2012 CB Draft Atlantic Division Press Conferences

[ronaldo943]

Boston, How would you respond to the charge that Jackson and Artest are not elite defenders, in fact are average at best defenders at this point in their careers and are living off their past accomplishments at this point?

To all the Atlantic teams, how do your teams match up to other likely Eastern play-off teams such as Indiana, Chicago, Washington, Atlanta and Detroit?

Yes! We are a playoff team

[ChampKind]

NYK: I think your assembled roster of Calderon/Leonard/Durant/BBD/Jordan is the right way to go, but what kind of assurances do you have that Leonard will be able to guard 2's?

Also, defensively where do you think you rank?

We know Leonard can play Sg's which he will do for portion's of a game cause he will most likely finish guarding the SF's but because of his long arms and quick feet he will reek havoc on SG's. As for where we rank on defense I would say somewhere in the top 12. We have guys who play the passing lane. Guys who take charges and and big big shot blocker. We like where we stand on Defense and have Tommy T's scheme never hurts.

Leonard was much more efficient at the 3 than at the 2, and while he can play there in stretches, it was the one position where he actually ceded PER to opposing players. Leonard is a very nice, developing piece, but I think you'd get much more out of him by using him as your super sub at the 3 primarily. He could even swing over to the 4 in brief minutes while retaining that effectiveness. I'd definitely sell him more as a jack-of-all-trades behind Durant.

[Lucky17]

Rotation and Minutes:

PG) - Westbrook(22)\Augustine(18)\Livingston(8.)
SG) - Jackson(16)\Westbrook(16)\Hamilton(16)
SF) - Artest(25)\Jackson(11)\Green(12)
PF) - Griffin(38)\Robinson(10)
C ) - Gasol(38)\Gray(6)\Erden(4)

Questions for Boston:

Q1. Why bother moving Westbrook to the 2 at all? It seems sort of "gimmicky" to me. Is it really that important to get DJ Augustin minutes? Why not keep Westbrook at his natural position for 35 minutes a game, and divvy up the available SG minutes to SJax, Rip and Green?

Q2. I'm sure you'd have preferred one more deal to address it, but are you concerned at all with your frontcourt depth? Do you envision having to play smallball at times?

Q3. You're down by 3, with 10 seconds left. Who takes the shot?

[wdleehi]

Philly:  How does this team go forward giving so few minutes to Turner?  How is he not starting?  Lawson and Turner are the only two guys I can see trying to build around. 


Boston:  How could you turn one of the favorites in the East to this?  You had one of the top 3 players in league and the 2nd best C in the NBA (with the 3rd C down being more then a single step down).  The best inside outside team in this draft.  Yes, the C has been know to come in soft in the big game, but the SF is clutch.  Still a playoff team, but no longer a contender.  Will Westbrook set Blake up enough? 

NY:  Huge grab to get Durrant at the last minute.  It is to bad you didn't have the time to rebuild the rest of the roster around him. 





How I see the teams so far  (waiting for the Nets)

1)  NY
2)  Boston
3)  76ers

[Lucky17]

Alright here we go NYC!

Knicks rosters look a little something like this..

Guards- Calderon/Monta/Meeks/Brewer
Fowards- Durant/Leonard/BBD/Haslem/Maggette/Babbit
Centers- Jordan/Mozgov

Mintues breakdown/Starting lineup

Calderon(33)
Leonard (28)
Durant (36)
Davis (24)
Jordan (29)

Bench play
Monta (32)
Maggettee (14)
Haslem (14)
Brewer (10)
Mozgov (6)
Meeks (6)
Babbit (4)
Warrick (3)

Q1. Concerns about DeAndre Jordan's foul rate? Your only true backup center is pencilled in for 6 minutes a night. Isn't it more likely that Glen Davis will see the bulk of his minutes at the 5?

Q2. Likewise, isn't it more likely that Haslem will need to play closer to 20-25 than 14 minutes a night?

Q3. Why are Hak Warrick, Meeks, and Babbit on the team if they're playing 6 minutes or fewer a night?

[Kane3387]

Chicago will not beat Boston

Since it's the press conferences, why not?

Boston: Who do you identify as the top three teams in the East besides yourself, and why will your team prevail over those squads?  TPs will be given for making IP look silly.

Chicago is soft. Too Small. Splitter as a starter and worse yet as a finisher is horrible. Do we all remember hack a splitter by Del Negro? Same with Haywood.

Brendan Haywood's corpse is the only shot blocking presence also. Gasol will own their centers. Bosh will get his 18 and 8 but at what impact? He is soft and will get punked if forced to play Center. He won't be able to stay with Griffin on the pick and rolls and he will get dunked on. I think along with the chirping of Artest and Jackson his psyche will come into question. Bosh can't match Griffin and Gasol.

Wade will have to defend Russell most likely. Holiday has no chance. This will be a problem

It might be a little ragged around the edges, but Russell Westbrook is having a Finals performance for the ages and establishing himself as the premier No. 2 option in the league. Though just 30 years old, Dwyane Wade is entering the twilight of his ability to compete with young thoroughbreds like Westbrook. So far, it's been an uphill battle.

Westbrook has registered more points, assists and rebounds (plus fewer turnovers) than Wade in each of the Finals' first two games, while the Heat guard has provided little other than token resistance. Both players will be called upon to deliver huge the rest of the way, as their matchup could very well decide the series. So far, it's been all Westbrook.

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs/2012/story/_/id/8062857/2012-nba-finals-russell-westbrook-gotten-better-dwyane-wade

[Kane3387]

Boston:  In hindsight, was the move to trade up into the 1st the right call?  From my perspective, Bynum was a nice get, but you gave up a ton to get him.

I think so. Hindsight is a tricky thing and for the most pointless. But I will entertain it  .

I looked at it as acquiring an asset. Was what amounted to a early 3rd and 4th round pick going to get me the equivalent of an Andrew Bynum? Could I move those players for a Bynum? And then a Gasol and Ellis? And then a Griffin (who I like more then Bynum overall) and pieces that helped me acquire a Jordan that then helped me acquire a Westbrook and reacquire a Gasol to place next to Griffin.

I looked at the trade for Bynum as ultimately a better asset coming in then the assets going out. If I don't make that trade I don't think I ever accumulate the combination of talent and notoriety to acquire my big three.

[Lucky17]

Rotation: Player (mins at position)

PG: Ty Lawson (34), Isiah Thomas (14)
SG: Arron Affalo (33), Nando De Colo (15)
SF: Jared Dudley (33), Evan Turner (15)
PF: Brandon Bass (31), Al Harrington (17)
C: Nikola Pekovic (31), Marcus Camby (17)

Deep Bench: PJ Tucker, Jason Thompson, Shannon Brown

Q1. You traded LaMarcus Aldridge for Millsap and picks, and then traded Millsap for pieces and picks. Any regrets?

Q2. How comfortable are you giving the available SG backup minutes to a first-year player, when you have Evan Turner and Shannon Brown available?

Q3. Why is Jason Thompson getting no time at all? (I suspect Harrington won't be ready to play full-speed until the second month of the season, so perhaps he will, by default.)

Q4. Any concerns that opponents will look to double/harass Ty Lawson, and fluster your offense?

[indeedproceed]

Boston: I think you're really underselling a significant problem you have, and that's ball movement. You say Gasol alleviates that, and he does help, but Gasol is a good passer for a center, not a great passer in general.

Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant (which we can all agree is a significant step up from Westbrook/Griffin) had a really hard time making the timeshare work, and it wasn't until James Harden came along that the ball movement issue seemed to get better, even then, only a little.

Durant's ability to create his own shot from isolation, as well as Westbrook's ability to do the same got them by more often than not, but now you've got a player in Griffin whose main gifts are much more pronounced when being fed by a gifted passer.

You're surrounding Westbrook with bench guys in DJ Augustine, S-Jax and Ron Artest who aren't really even good passers for their positions, let alone in general, and guys who are more known for taking a shot than passing up on it.

How are you going to stop your offense from stagnating?

[ronaldo943]

divison ranking, tell me why im right or wrong

1. Knicks
2. Boston
3. Brooklyn Nets
4. Philly

[Kane3387]

Questions for Boston:

Q1. Why bother moving Westbrook to the 2 at all? It seems sort of "gimmicky" to me. Is it really that important to get DJ Augustin minutes? Why not keep Westbrook at his natural position for 35 minutes a game, and divvy up the available SG minutes to SJax, Rip and Green?

Q2. I'm sure you'd have preferred one more deal to address it, but are you concerned at all with your frontcourt depth? Do you envision having to play smallball at times?

Q3. You're down by 3, with 10 seconds left. Who takes the shot?

1) I like having the option of playing Russ off ball some. It is something he is used to doing with Harden. I do want to give Augustine some run and I want to get in transition. Having two pgs helps Blake bc it makes the transition game easier to get started. Westbrook has played plenty with Maynor and Augustine can play the Derek Fisher role.

It benefits Westbrook to be in positions sometimes where he only has to worry about scoring and not facilitating as well. It's no different then Lebron or Wade playing with Chalmers. They still handle the rock quite a bit, but the situation is geared for it.

2) No i Like my depth. Blake and Gasol will be playing 38 mpg. And there will never be a situation where one of them isn't on the court unless it's garbage time. They're both very young and can handle the load. It's only 2 more mpg then they play last year.

3) The open man.

[Kane3387]

divison ranking, tell me why im right or wrong

1. Knicks
2. Boston
3. Brooklyn Nets
4. Philly

Tell me why NY over Boston? Other then Durant who is really coming to party with Blake, Russ, and Marc?

[Lucky17]

I won't have access to my computer until tomorrow or potentially late tonight

Preemptive questions for the Nets:

Q1. With the exception of Okafor and Jeffries, of the players who will start the team healthy for you this season, only Nick Young has more than 4 years of league experience. Are you concerned that too much pressure will be placed on young or relatively inexperienced players?

Q2. How much of an effect will Derrick Rose and Iman Shumpert have on this club if they don't return until the All-Star Break? March? At all?

Q3. How comfortable are you with your big man rotation?

[wdleehi]

divison ranking, tell me why im right or wrong

1. Knicks
2. Boston
3. Brooklyn Nets
4. Philly

Tell me why NY over Boston? Other then Durant who is really coming to party with Blake, Russ, and Marc?

Boston has no one to stop Durrant.  Davis is strong enough and plays good enough team defense to keep Blake from taking over the game.  And Ellis is basically Westbrook offensively but smaller (and never having the benefit of playing next to a talent like Durrant)



Gasol is a nice C, but not a game changing C. 

[ronaldo943]

divison ranking, tell me why im right or wrong

1. Knicks
2. Boston
3. Brooklyn Nets
4. Philly

Tell me why NY over Boston? Other then Durant who is really coming to party with Blake, Russ, and Marc?

This one was more of a coin toss, you have solid team but your starting wings kill you