2012 CB Draft NW Division Press Conferences

[RebusRankin]

OKC, how effective will your defense be, especially with starting Bargs?

Does your team have to many selfish players?

[nickagneta]

Here my opinion on this division:

Portland
Denver
Oklahoma City
Utah


Gotta be honest, I think all three of the teams after Portland are really close and I went back and forth having each team in each position, 2 through 4 in the division. It could be a three way tie. And I had OKC last and was writing up the rest of this when I realized they were a better team than Utah, so I changed the rankings yet again.

Portland is the cream of the crop here and a top 3 team in the West. They just need to hope Rubio will be ready sometime in 2012 and that Howard isn't severely effected by his back surgery.

I chose Denver second because I think they have the best defense and great veteran leadership in KG who will get the most out of such players as Nate, Ariza and Mayo.

As I said I had originally put OKC 4th, but I like the starting five enough to move them to 3rd. They might even be better than Denver. But their bench depth is at center which means they are made wrong for this league with all the best players in the league being wings and athletic PFs. This is a major flaw for this team and their depth isn't good defensively whatsoever except, once again at center.

Utah is a team I just don't like because I think almost no one on that team plays great defense except Asik, and really, let's be honest here, he's not a starting center. I look at this team as a great PG and a lot of chuckers. I see a lot of fast shots after one pass with almost no time taken off the shot clock and lots of easy baskets by their opposition.

[Kane3387]

Rankings. Incredibly close for me.

The difference between first and fourth isn't that much.

1) Dever - I like KG and Boozer. Boozer had a 95 D rating and I think his rebounding and shooting go well with KG. Him and Conley have an effective pick and pop game. I like Mayo in the Ray Allen kind of Role. Not the same shooter but a better creator. Similar in some regards to this year's Celtic Team. Just no Pierce, an upgrade for the bigs, an upgrade at SG and a downgrade at PG.

Still I think it wins by a nose

2) Utah - Deron Williams, if Dwight isn't 100%, is the best player in the division. I think Asik and ZBo work nicely. I like the shooters and I like AK47.

3) Portland and OKC are tied. I think Dwight misses the beginning of the season and Portland rolls with Hayes. I think as a result they start slow. It will take time for rubio and Howard to get back to 100%. When they do I think the make a push and become a very scary first round match up.

OKC accumulated Centers. They all have a history with injuries so this was smart. I think they all help Bargs - Kaman only a little - with Defense and Shot Blocking. I like Evans and the fits with Chalmers and Bargs. I like the bench talent too.

I truly think all these teams have a legitimate shot to make the playoffs.

[jgod213]

For Portland:

Whats good with Chuck Hayes? He was solid in Houston and then went to Sacramento and was never hear of again.

Howard juts came off MAJOR Back surgery and might not even be ready for the start of the season. Forcing him to carry an incredible load offensively, defensively and from a minutes perspective might be a good way to hurt him.

Where is he at with his back? And how comfortable are you playing Milsap at Center?

Where are you getting this information on Dwight Howard? Link? Because it's news to me. 

All that i've found is that he will be ready for camp so i have zero concerns unless informed otherwise.

As far as Chuck Hayes goes, there's really no explanation that i've heard for his decline in play last year.  My theory is that a mix of signing a fat contract, playing on a lousy team, and finding out he may have a Jeff Green-like heart condition combined and contributed to his down season.

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/7370034/sacramento-kings-void-chuck-hayes-contract-failed-physical

I expect Chuck to do what he does best - force big men off their sweet spots, bump and fight in the post, and box out like a sonoEdited.  Profanity and masked profanity are against forum rules and may result in discipline.un. 

If he returns to form in the least bit then he becomes one of the better defensive backups in this conference.

[GreenFaith1819]

For Portland:

Whats good with Chuck Hayes? He was solid in Houston and then went to Sacramento and was never hear of again.

Howard juts came off MAJOR Back surgery and might not even be ready for the start of the season. Forcing him to carry an incredible load offensively, defensively and from a minutes perspective might be a good way to hurt him.

Where is he at with his back? And how comfortable are you playing Milsap at Center?

For OKC: Cousins and Evans haven't seemed to work that well. Why should I believe Bynum and Cousins will?

For Utah: What needs to happen to get Deron reengaged? And what is your strategy fro doing so?

For Denver: What is the minute plan for KG? Also Mayo and Conley never seemed to fit in Memphis so why will they in Denver?

The plan for KG is to keep is minutes right around 30, and on some nights give him the night off completely - just like San Antonio does for Duncan. I feel PERFECTLY fine with this plan, being that Zaza Pachulia played admirably well for ATL while Horford was out.

Zaza is a tough, physical, but SKILLED backup that will get under most Bigs skin, and will still put up respectable numbers.

Zaza (and Speights, especially) have NO history of health issues, too, which is a plus.

KG and Zaza have had...well..."History" before,



but KG's said in the past that as long as you wear Green, you're in there.

It's been rumored that in the above pic Zaza and KG were exchanging Twitter handles anyway.

Zaza and KG will get along well.

Our club is also VERY HIGH on Meyers Leonard. We have a feeling that he will see extended time, too.

As for Conley/Mayo fitting in DEN: I see no problems with this. Mayo will be option 1 or 1A on offense, and will get anywhere from 15-17 touches per game, if not more on some nights. He will have a defined role and look to lead. He will have an outstanding supporting cast (KG, Conley, Trevor, Gary Neal) to ensure that he gets the looks and spacing he needs.

Conley's role in MEM was to come off the bench and provide isntant offense, which he did well. He averaged over 12 pts per game off the bench alone. He didn't fit as a STARTER because Lionel Hollins' "Big Three" featured Rudy-ZBo-Gasol, with Conley handling the ball most of the time for PG duties.

TA made his bed on the defense end, which fit VERY WELL with that particular lineup.

Just not enough balls to go around for him in MEM. In DAL (and here in this fantasy format), O.J. Mayo will SHINE, watch.

[jgod213]

I'd like to nip some of this Dwight Howard missing the beginning of the season talk in the bud right now.



Are people just pontificating here or are there actual links, news stories, or insiders weighing in to use as a reference?

I know a herniated disc is no small injury, but the only reports i've heard is that he'll be good to go for camp. 

[GreenFaith1819]

I'd like to nip some of this Dwight Howard missing the beginning of the season talk in the bud right now.



Are people just pontificating here or are there actual links, news stories, or insiders weighing in to use as a reference?

I know a herniated disc is no small injury, but the only reports i've heard is that he'll be good to go for camp.

As far as I've read, DH will be ready for the full season. But with any injury (Bynum's knees, KG's own knee issues, etc, etc) there is a cloud of concern.

I'm sure that in real life these same questions are being asked by GMs concerning possible trades for DH. That is why, FOR ME, I'd demand both Pau-Bynum for DH if I were the Magic GM.

That may be too steep a price for LA, but both of these guys DO have health concerns, even if they both are "Reportedly" healthy.

Look at our own KG....he was reportedly "Ok" after he injured himself in Utah way back in Feb 09. It took him until 2010-11 before he started looking like the KG we all know and love.

[RebusRankin]

Portland, I like that you're planning to start Howard and Rubio off slow. My question is what will the minutes look like at C and PG with both playing a more limited role(Let's say 24 MPG for the first month or so)? How do the minutes look if either can't go to start the season?

[jgod213]

Portland, I like that you're planning to start Howard and Rubio off slow. My question is what will the minutes look like at C and PG with both playing a more limited role(Let's say 24 MPG for the first month or so)? How do the minutes look if either can't go to start the season?

Rebus, right now i have Rubio slotted in for around 30 minutes.  I'd say something along the lines of 27ish for a couple of weeks is more accurate.  That's a 7 minute reduction from where he was at last year.

Say what you will about our bench, but PG is actually one of our stronger points in terms of reserves.  Beno Udrih is more than capable of playing 15-20 minutes per night and Brandon Knight adds that slashing/playmaking ability.  Early in the season i'd say the split would be about this:

Rubio/Udrih/Knight - 27/15/6.  Udrih finished the season with a +6 simple rating last season, so he keeps proving he knows how to play smart, efficient basketball.  If Rubio needs to be a bit more limited early on we have the depth here to compensate.

As far as Howard is concerned, i don't really feel like he needs to be limited much, if at all, but regardless i'm going to bump him down to about 32 minutes, which is down 6 mpg from last season.  that remaining time will be filled by mostly by Chuck Hayes.  Considering the lack of high-caliber big men in the game these days, i see no reason why Chuck Hayes can't easily provide that against the league's backups.

[GreenFaith1819]

Thunder:  I don't get the point of having so many C.  Bynum and solid back up or the combo of Kaman and Perk would both be great, but all three?  Not enough minutes.  Any thought in trying to improve other positions (SF) with one or two of them?  Any thought of having Martin start at SG and Evans at SF defensively, but still having Evans running the point on offense?

Jazz:  If AK looks to be close to what he was, any though on having him start at PF and Randolph staring at C?  Would that help your team match up with Dallas better? 


Portland:  Is Rubio ready for the pressure of keeping so many players happy?  How are you going to keep Howard happy?  How can you stand having Matt Barnes on your team?

Nuggets:  I have heard alot of NBA guys say Mayo could be really good if the ball was in his hands on pick and rolls?  Are you going to work that in with KG?  Does that make Conley less effective?



The way I see it:

1)  Portland
2)  Utah
3)  Nuggets
4)  Thunder

I'm believing that such an option would make DEN even stronger, with KG-Mayo working PNRs. This would not make Conley less effective, being that Conley has managed this long in MEM being the 4th option on most nights on offense.

Additionally, Conley only averaged 11 touches and roughly 7 assists last season in MEM but was VERY effective and efficient in that role. On some nights where KG-Mayo would be picking opponents apart with PNRs, Conley would fit his game/role into that quite well.

[celticpride07]

OKC, how effective will your defense be, especially with starting Bargs?

Does your team have to many selfish players?

I think Bynum starting next to bargs will make up for a lot of his weaknesses.  I don't see selfishness being a problem.

[celticpride07]

OKC: I think in theory the fit for Tyreke Evans and Bargnani are passable, even good in Evans' case, but both players had bad years and seemed to get worse. Why are they going to play better for you?

Because I told them to get their act together or the thunder organization wouldn't be signing them!

[Fafnir]

OKC, how effective will your defense be, especially with starting Bargs?

Does your team have to many selfish players?

I think Bynum starting next to bargs will make up for a lot of his weaknesses.  I don't see selfishness being a problem.

How many touches to you anticipate each of your starters getting per game?

How do you see Bynum Bargs functioning defensively? The combination seems to be rather slow footed. Gasol/Bynum but worse and that big man combo fell apart defensively late int he year themselves.

[jgod213]

Rankings. Incredibly close for me.

The difference between first and fourth isn't that much.

1) Dever - I like KG and Boozer. Boozer had a 95 D rating and I think his rebounding and shooting go well with KG. Him and Conley have an effective pick and pop game. I like Mayo in the Ray Allen kind of Role. Not the same shooter but a better creator. Similar in some regards to this year's Celtic Team. Just no Pierce, an upgrade for the bigs, an upgrade at SG and a downgrade at PG.

Still I think it wins by a nose

Kane,

I think you're minimizing the impact of a team with Pierce/Allen/Rondo...i didn't even think that's possible, haha.  I also think you're a bit delusional with Dwight missing part of the season, but i'll skip that part for now...

-A slight downgrade from Connely from Rondo? I mean you watched the playoffs, right?

-JUST no pierce? the drop off from pierce to ariza is drastic.

-Mayo as an upgrade to Ray? I mean it might be a wash, but did you catch Mayo's numers last year? mediocre shooting at best and an aweful postseason.


I like GreenFaith but this team doesn't have a single mismatch or advantage over Portland's starting 5.  Their biggest strength of KG/Boozer is completely nullified by my 2 bigs.  Your rankings, I just don't see it...

[celticpride07]

OKC, how effective will your defense be, especially with starting Bargs?

Does your team have to many selfish players?

I think Bynum starting next to bargs will make up for a lot of his weaknesses.  I don't see selfishness being a problem.

How many touches to you anticipate each of your starters getting per game?

How do you see Bynum Bargs functioning defensively? The combination seems to be rather slow footed. Gasol/Bynum but worse and that big man combo fell apart defensively late int he year themselves.

I think bargs and Bynum will play a lot like Bynum and gasol which isn't a bad thing to me.  Bargs also spreads the floor more with more room for tyreke to do his thing