2012 CB Draft Southwest Division Press Conferences

[StartOrien]

Question for the Commissioner:

Can we extend the Southwest Division Press Conferences out a month so I can finish readign Roy's presser?

[Roy H.]

Q1. Roy, do you have an expectation of percentages or minutes breakdown for these lineups?

It all depends upon matchups.  Lebron will probably play less PF in the regular season than during the playoffs, but we're not going to make a prediction in terms of estimated minutes played.

Q2. Lebron played 24% of his team's available minutes at PF last season. The overwhelmingly more effective lineup the Heat used was Chalmers-Wade-Battier-James-Bosh (as opposed to Joel Anthony at C, which had a win pct of 38%). Any worries that your lineup lacks a C that is both as quick and as offensively gifted as Bosh, or a SF defender like Battier?

No.  Brand is a MUCH better defender than Bosh, and he was a more efficient jump shooter last year, too.  Also, Thabo is a better defender than Battier, and can defend SFs when necessary.  Sefolosha played elite defense against Tony Parker, Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, and Lebron in the playoffs.

Q3. Your C rotation is comprised of three players with similar skill sets. Was this intentional? Any worries about Lopez not being ready this season due to knee surgery?

Keep in mind that Brand is playing center, too.  But yes, we wanted strong interior defenders, which is why we went with Varejao, Lopez, and Anthony (and of course Brand).

And no, no concerns about Lopez.  He's been named the Hornets starting center, which is good enough for us.  Minor meniscus surgery is nothing in today's NBA.  It shows Lopez is a team player, too; if he followed the normal path of NBA players, he would have taken another two months off and then gotten surgery right before training camp.

[Gainesville Celtic]

New Orleans: It looks like Houston and San Antonio will be counting wins like most people count golf strokes as they advance towards the future.

A lot of people just kind of are almost resigned to Dallas being the best team in the division, but Tony Parker was an MVP candidate and best player on the equivalent of a 62 win team that finished ahead of the Miami team.

Do you think (Gainesville) that the Mavericks finishing first for the regular season is a foregone conclusion? Do you think you finish first? Also, why to either answer.

checkin in on our luch break...

Nothing is ever a forgone conclusion, but Mavs are the favorite by virtue of Lebron.

But I also think people have slept on Tony Parker for a long time.. all the guy does is win. Pre-2010 that had mostly to do with Duncan. I'd argue that Parker was the main reason over the last 2 seasons.


But I honestly don't think we're (NOLA) that far behind... maybe 2-3 GB and a #3 seed (jsut a guess since i haven't looked through the whole West closely).

Defensive Player of the Year (who's had a KG-like effect on team defense at his last 3 stops), efficient scorers in Allen and Lee, and great spot-up 3 point shooters... We're not backing down from anyone. 

[Roy H.]

Question for the Commissioner:

Can we extend the Southwest Division Press Conferences out a month so I can finish readign Roy's presser?

Good thing there was a deadline, or it would have been twice as long.

[Lucky17]

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

Q1. Any worries about where the offense will come from in the starting lineup, or when the starters rest?

Q2. Will both Parker and Barea be on the court at the same time? How might this affect team defense?

Q3. Can Hickson and Johnson play major minutes for a team that hopes to contend?

[Kane3387]

How concerned are you about your lack of size?

Is this a trick question?  We have one of the biggest lineups in the league.  That size isn't just up front, but all the way over the roster.  It's not just height, either; our guys have long arms, and have a knack for playing great defense.

I guess I should say scoring in the paint. Other then Lebron who scores on the block?

[StartOrien]

Question for the Commissioner:

Can we extend the Southwest Division Press Conferences out a month so I can finish readign Roy's presser?

Good thing there was a deadline, or it would have been twice as long.

Haha. Good god I don't look forward to seeing you in the playoffs.

[Gainesville Celtic]

New Orleans:  Can a team with Battier, Chandler, and an old Ray Allen in the starting lineup score enough to win?

Can your wings create enough offense on their own without slowing your offense down to a crawl running screens?

Where does the defense come from in the back court?

these are legit questions....

Offense in starting lineup

count me as not believing that the Ray Allen we saw in the playoffs was the Ray Allen we'll see next year. Pre-injury he was scoring 14 ppg and on a team like ours I think he can/will easily run that average back up to near his historical average ~ 18-21 ppg.

19.4 / 15.8 / 14.2 / 12.5 / 11.9

20.1 / 18.3 / 14.2 / 11.3 / 4.8

That first line is the Celtics starters' scoring averages last year, the 2nd line NOLA's. We used BOSTON's team defense & construction as a blueprint.

Defensive teams tend to have lower scoring b/c they force a slower pace.

Scoring will be our weakness, but not a fatal one IMO.

Wing Scoring
Our wings will largely be asked to defend and be glue guys, scoring looks to come from backcourt (Allen, Parker, Barea) and the frontcourt (Lee, Hickson) with 10 ppg (i.e. Brandon Bass type contributions) from Chandler, Johnson and Battier.

Backcourt Defense

IMO Parker is equally underated on offense and defense. He's a plus defender at his position and will hold his own.

Allen has shown his willingness to play D and while he's no DPOY (only one of those and he plays Center for this team), he's got Battier and Chandler to help with the times he gets beat --- which will happen, lets be honest.

[Kane3387]

Chicago, how can a superstar let this happen in a big game?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhNZ7Trev7M

Luckily for Wade, he had Lebron to cover for his sloppy and very poor play throughout the ECF and Finals, correct?

The way I see it, luckily LeBron had the talent and help around him to help him reach a maturity and poise he never could have on his own, and now that he's without Wade and Bosh, well...

Seems like it'll be back to bidness as usual.

I assume though that was your intention all-along. LeBron played very well next to Mo WIlliams, Anthony Parker, Boobie Gibson, Big Z, Jamario Moon, and Andy V.

Now, he's got Andy V and Mo Williams version 2.0, he's got a nice Big-Z stand in, in Elton Brand, and he's got a likely more effective version of Jamario Moon (at the time..people forget how good Moon used to be).

Plus, they've got Ben Gordon.

I'm telling you, those Cleveland teams won a lot of games. LeBron James is a talent. And this team makes those teams look slightly worse than this team.

Andy V was annihilated in the ECF by Big Dwight in 2009. They never ran Lebron at PF either.

I think it's a huge risk right now starting Green. He is too big of an unknown with the heart. Really starting to get worried about why his deal isn't signed yet. I think it has to do with his heart.

[Roy H.]

How concerned are you about your lack of size?

Is this a trick question?  We have one of the biggest lineups in the league.  That size isn't just up front, but all the way over the roster.  It's not just height, either; our guys have long arms, and have a knack for playing great defense.

I guess I should say scoring in the paint. Other then Lebron who scores on the block?

Elton Brand.  Jeff Green (a phenomenal post player).  Andy Varejao on garbage buckets.  Plus, guys like Dunleavy and Irving will be attacking the hoop.  Scoring efficiently isn't a problem for this team.

[Gainesville Celtic]

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

Q1. Any worries about where the offense will come from in the starting lineup, or when the starters rest?

Q2. Will both Parker and Barea be on the court at the same time? How might this affect team defense?

Q3. Can Hickson and Johnson play major minutes for a team that hopes to contend?

Next question.

(i'm still not talking to Mr. "oooh I have a co-gm for the first time oooh")

[Roy H.]

Really starting to get worried about why his deal isn't signed yet. I think it has to do with his heart.

It's contract stuff / guaranteed money.  Green is working out and playing basketball, and his agent wouldn't let him do either of those things if he thought it could jeopardize $36 million.  Green's heart is fine.

[Kane3387]

NO just how much pressure is on Tony Parker to make this team successful? It seems that he is the only guy on the roster who can create his own shot and shots for others. Barea and Barbosa really look to score.

Sure the pressure is on Parker as much as any team leader... He's had no trouble creating his own shot and shots for teammates for the NBA's winningest team over the last 2 seasons (incidently, over the span when teams could stop double-teaming Duncan).

While Barea is known as a scoring PG, he's actually overlooked as a PG.

To wit, in only 25 mpg he averaged MORE ASSISTS than: Kyrie Iriving, Brandon Jennings, Westbrook, Jeff Teague, and Jrue Holiday -- all starting PGs who avg > 30 mpg.

 

When Parker has a tough matchup against other elite point guards where are you going to look for points?

If you look at TP's splits last year vs. OKC (Westbrook) and LAC (CP3) Parker did as well or better than his season averages, so i'm not worried about a big drop-off. In games where his scoring went down his assists stayed around 7/gm.

Don't forget Ray Allen is still a player that can and does score 20 ppg and can still create his own shot -- though not as overwhelmingly as he once did. David Lee --- and Hickson and Barea off the bench -- are also plus offensive players at their positions (the latter 2 at their positions as bench guys).

Good stuff. Tony Parker was playing with a lot more talent and I think Ginobli's ball handling and passing ability really helped against the Clippers. But I like your notes on how he did against Chris and Russell. Nice points.

[Kane3387]

How concerned are you about your lack of size?

Is this a trick question?  We have one of the biggest lineups in the league.  That size isn't just up front, but all the way over the roster.  It's not just height, either; our guys have long arms, and have a knack for playing great defense.

I guess I should say scoring in the paint. Other then Lebron who scores on the block?

Elton Brand.  Jeff Green (a phenomenal post player).  Andy Varejao on garbage buckets.  Plus, guys like Dunleavy and Irving will be attacking the hoop.  Scoring efficiently isn't a problem for this team.

Elton Brand was just thrown away and lost his job to Lavoy Allen. Jeff Green missed the entire season with heart surgery. Now those two guys are gonna be key cogs on a championship team with one All-Star?

I don't like depending on Dunleavy to attack the hoop though. Obviously Irving works. Andy V getting garbage buckets as a main way to score in the paint doesn't seem reliable.

[Gainesville Celtic]

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

Q1. Any worries about where the offense will come from in the starting lineup, or when the starters rest?

Q2. Will both Parker and Barea be on the court at the same time? How might this affect team defense?

Q3. Can Hickson and Johnson play major minutes for a team that hopes to contend?

I'll just pretend Rebus asked these questions 


Q1 -- A little, our bench was constructed similarly to our starting lineup (i.e. emphasis on defense and efficient offense). Among guys who played > 20 games but started less than 20 games, Barea and Barbosa were both in the top 22 of scoring per game. And Hickson is a high USG% guy who has never been accused of not looking for his shot.

if our starters average the combined 68 ppg they did last year, we think our bench can chip in 25ppg (between Barea, Hickson, Johnson and Barbosa/Booker/Bledsoe).

Q2 -- it will happen a little bit, maybe 4-6 mins/gm, but for those lineups Tyson "Defensive Player of the Year" Chandler will alwasy be on the floor too.

Q3 -- I think hope so, they're both young players who's reputations as a little knuckleheadish early in their careers have overshadowed their development into solid role players (Johnson as a plus-wing defender (top 50 in def. win shares last year); and Hickson as a plus offensive player off the bench - a position usually filled by guards/SF, but Hickson's got the offensive tools.)