Celticsblog Mock GM Press Conferences: Pacific Division

[indeedproceed]

Lucky, thanks for the thoughtful comments

IP, I like your team. Some questions:

1. Ariza at the 4: if Donte Green is "rail-thin" at 226 pounds, and is more of a 3 than a 4, how do you foresee Ariza being effective at the 4 in a small-ball lineup? I have a hard time envisioning Ariza handling even smaller PFs (like a Maxiell, Powe, or Millsap type).

I as time progresses, I see ariza both getting bigger and stronger. He's been about to go 2/3/4 but I see him more as a battier type, going exclusive 3/4. It will maximize his quick feet and hands. Now I don't pretend that he wouldn't get killed on the offensive end by the 4's that make their buck by being tough guys, but his length quickness and hustle gives him a distinct advantage on offense and in transition, which is what I'd be wanting to exploit.

 I see my "small ball/microwave offense" lineup like this:

Daniels/Conley/Brandon Roy
Almond/Roy/Daniels
Demetris Nichols/Almond
Trevor Ariza
Channing Frye

This is not a team I see playing more than 5-8 mins a night, probably mostly to close out quarters. They'll get up and down the court and hopefully hit some distance shots.

In future years I see

Conley/Green (Taurean)
Almond
Nichols
Greene (Donte)
Ariza

Before I let this cat outta the yard (is that even a saying?), I need all these guys to get time, and see a distinct dedication to hustle and effort on defense, esp a desire to responsibly gamble on steals.

2. When, not if, Roy loses time to an injury--I love the guy, but he's got health issues; I was shocked to see he weighs nearly 230 lbs, he needs to drop 10-15 for the sake of his knees and ankles--who steps up to be the emotional leader of the team?

I think as far as an emotional leader, I did a good job making sure there will always be one. Caron Butler and Deshawn stevenson led that wizards team into a playoff spot without self proclaimed 'wizard of oz' Gilbert Arenas. I think that was mostly Caron Butler, and I think he could do it again.

As far as a backup 2, until I see more of Morris Almond (who I really do think is an NBA capable shooting guard), Im pretty screwed if Brandon Roy goes down for more than 12-13 games in one season.

3. I like the fact that you have a clearly defined 9-man rotation. Sometimes, less is more. Who becomes the backup PG of the future as Daniels gets on in years? Do you foresee using Roy at the PG slot?

Taurean Green is the guy I see there. I think he'll be a really good backup PG in a year or two. I do see playing Brandon Roy at the point also.

[KCattheStripe]

I have a question for all the teams in the division,

How will the grind of your division schedule effect your team come playoff time? Is the four guaranteed games against high caliber teams going to wear on your team when it comes down to the stretch and can you forsee a situation like this past season where the Warriors were over 500 and still missed the playoffs?

[Lucky17]

Golden State Warriors
Finally an up tempo team that can score and play defense

Roster
PG- Steve Nash/ Sergio Rodriguez/ Dan Dickau
SG- Larry Hughes/ Eric Gordon/ Gary Forbes
SF- Al Thornton/ Bruce Bowen/ Darius Miles
PF- Kenyon Martin/ Yi Jianlian/ Robert Horry/ Alexis Ajenca
C- Dwight Howard/ Stromile Swift

Evantime, I like the starting five. Some questions:

1. Can you explain your comment about defense? Outside of Bowen, and arguably Martin and Howard, you have players who either aren't known for defense, are (as of right now) defensive liabilities, or are complete mysteries as to how effective they'll be.

2. How concerned are you about the prospect of Rodriguez and Gordon having to log minutes? Both are undersized for their positions. Rodriguez, while capable of gaudy highlight-reel assists, is inconsistent, if not turnover-prone, and Gordon will struggle adjusting to life in the NBA this season, especially when faced with the quality of SGs in the league.

3. Considering that Dickau is in Europe this year, you have an open roster slot. What type of player will you fill it with?

[indeedproceed]

Id say right now its:

Clippers
Suns/Warriors
Lakers
Kings

I think this is the year Steve Nash really starts to show his age, and I don't like the thorton/Martin combo at all. It'll be a dogfight between the suns/warriors for second place, but I think they'll (or we'll if you're evantime) both finish inside of the top 8 for the conference. I think people are underestimating Dirk and S-Jax. They're both guys that can will their teams to a win.

This year I don't like the lakers in the playoffs. Bosh is great but I don't think Duhon is a guy that can manage a team like the Lakers, and I don't think OJ Mayo is ready. The Lakers will be a special team, I just don't think it will be this season.

[crownsy]

ugh, the polls already up 

ah well, not like my teams in the running for the question of "who will win this division this year" anyway, my write up will be very future based.

darn you work and the middle picks in a serp draft! 

[Roy Hobbs]

ugh, the polls already up 

Yeah...  the plan is to allow press conferences to begin around midnight, and to get the polls up around 12:00pm - 1:00pm.  I'm not sure how well that plan will continue, but through the first two days it's worked okay.

[indeedproceed]

Darko Milicic
Height: 7'0" | Age: 23 | Status: Defensive force.

From John Hollinger:
"
But the biggest problem is what he does when he's not being fed the ball -- nothing. Scouts talk a lot about a player's "motor", and Milicic's apparently came from an abandoned VW Beetle that never had its oil changed -- he doesn't appear to have any instinct or motivation to move without the ball into open areas or aggressively follow a teammate's shot.

Defensively, it's the same story. Milicic has the basic elements of a good defender: A knack for blocking shots and the size to defend the post. But he doesn't always play hard and sometimes takes himself out of position for he rebounds by chasing blocks he can't get. Transition defense is also a problem, and though he's not fat one wonders if he's in top shape."

Chris Bosh
Height: 6'10" | Age: 24 | Status: All-Star Starter.

Kevin Durant
Height: 6'9" | Age: 19 | Status: Reigning ROY.

No problem here. These guys are studs. Bosh is consistently underrated.

OJ Mayo
Height: 6'5" | Age: 20 | Status: ROY Candidate.

I don't think Mayo has a shot at the ROY this year but I think he'll be good, and the "character" concerns are completely overblown IMO

Chris Duhon
Height: 6'1" | Age: 25 | Status: Young distributor.

Chris Duhon is just not very good. Defensively he wasnt very good against other PG's last season, offensively he wasn't very good. He has a good ast/to rate but otherwise he's below average.

Consider this also

Every time I see Duhon, I picture Scott Skiles channeling Eddie Murphy ("My guard wants to party all the time, party all the time, party all the time ..."). Duhon reportedly missed multiple team events due to his love of the nightlife -- including a film session before Game 3 of the Detroit series (according to the Chicago Sun-Times) -- and that had Chicago pursuing trade options after the season.

You're gonna let that guy loose in Las Vegas?

Bench:

Rashad McCants – Height: 6’4” | Age: 23 | Status: 6th Man
Luke Walton – Height: 6’8” | Age: 28 | Status: Hustler, young vet with finals experience.
Steven Hunter – Height: 7’0” | Age: 26 | Status: Young big man with playoff experience.
Speedy Claxton – Height: 5’11” | Age: 30 | Status: Vet PG, high risk-high reward.
Nick Fazekas – Height: 6’11” | Age: 23 | Status: Young big man, hustler
Rasual Butler – Height: 6’7” | Age: 29 | Status: Three-point specialist, vet.
Donyell Marshall – Height: 6’9” | Age: 35 | Status: Vet with playoff experience, bomber from behind the arc.
Devean George – Height: 6’8” | Age: 30 | Status: Vet, hard worker, outside shot.
Jeff McInnis Height: 6’4” | Age: 33 | Status: Vet back-up PG.
Nathan Jawai – Height: 6’10” | Age: 21 | Status: Rookie big man project.

I like Walton, Claxton, Marshall, and George..I hate McCants, Fazekas, McInnis and Hunter.

Rashard McCants is not an all around good basketball player. He's an okay offensive player. At every single position he played last season (and he played three), he was consistently allowing opposing players to score more points than he contributed. On top of that, his most natural position (pg) was his worst.

Steven Hunter is a career underachiever. I doubt he'll ever be a good enough backup to support a deep playoff run.

Fazekas I just don't think has the atheltic talent to be a consistent NBA player.

Jeff McInnis is a malcontent. Don't let him near OJ Mayo.

[indeedproceed]

Rebus you're right. You got Van Gundy. Im sorry to see his bald lil head leave.

[Lucky17]

Los Angles Clippers
Not Your Daddy's Clippers

Roster
PG- Mo Williams/Aaron Brooks/Randy Livingston
SG- Rip Hamilton/Mo Evans/Shawnee Williams
SF- Stephen Jackson/Grant Hill/Brian Cardinal
PF- Dirk Nowitzki/Anderson Varejao/Josh Powell
C- Fabrico Oberto/Theo Ratliff/Rod Benson

Whereas most GMs have accentuated youth and the future, you've put together a pretty impressive cast of veterans, Rebus. I'm not crazy about your PG rotation, but I still think it's good enough to contend for the division title.

Given the average age of your players, how will you divide minutes? Are you worried about your rotation players logging too much time over the course of the regular season, only to fade during the end/playoffs?

[crownsy]

ugh, the polls already up 

Yeah...  the plan is to allow press conferences to begin around midnight, and to get the polls up around 12:00pm - 1:00pm.  I'm not sure how well that plan will continue, but through the first two days it's worked okay.

yea, not a big deal or anything, and as i said, im not expecting alot of vote on the win now question.

just don't feel comfrtable writing up somethign this in depth at work, for reasons mentioned.

[Lucky17]

Id say right now its:

Clippers
Suns/Warriors
Lakers
Kings

I think this is the year Steve Nash really starts to show his age, and I don't like the thorton/Martin combo at all. It'll be a dogfight between the suns/warriors for second place, but I think they'll (or we'll if you're evantime) both finish inside of the top 8 for the conference. I think people are underestimating Dirk and S-Jax. They're both guys that can will their teams to a win.

This year I don't like the lakers in the playoffs. Bosh is great but I don't think Duhon is a guy that can manage a team like the Lakers, and I don't think OJ Mayo is ready. The Lakers will be a special team, I just don't think it will be this season.

My thoughts exactly. The Clippers vets ought to perform at a consistent level over the course of the season, which gives them the edge, for me, over the Warriors (suspect bench, especially in the backcourt) and the Suns (younger team, more potential for up-and-down play). But I think a case for any of the three winning the Pacific could be made.

The Lakers aren't far behind this year; in a couple years, I think they leapfrog to the top of the division, or challenge the Suns for it.

[Roy Hobbs]

Id say right now its:

Clippers
Suns/Warriors
Lakers
Kings

I think this is the year Steve Nash really starts to show his age, and I don't like the thorton/Martin combo at all. It'll be a dogfight between the suns/warriors for second place, but I think they'll (or we'll if you're evantime) both finish inside of the top 8 for the conference. I think people are underestimating Dirk and S-Jax. They're both guys that can will their teams to a win.

This year I don't like the lakers in the playoffs. Bosh is great but I don't think Duhon is a guy that can manage a team like the Lakers, and I don't think OJ Mayo is ready. The Lakers will be a special team, I just don't think it will be this season.

My thoughts exactly. The Clippers vets ought to perform at a consistent level over the course of the season, which gives them the edge, for me, over the Warriors (suspect bench, especially in the backcourt) and the Suns (younger team, more potential for up-and-down play). But I think a case for any of the three winning the Pacific could be made.

The Lakers aren't far behind this year; in a couple years, I think they leapfrog to the top of the division, or challenge the Suns for it.

Yeah...  after thinking about it some more, I actually changed my vote.  I think the Warriors have the two best players, but I think the Clippers probably have the better team.  I can't vote for a team with Kmart to win anything.

[jgod213]

First matchup of the season between the two:

Clippers - 178
Warriors - 169

[celticmaestro]

This year I don't like the lakers in the playoffs. Bosh is great but I don't think Duhon is a guy that can manage a team like the Lakers, and I don't think OJ Mayo is ready. The Lakers will be a special team, I just don't think it will be this season.

I'm fine with this as I set out to be a special team in the future. I think OJ Mayo is ready though.

[celticmaestro]

Darko Milicic
Height: 7'0" | Age: 23 | Status: Defensive force.

From John Hollinger:
"
But the biggest problem is what he does when he's not being fed the ball -- nothing. Scouts talk a lot about a player's "motor", and Milicic's apparently came from an abandoned VW Beetle that never had its oil changed -- he doesn't appear to have any instinct or motivation to move without the ball into open areas or aggressively follow a teammate's shot.

Defensively, it's the same story. Milicic has the basic elements of a good defender: A knack for blocking shots and the size to defend the post. But he doesn't always play hard and sometimes takes himself out of position for he rebounds by chasing blocks he can't get. Transition defense is also a problem, and though he's not fat one wonders if he's in top shape."

Chris Bosh
Height: 6'10" | Age: 24 | Status: All-Star Starter.

Kevin Durant
Height: 6'9" | Age: 19 | Status: Reigning ROY.

No problem here. These guys are studs. Bosh is consistently underrated.

OJ Mayo
Height: 6'5" | Age: 20 | Status: ROY Candidate.

I don't think Mayo has a shot at the ROY this year but I think he'll be good, and the "character" concerns are completely overblown IMO

Chris Duhon
Height: 6'1" | Age: 25 | Status: Young distributor.

Chris Duhon is just not very good. Defensively he wasnt very good against other PG's last season, offensively he wasn't very good. He has a good ast/to rate but otherwise he's below average.

Consider this also

Every time I see Duhon, I picture Scott Skiles channeling Eddie Murphy ("My guard wants to party all the time, party all the time, party all the time ..."). Duhon reportedly missed multiple team events due to his love of the nightlife -- including a film session before Game 3 of the Detroit series (according to the Chicago Sun-Times) -- and that had Chicago pursuing trade options after the season.

You're gonna let that guy loose in Las Vegas?

Bench:

Rashad McCants – Height: 6’4” | Age: 23 | Status: 6th Man
Luke Walton – Height: 6’8” | Age: 28 | Status: Hustler, young vet with finals experience.
Steven Hunter – Height: 7’0” | Age: 26 | Status: Young big man with playoff experience.
Speedy Claxton – Height: 5’11” | Age: 30 | Status: Vet PG, high risk-high reward.
Nick Fazekas – Height: 6’11” | Age: 23 | Status: Young big man, hustler
Rasual Butler – Height: 6’7” | Age: 29 | Status: Three-point specialist, vet.
Donyell Marshall – Height: 6’9” | Age: 35 | Status: Vet with playoff experience, bomber from behind the arc.
Devean George – Height: 6’8” | Age: 30 | Status: Vet, hard worker, outside shot.
Jeff McInnis Height: 6’4” | Age: 33 | Status: Vet back-up PG.
Nathan Jawai – Height: 6’10” | Age: 21 | Status: Rookie big man project.

I like Walton, Claxton, Marshall, and George..I hate McCants, Fazekas, McInnis and Hunter.

Rashard McCants is not an all around good basketball player. He's an okay offensive player. At every single position he played last season (and he played three), he was consistently allowing opposing players to score more points than he contributed. On top of that, his most natural position (pg) was his worst.

Steven Hunter is a career underachiever. I doubt he'll ever be a good enough backup to support a deep playoff run.

Fazekas I just don't think has the atheltic talent to be a consistent NBA player.

Jeff McInnis is a malcontent. Don't let him near OJ Mayo.

I appreciate this input.

I'm aware of Darko's dark side - pun intended - and I just feel that in the right system he could deliver and be the player he's capable of being. The talent is there, just the motivation.

As for Chris Duhon, I have to confess I wasn't aware of his lifestyle, really not sure how that one blew by me. Having said that, I don't see it as an issue because he's being given a starting job for this team. We know he can distribute the ball well and we know he can knock down the 3. He's our first choice this season, and, if he fails we've got an outstanding young prospect in Koponen to come in and take over (or Speedy, if he makes a full recovery).

McInnis isn't dressing every night, he'll be in street clothes and chances are he'll see little playing time. Hunter, like Darko, has a good opportunity to establish himself. He's only ever shown flashes, now is his chance to be part of a solid rotation. Fazekas can develop, he can hit the outside shot too which is vital. We I expect Bosh to lodge around 36-38 minutes a night, so his 10-12 minutes can be taken up by Fazekas or Marshall without much problem.

As for McCants, he's another, like Duhon, who really has this year to prove he can contribute. Next year, Delfino comes back, and with his skills and experience he will be a great addition. If McCants doesn't do what's expected of him (provide offense and energy off the bench) then his position will go to Delfino next year, which is when we make a serious push for the playoffs.