2010 CB Draft: Northwest Division Press Conferences

[Fafnir]

Since when are Ariza/Gibson slow?

Gibson is slow in comparison to Smith. Ariza isn't fast enough to run in the manner which Westbrook thrives in. I was just making the point that this teams 2nd best player thrives when pushing the ball, yet none of the players on the team (Ariza could be argued) exhibit that same characteristic. Due to that, Westbrook will not perform at the same level.

Gibson is about as fast as Jeff Green from what I've seen. Ariza is a good player on the break. Good instincts going to the hooop.

[Donoghus]

I think people are underestimating the fact that I can drop Gasol down to C, put Mbah a Moute at PF, and put a very athletic Wes Johnson at the wing to help counter-act some of this "smallball" attack.  

[Greenbean]

Since when are Ariza/Gibson slow?

Gibson is slow in comparison to Smith. Ariza isn't fast enough to run in the manner which Westbrook thrives in. I was just making the point that this teams 2nd best player thrives when pushing the ball, yet none of the players on the team (Ariza could be argued) exhibit that same characteristic. Due to that, Westbrook will not perform at the same level.

Your point is a good one.

It's just that Ariza can fly.

[Greenbean]

I think people are underestimating the fact that I can drop Gasol down to C, put Mbah a Moute at PF, and put a very athletic Wes Johnson at the wing to help counter-act some of this "smallball" attack.  

Good point. I am just wondering what you think about the possibility of a team being able to match up with your size. Are you comfortable with your frontcourt being able to score consistently and step up?

[Evantime34]

Question for Minnestoa: You you forsee relying on a 2nd year player to be both the starting SG AND the primary backup PG as problematic.

Also, give me a lineup that can adequately defend any size at the 2 position. Josh Howard used to be able to defend the 2 when healthy but now he is a huge question mark defensively with the knee injury.

After seeing Beaubois play I am confident that he can be my starting 2 and backup 1. In the past Marquis has shown that he can run the point.

I still believe Josh Howard can guard size at the 2, however if you don't Marquis can, Henry is a good defender, Stackhouse is decent and Hayward has the length the bother long 2s.

You also have to look at the other side of the coin. Can large 2's stay with Beaubois? Big 2's could give us problems on the defensive end but those big 2's probably will not be quick enough to guard Deron or Beaubois causing a positive mismatch for us on offense.

TP for the question.

TP for the answer!

I guess your just going to have a difficult time selling me on Roddy and Howard. They are wild cards IMO.

Howard isnt young anymore and a bad knee injury could rob him of the versatility he once had. You are right though, he could also bounce back.

I see the Jazz as having 2 sure things, Deron Williams and Josh Smith.

Haywood is solid, but he had a career year at 30. He can certainly give you 10 boards and 2 blocks, but where is the post presence on this team?

I have to say if your wild cards pan out, you have a nice team.

I just think there are some flaws that need to be addressed.

As a Celtics fan you should know that being 30 doesn't make you old.
The post presence is less important on my team because we will not be playing in the half court much and when we do our bigs will utilize their speed in a pick and roll.
Are you sold on Ariza? His best year came when he was shooting open shots for the Lakers and not making a very high %?
Howard has much better career numbers than Ariza, who has not proven to me that he is anything more than a role player. Thornton hasn't shown much more than Roddy and Gibson hasn't proven he can do it as a consistent starter for a top end team.

So if you want to put my two sure things Williams (best pg in the league)& Smith ( one of most athletic 4's finally playing with an elite distributor) vs his two sure things Westbrook (not as good as Deron and in the wrong system with Denver) and Duncan (looked real old last year). I don't understand how you couldn't pick my team.

[Evantime34]

Since when are Ariza/Gibson slow?

Gibson is slow in comparison to Smith. Ariza isn't fast enough to run in the manner which Westbrook thrives in. I was just making the point that this teams 2nd best player thrives when pushing the ball, yet none of the players on the team (Ariza could be argued) exhibit that same characteristic. Due to that, Westbrook will not perform at the same level.

Gibson is about as fast as Jeff Green from what I've seen. Ariza is a good player on the break. Good instincts going to the hooop.

I guess I shouldn't have mentioned Ariza, Gibson might be fast but Josh Smith has elite speed and athleticism. The fact still remains that I have a distinct advantage speed wise and thus on the break vs Denver.

[Donoghus]

I think people are underestimating the fact that I can drop Gasol down to C, put Mbah a Moute at PF, and put a very athletic Wes Johnson at the wing to help counter-act some of this "smallball" attack.  

Good point. I am just wondering what you think about the possibility of a team being able to match up with your size. Are you comfortable with your frontcourt being able to score consistently and step up?

With Gasol and Yao in there?  Oh yeah.  Also, Gallinari and Johnson are guys who can score from the 3 spot so I think they'll be alright up front.  

I think its gonna be tough for a team to knock both of my starting 7 footers off their game offensively.  One may suffer at times but I fully believe the other would thrive or even my wings will benefit from it.

[Evantime34]

I think people are underestimating the fact that I can drop Gasol down to C, put Mbah a Moute at PF, and put a very athletic Wes Johnson at the wing to help counter-act some of this "smallball" attack.  

In my opinion countering the small ball attack is a bad idea for you. Size is your biggest advantage. Even if you go smaller at the 4 and 5 Calderon will get torched in a small ball type of game.

[Greenbean]

Question for Minnestoa: You you forsee relying on a 2nd year player to be both the starting SG AND the primary backup PG as problematic.

Also, give me a lineup that can adequately defend any size at the 2 position. Josh Howard used to be able to defend the 2 when healthy but now he is a huge question mark defensively with the knee injury.

After seeing Beaubois play I am confident that he can be my starting 2 and backup 1. In the past Marquis has shown that he can run the point.

I still believe Josh Howard can guard size at the 2, however if you don't Marquis can, Henry is a good defender, Stackhouse is decent and Hayward has the length the bother long 2s.

You also have to look at the other side of the coin. Can large 2's stay with Beaubois? Big 2's could give us problems on the defensive end but those big 2's probably will not be quick enough to guard Deron or Beaubois causing a positive mismatch for us on offense.

TP for the question.

TP for the answer!

I guess your just going to have a difficult time selling me on Roddy and Howard. They are wild cards IMO.

Howard isnt young anymore and a bad knee injury could rob him of the versatility he once had. You are right though, he could also bounce back.

I see the Jazz as having 2 sure things, Deron Williams and Josh Smith.

Haywood is solid, but he had a career year at 30. He can certainly give you 10 boards and 2 blocks, but where is the post presence on this team?

I have to say if your wild cards pan out, you have a nice team.

I just think there are some flaws that need to be addressed.

As a Celtics fan you should know that being 30 doesn't make you old.
The post presence is less important on my team because we will not be playing in the half court much and when we do our bigs will utilize their speed in a pick and roll.
Are you sold on Ariza? His best year came when he was shooting open shots for the Lakers and not making a very high %?
Howard has much better career numbers than Ariza, who has not proven to me that he is anything more than a role player. Thornton hasn't shown much more than Roddy and Gibson hasn't proven he can do it as a consistent starter for a top end team.

So if you want to put my two sure things Williams (best pg in the league)& Smith ( one of most athletic 4's finally playing with an elite distributor) vs his two sure things Westbrook (not as good as Deron and in the wrong system with Denver) and Duncan (looked real old last year). I don't understand how you couldn't pick my team.

I understand your reasoning why you wouldnt need a post presence. I am just thinking of the playoffs when everything inevitably settles down and halfcourt execution is a must.

Regarding Ariza...I agree. I think he is best suited as role player. I think we are getting wires crossed. I wasnt commenting on your match up with Denver because I think you may be right.

I was thinking more how your team matched up with the Thunder who have the speed to keep up with your running attack but with 3 post threats to go along with it.

[Evantime34]

Question for Minnestoa: You you forsee relying on a 2nd year player to be both the starting SG AND the primary backup PG as problematic.

Also, give me a lineup that can adequately defend any size at the 2 position. Josh Howard used to be able to defend the 2 when healthy but now he is a huge question mark defensively with the knee injury.

After seeing Beaubois play I am confident that he can be my starting 2 and backup 1. In the past Marquis has shown that he can run the point.

I still believe Josh Howard can guard size at the 2, however if you don't Marquis can, Henry is a good defender, Stackhouse is decent and Hayward has the length the bother long 2s.

You also have to look at the other side of the coin. Can large 2's stay with Beaubois? Big 2's could give us problems on the defensive end but those big 2's probably will not be quick enough to guard Deron or Beaubois causing a positive mismatch for us on offense.

TP for the question.

TP for the answer!

I guess your just going to have a difficult time selling me on Roddy and Howard. They are wild cards IMO.

Howard isnt young anymore and a bad knee injury could rob him of the versatility he once had. You are right though, he could also bounce back.

I see the Jazz as having 2 sure things, Deron Williams and Josh Smith.

Haywood is solid, but he had a career year at 30. He can certainly give you 10 boards and 2 blocks, but where is the post presence on this team?

I have to say if your wild cards pan out, you have a nice team.

I just think there are some flaws that need to be addressed.

As a Celtics fan you should know that being 30 doesn't make you old.
The post presence is less important on my team because we will not be playing in the half court much and when we do our bigs will utilize their speed in a pick and roll.
Are you sold on Ariza? His best year came when he was shooting open shots for the Lakers and not making a very high %?
Howard has much better career numbers than Ariza, who has not proven to me that he is anything more than a role player. Thornton hasn't shown much more than Roddy and Gibson hasn't proven he can do it as a consistent starter for a top end team.

So if you want to put my two sure things Williams (best pg in the league)& Smith ( one of most athletic 4's finally playing with an elite distributor) vs his two sure things Westbrook (not as good as Deron and in the wrong system with Denver) and Duncan (looked real old last year). I don't understand how you couldn't pick my team.

I understand your reasoning why you wouldnt need a post presence. I am just thinking of the playoffs when everything inevitably settles down and halfcourt execution is a must.

Regarding Ariza...I agree. I think he is best suited as role player. I think we are getting wires crossed. I wasnt commenting on your match up with Denver because I think you may be right.

I was thinking more how your team matched up with the Thunder who have the speed to keep up with your running attack but with 3 post threats to go along with it.

Teams do what made them successful even in the playoffs. The Suns still ran and made the conference finals.

As for your team, I would still go up tempo against you guys but I feel like I have the edge defensively to get more stops and pull the games out.

[Greenbean]

I think people are underestimating the fact that I can drop Gasol down to C, put Mbah a Moute at PF, and put a very athletic Wes Johnson at the wing to help counter-act some of this "smallball" attack.  

Good point. I am just wondering what you think about the possibility of a team being able to match up with your size. Are you comfortable with your frontcourt being able to score consistently and step up?

With Gasol and Yao in there?  Oh yeah.  Also, Gallinari and Johnson are guys who can score from the 3 spot so I think they'll be alright up front.  

I think its gonna be tough for a team to knock both of my starting 7 footers off their game offensively.  One may suffer at times but I fully believe the other would thrive or even my wings will benefit from it.

You may be right that both 7 footers would rarely have bad games at the same time. That being said I just think the team lacks balance. Your starting lineup for example includes Mbah. Whoever is guarding him can double down on the post every time.

Also, explain how your pick and roll defense will be affected with both 7 footers being in your starting lineup.

Ill check in later for the responses. Gotta go to a meeting.!

[Donoghus]

I think people are underestimating the fact that I can drop Gasol down to C, put Mbah a Moute at PF, and put a very athletic Wes Johnson at the wing to help counter-act some of this "smallball" attack.  

In my opinion countering the small ball attack is a bad idea for you. Size is your biggest advantage. Even if you go smaller at the 4 and 5 Calderon will get torched in a small ball type of game.

Yeah, its not exactly something I'd like to roll out there, especially for extended minutes.  Just more so, the option is there if need be.  I prefer to stay big.

[Donoghus]

I think people are underestimating the fact that I can drop Gasol down to C, put Mbah a Moute at PF, and put a very athletic Wes Johnson at the wing to help counter-act some of this "smallball" attack.  

Good point. I am just wondering what you think about the possibility of a team being able to match up with your size. Are you comfortable with your frontcourt being able to score consistently and step up?

With Gasol and Yao in there?  Oh yeah.  Also, Gallinari and Johnson are guys who can score from the 3 spot so I think they'll be alright up front.  

I think its gonna be tough for a team to knock both of my starting 7 footers off their game offensively.  One may suffer at times but I fully believe the other would thrive or even my wings will benefit from it.

You may be right that both 7 footers would rarely have bad games at the same time. That being said I just think the team lacks balance. Your starting lineup for example includes Mbah. Whoever is guarding him can double down on the post every time.

Also, explain how your pick and roll defense will be affected with both 7 footers being in your starting lineup.

Ill check in later for the responses. Gotta go to a meeting.!

If you look at my presser, I actually rolled out Gallinari as my starting SF and have Mbah a Moute coming off the bench.

[Who]

I think people are underestimating the fact that I can drop Gasol down to C, put Mbah a Moute at PF, and put a very athletic Wes Johnson at the wing to help counter-act some of this "smallball" attack.  

Agreed -- also how difficult it'll be to speed up the tempo against your starting lineup when your team is pounding it into the low post and scoring at a good clip + dominating the backboards.

[StartOrien]

Here's how I sees it:

1. Denver

I really like the talent on this team. My concerns here would be chemistry (a lot of fast tempo players to surround Tim Duncan with), perimiter scoring in a half court set, and to a lesser degree shooting. Still, there's enough talent for me to take them at the 1 spot.

2. Utah

I just don't think under any circumstances you can expect anything more than a half a season out of Yao Ming. Missing a year and a half is enough for me, but he also has had a long history of missing 35+ games a season. In the event he was healthy for a full season, I think you could still argue that Denver's combo of Duncan and Darko would be enough to atleast slow Gasol & Yao down enough. I think under these circumstances you'd go with Utah, but still, in my opinion there's no way Yao makes it.

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3. Minnesota

Minnesota would be my favorite team to watch in the division no doubt. And I also really like their flexibility. Unfortunately, I think lack of scoring in a half court set separates them from the elite. You can push, and push and push, at some point the game slows down.

4. OKC
I really like the collection of talent on this team, and I think they really run deep. Unfortunately, I think this team lacks the alpha-male they'd need in order to compete.

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5. Portland
Too young to compete right now. But I think people don't realize just how good they should be in the future. IMO, no question about it, this is the team of the future, and I don't think there's an argument about it.