2010 CB Draft: Central Division Press Conferences

[wdleehi]

Detroit Pistons.



Head Coach: Patrick Ewing.  (assistant to SVG.  Has played under many top coaches in his career)  We selected him because we think he will be a top coach in the future.  We liked that he has been part of a winning program (though not a title program) most of his basketball life.  We also expect him to teach the young bigs what it means to rise to the level of playoff defense.  


starting linup.

PG.  Wall.  He is going to be out future star that makes this team goes.

SG.  Azubuike.  He has all the tools we need as a complementary SG.  He has a strong three point shot.  He has the athletic ability to attack the hoop and defend.  

SF  Williams.  Large SF.  Good defender.  Good mid-range shot and respectable outside shot.  Comes from a winning team.  Not needed to be a go to guy, but a role player that he is comfortable in playing.

PF.  Jefferson.  Low post offensive weapon.  We expect him to get back to the 20 and 10 guy he was the two previous seasons.  

C.  Hibbert.  A legitimate 7'3 C that has improved from year 1 to year 2.  We expect his to continue into year 3.


Bench:

6th man.  SG Ben Gordon.  Offense off the bench and an average defender.  20 point scorer that showed against Boston two years ago, capable of stepping up and hitting big shots.  Has experience working with a number 1 drafted rookie PG.

PG Bibby.  Playoff experience.  Capable of hitting big shots.  Completely tradeable once Wall establishes himself as the master of the offense.

PF/C  Larry Sanders - athletic defender.  Will have the chance to win starting spot once he has learned to play at the NBA level.  (thus allowing Hibbert to be an offensive 6th man type big man posting up other teams reserves)

PF/C   Ryan Andersen. Big man with a good shot.  Physical and big enough to be a solid team defender and rebounder

SF/SG Luke Babbit.  Rookie shooter.  We expect him to develop into a strong role player.

C/PF  Kevin Seraphin

PF/SF Scali.  Mr. Intangible.  Brings knowledge of how to play winning defense.  So good in the lockerroom, his previous coach (Doc) wants him as a coach.


13th man.  PG. Mardy Collins.  Large pg should help Gordon stay off defending the bigger SGs.  








I expect his team to make the playoffs this year, eventually growing into a contender.  This season is about finding the best fit around Wall and Jefferson.  





(I wish I had time to do more, but this is about all the time I have this week)

[indeedproceed]

Questions for Chicago, Indiana, and Milwaukee:

1. Rank the three teams above;

I think in terms of ability, there will be 2 50 win teams and one 40 win team. No team in the division will eclipse 60 wins. Chicago and Milwaukee are the 50 win teams, but I'm not counting out Indiana. Obviously I like Chicago more, but I'm sure there is a pretty cogent argument for Milwaukee. Indiana, I think their team has a shot to surprise in the playoffs if they make it therre, but they probably shouldn't be above a 5 to 7 seed.

2. Why can you beat the other top contenders in your division over the course of a season?;

I'm not convinced Milwaukee's current team will fare any better in the playoffs than Dallas's team has fared the last 2 seasons. I don't see any real improvement in the starting positions, and Kidd will be a year older..and at some point its going to mean a marked decline in his production. Whether it is this season or the next, who knows.

3.  Why can you beat the other top contenders in your division in a playoff series? (Extra credit for discussion of specific matchups.)

Nobody on either team can defend LeBron James. Nobody.

Re: Indiana: I picked up Tony Allen just for you, Kobe. Lets see Gasol save you now!

Re: Milwaukee: 'Ze German' is going to be a handful. I'm not contending that, or pretending anything otherwise. I'm not worried about any of the other matchups. Ilyasova is 6'10 and a frantic hustle defender. Amundson is 6'9 and a frantic hustle defender. I think between the two of them, they can slow Dirk down, but its not like I have illusions about sweeping Milwaukee. I don't think, however, that Milwaukee has anyone capable of even slowing LeBron down a little.

[Rondo2287]

Milwaukee Bucks

PG:Kidd/Jack
SG:Rip Hamilton/Miles
SF:Maggette/Barnes
PF:Dirk/Brandon Wright
C:Gortat/Turiaf

Indiana Pacers

PG:Fisher/Flynn
SG:Kobe/Belinelli
SF:Pietrus/Korver
PF:Thomas/Maxiell
C:Gasol/Krstic

Why I can beat the Bucks:

I find this to be an excellent matchup actually.  Offensively, my game plan will be more Kobe-centric.  I don't see who's going to guard Kobe on the Bucks.  Rip Hamilton?  Maybe 5 years ago.  I think Kobe can beat him off the dribble and if so, who steps up to help?  Kobe is a good enough passer to find an open Fisher or Pietrus/Korver spotting up or Gasol or Thomas/Maxiell cutting to the hoop.  I think that Thomas and Maxiell crashing the o-boards hard could be something Dirk won't enjoy competing with.

Defensively, my only matchup I have to worry about is at the 4.  Fisher-Kidd, Kobe-Rip, Pietrus-Maggette, Gasol-Gortat are all matchups I don't have to worry about being exploited by.  Thomas has the length and quickness to keep up with Dirk I believe.  Maxiell will come in to body Dirk for some minutes that Dirk will wish he were out of the game for.  I also may put Gasol on him for some minutes if Thomas is in foul trouble and let Maxiell bang with Gortat down low.

I don't see why Milwaukee would be considered a clearly better team than Indiana.

Thomas vs Dirk career Matchups

http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/h2h_finder.cgi?request=1&p1=nowitdi01&p2=thomaty01

Dirk dominates

Also, Maggette has gotten the best of Pietrus in their Matchups and while Kidd probably wont kill your team with scoring I have a feeling he would rack up the assists and dominate fisher on the boards.  And Fisher isnt good enough to take advantage of Kidd on the defensive end.

[Roy H.]

Indiana:

Can you explain your decision to draft Ray Allen after picking Kobe in the 1st?  Would you do this over differently?  If you could put anybody who was still on the board next to Kobe, who would it have been?

[StartOrien]

Pistons:

I'd reccomend modifying your post for first and last names. While Azabuke is pretty easy to decipher, Williams isn't.

[action781]

Indiana:

* Three of your five starters averaged in single digits last year, with your four starters not named Kobe combining for 40.2 points per game.  Can you think of any team in recent memory that got so little production from 80% of its starting lineup?

* With little production coming from Kobe's supporting cast, and an admittedly weak bench, can Kobe do it alone?  What's to stop teams from simply doubling Kobe all game?

Well, I don't believe that I'll be getting little production from 80% of my starting lineup.  I believe I'll be getting a lot from Gasol, as mentioned.  With fewer primary scorers than in Memphis, Gasol will get much more touches here and often times be an offensive focal point.  He's very efficient, as noted, and I see him averaging from 16-20 ppg, which I don't find a far stretch of an improvement from last season's 14.6 on a team where he had to share 1 ball with Randolph, Gay, and Mayo.  Thomas averaged 9.4 ppg in 22.6 mpg last season which would become 10+ in his 26 mpg in Indiana.  Pietrus averaged 8.7 mpg in 22.5 mpg in Orlando which would becomes 10+ in his 26 mpg also.  So, I actually have 4 starters scoring double digits in minutes that I really don't find unreasonable.  That said, I  would expect about 27-30 ppg from Kobe 42-47 ppg from my other starters.  

I don't believe I admitted a weak bench; I admitted a weak bench defensively.  I actually think I have a bench with players who are completely offensively geared:

Jonny Flynn (13.5 ppg)
Marco Belinelli (7.1 ppg)
Kyle Korver (7.2 ppg, 53.6 3pt%)
and Nenad Krstic (8.4 ppg in 22 min)

These are all guys who are known as being able to score and/or shoot.  Along with Gasol, I don't think Kobe will be breaking his back to carry this team offensively every night.  Like I said (or maybe it was in my erased write up), I will be looking to give it to Gasol in the low-mid post about every other possession early in the game.

[indeedproceed]

Those are the teams you are comparing and you are saying that the Bulls are every bit as good as the Cavs last two teams? Those two teams could go 9 deep in good to decent NBA players. The Bulls can go maybe 5-6 deep, 7 tops. And the quality in that top 7 isn't nearly as good as the quality in the top 7 of the Cavs two teams. And after your 7th player, the drop in talent is off the charts.

Sorry IP, your team does not in fact deserve the top seed in the playoffs. I liken your team more to the 2007-08 Cavs only with a slightly better version of Lebron. 45-48 wins, possible first round ouster, no making it past the second round.

Good to decent NBA players (in their current roles on my team) on the Fake Bulls:

Noah, Miller, Jennings, Ilyasova, Tony Allen, Louis Amundson, Eric Maynor, LeBron James

If you look at my rotation, the only guys I'm asking more of than they've shown in the last 2 years is Ilyasova. Every guy in my rotation has proved he can perform the tasks I'm asking of him, and on top of that Jennings and Ilyasova should both improve next season. Ilyasova should improve because he'll have a more defined role (starter), with better teammates (James), Jennings should improve because he'll no longer be asked to be a primary scorer, and will have the shooters around to allow him to penetrate, and he'll be playing with the best player in basketball.

Guys that have serious questions marks about their ability to make minutes:
Von Wafer, Omer Asik, Gani Lawal, Landry Fields, Michael Redd

I'm not even going to discuss Redd yet, so lets throw him out. Von Wafer is a rotation player for sure, in 2008-2009. In 2009-2010, the guy just laid an egg, for lack of a better term. He's still young though, at 25 years old and around that age is typically when players come to grip with their own limitations, and embrace a role. Wafer has his tail between his legs after the debacle in Greece and failing a physical with the Rockets, he knows this is his last shot. If he messes up here he'll likely be in Europe for the duration, if they'll even take him.

Here is what Tom from The Dream Shake (Rockets SB Nation blog) had to say about Wafer:

As for Von's game, I haven't seen him play in quite some time, so he may have improved on a few areas of his game since his stint in Houston. I think that people invested too much into Wafer's talent simply because he came out of NOWHERE and ran off a streak of miracle performances (you'll surely remember one of them) in the absence of Tracy McGrady. Oh, he's very good at certain things: dunking, outside shooting and pumping up the crowd (he was our Nate during his glory run his first few weeks on the job, crowd loved him). But he can't do anything more than fill the role of Instant Offense Off The Bench.

Wafer played a much more pivotal role in Houston's offense than he will in Boston's. He's a slasher who can drive if there's space, but he's not too keen with his dribble to be able to cross anyone over and create for himself. As his role increased in Houston, he began taking long two-point jumpers to counteract defenders jumping the pick and roll and banking on him shooting threes, something I don't think he will need to do with the Celtics. He's an above average three-point shooter, so while he is streaky, it's not one of those Rafer Alston one-game-per-week shooting streaks. His shot is his primary calling card.

The backup plan if Von Wafer doesn't show up? Landry Fields. He's a rookie, but he can handle the ball, he attacks the rim, and he's got a silky smooth jumpshot. I'm expecting big things from him this season, but in all honesty, he's a rookie.

Gani Lawal and Omer Asik are both going to be in a position to earn as many minutes as they deserve. I have Asik tentatively penciled in for 7isn minutes per night, which is less than the 11 mins per that Shelden Williams got when he played. 7 minutes is not a lot, and I'm aware that Asik is going to look completely clueless some nights, and some nights he's going to look great. That's what you get with rookies. However, he's been playing basketball for a long time, he's 24 years old, and I'm hoping that he can give my some okay minutes when needed.

Lawal is another guy that is going to have some nights where he looks like a player in this league and some nights he doesn't. That's just the nature of rookies. Lawal though looks like a guy who has effort and hustle and rebounding going for him from the jump, so I think that his minutes should increase as the year goes on, much like BBD's minutes increased as his rookie season wore on.

So what's all that for?

I stand very staunchly that my starting 5 this season is superior to any of Cleveland's starting 5's in the past 4 years. If you want to debate that, that's fine, but I think my numbers will support me here.

My rotational players, Amundson, Maynor, Tony Allen, Von Wafer, aren't ideal. Amundson is the tallest at 6'9, and Tony Allen is the oldest, at 28. I'm going to need to lean heavily on my starters, and that's just the facts.

I think my rookies, Gani Lawal, Landry Fields, and Omer Asik, are all ready to give me spurts of production in different ways. Fields could end up being the "second round gem" this year, ala Marcus Thornton. Gani Lawal already has an NBA body and has shown a willingness to bang in the post, and Omer Asik is already accustomed to Euroleague play, and currently playing (and starting 2/3 games) for Turkey, Asik is averaging 10 pts, 8 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks per game over about 20 mins.

My rotation is thin, and it is tenuous, but I would contend that it is serviceable, and its not going to hold me back from getting the first seed.

Hey Agenta! If I'm going to take the time to type up 1,000 words to answer your questions, I expect rebuttal, and sharpish at that!

Don't give me that "But I have a life outside of this draft!" hoo-haw. Nobody is buying that.

[action781]

Indiana:

Can you explain your decision to draft Ray Allen after picking Kobe in the 1st?  Would you do this over differently?  If you could put anybody who was still on the board next to Kobe, who would it have been?

My decision was that I wanted a big guy who can defend and score (like Marc Gasol).  There was nobody who could do anything close to both of those still available.  Time was winding down on the clock and I selected Ray Allen because I thought he was the BPA that I could use to trade for one.

If I could do it over again, I would have held off my selection and worked harder to traded it.  Lamarcus aldridge was the last guy I was semi-targeting, but David West was really the last guy.  I think I might have taken Marcus Camby if I was pressed to take one that would stay on my team.

[Rondo2287]

Questions for Chicago, Indiana, and Milwaukee:

1. Rank the three teams above;

I think in terms of ability, there will be 2 50 win teams and one 40 win team. No team in the division will eclipse 60 wins. Chicago and Milwaukee are the 50 win teams, but I'm not counting out Indiana. Obviously I like Chicago more, but I'm sure there is a pretty cogent argument for Milwaukee. Indiana, I think their team has a shot to surprise in the playoffs if they make it therre, but they probably shouldn't be above a 5 to 7 seed.

2. Why can you beat the other top contenders in your division over the course of a season?;

I'm not convinced Milwaukee's current team will fare any better in the playoffs than Dallas's team has fared the last 2 seasons. I don't see any real improvement in the starting positions, and Kidd will be a year older..and at some point its going to mean a marked decline in his production. Whether it is this season or the next, who knows.

3.  Why can you beat the other top contenders in your division in a playoff series? (Extra credit for discussion of specific matchups.)

Nobody on either team can defend LeBron James. Nobody.

Re: Indiana: I picked up Tony Allen just for you, Kobe. Lets see Gasol save you now!

Re: Milwaukee: 'Ze German' is going to be a handful. I'm not contending that, or pretending anything otherwise. I'm not worried about any of the other matchups. Ilyasova is 6'10 and a frantic hustle defender. Amundson is 6'9 and a frantic hustle defender. I think between the two of them, they can slow Dirk down, but its not like I have illusions about sweeping Milwaukee. I don't think, however, that Milwaukee has anyone capable of even slowing LeBron down a little.

One issue with this.  Im not going to try to defend them.  Lebron is like the Russian hockey team in Miracle.  You cant defend them you have to attack them.  you have to take their game and shove it back in their face. 

Maggette has been able to do that when you look at past matchups.  Astonishingly enough he averages more free throws per game than Lebron did in their matchups.  I almost threw up when i read that.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/h2h_finder.cgi?request=1&p1=maggeco01&p2=jamesle01

The one thing Maggette can't contend with though is Lebrons passing.  Lebron is averaging 6.5 more assistts than Maggette in their career matchups.  and this is coming from a decent sample size too

[Roy H.]

Pistons:

I'd reccomend modifying your post for first and last names. While Azabuke is pretty easy to decipher, Williams isn't.

Marvin.

[nickagneta]

My rotation is thin, and it is tenuous, but I would contend that it is serviceable, and its not going to hold me back from getting the first seed.

Sorry guy but I completely disagree. Not only are the Bulls not going to get the #1 seed in the East, they aren't even going to win the Central. There's just not enough surrounding Lebron to get that job done.

Jennings is a below average PG that had a nice six week run to start his career but showed little thereafter. Mike Miller might be the easiest second scoring option in the league to guard. Noah is great defensively and on the boards but is basically a garbageman when it comes to offense. Ilyasova, Allen and Maynor are very very poor offensive players.

There you have it. A team that defensively will regularly keep teams under 90 points and will struggle to score 80 because teams will take away everything but LeBron and LeBron will have to average 50 points a game so that his team can score 90.

[action781]

Milwaukee Bucks

PG:Kidd/Jack
SG:Rip Hamilton/Miles
SF:Maggette/Barnes
PF:Dirk/Brandon Wright
C:Gortat/Turiaf

Indiana Pacers

PG:Fisher/Flynn
SG:Kobe/Belinelli
SF:Pietrus/Korver
PF:Thomas/Maxiell
C:Gasol/Krstic

Why I can beat the Bucks:

I find this to be an excellent matchup actually.  Offensively, my game plan will be more Kobe-centric.  I don't see who's going to guard Kobe on the Bucks.  Rip Hamilton?  Maybe 5 years ago.  I think Kobe can beat him off the dribble and if so, who steps up to help?  Kobe is a good enough passer to find an open Fisher or Pietrus/Korver spotting up or Gasol or Thomas/Maxiell cutting to the hoop.  I think that Thomas and Maxiell crashing the o-boards hard could be something Dirk won't enjoy competing with.

Defensively, my only matchup I have to worry about is at the 4.  Fisher-Kidd, Kobe-Rip, Pietrus-Maggette, Gasol-Gortat are all matchups I don't have to worry about being exploited by.  Thomas has the length and quickness to keep up with Dirk I believe.  Maxiell will come in to body Dirk for some minutes that Dirk will wish he were out of the game for.  I also may put Gasol on him for some minutes if Thomas is in foul trouble and let Maxiell bang with Gortat down low.

I don't see why Milwaukee would be considered a clearly better team than Indiana.

Thomas vs Dirk career Matchups

http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/h2h_finder.cgi?request=1&p1=nowitdi01&p2=thomaty01

Dirk dominates

Also, Maggette has gotten the best of Pietrus in their Matchups and while Kidd probably wont kill your team with scoring I have a feeling he would rack up the assists and dominate fisher on the boards.  And Fisher isnt good enough to take advantage of Kidd on the defensive end.

Touche.

Luckily for me, Kobe also owns rip:

http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/h2h_finder.cgi?request=1&p1=bryanko01&p2=hamilri01

And Gasol would considerably outperfrom Gortat but Gortat has never played enough minutes to have any statistical dataset for analysis.

[Rondo2287]

Milwaukee Bucks

PG:Kidd/Jack
SG:Rip Hamilton/Miles
SF:Maggette/Barnes
PF:Dirk/Brandon Wright
C:Gortat/Turiaf

Indiana Pacers

PG:Fisher/Flynn
SG:Kobe/Belinelli
SF:Pietrus/Korver
PF:Thomas/Maxiell
C:Gasol/Krstic

Why I can beat the Bucks:

I find this to be an excellent matchup actually.  Offensively, my game plan will be more Kobe-centric.  I don't see who's going to guard Kobe on the Bucks.  Rip Hamilton?  Maybe 5 years ago.  I think Kobe can beat him off the dribble and if so, who steps up to help?  Kobe is a good enough passer to find an open Fisher or Pietrus/Korver spotting up or Gasol or Thomas/Maxiell cutting to the hoop.  I think that Thomas and Maxiell crashing the o-boards hard could be something Dirk won't enjoy competing with.

Defensively, my only matchup I have to worry about is at the 4.  Fisher-Kidd, Kobe-Rip, Pietrus-Maggette, Gasol-Gortat are all matchups I don't have to worry about being exploited by.  Thomas has the length and quickness to keep up with Dirk I believe.  Maxiell will come in to body Dirk for some minutes that Dirk will wish he were out of the game for.  I also may put Gasol on him for some minutes if Thomas is in foul trouble and let Maxiell bang with Gortat down low.

I don't see why Milwaukee would be considered a clearly better team than Indiana.

Thomas vs Dirk career Matchups

http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/h2h_finder.cgi?request=1&p1=nowitdi01&p2=thomaty01

Dirk dominates

Also, Maggette has gotten the best of Pietrus in their Matchups and while Kidd probably wont kill your team with scoring I have a feeling he would rack up the assists and dominate fisher on the boards.  And Fisher isnt good enough to take advantage of Kidd on the defensive end.

Touche.

Luckily for me, Kobe also owns rip:

http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/h2h_finder.cgi?request=1&p1=bryanko01&p2=hamilri01

And Gasol would considerably outperfrom Gortat but Gortat has never played enough minutes to have any statistical dataset for analysis.

Funny that you say Kobe owns Rip yet Rip shoots a better percentage than Kobe in their matchups

[Roy H.]

Funny that you say Kobe owns Rip yet Rip shoots a better percentage than Kobe in their matchups

Honestly, you'd be better off not making arguments like this one; it just seems disingenuous, and takes away from your other points, since it's so easily rebutted.

Rip has a FG% that is .01 higher than Kobe's.  Kobe scores 10 more points, rebounds more, gets more assists, and has a much better eFG% (completely shutting down Rip from outside).  

Kobe does, in fact, own Rip, at least in the regular season.  (The 2004 Finals were a slightly different story, though, with Kobe struggling mightily from the field.)

[action781]

Milwaukee Bucks

PG:Kidd/Jack
SG:Rip Hamilton/Miles
SF:Maggette/Barnes
PF:Dirk/Brandon Wright
C:Gortat/Turiaf

Indiana Pacers

PG:Fisher/Flynn
SG:Kobe/Belinelli
SF:Pietrus/Korver
PF:Thomas/Maxiell
C:Gasol/Krstic

Why I can beat the Bucks:

I find this to be an excellent matchup actually.  Offensively, my game plan will be more Kobe-centric.  I don't see who's going to guard Kobe on the Bucks.  Rip Hamilton?  Maybe 5 years ago.  I think Kobe can beat him off the dribble and if so, who steps up to help?  Kobe is a good enough passer to find an open Fisher or Pietrus/Korver spotting up or Gasol or Thomas/Maxiell cutting to the hoop.  I think that Thomas and Maxiell crashing the o-boards hard could be something Dirk won't enjoy competing with.

Defensively, my only matchup I have to worry about is at the 4.  Fisher-Kidd, Kobe-Rip, Pietrus-Maggette, Gasol-Gortat are all matchups I don't have to worry about being exploited by.  Thomas has the length and quickness to keep up with Dirk I believe.  Maxiell will come in to body Dirk for some minutes that Dirk will wish he were out of the game for.  I also may put Gasol on him for some minutes if Thomas is in foul trouble and let Maxiell bang with Gortat down low.

I don't see why Milwaukee would be considered a clearly better team than Indiana.

Thomas vs Dirk career Matchups

http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/h2h_finder.cgi?request=1&p1=nowitdi01&p2=thomaty01

Dirk dominates

Also, Maggette has gotten the best of Pietrus in their Matchups and while Kidd probably wont kill your team with scoring I have a feeling he would rack up the assists and dominate fisher on the boards.  And Fisher isnt good enough to take advantage of Kidd on the defensive end.

Touche.

Luckily for me, Kobe also owns rip:

http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/h2h_finder.cgi?request=1&p1=bryanko01&p2=hamilri01

And Gasol would considerably outperfrom Gortat but Gortat has never played enough minutes to have any statistical dataset for analysis.

Funny that you say Kobe owns Rip yet Rip shoots a better percentage than Kobe in their matchups

If Kendrick Perkins scores 6 points on 2/3 shooting and Dwight Howard scores 20 on 10/19 shooting, who owns who?

FWIW, the "better shooting percentage" rondo speaks about is a .001 difference in the fg%'s.  And let's ignore efg between the 2 players since Kobe has a much better 3pt and ft % than Rip in the matchups.