2010 CB Draft: Northwest Division Press Conferences

[Roy H.]

Question for Utah:

Right now, you have a ton of guys playing out of position:

* Willie Green isn't a point guard, and never has been; when asked to play that role in very limited minutes, Philly was atrocious;

* Casspi isn't a shooting guard; when asked to play that role in very limited minutes, Sacramento was badly outplayed;

* Gallinari isn't a shooting guard, and played very few minutes there; he was primarily a SF/PF

* Mbah a Moute was primarily a PF, and played better there than at SF.

Looking at your lineup, isn't it fair to say that your team lacks a starting SG and a backup PG?

[Evantime34]

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.

I think I can consistently score with Josh Smith rolling to the hoop on a pick and roll with Deron Williams, when the defense collapses Roddy can shoot 3's and Howard can hit mid range jumpers. Pretty much the exact same way Phoenix scored in the half court.

[jgod213]

QUESTION FOR MINNY:

I really like both Gordon Hayward and Xavier Henry; however, how much do expect both of these players to contribute in their rookie seasons?  Considering Beaubois is your primary backup point guard, how can i, as a voter, be sure that Henry at age 19 is ready to play bigtime minutes at the 2-guard spot?

[StartOrien]

Josh Smith is one of my 5 favorite non-Celtics in the league, but to compare his ability to score in a half court set to Amare Stoudemire's is downright silly.

[indeedproceed]

Question for Utah:

Right now, you have a ton of guys playing out of position:

* Willie Green isn't a point guard, and never has been; when asked to play that role in very limited minutes, Philly was atrocious;

* Casspi isn't a shooting guard; when asked to play that role in very limited minutes, Sacramento was badly outplayed;

* Gallinari isn't a shooting guard, and played very few minutes there; he was primarily a SF/PF

* Mbah a Moute was primarily a PF, and played better there than at SF.

Looking at your lineup, isn't it fair to say that your team lacks a starting SG and a backup PG?

I've got less of an issue with Casspi at the 2 than Mbah a Moute at the 3.

[Evantime34]

QUESTION FOR MINNY:

I really like both Gordon Hayward and Xavier Henry; however, how much do expect both of these players to contribute in their rookie seasons?  Considering Beaubois is your primary backup point guard, how can i, as a voter, be sure that Henry at age 19 is ready to play bigtime minutes at the 2-guard spot?

To be honest you can't be sure that Henry and Hayward can contribute. However, you can be confident that one will emerge (my guess would be Hayward). If you don't think think either of them can emerge you have to believe that out of Hayward, Henry, Marquis, and Stackhouse I will be able to get quality minutes out of both. In other words I'm confident in Quis and Stackhouse to the point that I don't feel the rookies need to contribute but I'm confident they will. Hayward is probably going to start for the Jazz if that tells you anything.

[Donoghus]

Question for Utah:

Right now, you have a ton of guys playing out of position:

* Willie Green isn't a point guard, and never has been; when asked to play that role in very limited minutes, Philly was atrocious;

* Casspi isn't a shooting guard; when asked to play that role in very limited minutes, Sacramento was badly outplayed;

* Gallinari isn't a shooting guard, and played very few minutes there; he was primarily a SF/PF

* Mbah a Moute was primarily a PF, and played better there than at PF.

Looking at your lineup, isn't it fair to say that your team lacks a starting SG and a backup PG?

Of my starters, the guys who will most likely be playing the most minutes, Casspi is the only one who can really be construed as possibly playing out of position.  But he has played SG before and I'm not sure you can chalk up Sacramento's bad play to solely him playing SG.   Gallinari will be starting at his SF position, Calderon will be playing his PG position.

I wouldn't say Mbah a Moute has been that bad in limited minutes at the SF position.  Certainly he can slide up there for limited minutes which is exactly what he'll be asked for coming off the bench.  And he'll be asked to do things from soley a defensive standpoint so he won't really be wasting effort on the offensive end.

Now, for the backup PG position,  Green's not going to be asked to play a terrible amount of minutes.  Depending on how things shake out, Law or Quinn can fill that spot.  For years we've been banging home the backup PG position with the Celtics but has it ultimately been the biggest flaw for that team?  I see some similarities here.  

To me, when all is said and done, none of my studs are being forced to play out of position for anything more than small minutes. Namely, if Gasol had to slide down to C.  

[Roy H.]

Question for Utah:

Right now, you have a ton of guys playing out of position:

* Willie Green isn't a point guard, and never has been; when asked to play that role in very limited minutes, Philly was atrocious;

* Casspi isn't a shooting guard; when asked to play that role in very limited minutes, Sacramento was badly outplayed;

* Gallinari isn't a shooting guard, and played very few minutes there; he was primarily a SF/PF

* Mbah a Moute was primarily a PF, and played better there than at SF.

Looking at your lineup, isn't it fair to say that your team lacks a starting SG and a backup PG?

I've got less of an issue with Casspi at the 2 than Mbah a Moute at the 3.

Why so?  Mbah a Moute actually saw significant time at the 3 last year.  Casspi saw very little time at the 2, but when he did, his team got slaughtered.

This isn't an example of a player who has a long track record at one position, but who switched due to personnel on his team (i.e., Rashard Lewis moving from SF to PF; Jermaine O'Neal or Tim Duncan moving from PF to C).  Rather, it's a guy with no NBA track record at a position being asked to start there.

I actually think Mbah a Moute will be okay at SF, so long as there's other scoring around him.  I'm not as sure about asking SFs to play SG (the new vogue of this year's CBNBA), or SGs to play backup PG.

[Donoghus]

Question for Utah:

Right now, you have a ton of guys playing out of position:

* Willie Green isn't a point guard, and never has been; when asked to play that role in very limited minutes, Philly was atrocious;

* Casspi isn't a shooting guard; when asked to play that role in very limited minutes, Sacramento was badly outplayed;

* Gallinari isn't a shooting guard, and played very few minutes there; he was primarily a SF/PF

* Mbah a Moute was primarily a PF, and played better there than at SF.

Looking at your lineup, isn't it fair to say that your team lacks a starting SG and a backup PG?

I've got less of an issue with Casspi at the 2 than Mbah a Moute at the 3.

Well, I also have Wes Johnson available who is more than competent at the SF position even though he's a rookie.

[Evantime34]

Josh Smith is one of my 5 favorite non-Celtics in the league, but to compare his ability to score in a half court set to Amare Stoudemire's is downright silly.

You don't think that Amare playing with an elite pg his entire career has made a difference in that opinion? I was saying that Smith can can a pass in the pick and roll and finish similarly to Amare, and I stand by that.

[Roy H.]

Josh Smith is one of my 5 favorite non-Celtics in the league, but to compare his ability to score in a half court set to Amare Stoudemire's is downright silly.

You don't think that Amare playing with an elite pg his entire career has made a difference in that opinion? I was saying that Smith can can a pass in the pick and roll and finish similarly to Amare, and I stand by that.

Finishing off the pick and roll isn't the only issue, though.  Amare is a much better shooter and a much better post player than Smith.

[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. 

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.

I think you are under-estimating how good a defensive combination Mbah a Moute and Pau Gasol will be.

The overwhelming majority of times when Jose Calderon gets beat by dribble penetration is off the pick and roll. Not in one-on-one situations. Those are actually fairly rare. The key to abusing Calderon is a weak pick and roll defense.

The above two players (Mbah a Moute + Pau) are Utah's best big man combination at defending the screen and roll. Calderon will do just fine defensively in that lineup.

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When you worry about Calderon is when you are pairing him with a poor to very poor defensive big man + especially slow and immobile defensive big men.

For example, Calderon and Bargnani is a disgraceful combination ... also, Calderon and Amare Stoudemire or Calderon and Shaq or Calderon and Okur would all be highly problematic defensive pick and roll combinations.

In Utah's case, Calderon + Yao Ming is where they are most vulnerable defensively to the pick and roll. They are also weak with Gallinari + Yao Ming (although given their other wing defenders, they should be able to hide Gallo on the lesser offensive threat or bench him altogether if they wish).

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Unfortunately, attacking Yao Ming in the pick and roll on this team isn't as easy as with the Rockets because of Pau Gasol.

That makes it very difficult to go small against Utah (say a team shifts a PF/C like Bosh to center and a SF/PF like T.Young or undersized PF to the four) because Pau Gasol will have a major mismatch on the other end of the floor. So even though you've created a mis-match for your team you have also created another one against your team.

Plus, Pau Gasol gives them a second shot blocker at the rim which gives them further protection against dribble penetration on pick and rolls. So Yao has more protection here in Utah than he did in Houston. Also, the Jazz have long active wing defenders who could play team defense off the ball (away from point of attack) in pick and rolls to a high degree.

So while Yao is vulnerable ... turning him into an outright defensive liability like teams have done to him in the past (when Boston moved KG to center and worked him over with Pierce/KG in the pick and roll) will be quite difficult.

Not many teams have the creative perimeter player + two offensively talented bigs to force Yao to guard one (not much use if he's defending Ben Wallace in the pick and roll) + can defend both Yao and Pau in the post. Otherwise, you are just trading baskets.

[StartOrien]

Josh Smith is one of my 5 favorite non-Celtics in the league, but to compare his ability to score in a half court set to Amare Stoudemire's is downright silly.

You don't think that Amare playing with an elite pg his entire career has made a difference in that opinion? I was saying that Smith can can a pass in the pick and roll and finish similarly to Amare, and I stand by that.

Finishing off the pick and roll isn't the only issue, though.  Amare is a much better shooter and a much better post player than Smith.

As well as faceup after the catch

[Evantime34]

Josh Smith is one of my 5 favorite non-Celtics in the league, but to compare his ability to score in a half court set to Amare Stoudemire's is downright silly.

You don't think that Amare playing with an elite pg his entire career has made a difference in that opinion? I was saying that Smith can can a pass in the pick and roll and finish similarly to Amare, and I stand by that.

Finishing off the pick and roll isn't the only issue, though.  Amare is a much better shooter and a much better post player than Smith.

What I meant my original point to be, was that my team can score in the half court and they will do so in a similar style to Phoenix. Will they be as efficient as Phoenix? Of course not. Although, We don't need to be, because we have good defensive players who actually want to and have played defense in the past. If the other team slows the ball down they have to deal with a very tough defensive team when they are on offense. That being said we will force the tempo at every turn.

[Who]

Question for Utah:

Right now, you have a ton of guys playing out of position:

* Willie Green isn't a point guard, and never has been; when asked to play that role in very limited minutes, Philly was atrocious;

* Casspi isn't a shooting guard; when asked to play that role in very limited minutes, Sacramento was badly outplayed;

* Gallinari isn't a shooting guard, and played very few minutes there; he was primarily a SF/PF

* Mbah a Moute was primarily a PF, and played better there than at SF.

Looking at your lineup, isn't it fair to say that your team lacks a starting SG and a backup PG?

(1) Agreed on Willie Green. He has been dreadful whenever someone has tried to use him as a PG.

(2) Disagree on Casspi. The team played badly when he was at SG but it wasn't his fault. He did his job and did it very well.

(3) Gallinari plays the small forward position (defensively) or whoever is the weaker offensive threat. Whichever player (SG or SF) or defensive combination gives Utah their best defensive coverage. With W.Johnson, Mbah a Moute and Casspi this isn't an issue.

(4) Mbah a Moute can play both forward positions at a good level and defend four positions.