2012 CB Draft Southwest Division Press Conferences

[Roy H.]

Question for Dallas:

What's up with Kyrie Irvings defense? Why was he so bad last year in that respect?

Chalk the defensive numbers up to the lack if talent on cleveland. Irving had to conserve his energy to carry the offense, much like Lebron in his early years. Also, after AV went down, Cleveland had no interior defenders, ans never had anybody to help on the perimeter.

This team, of course, has elite defenders in Lebron, Thabo, Brand and Varejao.

[Gainesville Celtic]

Sadly due to work-time constraints, the New Orleanses Bugzzz presser won't have the same pizzaz as Gainesville Celtics' previous teams... Please don't hold this against us...


1. Roster

PG - Tony Parker* / JJ Barea* / Eric Bledsoe
SG - Ray Allen* / Leandro Barbosa
SF - Shane Battier* / James Johnson
PF - David Lee / Trevor Booker / Dante Cunningham
C - Tyson Chandler* / JJ Hickson / Gustavo Ayon

* = NBA champion

Coach - Jeff Van Gundy
Director of In Game Entertainment - Mike Patton
House Band - Dikembe




1b. Rotation

During the regular season we'll go 9 deep:

Parker (33 min/gm)
R. Allen (28*)
Battier (26*)
D. Lee (33)
Chandler (33)

J. Johnson (24)
Barea (25)
Hickson (26)
------------
Booker (10)
Bledsoe/Barbosa/Ayon (10)

* = reduced regular season mins to save their legs for the playoffs

Playoff rotations will be shortened with Allen and Battier playing more mins; the rest of the rotation will involve our starters + Barea, Johnson & Hickson with spot minutes depending on matchups.


2. Overall philosophy

We always draft to win now, ALWAYS. Since we were drafting in the 20s (FOR THE 3rd YEAR IN A ROW -- COME ON!!!), we had no choice but to build the most balanced, efficient team we could. We put a premium on players that we think fit together, play as a team with a premium on defensive players.

In a division with Lebron and the same conf. as Dwight Howard the added challenge was to build a team that could attempt to defend each come playoff time.


3. Pictures & Stats


Tony Parker, PG


18.3 ppg, 7.7 apg, 2.9 rpg, 1.0 spg, 48% FG, in 32.1 mpg 22.0 PER

This was the year that the Spurs undeniably became Parker's team. Parker finished 5th in the MVP balloting after leading the Spurs to back-to-back best records in the NBA.

An underated PG with a 3.0 asst/to ratio he's the perfect guy to lead our underated squad.


Ray Allen, SG


14.2 ppg, 2.4 apg, 3.1 rpg, 2.3 3PG, 45% 3FG in 34 mpg 14.8 PER

Allen compliments Parker's drive and dish and pick-and-roll game perfectly. Allen is older, but the Ray Allen we saw at the end of the year was hampered by injury that will be a thing of the past next season. A willing defender, Allen makes for a stellar, ultra-efficient backcourt with Parker.


Shane Battier, SF


4.8 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 1.3 apg, 1.0 spg, 0.5 bpg, 1.0 3pG, 34% 3FG in 23.1 mpg

The main reason Lebron got Riley to go out and get Battier was simply because he's given Lebron the biggest problems defensively over the last couple of years. It's the same reason we drafted Battier -- to defend Lebron and hit the corner 3 on passes from Parker and Allen. He may not be the elite defender he once was but he's still among the league's best and our best option to limit Lebron.



David Lee, PF


20.1 ppg, 9.6 rpg, 2.8 apg, 0.9 spg, 0.4 bpg, 50% FG, 19.7 PER in 37.2 mpg.

David Lee will be our low post anchor and we think another good fit alongside Tyson Chandler. A plus rebounder Lee will be asked to rebound and score.



Tyson Chandler, C


11.3 ppg, 9.9 rpg, 0.9 apg, 0.9 spg, 1.4 bpg in 33.2 mpg.

The league's reigning Defensive Player of the Year (who was moronically left off the all-defensive team) and the defensive anchor of the US olympic team and the 2011 NBA Champions, Chandler will anchor the Bugzz defense too. A skilled pick-and-roll guy, he'll fit beautifully with Tony Parker's game.


James Johnson, SF
An underated defender who was one only 7 players (min 13 gms) to average a block and a steal this season. He'll form a formidable 1-2 defensive punch with Battier at the 3.


JJ Barea, PG
Our sparkplug off the bench, Barea is an efficient (sense a theme here?) PG who avg 5.7 assists off the bench last year and shot 37% from 3 while adding 11 points and nearly 3 rebounds. Barea is the kind of offensive change-of-pace guy that can turn a game round.

JJ Hickson, PF/C
Hickson is a load down low who can play both the 4 and the 5. If you overlook his time on the Kings -- who had 38 PFs and no real PG early in the year -- his 2 yr averages (incl. SAC) are 11.6 ppg, 7.7 rpg, 0.6 bpg, 0.7 apg in 26 mpg. He'll backup both Lee and Chandler and play well alongside both.

Trevor Booker, PF/C
Another gritty guy and team-first defender, Booker was, at 6-7", 7 blocks away from avergaing 1blk + 1stl. He adds depth at the 4 (and 3 where he's already told WAS he's willing to play if need be).

Deeper Bench

Gustavo Ayon PF/C
A rookie surprise who missed that 1blk + 1stl plateau by 8 blocks. He's a highly efficient player who rebounds well for a youngster

Eric Bledsoe, PG
Burried behind CP3 and Billups, Bledsoe lost playing time last year, but CP3 raved about his defense and willingness to be ready when called on. He made the difference in at least one playoff game for the Clips off the bench

Leandro Barbosa
A veteran speedster who can shoot the 3 and defend Barbosa will get minutes at the PG and SG slots, and is very strong, deep bench injury insurance.

Dante Cunningham, PF
A versatile 13th man who can play the 3 or the 4 and defend well off the bench


4. Toughest Decision
I think our toughest decision was one we didn't make... at different times we discussed moving David Lee for Kenneth Faried. While I had Faried ranked a few spots higher than Lee, I ultimately thought Lee fit a little better with his bulk and added scoring on a team already low on scoring with Chandler and Battier.


5. Best/Worst move
Best - DRafting Tony Parker at #20 --- I know that's a bit odd to be my best move, but Parker is criminially underated in this and the real NBA --- he's a 3-time champion, Finals MVP, led the Spurs to back-to-back best regular season records and finished 5th in the MVP voting this year. Parker has been a top 10 player for the last 2 seasons.


Worst -- Trading down to often -- I dealt 3.5 for 3.17 for 4.5... missing out on Luol Deng, Danny Granger and Gerald Wallace at SF.

(probably have some other Best/Worst, but my spreadsheet crashed so i'm going a bit on memory).



6. Season Outlook
I think we're a little bit like last year's Celtics.... we're not concerned or realistic about getting the #1 seed in the West, but we do think that our team's balanced makeup, efficiency and defensive commitment will give us a legit, if non-favorite, chance at making the finals.

For a team picking #20, that ain't to shabby.

[Yoki_IsTheName]

I call in to the witness' stands, The Dallas GM.

Mr. Dallas GM...

Claims from the prosecution have been suggested that Kyrie is also a ball dominant player and seems to be effective when he has control of the ball. Kindly respond to the question, how would Kyrie have a better production from last season without having the ball and not running the show most of the time?

[Yoki_IsTheName]

GC...

My question is...

Actually I don't have any questions. I LOVE YOUR TEAM and I believe it's a championship caliber team.

[ronaldo943]

Questions for Dallas:

You guys are favorites to win the division and the championship, is there any chance for an upset to happen?

[Rondo2287]

Questions for Dallas:

You guys are favorites to win the division and the championship, is there any chance for an upset to happen?

If you wanna crown em?  Then crown em!

[indeedproceed]

Dallas: In one word, how important is LeBron James as a complete player, from his skillset, his athleticism, his size, everything..how important is he to what Dallas is doing?

[indeedproceed]

Question for Dallas:

What's up with Kyrie Irvings defense? Why was he so bad last year in that respect?

Chalk the defensive numbers up to the lack if talent on cleveland. Irving had to conserve his energy to carry the offense, much like Lebron in his early years. Also, after AV went down, Cleveland had no interior defenders, ans never had anybody to help on the perimeter.

This team, of course, has elite defenders in Lebron, Thabo, Brand and Varejao.

Can we do that with every poor defender on a team without a lot of talent?

[Gainesville Celtic]

One and only question for Dallas:


None other than Heat Coach Eric Spoelstra (Source) has said:

The difference from this year to last year was Shane Battier. That’s why we went after him so hard in the offseason. People looked at that as a little unconventional. They thought we had so many wing players, why would we go after another one? But he was the key to really unlock all our versatility and to put our best players out there and really be positionless and make other teams have to adjust to us.

While at this stage of their careers Jeff Green may be better than Shane Battier in an absolute sense, I don't think he brings the sort of versatility and intangibles (he's more of a star-lite player) that would allow Lebron to play PF for long stretches.

But, as Spoelstra points out, the Heat already had three super-versatile players in Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and LeBron James on the roster when they lost in the Finals.

That wasn't enough.

Enter Battier, who may not be as unique a player as James, but he is nearly as “positionless.” Battier has a mix of skills and size that, while not unheard of, matter as more teams seek to follow the Heat’s model.

In the year seasons BB (Before Battier) James only played 14% of MIA's mins at PF. And while I don't doubt his ability to play there alongside another positionless guy like Battier, is Green really that kind of player?

(BTW I think Granger was that kind of player which is why i was glad DAL dealt him  )

Green played the large bulk of his mins in OKC at PF and looked out of sorts at SF in BOS, how will he be able to make that transition in DAL?

[Gainesville Celtic]

Can a mod add links to the OP to HOU and New Orleans' pressers?

[Edgar]

Dallas: In one word, how important is LeBron James as a complete player, from his skillset, his athleticism, his size, everything..how important is he to what Dallas is doing?

As important as he was in any other team he played before

you can win championships with him and you cant
this year
we will

[Gainesville Celtic]

Question for HOUSTON ---

What would need to happen THIS SEASON for your TOTF to surprise folks and challenge for the 8 seed?

[Kane3387]

Question for Dallas:

What's up with Kyrie Irvings defense? Why was he so bad last year in that respect?

Chalk the defensive numbers up to the lack if talent on cleveland. Irving had to conserve his energy to carry the offense, much like Lebron in his early years. Also, after AV went down, Cleveland had no interior defenders, ans never had anybody to help on the perimeter.

This team, of course, has elite defenders in Lebron, Thabo, Brand and Varejao.

How concerned are you about your lack of size?

Varejao has only played in 56 out of a possible 148 games the past two seasons. After that you have Robin Lopez who only played 14 minutes per game last year and Joel Anthony. How confident are you guys in the backups getting big minutes?

For International Players they kind of burn the candle at both ends. It shortened Yao's career and many other international players get hurt from the grind of 365 days of hoops. Do you like or dislike Andy playing in the summer games?

Also you have some serious bigs in your conference. Howard/Milsap, Bynum, Horford/LA combo, KG/Boozer combo, Noah/Love combo and maybe even Dirk/Hibbert. What's your plan to defend the bigger teams? Do you match up one on one or double?

Also Lebron never matched up with a big PF. Are you worried about his ability to defend the more talented and bigger PFs in the West like LA, Dirk, and Love?

[indeedproceed]

GC, that's a heck of a question. Well done.

[Edgar]

Question for Dallas:

What's up with Kyrie Irvings defense? Why was he so bad last year in that respect?

Chalk the defensive numbers up to the lack if talent on cleveland. Irving had to conserve his energy to carry the offense, much like Lebron in his early years. Also, after AV went down, Cleveland had no interior defenders, ans never had anybody to help on the perimeter.

This team, of course, has elite defenders in Lebron, Thabo, Brand and Varejao.

How concerned are you about your lack of size?

Varejao has only played in 56 out of a possible 148 games the past two seasons. After that you have Robin Lopez who only played 14 minutes per game last year and Joel Anthony. How confident are you guys in the backups getting big minutes?

For International Players they kind of burn the candle at both ends. It shortened Yao's career and many other international players get hurt from the grind of 365 days of hoops. Do you like or dislike Andy playing in the summer games?

Also you have some serious bigs in your conference. Howard/Milsap, Bynum, Horford/LA combo, KG/Boozer combo, Noah/Love combo and maybe even Dirk/Hibbert. What's your plan to defend the bigger teams? Do you match up one on one or double?

Also Lebron never matched up with a big PF. Are you worried about his ability to defend the more talented and bigger PFs in the West like LA, Dirk, and Love?

Well dont put varejao aside after his olympics thats No.1 reality.
About size, Brand still is in our team dont count him out he can play really well both spots too.

Anthony and newly promoted Lopez are really good solid bangers
and most of all Varejao will be ready to play a full season again *unless Cleveland tank