 2011 Atlantic Division Press Conferences

[StartOrien]

Celtics:

How concerned are you about the speed, or lack thereof between your starting 3, 4 and 5.

Yes, Hedo's speed is a concern, but not a tremendous one. I think you give Horford and Monroe too little credit for the athletes they are. They're the most athletic big duo in the division and at the very least are faster than Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph. 

I'm not quite sure if I totally agree with that. Greg Monroe is many things, but I don't know if I'd consider him an 'athlete'

[riah32]

New Jersey:

1.  Trade Durant for Lebron.  Is your team better, worse, or the same?

2.  About 2/3 of Scola's shots are from within 9 feet.  Does he use his jumper enough to avoid clogging the lane alongside Perk?

1. To be honest I think were the same maybe slightly worse. I say worse because lebron will want to be chucking all the time and i think that would take away from the offense as whole.

2. I think scola uses his jump shot enough to avoid clogging or I could always subistute gooden, charlie V in if i need spacing. I got one question who is going to be able to go inside on me with perkins and scola in there clogging the lane defensivly.

[indeedproceed]

Celtics (serious question I swear):

Greg Monroe showed a lot of heart last year in his play. He seemed to gain a lot of confidence, and he should be commended for that.

That said, he hardly seems ready to anchor a defense. So, I'm assuming Horford is the anchor there.

But Atlanta played substantially better when Horford played the 4, and either Collins or Pachullia played the 5.

So Horford had two capable defenders on either side, one of them being a difference maker in Josh Smith.

Now, he's going to have two questionable defenders on either side, one of them being a liability in Hedo Turkoglu.

Tell me why Horford is ready to assume the burden and make this team into a cohesive defensive unit.

[KCattheStripe]

Question for Boston: Tell me why all three of Holiday/Gordon/Monroe are all going to rise to the challenge, and especially why Monroe won't have a sophomore slump coming.

You and I have talked about why i think Horford is a rock and a leader of any team. He's already been the best player on a second round playoff team. Gordon has exactly the right attitude to flourish in a winning situation. Rarely do you see a young 2 guard on a bad team play defense as hard and as well as he does.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vho7HNgqRsQ

Monroe is unlikely to have a sophomore slump because what he does best is hustle and hit the boards, those kinds of players don't slump.

[StartOrien]

I love the title of that youtube clip so much that I'm convinced KC posted it himself.

[KCattheStripe]

Celtics:

How concerned are you about the speed, or lack thereof between your starting 3, 4 and 5.

Yes, Hedo's speed is a concern, but not a tremendous one. I think you give Horford and Monroe too little credit for the athletes they are. They're the most athletic big duo in the division and at the very least are faster than Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph. 

I'm not quite sure if I totally agree with that. Greg Monroe is many things, but I don't know if I'd consider him an 'athlete'

There are very few Centers I'd qualify by your definition as athletes. Howard and McGee and that's about it, and only one of them is good.  Monroe is a good athlete for a center.

[indeedproceed]

Celtics:

How concerned are you about the speed, or lack thereof between your starting 3, 4 and 5.

Yes, Hedo's speed is a concern, but not a tremendous one. I think you give Horford and Monroe too little credit for the athletes they are. They're the most athletic big duo in the division and at the very least are faster than Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph. 

I'm not quite sure if I totally agree with that. Greg Monroe is many things, but I don't know if I'd consider him an 'athlete'

There are very few Centers I'd qualify by your definition as athletes. Howard and McGee and that's about it, and only one of them is good.  Monroe is a good athlete for a center.

Yeah I mean I've found multiple sources that list Bogut as a 'very good athlete' from the center position.

Its hard to run like a deer if you're 7 ft, 270 lbs. I'm sure Monroe is adequate.

[KCattheStripe]

Celtics (serious question I swear):

Greg Monroe showed a lot of heart last year in his play. He seemed to gain a lot of confidence, and he should be commended for that.

That said, he hardly seems ready to anchor a defense. So, I'm assuming Horford is the anchor there.

But Atlanta played substantially better when Horford played the 4, and either Collins or Pachullia played the 5.

So Horford had two capable defenders on either side, one of them being a difference maker in Josh Smith.

Now, he's going to have two questionable defenders on either side, one of them being a liability in Hedo Turkoglu.

Tell me why Horford is ready to assume the burden and make this team into a cohesive defensive unit.

Actually Monroe didn't put up the shot blocking numbers you'd expect from a center, but that's because when he's defending in the post he uses his quick hands and strength to grab steals and pull the chair out from under guys. His post defense is very good and next to a very good defender like Horford--who will finally be defending his natural position-- he'll be even better. Put those two alongside great defenders like Gordon and Holiday and the only liability is Hedo, which this team can work around.

[Who]

I really like the starting fives for New York and New Jersey but both team's benches worry me.

[KCattheStripe]

I love the title of that youtube clip so much that I'm convinced KC posted it himself.

You guys are lucky I have zero youtubing skills.

[Gainesville Celtic]

I really like the starting fives for New York and New Jersey but both team's benches worry me.

A note from the Knicks PR dept....



we've got a rock-solid backup PG, a 17 ppg 6th man and a couple rebounding bulldogs (Blair, Turiaf, Hill)... and a couple young-uns.

(more responses to press conf questions to come during lunch)

[Gainesville Celtic]

Tommy points all around to my Atlantic Division brethren...KC, Riah, & Mgent. This is the best division and they've all worked hard to get that 2nd place finish 

finally back at a computer and ready to answer any/all questions... I'll go one-by one in the thread.

1 question for BOS, PHI and NJ:  really?!? 

[Gainesville Celtic]

Great job with the photoshopping, GC.  It earns you extra credit with me.  Some questions:

1.  KC seems to think he reached on Tim Duncan.  Do you agree?  Is he still a 1st round player?

Not really. and No.


Did KC (BOS) reach for Duncan at 1.22... depends on how you define reach. He went 22nd, I had him ranked predraft around 27th.

I don't think he's a 1st rounder anymore but he makes a GREAT compliment as an early 2nd rounder to a budding star. With my 1/22 and 2/3 picks I was hoping to pair a young guy like Westbrook, Horford, Evans, etc. with a vet winner like Duncan or KG. So I was a little bummed that KC took him (Duncan would likely not have lasted past 2.3 so 5 spots can't really be called a reach).

The NBA's history is littered with mercurial talent that was great early on but didn't have any veteran leadership to help guide that talent (think Pierce in the early 2000s as but one example).

What Duncan's lost is executables, he still has in drive, leadership, winability, and basketball IQ.

New YOrk Knicks: Tell me why Tim Duncan isn't going to continue to get worse next season. Also, if Tim Duncan misses any significant number of games, can your team handle it and still retain a playoff spot? Can they retain a upper-level seed?

Duncan will continue to decline next year but it won't be to below replacement level or anything ridiculous like that.

To be clear: Duncan is the the 2nd/3rd best guy now on a championship team (and is on these Knicks), but is still a guy who makes THE difference when the games MATTER.

Again, the NBA has been littered with all-star like teams the kind folks have built here in the CB draft. What's usually missing is a leader, someone who can impart "The Secret" as Simmons puts it; Who's the extension of the coach on the floor, who's the one demonstrating/living... EMBODYING the Ubuntu a team needs to win it all. Too often in real life and in CBD these "intangibles" are overlooked, dismissed, etc.

We're looking for a pedestrian regular season of 12/7/3 + 2 blks in ~26-28 mpg. Like the Celtics have done with KG in years past we'll find an injury to rest Ducan for 8 games here and 5 games there to keep him fresh for the Playoffs.

[StartOrien]

Yeah I mean I've found multiple sources that list Bogut as a 'very good athlete' from the center position.

Its hard to run like a deer if you're 7 ft, 270 lbs. I'm sure Monroe is adequate.

I'm not knocking his ability, or speed for his size.

I'm saying that I think the Celtics might have some serious concerns that their small forward, power forward and center's speed are average to below average.

[Gainesville Celtic]

2.  What have you seen out of Taj Gibson and Jodie Meeks that makes you think they can make up 40% of a championship contender's starting lineup?

They each do one thing *really* well and as importantly they understand their role and "stay their lane" as Dave Chappelle puts it:

Meeks can shoot the ball (40% from 3; 60.0 TS%) and is crucial to keeping teams from double teaming Deng & Duncan.

Gibson is a defensive presence -- 1.3 bpg and 6 rpg in just 21 mpg -- and an active body on both ends of the court.


Are they all stars? No. But a tiny minority of championship teams has 4-5 all-stars starting. The key to me is that they're playing with a bona-fide trio of stars in Deron Williams (the best PG in the NBA), Deng and Duncan.