Celticsblog Mock GM Press Conferences: Southwest Division

[Gainesville Celtic]

Is Garcia good enough to be a starting small forward?

Since Edgar isn't online, and since he and I conferred heavily on this draft pick, I'll give a preliminary answer for him:  Yes.

Yes, Garcia can be a starter.  In fact, he started 20 games last year.  In those 20 games, he put up 16.4 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 2.6 apg, 1.7 spg, and 0.7 bpg, while shooting 44.7% overall and 37.0% from 3PT.

The kid is one of the most underrated players in the league.  Edgar got a steal.

I am also entirely unconvinced that Jameer Nelson can be a consistent option at PG. Wildly inconsistent, prone to nagging injuries, capable of 20 points one night and virtual irrelevance the next. He's Jamaal Tinsely, version 2.0, with a slightly better attitude.

To Edgar's credit, the Mavs are a deep team. I think Bonzi Wells ought to start, with Garcia playing the 6th-man role.

Jameer Nelson --- I'm not exactly clear why folks are so down on Jameer Nelson (and have been since the days leading up to the draft).  He of course is a bit small (6'0") but he (and Delonte) led St. Joes to a nearly undefeated record in college, then the first 2 years on the Magic, when he was only a spot starter behind Steve Francis the Magic won 36 games each year.  In the following 2 seasons as the full-time starter the Magic won 40 and 52 games.  Now of course a lot of that had to do with the maturation of Dwight Howard, but Nelson is IMO a fine starting PG in the NBA. 

Only once in 4 seasons (3, 20, 5, 13) has he missed more than 13 games, so to say that he's injury prone seems off-base.

As a 6-0 PG he has averaged 3 reb/gm (and 4 per36) and his asst/to ratio was 2.8 last season.

I don't think he'll ever be an all-star, but i also disagree with the notion that he'll hurt his team. I think Edgar did a good job putting a good helpside shot blocker like Gasol behind him (along with a big tandem at the 2/3).


Garcia -- I agree that he's ready (along with John Salmons) to be a starter... which is part of why SAC was able to trade Artest.

[Edgar]

thnak u for comments and discussion
I really realy want to participate more but i will have to wait for tomorrow

About a couple of questions asked here

Yes I think garcia is good enough to start over Bonzi and hes becoming a good scorer too he got a couple of 30 `+ games last year and one 40 pointer
And yes I think he was a steal there

And Dunleavy and ZaZa opening the floor with Jaric are good to keep people watching the 3 point line

Again I LOVE the deepness of the team

Theyre consistent , have youth and are deep

U know probably the Kandiman will make the roster over Blount
I want to kee
Blount Petterson and Vin togheter waiting for a chance sitting at home

Not really Blount is hated here but he got the tools, as third string center I can live with him

[Edgar]

KCattheStripe

Edgar, two questions:

1) After his lack of toughness in the NBA finals playing the 5, are you worried about Gasol playing center?


not really he was good enough to take them to finals, to make them a great team after the break and his partner was soft odom down low. Now he have Boozie.

2) Just something I'm curious about, what wing positions are Garcia and Dunleavy playing when they're on the floor together?


Dunleavy  SG
Garcia    SF

[Edgar]

PG
Nelson. Yes a great young PG with great passing skills and ready to play with big men.
Livingston. Worth the risk as secong PG with other guards backing up him, to play against bigger guards and dominate smaller ones.
Ty Lue: The insrance policy . Great to be a third string option. Scoring and speed

SG
Dunleavy: Great shooter to open the floor, avobe average defender and tough to guard for smaller guards because he can shoot over them.
Jaric: Loves to have ball in his hands, good touch and deffends well too.
Jackson: brings experience off the bench do the small things.

SF
Garcia: An underrated great player, just getting better, he can do a LOT of things and start to be a scoring precense, hes big and long too as fast.
Bonzi. To post smaller fowards, brings experience and scoring
Hermann: Another sleeper, he might have a bad year but he plays, and have a good shooting touch.Hes very good fundamentally too.

PF.
Boozer. A Beast
Ty thomas. A young promising PF with athletic skills to learn from Pau and Boozzie will only make him better
Andersen, hustle to match bigger fowards and athletic ability will take this front court over the top.

C
Pau Gasol. Come on you know Pau. a bad final series doesnt make him less, just make him hungrier.
ZaZa.  To bang with bigger centers and open the floor with shooting touch,
Blount/Kandi. To be the 15th player and hel with the towels.


Place to fight fot

1st on the division
Why
Deepnes and front court and more legs and healthy legs than other teams
willl make us better by the end of the year. 

[Roy Hobbs]

I added the poll, so vote when you get a chance.

[celticmaestro]

Houston this year.

But in a couple of years, I really fancy Memphis to take it.

[bucknersrevenge]

I'm gonna go with Dallas to take this division but Houston definitely gets a playoff spot.

[Roy Hobbs]

Hmm...  realistically, to me this is a two horse race between Houston and Dallas.  Both are deep teams, both teams lack a true superstar (Boozer and Parker coming the closest).  Neither team has a lot of great defenders.  I think the two factors that might tip this division to Houston are Shaq, and experience.  On the other hand, bringing Shaq off the bench could easily blow up and cause a major distraction, and it's no guarantee that his play hasn't deteriorated further. 

[KCattheStripe]

I voted for Houston over Dallas simply because I believe that Kevin Martin has the potential to be the best player on either team.

[bucknersrevenge]

You could make arguments for either team very easily. I choose Dallas just barely over Houston because I think the Boozer-Gasol frontcourt might be a bit more physical offensively than the Odom-Bogut. Though having Shaq certainly can even things out. Ironic that each team has  REAL Laker frontcourt player who each soured a lotof people's minds with the lack of toughness they showed in the Finals.

EDIT: LOL I have decided to change my vote. Shaq tips the scale in Houstons favor because of his toughness. Odom fared pretty good against Boozer when they played in the playoffs and KCat makes a good point about Martin probably being the best player on both teams and I think Parker is better than Nelson.

Yes, this is my final answer.

[zerophase]

wow i'm surprised houston has so many votes. i don't think that team is good enough. solid but not good enough. in my opinion san antonio is better. any team with chris paul is like a team with kobe or lebron at this point.

[Lucky17]

Rockets. Tremendous flexibility and frontcourt depth. I also think the concerns about Shaq are overblown/semantics. He averaged less than 30 minutes last year. Whether he starts or comes off the bench, there will be plenty of minutes for Bogut at the 5 and the 4 (when Odom isn't playing PF).

I think 2nd place in the division will be a real dogfight between Dallas and San Antonio.

Memphis has a bright future, although I'd like them more if they had a true SF. But I think Houston has a fairly large window of opportunity, and will be at or near the top of the division for quite some time.

I think New Orleans has a lot of nice young players. One or two more moves, and they could make some noise. As a work in progress right now, they are a lottery team.

[bucknersrevenge]

wow i'm surprised houston has so many votes. i don't think that team is good enough. solid but not good enough. in my opinion san antonio is better. any team with chris paul is like a team with kobe or lebron at this point.

The Spurs have a good foundation but they need a trade. Ben and AK47 are good on defense but they aren't gonna get it done at all on offense right now. Houston is more versatile right now.

[BigAlTheFuture]

wow i'm surprised houston has so many votes. i don't think that team is good enough. solid but not good enough. in my opinion san antonio is better. any team with chris paul is like a team with kobe or lebron at this point.

The Spurs have a good foundation but they need a trade. Ben and AK47 are good on defense but they aren't gonna get it done at all on offense right now. Houston is more versatile right now.

11 points per game as a 4th option on your team is not that bad. I think AK47 is a good enough offensive player and will score a lot more since he's the 3rd option, now. 

[Roy Hobbs]

wow i'm surprised houston has so many votes. i don't think that team is good enough. solid but not good enough. in my opinion san antonio is better. any team with chris paul is like a team with kobe or lebron at this point.

While I respect BigAlTheFuture a lot...  I'm not overly enamored with the Spurs.  CP3 is one of the top five players in basketball, and he fills the PG slot for the next 12 years.  Locking up that spot is huge.  However, the rest of the team just isn't that good.  Peja is 31 years old, plays zero defense, and is an injury risk.  Ben Wallace is 34, plays on offense, and has been in rapid decline in terms of defense and rebounding.  Stackhouse and Hassell are both ancient.  AK47 is weak minded, has a poor work ethic, and doesn't score much.

I think the Spurs are the third or the fourth best team in the division; they'll compete for a playoff slot, but not, in my opinion, for the division.

I see it like:

1. Houston
2. Dallas
----------
3. San Antonio
4. Memphis
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5. New Orleans