2012 CB Draft Central Division Press Conferences

[indeedproceed]

Chicago:

Why have you spurned the presser-reading community
by posting such an eye soar? Do you worry that
I'm going to hold this against you in some capacity?

I like that...

I don't know how lists work in teh forums, but I do know how excel works. Still working on the presser. Getting killed at work, and just got my marriage license/dealt with my insane fiance.

Tryin.

Kane, will get to you when I get done with the presser.

[Lucky17]

Lucky - Both Amir and Landry Fields seemed to regress this past season, what makes you believe this was just a one time thing and they will get back on track this season?

I think it's a fair question. Fields certainly shot poorly this past season. Not having watched many Knicks games, I can't say whether that's on him, or a by-product of the Knicks offense. I'm not even sure if his numbers improved when Lin was on the floor (although I suspect they did).

Did Amir regress last season? Statistically, his numbers are pretty consistent with those from last year. He scored a little less, but also took fewer shots, so that seems like a wash.

Regardless, both Fields and Amir will be coming off the bench for us, and should see slightly fewer minutes than they've been averaging in years past against relatively weaker competition (non-starters), so I think their numbers should improve.

[Rondo2287]

Lucky - Both Amir and Landry Fields seemed to regress this past season, what makes you believe this was just a one time thing and they will get back on track this season?

I think it's a fair question. Fields certainly shot poorly this past season. Not having watched many Knicks games, I can't say whether that's on him, or a by-product of the Knicks offense. I'm not even sure if his numbers improved when Lin was on the floor (although I suspect they did).

Did Amir regress last season? Statistically, his numbers are pretty consistent with those from last year. He scored a little less, but also took fewer shots, so that seems like a wash.

Regardless, both Fields and Amir will be coming off the bench for us, and should see slightly fewer minutes than they've been averaging in years past against relatively weaker competition (non-starters), so I think their numbers should improve.

Haha as somebody that rebuked many trade offers for Amir early in the season in the H2h fantasy league I can tell you i was kinda underwhelmed with his numbers at the end

[Lucky17]

Detroit:  Nene is a very injury prone player.  Do you think you have adequate depth at C to handle a long season injury with Nene?

A fair question. A significant injury to Nene would certainly be a tough blow to our roster. We'd do our best to soldier on, with Martin and Hill accepting larger roles, and Amir Johnson pressed into the C rotation as well (something he handled for Toronto last season as well).

I think Martin could certainly handle 25 minutes a night. If we felt the rest of our bigs couldn't pick up the slack, we'd explore a trade, or pick up a FA center off waivers to fill in.

[RebusRankin]

I know Lucky answered Roy's question about our team being built around a elite pg and then non elite scorers but I'd like to add my two cents.

Paul is of course the key to our team but we feel we've added two excellent scoring options in Nene and Granger and two underrated ones in Matthews and Ilyasova. Combine them with solid scoring options off the bench in Fields, Ridnour and Budinger and we feel this team is fine. I'd like to cite the 88-90 Pistons as a team similar to ours, elite pg combined with several solid scoring options.

[RebusRankin]

Detroit:

Who stands to recieve the biggest CP3-boost on your team & why?

Nene and Granger. Neither has played with a pg of Paul's caliber who can get them so many easy shots.

[Lucky17]

Detroit:

Who stands to recieve the biggest CP3-boost on your team & why?

I think everyone in the starting lineup stands to benefit from Chris Paul, but if there's one I have to name, it may be Granger.

I don't remember much about those 2009/09 and 2009/10 Pacer teams, but I do know those were T.J. Ford's first two years with the team. After that, Darren Collison became the starter. I don't mean to say that all of Granger's decline since those breakout years can be laid at Collison's feet. [For example, Granger's shot attempts declined by 2-3 per game, and his shooting percentages only dipped 1-2%.] But, Chris Paul is an elite PG, and I suspect that having a gifted passer and offensively attuned mind like him would make things that much easier for Granger.

[Who]

I think Nene is going to see the biggest boost from playing on that team. The combination of Chris Paul, Mike D'Antoni, that four out one in SSOL offense ... combined with Nene's own strengths as an offensive player / finisher / pick and roll threat ...

I think Nene will be good for 18-22ppg on 60+ TS%.

[Kane3387]

How does D Wade improve? He is on the wrong side of 30. His athleticism is fading and he is still an inconsistent long range shooter.

He seemed to really depend on LeBron in the playoffs and his fg% each round consistently decreased.

NY - 50%
Indiana - 47%
Boston - 44%
OKC - 43%

Can he really lead his team to a title where his second best player is a SF in his mid-thirties.

I also fins it iterating that when Wade misses games the Heat aren't really affected. The Heat were 1 -3 without James. And 4-5 without Bosh in the regular season. They were about .500 in the playoffs without him.

Wade missed 17 games this season and Miami went 14-3. He is becoming overrated.

[Lucky17]

Question for Detroit - why should I be in love with the Nene/CP3 combo. I feel like I should, because I love both of those guys but for some reason as a combo I'm luke warm about them.

Chocolate and peanut butter.

This is nice, balanced read that speaks to your question, I think:

http://offthedribble.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/08/why-nene-should-be-in-demand/

He’s not only one of a few bigs in the league with genuine back-to-the-basket skills, but Nene converts post-up opportunities at a higher rate than a large majority of his peers. That efficiency extends into the pick-and-roll game, where Nene’s ample foot speed, quick leaping, and powerful finishing make him a valuable weapon. The same is true of his performance on the offensive glass, where Nene was able to capitalize on offensive rebounds at an impressive rate (1.37 points per possession, according to Synergy Sports Technology, one of the better marks in the league).

For good measure, Nene rounds out his highly efficient game with capable spot-up shooting and willing cuts to the basket; 24.9 percent of Nene’s used possessions last season came via off-ball cuts, and the Nuggets benefited greatly from the points directly and indirectly generated as a result of Nene’s movement.

Pairing Nene with a gifted PG like Paul should result in lots of pick-and-roll opportunities. And Nene can also keep the ball moving on offense, finding open men on the cut or for open jumpers. Not to mention the transition opportunities, with the number of quick, fast, and able defenders/rebounders in our lineup.

I think the offense should work fine around those two.

[StartOrien]

Wade missed 17 games this season and Miami went 14-3. He is becoming overrated.

In all seriousness, I would agree with this. He's still a great player, but I don't think he's the game changing talent he once was.

I've got Russell Westbrook well ahead of him at this point.

[Lucky17]

Celticsblog 2012 Draft
Detroit Pistons

1. Roster / depth chart / Minutes Breakdown

Head Coach: Mike D'Antoni
PG: Chris Paul (35) / Luke Ridnour (13)
SG: Wes Matthews (30) / Landry Fields (18) / Randy Foye (0)
SF: Danny Granger (33) / Chase Budinger (15)
PF: Ersan Ilyasova (30) / Amir Johnson (15) / Royce White (0)
C: Nene (30) / Jordan Hill (~10) / Kenyon Martin (~10, at PF/C)

I don't think D'Antoni would use the roster like that.

I would expect him to drop one of those backup big men and play Danny Granger at backup PF. Plus, to increase the minutes of Granger, Nene and Ilyasova.

PG: Chris Paul (35mpg), Luke Ridnour (13mpg)
SG: Wes Matthews (32mpg), Landry Fields (16mpg)
SF: Danny Granger (24mpg), Chase Budinger (24mpg)
PF: Ersan Ilyasova (36mpg), Danny Granger (12mpg)
C:  Nene (36mpg), Amir Johnson (12mpg)

Excellent point, Who. We do plan on playing Granger at the PF occasionally. But only to our advantage based on favorable matchups.

I do worry about having our bigs logging much more than 30-32 minutes a night, however. I want to be sure we're able to maintain both pace and efficiency, and I worry that fatigue may compromise both. I'm also wary of having players logging significantly more minutes than they have historically.

[StartOrien]

Lucky's got a sneaky great team, huh?

[Kane3387]

Detroit:

Your best big man is Nene. How is he enough n the paint to win a title?

I think the best team CP3 ever played on was the 2008 team in NO. How is your team better? Is this past season's Danny Granger really the difference if you feel it is?

Also Nene got paid and then barely played. He missed 37 games.

How do you keep him healthy?

Thoughts about restricting his minutes some more? He's being played slightly more then his career average and what he has played the last two years.

Are you worried about your defense for the starting five? I know you will be playing under Mike D, but I am just wondering.

[Kane3387]

Lucky's got a sneaky great team, huh?

I think it's the best team in the division probably for the regular season. But when the playoffs come and the games slow down D'antoni has always had some issues.