2011 CB Draft Southwest Division Press Conferences

[Donoghus]

Alright, major apologies for my tardiness to answer questions.  Its just been one of those weeks at work.

Memphis, how do you think Hibbert and Humprhies are going to fair against some of the elite 4-5 combo's such as Nene & Bosh and Bogut & Amare?

Obviously, they'll have their work cut out for them.  Not going to sugarcoat it. It'll be tough.  They're really going to have to step it up on defense to play some of these strong frontcourts to a stand-still. I do think that from a rebounding standpoint, they should be able to hold their own.  Also, Hibbert's a big guy.  He's not going to back down and I think he's developing a bit of an offensive game that could give those defending him some headaches.
 

[Donoghus]

MEMPHIS:

Rose/Allen mix is fantastic - this alone will get you a playoff seed.

However, i need convincing that this team can get it done defensively outside of Rose + Prince.  Doesn't seem like there's anything there in your reserves to help on that end. 

Am i overlooking Hibbert as a post defender? tell me what Humphries can do defensively besides lock down a bubble butt.  Is Patterson "that guy" off the bench who can defend/is he ready for the playoff spotlight?

First of all, I like the "bubble butt" reference.  Not bad. 

I can see how defense off the bench can be a bit of a concern.  I certainly wouldn't label Korver or Casspi defensive stalewarts.  I do think that Patterson showed glimpses, at times, over the course of his rookie season that he can step in and perform at a very competent level in the NBA.

In regards to the playoff spotlight question, I'm sure he is ready.  He spent time at Kentucky, one of the biggest spotlighted schools college basketball.  I don't think playing in the NBA playoffs is going to cause him to be a deer in headlights.  I certainly wouldn't be shocked either if he ended up leaping over Humphries at some point during the season.

In regards to Hibbert, I'm not too concerned about him defensively. He's pretty mobile for someone his size and is a pretty solid post defender.  He's built like a rock so I'm comfortable with him guarding downlow.

[Kane3387]

Memphis:

What type of production do you expect to get out of your bench?  Who is your 6th man? 

In terms of seeding, here are the teams I have ahead of you:

1.  Sacramento
2.  Portland
3.  Golden State
4.  Utah
5.  Denver
6.  Cleveland
7.  Memphis

You project your team as a top-four team; which three of those teams should move down below you, and why?

Is Hibbert/Humphries a good enough front line defensively to compete with the better big man combos in the league?

Alright Roy lol why is gs better then Utah? No one defends dirk better then kg.

[KCattheStripe]

Memphis:

What type of production do you expect to get out of your bench?  Who is your 6th man? 

In terms of seeding, here are the teams I have ahead of you:

1.  Sacramento
2.  Portland
3.  Golden State
4.  Utah
5.  Denver
6.  Cleveland
7.  Memphis

You project your team as a top-four team; which three of those teams should move down below you, and why?

Is Hibbert/Humphries a good enough front line defensively to compete with the better big man combos in the league?

Alright Roy lol why is gs better then Utah? No one defended dirk better then kg.

Fixed.

[KCattheStripe]

Memphis:

What type of production do you expect to get out of your bench?  Who is your 6th man? 

In terms of seeding, here are the teams I have ahead of you:

1.  Sacramento
2.  Portland
3.  Golden State
4.  Utah
5.  Denver
6.  Cleveland
7.  Memphis

You project your team as a top-four team; which three of those teams should move down below you, and why?

Is Hibbert/Humphries a good enough front line defensively to compete with the better big man combos in the league?

Alright Roy lol why is gs better then Utah? No one defended dirk better then kg.

Fixed.

But mostly it's because your head to head won't matter much for regular season rankings. I think his team will win more games.

[nickagneta]

Tough division to handicap as all teams have an elite and formidable area of their team and another area that is very weak.



...


...

This division is tougher than I thought.


1. San Antonio - I guess I buy into Westbrook's abilities coupled with Hill's and Boozer's and Kaman's health more than I do any other thing in this division.

2. Memphis - so so so weak at the 4 spot and the backcourt bench is very weak but Rose and Allen as starters in the back court is dynamic and Hibbert is better than people give him credit for.

3. Cleveland - with a better PG situation this team is much better but IMO the PG spot and backcourt as a whole is just not good.

4. Dallas - I can not believe I am putting a team with Dwight Howard 4th in their division but this is just not a good team outside of Howard and maybe Landry.

[Kane3387]

I like Cleveland. I think gallo is underrated here. Dude can shoot, is a willing defender, and attacks the basket. Putting Rubio on a team with pau gasol simply gives hi the best chance to succeed as a rookiebin the NBA. They played a lot together on the Spanish team and gasol can really mentor him. Also who better for him to throw lobs to the griffin. I really like Brooks backing him up too. Red dick spaces the floor but he's not a NBA starter.

Still griffin and gasol cause too much problems for opponents in my opinion in this division. Gasol is arguably the best overall player in the division. Yes I know d12 is in the division but gasol outplayed him in that finals series.

Crazy to see howards team ranked last in this division but I agree and think they struggle to make the playoffs.

[The Walker Wiggle]

3. Cleveland - with a better PG situation this team is much better but IMO the PG spot and backcourt as a whole is just not good.

I guess I could've continued to trot KG out at center. Anything further I can argue, Nick, to improve my standing? Want to talk Reggie Williams? Who over a season and half has established himself as a legitimate, and highly efficient scorer, despite playing behind a pair of high volume shooters in Golden State. His 1.08 PPP ranked 14th in the league! Guy has a knack for getting tough mid-range baskets, can get hot in a hurry, and ranked 9th in the NBA in 3PT% (.423).

I have only squad from this division making the playoffs. San Antonio.

Likewise, Who, I'd love to hear further thoughts.

Regardless, I'll say now - because I never know when I'm going to change into Teen Wolf - you're a couple of my favorite GMs. Always a pleasure.

[nickagneta]

3. Cleveland - with a better PG situation this team is much better but IMO the PG spot and backcourt as a whole is just not good.

I guess I could've continued to trot KG out at center. Anything further I can argue, Nick, to improve my standing? Want to talk Reggie Williams? Who over a season and half has established himself as a legitimate, and highly efficient scorer, despite playing behind a pair of high volume shooters in Golden State. His 1.08 PPP ranked 14th in the league! Guy has a knack for getting tough mid-range baskets, can get hot in a hurry, and ranked 9th in the NBA in 3PT% (.423).

I have only squad from this division making the playoffs. San Antonio.

Likewise, Who, I'd love to hear further thoughts.

Regardless, I'll say now - because I never know when I'm going to change into Teen Wolf - you're a couple of my favorite GMs. Always a pleasure.

Honestly looked at this for a while and had each team in the top spot for various reasons. It real is that close with these four teams and the difference is minimal.

[Who]

I have only squad from this division making the playoffs. San Antonio.

Likewise, Who, I'd love to hear further thoughts.

Regardless, I'll say now - because I never know when I'm going to change into Teen Wolf - you're a couple of my favorite GMs. Always a pleasure.

I have Cleveland 9th in the West. Since I couldn't vote for my own team, the Cavs were my 8th seed on my ballot.

The West is a real dog fight. I think it's a much stronger conference than the East.

Some General Thoughts

I love Blake Griffin and Pau Gasol. I think that is an exceptional big man duo.

I like Rubio and A.Brooks at the point. I think they are solid enough. Especially on a team who's strengths were always going to lie elsewhere. Guys who were the final pieces added to the puzzle.

JJ Redick, I dislike as a starter. He looks decent defensively because SVG chooses his matchups very carefully and avoids putting JJ in bad situations (SVG protects him). As a full time starter, his defense is going to drop off significantly and he is going to become much more of a liability on that end of the floor.

Gallinari is a solid starter. His offensive package is impressive but his defense is below par and his rebounding is very worrying (downright disgraceful in the playoffs). In a dogfight, for example in a hard fought playoff series, I feel more comfortable relying on a more defensive orientated player glue guy like Tayshaun Prince than Gallo. But he ranked closely behind. Solid but unexceptional starter.

The Bench

The bench was a big problem for me.

There were three players who's health bothered me. Josh Howard was one of them. The others were Greg Oden and David West. For D.West, I expect reduced performance. For Oden and Josh Howard, I wasn't confident enough in their health to consider them as contributors. Both players were judged as non-factors.

Edit: Oh wait, it was more than 3 guys now that I think about it a bit more. That I was worried about their health. Azubuike, M.Daniels, M.Okur, B.Miller, M.Redd. Mostly end of bench guys. I think that was it.

I am not a fan of Reggie Williams. Too poor defensively and on the glass.

Ekpe Udoh was impressive defensively but his rebounding and offensive game were very poor. Mozgov struggled considerably in his rookie season. In the long term view of things, I like both players and think they are valuable pieces but in the immediate sense? I am not confident enough in them. They both ranked amongst the weaker players at their respective positions / roles.

I am a fan of Aaron Brooks though. I think he is a strong backup PG and will add good value to your team. But he was really the only guy I liked.

Defense

Defensively, as a collective, I think your group will have some problems.

Like I said, I think JJ Redick's defense will drop off as a starter. Gallo is one of the weaker defenders amongst the starting SFs. Plus, I think the backup wings are problems defensively too. So I expect this to be an area your team struggles in.

My expectations for Ricky Rubio are for him to struggle in man-to-man defense but to be a very good team defender. Aaron Brooks is an all-around poor defender.

Moving onto the big men. I rate Pau Gasol as an above average defender at the five. I am hopeful that Blake Griffin can become an average defensive PF next year. Ekpe Udoh had some impressive defensive showings last year and I think getting more playing time at his natural position (PF) will help him considerably defensively. I reckon he is your best defensive player. I was disappointed with Mozgov defensively. I thought he struggled a lot.

All in all, I think your big men are solid enough defensively but that your perimeter players will create too many problems for them to keep under wraps. Given the defensive strength of so many teams in this fantasy league, I rated Cleveland one of the weaker units.

Overall balance

I felt you concentrated too much on adding highly efficient complementary offensive players ... and that the overall balance (offense, defense and rebounding) wasn't quite right + the depth wasn't there. 

The reason I put San Antonio ahead of you was because while I was also worried about their defense (Boozer / Kaman), I liked their depth a lot more. Vince Carter, Kurt Thomas, Luke Ridnour and Amir Johnson. That, for me, was the separating factor.

[The Walker Wiggle]

What progress should Blake Griffin make next season?

His improvements will likely be reflected more in the Clippers record than his own boxscore. Griffin used 27.5% of the Clippers' plays last season and it's hard to envision his usage rate increasing much beyond that next season, either playing alongside Gasol and Gallinari in Cleveland or on the actual Clippers assuming he'll be paired in the frontcourt with a healthy Chris Kaman.

Although improving his free throw shooting alone could push his scoring into the 25 ppg range. With that and continued defensive improvement he'll pass by Amar'e Stoudemire. He's already better on the glass (12.1 vs. 8.2) and as a playmaker (3.8 assists and 2.7 TOs vs. 2.6 assists and 3.2 TOs).

Pau Gasol has gotten to the Finals with Kobe, but never past the 1st round on his own. He's not with Kobe, but he's not on his own. How far can he get?

No safe to say he's not alone. Are you just trying to get Amar'e banged on?

Two top five big men. 40+ plus points and 22+ rebounds from the most efficient scoring tandem in the league.

[The Walker Wiggle]

There were three players who's health bothered me. Josh Howard was one of them. The others were Greg Oden and David West. For D.West, I expect reduced performance. For Oden and Josh Howard, I wasn't confident enough in their health to consider them as contributors. Both players were judged as non-factors.

Thanks for the full write up, sir. Obviously Howard has the opportunity to be a difference maker - and one of the steals of the draft - for a Cavaliers team that will need his defense on the wing at some point, so much so that I flirted with inserting him into the starting lineup. I can't begrudge you your stance though. As I've said, I find judging injuries the most fraught element of the CB draft. 82 game Yao Ming.

With the NBA locked out actionable off-season info is scarce.

Published today in the Winston-Salem Journal:

Howard was active during [his Winston-Salem Youth Basketball] camp, joking around the campers and going one-on-one with a few lucky participants.

Unfortunately no videos of his dunking on a camper, a la Lebron, have surfaced yet.

I am optimistic that the Cavaliers have both the drive and high basketball IQ to be play solid team defense; and that two franchise talents, strong rebounding and one of the league's highest octane offenses would compensate for a lack of great individual defenders and allow the team to exceed your expectations.

EDIT - And in addition to the Nigerian Nightmare, I believe Trevor Booker has shown flashes, has the strength, quickness (the only rookie to beat John Wall's three-quarter court time), length and grit to be a very good defensive big 3/undersized 4.

[action781]

I'm going to go:

1.  Memphis - This is a superstar league and superstars have always led teams to massive regular season win totals.

2a.  San Antonio - I think this is a nice offensive/defensive balanced team.

2b.  Cleveland - Very close to San Antonio and I just think it's an interesting team that I'd like to see.  Blake Griffin's gaudy stats haven't shown me that they translate to W's.

2c.  Dallas - I could be convinced that Dwight Howard could lead his team to a high regular season win total, but they are at the bottom of this threesome due to lack of activity.

The reason the last 3 are separated by letters is because I think it will be like 1 win that separates them.  It's incredibly close in my eyes.

I don't find this to be a stacked division, but a very solid and even division.

[The Walker Wiggle]

1.  Memphis - This is a superstar league and superstars have always led teams to massive regular season win totals.

While I can't strongly disagree as I certainly believe Memphis is headed for the playoffs and I love 4/5ths of the team's starting line-up, I am disappointed that Blake Griffin and Pau Gasol somehow don't qualify as superstars?

I'm surprised to find out that Griffin is underrated here.

[action781]

1.  Memphis - This is a superstar league and superstars have always led teams to massive regular season win totals.

While I can't strongly disagree as I certainly believe Memphis is headed for the playoffs and I love 4/5ths of the team's starting line-up, I am disappointed that Blake Griffin and Pau Gasol somehow don't qualify as superstars?

I'm surprised to find out that Griffin is underrated here.

Superstar?  No, Blake was barely an all-star.

Rose led his team to 62 wins.  Griffin's team had 32 wins.  Rose is a superstar, Griffin is a fringe all-star and insane highlight reel.  Pau on the other hand is a second banana, an all-star, but also not a superstar.