2012 CB Draft Central Division Press Conferences

[Kane3387]

Wade missed 17 games this season and Miami went 14-3. He is becoming overrated.

In all seriousness, I would agree with this. He's still a great player, but I don't think he's the game changing talent he once was.

I've got Russell Westbrook well ahead of him at this point.

If you watched the Finals it wasn't that close.

[Rondo2287]

Lucky's got a sneaky great team, huh?

I have been thinking that since he first posted in the how does my team look thread during about the 6th or 7th round.  His team went under the radar but is really quite good.

[Kane3387]

Yoki,

Melo and George Karl seemed to get into it near the end.

How does Melo work with Pop?

[Kane3387]

wdleehi,

I like the team's talents around Rondo. I think they compliment his skill set.

However they are young and will make mistakes. Rondo is impatient and demands excellence. He is used to a certain standard of play.

Any worries he gets disengaged and rubs too many of his teammates the wrong way?

[Roy H.]

Chicago, rumor has it that you debated selecting Marc Gasol at 2.1, but instead went with Tyson Chandler.  Why? 

[Lucky17]

Detroit:

Your best big man is Nene. How is he enough n the paint to win a title?

I think the best team CP3 ever played on was the 2008 team in NO. How is your team better? Is this past season's Danny Granger really the difference if you feel it is?

Also Nene got paid and then barely played. He missed 37 games.

How do you keep him healthy?

Thoughts about restricting his minutes some more? He's being played slightly more then his career average and what he has played the last two years.

Are you worried about your defense for the starting five? I know you will be playing under Mike D, but I am just wondering.

Nene in the paint on offense: we can spread the floor with shooters like Wes, Granger, and Ersan, which should provide CP3 with attacking lanes and opportunities for P&R close to the basket for Nene. Nene also has a good post-up game, and should have a quickness advantage over his defender to allow him to get open for easy looks as well. He's also a willing passer, so the ball will come out again for open shots for the aforementioned wings. And I take your point about Nene's health. I don't want to overload him with minutes. Amir, Kenyon, and Jordan Hill will also spell him at C.

Here's the roster of that 2007-08 Hornets:

http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/NOH/2008.html
http://www.82games.com/0708/0708NOH.HTM

Really, it was CP3, David West, Tyson Chandler, Peja, Mo Pete, and a cast of glue guys. We don't have a singular defender of Chandler's caliber, but I think our roster has more collective talent on both sides of the ball.

As for defense, I'm not worried. Wes Matthews is an underrated defender. Ilyasova is very good on the defensive glass, and could even average a double-double given 30 minutes a night. Let's not forget CP3 is a terrific defensive PG also. Granger and Nene significantly out-PER their respective counterparts at SF/PF and C. And Paul, Wes, Granger, and Nene all averaged at least one steal a game last year (CP3 leading the league at 2.5 per).

Our club is going to rebound and force turnovers, and have lots of fast break opportunities.

[Yoki_IsTheName]

Yoki,

Melo and George Karl seemed to get into it near the end.

How does Melo work with Pop?

Tough one.

Pop just seems to know what his players' strengths are. I can see Pop playing Melo in a Tony Parker role, not in a "he'll bring the floor down the court" role but in a sense that the offense will revolve around him and his abilities in scoring and underrated passing.

To answer the question, it'll work because Pop's great at motivating and convincing his players and they buy into what he says. He convinced Parker that if he plays like he did during the FIBA Worlds (i think) he'll be better, and he suddenly turned into an MVP candidate. He convinced Manu in his entire career that while he's a starter level talent, he's better off the bench and the team will be better that way, and it worked. He has this ability to make the players believe him, and if he says Melo can not just be a scorer but he can involve other players and make them better by doing this and that, Melo will do it, and it'll work. Aside from the fact that Pop is well respected in the league, there's a ton of believability (if that's even a word) in him that players seems to have no problem buying in.

It's been done in SA, I don't see a reason why he wont be able to with Melo.

[Lucky17]

I'll pose a question to the group:

With apologies to Indiana and Cleveland (both of whom I think should make the playoffs), if the division comes down to Detroit and Chicago, which 9-man rotation comes out on top, and why?

Detroit vs. Chicago
CP3/Wes/Fields vs. Wade/Holiday/Jack
Granger/Chase vs. Pierce/Parsons
Nene/Ilyasova/KMart/Amir vs. Bosh/Young/Haywood/Splitter

[ronaldo943]

I'll pose a question to the group:

With apologies to Indiana and Cleveland (both of whom I think should make the playoffs), if the division comes down to Detroit and Chicago, which 9-man rotation comes out on top, and why?

Detroit vs. Chicago
CP3 vs. Holiday
Wes/Fields vs. Wade/Jack
Granger/Chase vs. Pierce/Parsons
Nene/Ilyasova/KMart/Amir vs. Bosh/Young/Haywood/Splitter

This is a tough one, Im goin with Detroit.

[Yoki_IsTheName]

I'll pose a question to the group:

With apologies to Indiana and Cleveland (both of whom I think should make the playoffs), if the division comes down to Detroit and Chicago, which 9-man rotation comes out on top, and why?

Detroit vs. Chicago
CP3 vs. Holiday
Wes/Fields vs. Wade/Jack
Granger/Chase vs. Pierce/Parsons
Nene/Ilyasova/KMart/Amir vs. Bosh/Young/Haywood/Splitter

This is a pretty even matchup for me honestly.

I'd still go Chicago by a hair or two. Granger is on a slump and Nene while solid is no Chris Bosh. The bench might be in favor of Detroit by a bit, but there's too much star power in Chicago's starting lineup.

[StartOrien]

Lucky's got a sneaky great team, huh?

I think it's the best team in the division probably for the regular season. But when the playoffs come and the games slow down D'antoni has always had some issues.

I'm not sure if I'd rank them ahead of the Bills, but I disagree with your thoughts on D'Antoni in the playoffs. His problem was that he ran into some great teams, not necessarily the pace.

[ronaldo943]

I'll pose a question to the group:

With apologies to Indiana and Cleveland (both of whom I think should make the playoffs), if the division comes down to Detroit and Chicago, which 9-man rotation comes out on top, and why?

Detroit vs. Chicago
CP3 vs. Holiday
Wes/Fields vs. Wade/Jack
Granger/Chase vs. Pierce/Parsons
Nene/Ilyasova/KMart/Amir vs. Bosh/Young/Haywood/Splitter

This is a pretty even matchup for me honestly.

I'd still go Chicago by a hair or two. Granger is on a slump and Nene while solid is no Chris Bosh. The bench might be in favor of Detroit by a bit, but there's too much star power in Chicago's starting lineup.

How could you forget the beast of Ilyasova!

[Who]

I'll pose a question to the group:

With apologies to Indiana and Cleveland (both of whom I think should make the playoffs), if the division comes down to Detroit and Chicago, which 9-man rotation comes out on top, and why?

Detroit vs. Chicago
CP3/Wes/Fields vs. Wade/Holiday/Jack
Granger/Chase vs. Pierce/Parsons
Nene/Ilyasova/KMart/Amir vs. Bosh/Young/Haywood/Splitter

If Chicago goes small with Bosh at center, I'd lean towards Chicago by a small margin.

If Chicago stays big with Bosh at PF, I think Detroit takes it comfortably.

[Yoki_IsTheName]

I'll pose a question to the group:

With apologies to Indiana and Cleveland (both of whom I think should make the playoffs), if the division comes down to Detroit and Chicago, which 9-man rotation comes out on top, and why?

Detroit vs. Chicago
CP3 vs. Holiday
Wes/Fields vs. Wade/Jack
Granger/Chase vs. Pierce/Parsons
Nene/Ilyasova/KMart/Amir vs. Bosh/Young/Haywood/Splitter

This is a pretty even matchup for me honestly.

I'd still go Chicago by a hair or two. Granger is on a slump and Nene while solid is no Chris Bosh. The bench might be in favor of Detroit by a bit, but there's too much star power in Chicago's starting lineup.

How could you forget the beast of Ilyasova!

I did not. I just put Bosh over him.

[Kane3387]

Rankings

When I look at the rosters for the top three teams I don't see much separation. I think match ups are the key here. I am only looking at the regular season so I am factoring minutes, injuries, and style of play.

The D Wade I saw last year is not better then the Rondo I saw last year. I think Rondo makes all these guys better. I think Batum can give Pierce problems with his D, length, and athleticism. I LOVE Bradley on Wade. And Indiana's front court is better then Chicago's. Chicago brings more experience to the table and I like them in a series.

I like Indiana matching up against Detroit too. I think Rondo will always bring it against Paul and I think Bradley defends him. Rondo can stay with Wes. Granger has the edge on Batum but Batum makes him less efficient. I like the front court better for Indiana then I do Detroit.

Detroit and Chicago is an interesting matchup. CP3 is the best player on the court. I will take Pierce over Granger but it's close enough that it's almost a draw. I like Bosh more then Nene. I think these teams are incredibly close but I like Detroit's five better. The difference is Ilyasova's production vs Splitter. It gives it the edge in my opinion by a little bit.

Rankings by best player - Paul over Wade by a good amount, Pierce and Granger pretty even, Bosh over Nene  by a little bit, Holiday over Matthews by a little bit, and Ilyasova over Splitter by a fair amount.

1) Detroit - D'antoni with this lineup in the regular season is good.
2) Tie between Chicago and Indiana. I think they finish with the same record. Chicago isn't going to max its players out in the regular season and will drop some games as a result. This is smart though. Indiana will go Balls to the Wall and Rondo has an incredible statistical year.
4) Cleveland - I don't trust Bogut to stay healthy. I also don't like Pop with Melo to begin the season, but I think this team still fights for the 8th seed after a bonding session between its coach and best player.