CB Draft '09 Mock Press Conference: Atlantic Divison

[The Walker Wiggle]

Will Philadelphia be the team they appear to be on paper? A walk it up team with half court sets, a lot of post entry passes and isolation plays for Melo? In particular, Okafor at the 4 seems to demand it.

If so, is Baron Davis the right point guard for the 76ers? When he's healthy and motivated he's given Top 20 performances, but his best years have come in an uptempo system with a green light to shoot.

P.S. Could we break the "dominate" SG/C discussion off in to its own thread? (Or take it to the Draft thread?) It doesn't seem specific to the Atlantic Division at this point.

[nickagneta]

I don't even know where to try and quote, so I won't. But nick, the question I have is why couldn't someone just substitute "big man" instead of "SG" and make the exact same and possibly more accurate argument?

I'm not trying to be a jerk, I just truly don't understand why the SG is the one getting pointed out. We could go back and list dominant PGs, SFs, PFs, and (the one I think matters most) Cs just as well as SGs.

For me, it just comes down to the same conclusion. There's more then one way to win a title, and in my opinion its significantly favorable matchups on both ends that win championships, regardless of their position on the floor.

Did the Bulls win all those titles with a dominant center? What about the Celtics? What about those Spurs teams without the Admiral? What about last year's Lakers? Did they have a dominant center?

Now go to PG's Boston, Lakers, First Spurs title, Heat.

Now SF's All the Spurs teams. The Lakers of Shaq/Kobe, the Heat, the Pistons.

Now PF's. The first three Bulls team. The Heat. The Pistons of the 80's All the Lakers except last years.

I should have stuck with "big man" instead of center. You're giving too much weight to positions and not enough to roles.  Jordan won without dominant bigs because he was Michael Jordan. Kobe had Shaq and Pau (absolutely played "dominant" in the playoffs last year), the Celtics had KG, the Spurs had Duncan, the Heat had Shaq, the Pistons had a solid Sheed.

There is no definite singular and unassailable formula to winning a title. It can be done one way with the right personnel, and then done completely differently with a totally different group. It's all about roles. For every rule we're coming up with there's exceptions too, so they all just don't seem to make sense. 

And I didn't say that to win a championship it was an absolute to have a dominant SG. It is possible with the right mixture of players not to have one.

But recent history shows that you are much, much more likely to win a championship if you have a dominant SG. By my count 90% of the last 22 champs had dominant SGs. 90%!!

So I asked what those teams that did not have dominant SGs were planning on doing to overcome this. I got all sorts of stuff thrown my way based on absolutes. I was never discussing absolutes. But everyone got defensive about their teams because they felt they had a champion even if they were weak at SG.

One GM went so far as to criticize my SG, as if I ever claimed my team was championship worthy. All I ever said is I wanted to try to win my division because with Orlando getting the #1 pick(LeBron), the odds of any of the rest of us winning that division by vote became nearly impossible.

I don't expect to win this game. Stephen Jackson is my best player and he's not even a top 30 player in this league. But he is a dominating SG. He's put up dominant stats the last two years. If he was on D Howard's team and they won it all, I would call him dominant.

[Fafnir]

90% of title teams have had dominant SGs?

What's your definition of dominant?

[jgod213]

Questions for all FOUR teams, sorry NY...

Toronto:

outside of the fact that i'm extremely sick and tired of your constant verbal battles with Chicago, i really like your team, haha.  That said, who is the pacifier on your team?  Garcia, Artest, KG, and Camby have all been known for "incidents" or certain mannerisms/emotional displays that haven't always been condusive to winning.  Is andre miller ready for the responsibility associated with being the general of a group like that? he seems like more of a silent leader as opposed to a vocal one.

Boston:

I think your group of vets around Wade is very complimentary, however if wade misses any time at all this team could be in danger of making the playoffs.  Considering that, will the "coaching staff" make any "suggestions" to his game?  In other words, is the stradegy to put the petal to the metal and let DWade throw his body around or will you be looking to slow him down in the regular season and coast a bit... and then take the handcuffs off late in the season?

Jersey:

I think you hit a big point during your press conference: you may lose some votes because you don't have an nba jam/arcade team.  Despite that, i love the way your squad is constructed and think you have one of the best half-court offenses in the league and your overall winning experience will carry you a long way.  However, though courtney lee has a ton of big game experience at a young age, what happens if he has even a small regression this season as some young players sometimes encounter? you said you were prepared to remove fisher if age shows, but what about lee? are you comfortable with your SG insurance policy?

Philly:

Your talent is undeniable, and i think baron davis would absolutely have a bounceback year with a talented team like this...but one big issue i have with this team regards your bench.  your smalls are alright off the pine, but it looks like you'll be leaning heavily on joe smith and renaldo balkman to play 3 positions here (c, pf, sf).  You'll have to convince me that novak and thomas are prepared to contribute bigtime minutes to a winning club, because i just don't see it.

[nickagneta]

90% of title teams have had dominant SGs?

What's your definition of dominant?

Read the thread

[bdm860]

No NJ press conference?

Maybe you mean NY?  NJ press conference is on page 4 of this thread.

By the way, Atlantic Division owners, still waiting on...

Most of the stuff I've been looking for has already been asked and answered in this three ring circus, but I guess I have one simple question for EACH team that I would need answered. For the record, Philly I am very interested in your answer.

8 seconds left, you're down by 2 with the ball at halfcourt.

Who on your team gets the ball, and what are they doing?

For NJ, Pierce gets the ball.  What he does depends who is on him and what kind of game he's having, but he's probably going to go to a mid range fall away 2 like we've all successfully witnessed so many times before.

Jersey:

I think you hit a big point during your press conference: you may lose some votes because you don't have an nba jam/arcade team.  Despite that, i love the way your squad is constructed and think you have one of the best half-court offenses in the league and your overall winning experience will carry you a long way.  However, though courtney lee has a ton of big game experience at a young age, what happens if he has even a small regression this season as some young players sometimes encounter? you said you were prepared to remove fisher if age shows, but what about lee? are you comfortable with your SG insurance policy?

TP for actually reading my team write up (and agreeing with my point of course )

I admit, I think the SG is the weakest link on my team.  Although I think when players regress they tend to regress more offensively, Lee is the 4th/5th option in the starting lineup so he's not really being asked to do too much and plays aren't really going to be called for him, just defend and hit the open shot.  I think we see more regression when a player is asked to take more of a leading role, which is not going to be the case here.

If Lee totally falls off though, I do like Shannon Brown as a backup and he may be able to start if he shows the same promise he did during the playoffs (although I know most aren't sold on that).  I also think Fisher and/or Udrih could play well at the 2 (whichever one is not playing the point).

Also if it became clear Lee couldn't handle the position, we could possibly trade at the trade deadline midseason if there happened to be a more experienced SG on a rebuilding team.

I do admit I think SG is the weakest position on my team, and I don't have much of a backup plan outside of my young guards.  But really I think with 4 veterans surrounding him in the starting lineup and us not asking him to do too much, I really think Lee will step up and give us everything we ask of him and more.  (and I think I see some in this thread saying a SG isn't needed so I should be fine  )

[johnnyrondo]

Question for Jersey: "Has Eddie Curry hired a new driver or is he driving himself now?"

[Kwhit10]

OK I got a lot of questions to answer...Can't be here 24/7 had to commute home, make dinner, tomorrows lunch, and hang out with the fiancee a bit. Anyways here it goes...

Not sure if he is here, but question for Philly:  "If the Sixers and Magics were to meet in the playoffs, all eyes would be on the Melo/Lebron matchup. Which team do you feel has the better supporting stars/players surrounding your superstar and why?"

Of course Philly-Orlando matchup will pretty much be Melo-LeBron in the press but I feel outside that matchup we can definitely beat them.  We see a big advantage in the front court.  Villinueva likes to hang around the perimeter and doesn't really rebound, while on defense Okafor will have to chase him around, Villinueva doesn't have very good post defense and Emeka will be able to post him up.  Marc Gasol is coming around, but I feel Bynum has the body to put up against Gasol, and will be able to work his post moves on him as well.

Jason Richardson will have a tough time getting his points being hounded by Brewer and Parker, and I think Davis against Hinrich speaks for itself I think Davis has the body to push Hinrich around even posting him up.  While Orlando has some good backup bigs in Foster and Varejao I don't think they have much beyond that, and you will see a frustrated LeBron having to do too much, especially considering his back up.

Most of the stuff I've been looking for has already been asked and answered in this three ring circus, but I guess I have one simple question for EACH team that I would need answered. For the record, Philly I am very interested in your answer.

8 seconds left, you're down by 2 with the ball at halfcourt.

Who on your team gets the ball, and what are they doing?

Melo is one of the most clutch players in the league, and Davis is going to have to recognize that, even though he has made his share of clutch shots as well.  Though being in a winning environment I believe the players will be in for winning and not me first pride.  Although I'd love to Melo and Davis working a pick and pop situation, where Davis will give Melo the ball and if he's isolated he can do his thing, but if he draws the double team Davis will be open for a set up shot, something he is much more suited to execute as to making the shot off the dribble.

To all the GMs in the East.

You are all talking about how important your matchups are versus the other teams in your division. Are you aware you only play each other 4 or maybe, tops, 5 times a year? Your match ups only count in a seven game series and all five of you are not even going to come close to making the playoffs.

So perhaps you all can talk about why you believe your team will win consistently every night versus all types of competition and not just against the guy who plays in a different building off I95.

yea, as someone who is going to need to read through this thread at length later tonight and tomorrow, the above will be much more compelling to my vote than a run down about how you do against a specific team.

I'm not going to go through every individual team (that would just take forever  ) But I truly believe are team is filled with players and styles to perform to any type of team.  We have very strong defenders, those who can block shots, those who can play the passing lanes very well, and those you can hound players and make them earn their paycheck.  While on offense we will always start with Okafor and Bynum who both can do work on the post, we have a playmaker and superstar on Melo, and a very good point guard. If things need to be changed we can always bring in a shooter at the PF spot to spread the floor.  If we need more shooting we can sub Parker for Brewer and the defense won't lack and Parker can shoot his 3's over 40%. We feel our bench is capable of providing boost of offense (pargo) and energy (Balkman).  I think this team is able to counter a lot of different lineups and succeed.

Will Philadelphia be the team they appear to be on paper? A walk it up team with half court sets, a lot of post entry passes and isolation plays for Melo? In particular, Okafor at the 4 seems to demand it.

If so, is Baron Davis the right point guard for the 76ers? When he's healthy and motivated he's given Top 20 performances, but his best years have come in an uptempo system with a green light to shoot.

As stated before I don't want to peg this team into one style, while we have the capability to be a half court set team with strong post presence, we have the capability to be a running team.  Even playing in a situation he didn't like on a team that has no real clear direction (Clippers) Davis averaged 14 and 7, this team has a lot more talent than that team and Davis will have his oppurtunity to run and shoot.

Philly:

Your talent is undeniable, and i think baron davis would absolutely have a bounceback year with a talented team like this...but one big issue i have with this team regards your bench.  your smalls are alright off the pine, but it looks like you'll be leaning heavily on joe smith and renaldo balkman to play 3 positions here (c, pf, sf).  You'll have to convince me that novak and thomas are prepared to contribute bigtime minutes to a winning club, because i just don't see it.

Novak is going to have to work to get minutes on this team in it's current state, but I really believe on a good team and winning situation Tim Thomas can really produce.  He did so when he was with the Suns in 2005.  And if he signs with Dallas this year I think he'll still be able to put up good numbers.  Francisco Elson is still a very serviceable 5th big man, he's played on a championship team and put in his good effort in limited minutes or more if foul trouble becomes an issue.

I really think this team has the tools to be very successful, people may look and and see Okafor and Bynum and think it's a half court team, but with these two blocking beasts in the paint team will be shooting a lot of 3's and I think with our defense contesting those shots, there will be a lot of long rebounds which will lead to a lot of transition points.  Davis, Melo, and Brewer can be very dangerous getting quick rebounds or outlet passes and beating teams down the court. 

I hope I successfully answered everyone's concerns about this team, I'll still be around for a few more hours if you have any more questions.

[bdm860]

And to answer questions from much earlier (cuz I know you all are really dying to know) I really like how my team stacks up in the Atlantic, I really like how my team stacks up against the whole league.

Boston - We're outmatched (big time) at the SG position with Wade.  I do like Lee's defense though and think he may would do better defending Wade than alot of 2guards in the league.  Worst case scenario Wade puts up 40 on us.  I don't see the rest of the team doing anything against mine.  I got to admit, I'm surprised so many people think so highly of Boston, I think they're the worst team in the division (although I get the feeling most of you think my team is worst).

Toronto - I think this would be a great matchup with our front courts, but who beats me on this team?  I don't have one dominate scorer (like Kobe, DWade, etc) so that great defense isn't going to hurt me too much.  It will be a good match up as I see us both with similar strengths and weaknesses.  I like my experience in a 7 game series though.

NY - Do they have any low post threat offensively?  Is Carter going to show up every game?  I like the bookends of Deron and Perk, and Carter is still dangerous, but I think my team is deeper and better constructed.

Philly - I like Baron Davis, I like Melo, but I really think the results are going to be very similar the AI and Melo experience, both Baron and Melo are best when dominating the ball.  And I think both Bynum and Okafor will both clog the lane too  much, and neither will have enough room to operate with the other on the floor.  Also who follows Sheed out to the arc?  I like the individual players, but I think my team is more well constructed.


I really think too much is made about who is the best individual player.  I see a lot of "who's going to stop Kobe, who's going to stop LeBron", etc.  But who really stops those players in real life?  Is there anybody that can stop those guys?  I really think there's no way to stop those guys individually, but their teams don't always seem to win. As good as guys like Melo, Chris Paul, DWade, Dirk, Brandon Roy, etc. are you're not good enough to single handedly carry a team to the championship.  A lot of teams without good matchups with those players in real life seem to be able to stop their teams no problem.  Individual matchups are greatly overrated.

[bdm860]

Question for Jersey: "Has Eddie Curry hired a new driver or is he driving himself now?"

With Eddy Curry's situation, and with former Net Jayson Williams unfortunate situation with his driver we have implemented a "no driver" policy.  All players will being carpooling together to games and practices. Sheed has volunteered to organize and run the whole thing too.  He has made a guaransheed to Nets management that it will run smoothly without incidence.

[Roy Hobbs]

Question for Jersey: "Has Eddie Curry hired a new driver or is he driving himself now?"

With Eddy Curry's situation, and with former Net Jayson Williams unfortunate situation with his driver we have implemented a "no driver" policy.  All players will being carpooling together to games and practices. Sheed has volunteered to organize and run the whole thing too.  He has made a guaransheed to Nets management that it will run smoothly without incidence.

Hmm...  next time Paul Pierce goes out drinking it Vegas, you may reconsider this policy.

[Fafnir]

90% of title teams have had dominant SGs?

What's your definition of dominant?

Read the thread

It's an 11 page thread with tons and tons of quote boxes, I looked and couldn't find it. You can't be bothered to summarize? You can't be bothered to point me to the post, you can't be bothered to answer a simple question.

Thanks nick....

[nickagneta]

90% of title teams have had dominant SGs?

What's your definition of dominant?

Read the thread

It's an 11 page thread with tons and tons of quote boxes, I looked and couldn't find it. You can't be bothered to summarize? You can't be bothered to point me to the post, you can't be bothered to answer a simple question.

Thanks nick....

No problem.

[KCattheStripe]

I love it. More semantics.

So it is impossible for there to be more than one dominant PG in the league, one dominant SF in the league, one dominant player in the league?

Please, I expected better than that.

Yes , it is impossible for there to be more than one person who is dominant at their position. It's not semantics, it's definitions.

[bdm860]

Question for Jersey: "Has Eddie Curry hired a new driver or is he driving himself now?"

With Eddy Curry's situation, and with former Net Jayson Williams unfortunate situation with his driver we have implemented a "no driver" policy.  All players will being carpooling together to games and practices. Sheed has volunteered to organize and run the whole thing too.  He has made a guaransheed to Nets management that it will run smoothly without incidence.

Hmm...  next time Paul Pierce goes out drinking it Vegas, you may reconsider this policy.

Oh no, the carpooling isn't just for games and practice, it applies to off court situations too.  We are a team on and off the court.  I think this is one of the things that will help NJ go all the way 

NJ players and management fully embrace the buddy system.