sorry for the delay -- got called out of the office.
Questions for the Magics:
1) In the real NBA Lebron James has been eliminated in the playoffs the past three season by teams with better supporting stars (Spurs: Duncan had Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili), (Celtics: KG had Pierce, and Ray), and (Orlando: Howard had Hedo, and Rashard). Cleveland hasn't gotten it done with Big Z, Mo "all star " Willimas, Larry Hughes, Ben Wallace etc. You have a team that should guarantee getting to the 2nd round of the playoffs, but who will be the sidekick star that Lebron has always been missing and experts say he needs to win it all?
See my response above to Wdleehi, i was typing it while you posted these questions i guess. a few other points:
-- generally i think the "experts" are wrong in saying Lebron needs a sidekick who's dominant. He needs good players around him at every position. Like Wade did with a generally talented MIAMI team, put competent, fundamentally sound guys around him and Lebron can do the rest.
-- The Spurs were a better *team* top-to-bottom than the Cavs and CLE had no answer for Duncan and Parker. Our goal was to deal with that problem with depth up front (deepest in the league) and at the wing positions (Afflalo, McGuire, Hassell, Wilkins aren't world beaters but they're athletic and capable --- unlike CLE's bench last year).
-- the Boston series was back-and-forth, like i said if Pierce doesn't get that loose ball or PJ Brown hit that shot, CLE probably advances (and I'm soooo glad they didn't).
-- This year i think Mike Brown listened too much to those "experts" and went away from letting Lebron dominate. They also couldn't slow D. Howard with Big Z, Ben Wallace's corpse, an 80-year old Joe Smith. Our 4 bigs plus Arthur and Anthony WILL slow down any big. Might not stop them but will slow them down to the point where they're not the best player on the court.
2) Marc Gasol put up good numbers last year on a losing Memphis team, yet they went out and drafted a defensive Center with the #2 overall pick and then traded for a low post scorer after the draft. Charlie V also put up good numbers on a losing Milwaukee team, but they didn't choose to keep him and went with Amir Johnson. How comfortable are you with these two players starting or do you see a possible switch to Foster and/or Varejoa come playoff time.
Gasol --- don't mean to sound flip, but the fact that Chris Wallace took a center at #2 means nothing to us re: Gasol. Wallace also was the moron who elected to take DEN's #1 pick option so he could take Kedrick Brown rather than wait a year or 2 to get a better lottery pick in deeper drafts. In Wallace's (possible) defense, I do believe you can never have enough bigs if you're gunning for a title.
Villanueva -- MIL was wise not to overpay for him (though again, they gave away Richard Jefferson, so they're not really a model to emulate). But just because we isn't worth the $8M/yr DET paid for him, doesn't mean that he isn't a talented player. There are concerns about his consistency, but like I said our plan is to cut down on the # of things he has to do.
Foster/Varejao -- Yes. We see them both playing a bigger role in the playoffs --- when every possession is more important and they're rebounding and defense will be crucial on the nights Villanueva is more concerned with Tweeting than rebounding (a joke...)
3) The real Bulls have had a love/hate relationship with hinrich as a starting point guard. he's versatile as a third guard b/c he can play defense on two guards. I like him offensively off the ball with Lebron, but will he be able to stop super quick point guards on defense? Jason Richardson didn't help the Bobcats, but the Bobcats started winning after he was traded. How will he be a good fit for your slow down offense? Is Telfair a good fit as an off the ball pg with Lebron or does he need the ball in his hands?
Hinrich --- Lucky and I both think Hinrich's in the top 15-20 PGs, he's not a perennial all-star but won't do much to hurt you -- maybe a more talented Derek Fisher. He may struggle a little with the quicker PGs like CP3, but in a playoff series vs. CHI we're totally comfortable with taking a page from LA's book vs. BOS and putting Lebron on CP3 for 10 min/gm and letting the 6-3 Hinrich cover the 6-5 Raja Bell (or Afflalo or Hassell). Lebron is quick and big enough to frustrtate CP3 in short stints.
Richardson --- CHA won 32 games with him in 07-08 and 35 in 08-09 (JR played in the first 14).... don't know how much you can really draw from that. Richardson is a very good SG -- we think top 15 --- and is big, athletic and likes to run. We're not gonna be the Showtime Lakers but any team with Richadson, Lebron and Hinrich are gonna get some flare outs for big dunks. Hate to sound like a broken record, but if Baron Davis was reason #1 why GSW upset DAL, JRichardson was #1a (guess Avery Johnson & Dirk choking should be in the discussion too).
Telfair --- I think you're right about Telfair needing the ball, but for the 18 or so mins he's out there, Lebron can be a little less of the focal point. I also think that as he gets older Telfair is coming to grips with who he is as a professional basketball player. Lebron will take him under his wing too. The over/under for Telfair-to-Lebron alley oops is 2/game.
Topic: CB Draft '09 Mock Press Conference: Southeast Divison (Read 63373 times)