CB Draft '09 Mock Press Conference: Northwest Division

[nickagneta]

This question is for the General Manager of the Denver Nuggets.

The future of Greg Oden is very much still very uncertain, as admitted even by you in a probably ill-advised post comparing his offensive non-dominance to that of Bill Russell's(maybe not the best of comparisons for Oden on a Celtics lovers sight where votes will determine your team's future.) That said looking back, if you lose team of the future could it be attributable to a very risky and poor decision on your part to reach by selecting Oden in the first round when you could possibly have traded out of the 1st round and still selected him well into the second or even chosen a more established young player who was still very young and had All-Star potential like Horford, Biedrins, Lopez or even Okafor?

Just one man's opinion but I think you put the entire future of your team's success squarely on the shoulders of Oden and there are still many across the real NBA and here at CB that doubt this man's ability to become a fraction of his hype.

BY the way just chiming in, in 4 years I think he's the real deal but I think it's going take that long for him to get his body and mind up to to NBA speed.

[nickagneta]

This question is for the General Manger of the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Just how much of an effect do you think the managership change had on the entire makeup of your team?

Who would you have chosen is you had benn able to pick at the time of you slot in the first round?

Would you support legislation to the CB Draft rules that would make missing your first round pick and not providing for backup action in case you do miss the pick, grounds for immediate dismissal and the turnover of the team to another individual in waiting who can then immediately make a pick so as to not harm the overall effect of said franchise?

Which do you feel should be looked at as more important in this game, manager retention integrity or franchise viability retention? Should the entire integrity of a franchise be sacrificed in this game simply because a manager has become unable to properly play the game?

[nickagneta]

This question is for the manager of the Seattle SuperSonics.

Do you feel that your team has been vastly under-rated and extremely overlooked in the media crazed crazed Northwest Division. You do, afterall, have probably the best pure basketball player of the last decade on your team who is still only 33 years old, still on the latter end of what most people consider a player's prime years?

[Rondo2287]

This question is for the king of the Portland Hype Machine.

Have you considered that your constant joking and scrolling texts and and posting of probably at least 75% of the useless hype posts within the Draft Thread will have a harmful counter effect on your team as people may just feel you went overboard and not vote for your team after having it force fed to them over the last couple weeks?

In all fairness Nick I think I contributed more than 25% of the useless hype during the draft, and I am appauled that you think otherwise!

[celticinorlando]

This question is for the General Manger of the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Just how much of an effect do you think the managership change had on the entire makeup of your team?

Who would you have chosen is you had benn able to pick at the time of you slot in the first round?

Would you support legislation to the CB Draft rules that would make missing your first round pick and not providing for backup action in case you do miss the pick, grounds for immediate dismissal and the turnover of the team to another individual in waiting who can then immediately make a pick so as to not harm the overall effect of said franchise?

Which do you feel should be looked at as more important in this game, manager retention integrity or franchise viability retention? Should the entire integrity of a franchise be sacrificed in this game simply because a manager has become unable to properly play the game?

i am in the process of putting together our presser but i will not make you wait:

1. It had a big effect. We didn't get a chance to make any predraft move or a chance to position ourselves differently in the first and second rounds. We had to get the best guys at a time where 40 plus if the best guys were already picked

2. I would have picked Brandon Roy with the 8th pick

3. Yes. Everyone knew when the draft was. There was ample time to get someone to make your pick or to set up what needed to be done. I was an assistant GM at the time when the T-Wolves were on the clock round 1. I would have liked to been able to have made that 1st round pick in the first round when the pool of players was a lot deeper.

4. I think you need to look at both. You want someone that will participate but you also want them to take things seriously and not just pick to pick. I think there are a lot of folks on this board that would take this seriously and will protect the franchise by making good picks. I really believe it goes hand in hand

[Roy Hobbs]

These question are for the General Manger of the Portland CrotoNats and his Executive Assistant in charge of Propaganda.

How worried are you that Shaq's renaissance is over and that he will progress right back into his ever declining self as the 3/12 years before he declined from 22.9/10.4 to14.2/7.8? He is after all a 7-1, 350 pound, 37 year old man.

How concerned are you that he is going to be away from what many believe is the best training and rehabilitation team in the league in Phoenix?

How concerned are you that he is already looking past his life in basketball and into his life as a reality television star and how concerned are you that these competitions he is going to have could cause him to get hurt?

We don't see Shaq as "ever declining".  Look at his "per 36" scoring averages since 2004:  21.0, 24.1, 23.5, 21.9, 17.1, 21.3.  The 2008 season was an aberration more than anything else, and we expect him to be pretty much the same player he was last season.  We think it's premature to say that his level of play is falling off, especially after he led the entire NBA -- and set a career high -- in field goal percentage last year.

Also, we see Shaq's involvement in pursuits outside of basketball as a good thing.  Remember, this is a guy who, at the height of his career, was rapping and acting.  Shaq knows that for people to buy into him off the court, he needs to match that with on the court success.

Regarding the Phoenix training staff, we feel that our team physicians and trainers are every bit as qualified.  We'll be limiting Shaq's minutes, and giving him nights off to rest, which should keep him healthy down the stretch.

[Roy Hobbs]

This question is for the king of the Portland Hype Machine.

Have you considered that your constant joking and scrolling texts and and posting of probably at least 75% of the useless hype posts within the Draft Thread will have a harmful counter effect on your team as people may just feel you went overboard and not vote for your team after having it force fed to them over the last couple weeks?

I'm not sure who is the king of the "hype machine", but I'll give this one a shot:

This is a game, and is meant for fun.  People shouldn't take it so seriously.  If a little bit of scrolling text and some pictures posted in the draft thread make somebody less likely to vote for our team, they should re-evaluate.

Of course, people do sometimes have different motivations in voting, as shown by the playoff results last season (where Houston was kept out of the playoffs).  That was wrong, and we can only hope that people aren't so petty as to let it happen again. 

Portland's voting philosophy will be to vote for the best teams, rather than the General Managers who massaged our ego the most.

[Rondo2287]

This question is for the king of the Portland Hype Machine.

Have you considered that your constant joking and scrolling texts and and posting of probably at least 75% of the useless hype posts within the Draft Thread will have a harmful counter effect on your team as people may just feel you went overboard and not vote for your team after having it force fed to them over the last couple weeks?

I'm not sure who is the king of the "hype machine", but I'll give this one a shot:

This is a game, and is meant for fun.  People shouldn't take it so seriously.  If a little bit of scrolling text and some pictures posted in the draft thread make somebody less likely to vote for our team, they should re-evaluate.

Of course, people do sometimes have different motivations in voting, as shown by the playoff results last season (where Houston was kept out of the playoffs).  That was wrong, and we can only hope that people aren't so petty as to let it happen again. 

Portland's voting philosophy will be to vote for the best teams, rather than the General Managers who massaged our ego the most.

I agree I mean i know a couple of GM's will burry me in the bottom of my division but I accept that.  However I also plan on voting based on quality of team and not based on relationships with GMs. 

[Donoghus]

I'll make an announcement concerning this year's voting procedures either tomorrow or Weds.

[nickagneta]

This question is for the king of the Portland Hype Machine.

Have you considered that your constant joking and scrolling texts and and posting of probably at least 75% of the useless hype posts within the Draft Thread will have a harmful counter effect on your team as people may just feel you went overboard and not vote for your team after having it force fed to them over the last couple weeks?

I'm not sure who is the king of the "hype machine", but I'll give this one a shot:

This is a game, and is meant for fun.  People shouldn't take it so seriously.  If a little bit of scrolling text and some pictures posted in the draft thread make somebody less likely to vote for our team, they should re-evaluate.

Of course, people do sometimes have different motivations in voting, as shown by the playoff results last season (where Houston was kept out of the playoffs).  That was wrong, and we can only hope that people aren't so petty as to let it happen again. 

Portland's voting philosophy will be to vote for the best teams, rather than the General Managers who massaged our ego the most.

As will I vote for teams based on what I perceive to be talent as I have been one of the very few GMs that have given my views of the divisions in each presser and have given my talent evaluated reasons for it.

That being said, because it is a game and some people take competition very seriously and because some people could perceive some of the jesting and constant posting as "trash talking" and get turned off by it, do you believe in future years your team will continue its practice of hyping every move and every player drafted as if you just obtained the next Michael Jordan?

[Rondo2287]

Question for Portland.  With Rashard being suspended for the first ten games how do you see if affecting the opening of your season. 

 Tue 27  vs Houston   7:00pm       
 Thu 29  vs Denver   7:30pm       
 Sat 31  @ Houston    5:30pm       
November Opponent Time Local TV Nat TV Radio
 Sun 01  @ Oklahoma City    4:00pm       
 Tue 03  vs Atlanta   7:00pm       
 Fri 06  vs San Antonio   7:30pm       
 Sun 08  vs Minnesota   6:00pm       
 Tue 10  @ Memphis    5:00pm       
 Wed 11  @ Minnesota    5:00pm       
 Fri 13  @ New Orleans

How do you expect to start off the season against a pretty tough schedule.  Also do you plan on giving Rashard extra playing time in the preseason to get him into game shape since he wont be playing the first couple games?  And how do you see this affecting on court chemistry?  Granted you do have a great replacement in Ginobli who can come off the bench or start

[Roy Hobbs]

Question for Portland.  With Rashard being suspended for the first ten games how do you see if affecting the opening of your season. 

 Tue 27  vs Houston   7:00pm       
 Thu 29  vs Denver   7:30pm       
 Sat 31  @ Houston    5:30pm       
November Opponent Time Local TV Nat TV Radio
 Sun 01  @ Oklahoma City    4:00pm       
 Tue 03  vs Atlanta   7:00pm       
 Fri 06  vs San Antonio   7:30pm       
 Sun 08  vs Minnesota   6:00pm       
 Tue 10  @ Memphis    5:00pm       
 Wed 11  @ Minnesota    5:00pm       
 Fri 13  @ New Orleans

How do you expect to start off the season against a pretty tough schedule.  Also do you plan on giving Rashard extra playing time in the preseason to get him into game shape since he wont be playing the first couple games?  And how do you see this affecting on court chemistry?  Granted you do have a great replacement in Ginobli who can come off the bench or start

The schedule makers definitely do us any favors, that's for sure.  Still, we'll go out there and try to win all ten games, and see where we are at the end of this.

We're concentrating on the positives.  It gives Rashard more time to rest after a long summer.  Additionally, some have raised some concern that Rashard won't accept seeing his minutes cut, especially after reaching the NBA Finals.  To the extent that that was true (and we don't think it was) this will give Rashard a further opportunity to appreciate that our season is about the team, rather than the individual.  This is basically "Ubuntu 2".

We'll make sure Rashard is in shape during training camp and the pre-season, but won't play him a ton of extra minutes.  We'll also have a dedicated member of our staff helping him stay in shape, and he'll still be participating in team activities.

In terms of off-court chemistry, I don't see it as an issue.  On-court chemistry is a bit of an issue, since most of these guys have never played with each other, but that's the case with most of the guys in this league, meaning everyone is in a similar boat.  Manu will start, but Gomes will see a ton of minutes, and it will give us a chance to integrate Quinton Ross early.

[Edgar]

This question is for the king of the Portland Hype Machine.

Have you considered that your constant joking and scrolling texts and and posting of probably at least 75% of the useless hype posts within the Draft Thread will have a harmful counter effect on your team as people may just feel you went overboard and not vote for your team after having it force fed to them over the last couple weeks?

I'm not sure who is the king of the "hype machine", but I'll give this one a shot:

This is a game, and is meant for fun.  People shouldn't take it so seriously.  If a little bit of scrolling text and some pictures posted in the draft thread make somebody less likely to vote for our team, they should re-evaluate.

Of course, people do sometimes have different motivations in voting, as shown by the playoff results last season (where Houston was kept out of the playoffs).  That was wrong, and we can only hope that people aren't so petty as to let it happen again. 

Portland's voting philosophy will be to vote for the best teams, rather than the General Managers who massaged our ego the most.

As will I vote for teams based on what I perceive to be talent as I have been one of the very few GMs that have given my views of the divisions in each presser and have given my talent evaluated reasons for it.

That being said, because it is a game and some people take competition very seriously and because some people could perceive some of the jesting and constant posting as "trash talking" and get turned off by it, do you believe in future years your team will continue its practice of hyping every move and every player drafted as if you just obtained the next Michael Jordan?

[Kwhit10]

Roy I know you've addressed the minutes issue, but do you think there may be problems with there not being enough shots for everyone.  We know Shaq has complained about not getting the touches he deserves, and you also have guys who like to take a lot of shots, how is this going to effect the team chemistry.  Also who do you give the responsibility of taking the last shot to the detriment of the other players on the team who also feel they have the ability to be clutch.

[Roy Hobbs]

That being said, because it is a game and some people take competition very seriously and because some people could perceive some of the jesting and constant posting as "trash talking" and get turned off by it, do you believe in future years your team will continue its practice of hyping every move and every player drafted as if you just obtained the next Michael Jordan?

It depends on whether Edgar wants to be my co-GM next season.    I'm not a huge user of the scrolling text, but I think it's fun (and funny), and I'm not so ultra-competitive that I'm going to allow an adverse public reaction to our team's techniques to change how we do business.  The fact that Gerald Green or Fred Jones are hyped to the same extent as Rashard Lewis and Manu Ginobili makes me chuckle.

I do think that a couple of GMs have taken things said by Portland personally, and for that, we're sorry.  We're sorry not because it will hurt us in the voting -- and it probably will -- but because we don't want to see people frustrated with this game.  It's meant to be fun, and we didn't want to hurt anybody's feelings or make them feel attacked.  To the extent that we did, we apologize.  Based upon some of the perceived conflicts and alliances, I'm sure people will be surprised on how we come down on other teams in the ultimate voting.