2012 CB Draft NW Division Press Conferences

[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.

I think bargs and Bynum will play a lot like Bynum and gasol which isn't a bad thing to me. 

I don't see Gasol as being similar to Bargs. So defensively how will you approach the pick and roll with your two bigs, similar to how the Lakers did?

I do agree that he's a better floor spacer than Gasol. But they don't have a similar game at all.

[GreenFaith1819]

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...

Are you sure that Dwight/Milsap nullifies KG/Boozer?

Here are Head-Head stats for KG vs DH, while KG's been at Center:

http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/h2h_finder.cgi?request=1&p1=howardw01&p2=garneke01

Don't even pay attention to 2010-11 games, because KG was at PF then. But look very closely at 2012 games...KG's Celtics won BOTH meetings (23Jan 2012) and (26Jan2012) vs ORL - with KG in the middle.

In the Jan 23 game, KG held Dwight Howard to 4-15 shooting, believe it or not. KG went 5 for 9 in the same game.

BOS won.

In the 26Jan game, KG went 6 for 14 and DH went 6 for 12.

BOS won.

I think ANY coach can live with DH getting on 14-16 pts and 14-16 rebs, don't you think?

Boozer-Milsap?

http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/h2h_finder.cgi?request=1&p1=boozeca01&p2=millspa01

While Milsap appeared to play very well, so did Boozer - and Boozer's team won both matches.

[GreenFaith1819]

Also, jgod - pls don't forget that Rubio didn't shoot very well at all last season, as well.

We all love him, but he does have room for improvement, too.

[GreenFaith1819]

Gotta go for a bit, but I'll be back to debate further.

[Lucky17]

Head coach: Scott Brooks

Rotation:

PG: Chalmers(30), Vasquez(12), Evans(6)
SG: Evans(26), Martin(22)
SF: Butler (22), Jefferson(16),Martin(10)
PF: Bargnani(30),Hansbrough(12) Kaman(6)
C:   Bynum(30), Perkins(12), Kaman(6)

Reserves:
Jimmer fredette
Markieff Morris

Q1. A little curious as to why your starters, with the exception of Tyreke, aren't playing more than 30 minutes a night. I get it for your frontcourt, although I think you could simply drop Perkins or Kaman from the rotation altogether.

Q2. Any worries about redundancy of personnel at SF? Seems you have a bunch of shooters who are only casually interested in defense.

Q3. Who is the leader of this team?

[riah32]

Question for all teams who takes the last shot of the game for your team and why?

[Lucky17]

Utah Jazz

PG: Deron Williams, Rodney Stuckey, Will Bynum
SG: Gordon Hayward, JJ Redick, Anthony Morrow
SF: Danilo Gallinari, Ronnie Brewer
PF: Zach Randolph, Andrei Kirilenko, Boris Diaw
C:  Omer Asik, Kosta Koufos

Overseas Player: Nikola Mirotic
Head Coach: Stan Van Gundy

Nice presser, Who.

Q1. Any worries about the defensive abilities of your club, particularly the bench? Brewer and Kirilenko should be fine, and perhaps can assume most of the minutes at SG/SF/PF.

Q2. How is the ball movement in the starting lineup?

Q3. This is the year that Asik proves whether he can make the jump to full-time starter. Any concerns that he may not be able to play more than 20-25 minutes a night?

[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...

Are you sure that Dwight/Milsap nullifies KG/Boozer?

Here are Head-Head stats for KG vs DH, while KG's been at Center:

http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/h2h_finder.cgi?request=1&p1=howardw01&p2=garneke01

Don't even pay attention to 2010-11 games, because KG was at PF then. But look very closely at 2012 games...KG's Celtics won BOTH meetings (23Jan 2012) and (26Jan2012) vs ORL - with KG in the middle.

In the Jan 23 game, KG held Dwight Howard to 4-15 shooting, believe it or not. KG went 5 for 9 in the same game.

BOS won.

In the 26Jan game, KG went 6 for 14 and DH went 6 for 12.

BOS won.

I think ANY coach can live with DH getting on 14-16 pts and 14-16 rebs, don't you think?

Boozer-Milsap?

http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/h2h_finder.cgi?request=1&p1=boozeca01&p2=millspa01

While Milsap appeared to play very well, so did Boozer - and Boozer's team won both matches.

I'm not sure you took your own advice here, my friend.  Basketball-reference lets you compare anyone head to head. 

KG wasn't installed yet as the C's center in January, as evidenced by Jermaine O'neal and Greg Stiemsma combining to play for almost 30 minutes.

http://www.nba.com/games/20120123/ORLBOS/gameinfo.html#nbaGIlive

The Jan 26th game was mostly KG at center so i'll give you that one, though if you plan to beat my Blazers i think you'll need more than 12 points from KG.

[jgod213]

Also, jgod - pls don't forget that Rubio didn't shoot very well at all last season, as well.

We all love him, but he does have room for improvement, too.

I haven't argued that point; in fact i acknowledged that in my presser, and responded to a question about it on the first page with the following:

For everything that i think Rubio can/will be this year, i don't expect him to show up with a shiny new and improved jump shot.  When you spend so much time rehabbing, that's just unrealistic.  Nevertheless he showed the ability to hit the 3 at a fairly decent clip.

[Lucky17]

Roster:

BLAZER Rotation
Player(minutes)

Point Guard: Ricky Rubio (30), Beno Udrih (12), Brandon Knight (6)
Shooting Guard: Joe Johnson (29), Marco Belinelli (15), Brandon Knight (4)
Small Forward: Wilson Chandler (25), Matt Barnes (16), Joe Johnson (5), Marco Belinelli (2)
Power Forward: Paul Millsap (30), Matt Bonner (13), Wilson Chandler (5)
Center: Dwight Howard (35), Chuck Hayes (13),

Reserves: Villanueva, McRoberts

Head Coach: Erik Spoelstra

Another nice presser, with plenty of stats.

Q1. Any worries about how you'll match up against teams with length in the frontcourt?

Q2. Similarly, what happens to the offense if Rubio is contained by PGs with size, strength, and defense? Will you be easing him back into the lineup beginning on opening night? Or will he begin play a month into the season?

[Who]

Utah Jazz

PG: Deron Williams, Rodney Stuckey, Will Bynum
SG: Gordon Hayward, JJ Redick, Anthony Morrow
SF: Danilo Gallinari, Ronnie Brewer
PF: Zach Randolph, Andrei Kirilenko, Boris Diaw
C:  Omer Asik, Kosta Koufos

Overseas Player: Nikola Mirotic
Head Coach: Stan Van Gundy

Nice presser, Who.

Q1. Any worries about the defensive abilities of your club, particularly the bench? Brewer and Kirilenko should be fine, and perhaps can assume most of the minutes at SG/SF/PF.

Q2. How is the ball movement in the starting lineup?

Q3. This is the year that Asik proves whether he can make the jump to full-time starter. Any concerns that he may not be able to play more than 20-25 minutes a night?

Thanks ...

(3) I have Asik penciled in for just over 25mpg at 26-28mpg. I think he is capable of that. I wouldn't be comfortable if I was asking him for 30+ minutes since his offense is as bad as it is.

(2) I think the ball movement is good but not great. I think the guard play is very strong. Gallo is a fine ball mover. Zach Randolph is a willing passer nowadays. Asik is non-passer. When Kirilenko comes into the the game, the ball movement will improve considerably and I think it'll be very good at that point. Especially when Kirilenko is alongside Z-Bo (my best lineup).

(1) Not really - I wouldn't say it is the strongest defensive team in the world but I don't feel the defense is a problem either.

There are not many high end defenders here (only one in the starting lineup) but there aren't any liabilities in the main rotation either (except for Z-Bo). Most of the guys are solid to good defensive players. Put guys like that around a strong interior defender and under a defensive coach like SVG who can install a strong team defensive system and I believe they will form a very good defensive team.

As for the bench - I think Ronnie Brewer is a high end wing defender, Kirilenko a well above average defender at PF, Stuckey an above average defender. JJ Redick is probably a little below average. Diaw is a solid defender. Morrow is a liability. Koufos is probably below average but serviceable.

So I think I have guys there (mainly Kirilenko, R.Brewer) who can come in off the bench and change the flow of a game with their defense when needed.

[Lucky17]

Your CelticsBlog Summer Draft 2012 Denver Nuggets:

Roster and minutes breakdown:

[/u][/b]

PG - Mike Conley(33) / Nate Robinson(10) / Gary Neal(5)
SG - O.J. Mayo(34) / Gary Neal(14)
SF - Trevor Ariza(24) / Kyle Korver(16) / Chris Singleton(Eight)
PF - Carlos Boozer(32) / Marreese Speights(Eight) / Andrew Nicholson(Eight)
C - Kevin Garnett(30) / Zaza Pachulia(10) / Meyers Leonard(Eight)

Another nicely done presser. NW looking strong (and media savvy).

Q1. Any qualms at having two rookies and a second-year player logging 8 minutes a night for your club? Speights has also been pretty uneven in his career to date.

Q2. Do you feel that Korver and Robinson can provide enough bench scoring for your club?

Q3. Will you need to have one of Mayo or Conley on the floor at all times, in order to run the offense, or do you feel confident in Neal/Nate as distributors?

[KCattheStripe]

Utah, any thoughts on running a Diaw/Randolph/AK47/Gallo/ DWill line up, or would that be too much fun?

[jgod213]

Roster:

BLAZER Rotation
Player(minutes)

Point Guard: Ricky Rubio (30), Beno Udrih (12), Brandon Knight (6)
Shooting Guard: Joe Johnson (29), Marco Belinelli (15), Brandon Knight (4)
Small Forward: Wilson Chandler (25), Matt Barnes (16), Joe Johnson (5), Marco Belinelli (2)
Power Forward: Paul Millsap (30), Matt Bonner (13), Wilson Chandler (5)
Center: Dwight Howard (35), Chuck Hayes (13),

Reserves: Villanueva, McRoberts

Head Coach: Erik Spoelstra

Another nice presser, with plenty of stats.

Q1. Any worries about how you'll match up against teams with length in the frontcourt?

Q2. Similarly, what happens to the offense if Rubio is contained by PGs with size, strength, and defense? Will you be easing him back into the lineup beginning on opening night? Or will he begin play a month into the season?

Thanks, Lucky.  From that opening sentence i take it that a) you read at least part of my presser, and b) there are too many stats, haha.

1) As in length on the bench? Because i think i have tons of length in this starting unit.  Yes, Millsap is undersized, but he's playing next to the best help defender in basketball.  Plus what Millsap gives up due to size he takes back to a degree with quick hands and feet (as evidened by his 3rd overall rank in the entire league in steals).

Wilson Chandler, Chuck Hayes, and Matt Bonner won't be able to stop a power-4 themselves, but with Howard back there it makes the job of containment easier.


2) We feel confident about Rubio's ability to create against any defender in the league. He'll struggle at times to get his own looks, but with the amount of scoring we have surrounded him with i don't think we really need more than the 10ppg he put up last year.  His role will be finding cutters, using screens, and getting the Ball to our two superstars in their wheelhouse.

[Who]

Utah, any thoughts on running a Diaw/Randolph/AK47/Gallo/ DWill line up, or would that be too much fun?

The crazy scientist in me loves that idea!

Hmm, let's see, I think that would be more of a defensive lineup. If I needed huge size on the wing to combat some freakishly big wing duo that was talented enough to force me to matchup against them. Short of that, I can't see that lineup adding more to my team than a lineup with G.Hayward / JJ Redick / R.Brewer / Stuckey out there instead of Kirilenko or Diaw. So probably not. Unfortunately.

I don't think Kirilenko has (1) enough of a power game in the post, and/or, (2) enough of a scorer's mentality to properly take advantage of his matchup at SG. Gallinari does which is why they'll put the SG on AK-47. I think that's the main drawback. Kirilenko ends up taking more offense off the table versus those other guys (Hayward, Redick, Stuckey) to be a net positive for the team (and I think Ronnie Brewer adds more defensively at SG).