2012 CB Draft Southeast Division Press Conferences

[Yoki_IsTheName]

I see you lurking Yoki

I know man. I'm formulating some questions for the teams, but I can't come up with one. Most of the ones I wanna ask were already asked.

[Kane3387]

Washington

What kind of season does gortat have without playing with nash?

You have zero all star players. Pau gasol is the man. The last two seasons he has been under a lot of scrutiny. Kobe repeatedly called him out and his track record as the best player on a team is not good. He by far is your best player, so tell me why on this team he can take this team to a title?

Also how many minutes are Williams and smith planning to play together?

Gortat's confidence has grown he is still going to be dominant without Steve Nash its kind of like Rondo, he wasnt that good but the big 3 made him seem good at first but then he got a lot of confidence and now he doesnt need the big 3 if anything they need him.

I can care less how many all star players i have. I'd say we easily have the best big men. Marcin Gortat is a 15 and 10 guy. Pau Gasol is a 17 and 10 guy. We also have Gerald Wallace, Steph Curry, J.R. Smith, Lou Williams and well actually all our players on our team are quite good, i'd take this group over a team with 3 all stars. Also i never said he would take us to a title, we dont see this team as a championship or bust team we see it more as a first lets make the playoffs then start thinking about winning the championship. Also how do you expect him to carry a team that has these guys as their starters Chucky Atkins, Hakim Warrick, Terrence Kinsey, Dahntay Jones?

Lou Williams and J.R Smith will most likely be together on the court Williams will play way more than J.R.

I would never put Gortat and dominant in the same sentence, but in looking at his per 36 minute numbers I think Gortat can keep up solid play without Nash.

As for Gasol. He played with solid players in Shane Battier, Jason Williams, and Mike Miller. He had talent around him to win 50 games, but 0 playoff games in three years? He couldn't lead his team to one win? I don't get it. He's just not a number one guy.

You say you don't care about having All-Star caliber players. That's fine, but the NBA is a star driven league and Quality wins over Quantity every time. Look at the Nuggets. Look at the Sixers. They play a nice game but they aren't taken that seriously in the grand scheme of things.

Also while you have quantity I don't see the chemistry. It's one thing to have quality and lack some chemistry because top tier talent usually overcomes most things. But teams that lack both top tier talent and chemistry usually just make the playoffs.

Williams gets points but he doesn't shoot well. He is a volume scorer. Hollinger below:

Williams' shot fake is so tempting that defenders bite on it virtually every time, even though he's not much of a threat as a jump shooter. He's a career 33.0 percent 3-point shooter who made 34.2 percent last season; he also made 37.0 percent of his long 2s and 21.1 percent from 10-15 feet. Let him shoot it, guys.

Lou Wiliams averaged 4.7 apg per 36 minutes. Hollinger says this about him:

Because Williams drew so many fouls on the perimeter, he also had a remarkably low turnover rate for a player with so many free throw attempts. While it was low for other reasons (like how rarely he passed, for instance), the results was that Williams led the Sixers in PER and ranked ninth overall among point guards.

It was one thing for Pau to sacrifice shots to Kobe, but Lou Williams? I can see the passive aggressive quotes to the media already.

It's not just Williams but Smith, Beasley, and Nelson are scorers too. Gasol is your best facilitator after Curry and Billups (too HUGE injury concerns) so why is ball movement not going to be an issue?

[Yoki_IsTheName]

To Orlando. Just a tiny bit of question.

Why start Henderson over Thornton? Thornton can light it up on some nights, why is he coming off the bench. Did you feel that Henderson is a better talent than Thornton is?

Also, how do you deal with Amare's lingering back and Lamar's dropping morale?

[ronaldo943]

Washington

What kind of season does gortat have without playing with nash?

You have zero all star players. Pau gasol is the man. The last two seasons he has been under a lot of scrutiny. Kobe repeatedly called him out and his track record as the best player on a team is not good. He by far is your best player, so tell me why on this team he can take this team to a title?

Also how many minutes are Williams and smith planning to play together?

Gortat's confidence has grown he is still going to be dominant without Steve Nash its kind of like Rondo, he wasnt that good but the big 3 made him seem good at first but then he got a lot of confidence and now he doesnt need the big 3 if anything they need him.

I can care less how many all star players i have. I'd say we easily have the best big men. Marcin Gortat is a 15 and 10 guy. Pau Gasol is a 17 and 10 guy. We also have Gerald Wallace, Steph Curry, J.R. Smith, Lou Williams and well actually all our players on our team are quite good, i'd take this group over a team with 3 all stars. Also i never said he would take us to a title, we dont see this team as a championship or bust team we see it more as a first lets make the playoffs then start thinking about winning the championship. Also how do you expect him to carry a team that has these guys as their starters Chucky Atkins, Hakim Warrick, Terrence Kinsey, Dahntay Jones?

Lou Williams and J.R Smith will most likely be together on the court Williams will play way more than J.R.

I would never put Gortat and dominant in the same sentence, but in looking at his per 36 minute numbers I think Gortat can keep up solid play without Nash.

As for Gasol. He played with solid players in Shane Battier, Jason Williams, and Mike Miller. He had talent around him to win 50 games, but 0 playoff games in three years? He couldn't lead his team to one win? I don't get it. He's just not a number one guy.

You say you don't care about having All-Star caliber players. That's fine, but the NBA is a star driven league and Quality wins over Quantity every time. Look at the Nuggets. Look at the Sixers. They play a nice game but they aren't taken that seriously in the grand scheme of things.

Also while you have quantity I don't see the chemistry. It's one thing to have quality and lack some chemistry because top tier talent usually overcomes most things. But teams that lack both top tier talent and chemistry usually just make the playoffs.

Williams gets points but he doesn't shoot well. He is a volume scorer. Hollinger below:

Williams' shot fake is so tempting that defenders bite on it virtually every time, even though he's not much of a threat as a jump shooter. He's a career 33.0 percent 3-point shooter who made 34.2 percent last season; he also made 37.0 percent of his long 2s and 21.1 percent from 10-15 feet. Let him shoot it, guys.

Lou Wiliams averaged 4.7 apg per 36 minutes. Hollinger says this about him:

Because Williams drew so many fouls on the perimeter, he also had a remarkably low turnover rate for a player with so many free throw attempts. While it was low for other reasons (like how rarely he passed, for instance), the results was that Williams led the Sixers in PER and ranked ninth overall among point guards.

It was one thing for Pau to sacrifice shots to Kobe, but Lou Williams? I can see the passive aggressive quotes to the media already.

It's not just Williams but Smith, Beasley, and Nelson are scorers too. Gasol is your best facilitator after Curry and Billups (too HUGE injury concerns) so why is ball movement not going to be an issue?

id take my team over westbrook gasol griffin our big men are better than yours and the rest of your team is decent players, no floor spacing way less chemistry, We talking about chemistry?!

[Rondo2287]

Washington

What kind of season does gortat have without playing with nash?

You have zero all star players. Pau gasol is the man. The last two seasons he has been under a lot of scrutiny. Kobe repeatedly called him out and his track record as the best player on a team is not good. He by far is your best player, so tell me why on this team he can take this team to a title?

Also how many minutes are Williams and smith planning to play together?

Gortat's confidence has grown he is still going to be dominant without Steve Nash its kind of like Rondo, he wasnt that good but the big 3 made him seem good at first but then he got a lot of confidence and now he doesnt need the big 3 if anything they need him.

I can care less how many all star players i have. I'd say we easily have the best big men. Marcin Gortat is a 15 and 10 guy. Pau Gasol is a 17 and 10 guy. We also have Gerald Wallace, Steph Curry, J.R. Smith, Lou Williams and well actually all our players on our team are quite good, i'd take this group over a team with 3 all stars. Also i never said he would take us to a title, we dont see this team as a championship or bust team we see it more as a first lets make the playoffs then start thinking about winning the championship. Also how do you expect him to carry a team that has these guys as their starters Chucky Atkins, Hakim Warrick, Terrence Kinsey, Dahntay Jones?

Lou Williams and J.R Smith will most likely be together on the court Williams will play way more than J.R.

I would never put Gortat and dominant in the same sentence, but in looking at his per 36 minute numbers I think Gortat can keep up solid play without Nash.

As for Gasol. He played with solid players in Shane Battier, Jason Williams, and Mike Miller. He had talent around him to win 50 games, but 0 playoff games in three years? He couldn't lead his team to one win? I don't get it. He's just not a number one guy.

You say you don't care about having All-Star caliber players. That's fine, but the NBA is a star driven league and Quality wins over Quantity every time. Look at the Nuggets. Look at the Sixers. They play a nice game but they aren't taken that seriously in the grand scheme of things.

Also while you have quantity I don't see the chemistry. It's one thing to have quality and lack some chemistry because top tier talent usually overcomes most things. But teams that lack both top tier talent and chemistry usually just make the playoffs.

Williams gets points but he doesn't shoot well. He is a volume scorer. Hollinger below:

Williams' shot fake is so tempting that defenders bite on it virtually every time, even though he's not much of a threat as a jump shooter. He's a career 33.0 percent 3-point shooter who made 34.2 percent last season; he also made 37.0 percent of his long 2s and 21.1 percent from 10-15 feet. Let him shoot it, guys.

Lou Wiliams averaged 4.7 apg per 36 minutes. Hollinger says this about him:

Because Williams drew so many fouls on the perimeter, he also had a remarkably low turnover rate for a player with so many free throw attempts. While it was low for other reasons (like how rarely he passed, for instance), the results was that Williams led the Sixers in PER and ranked ninth overall among point guards.

It was one thing for Pau to sacrifice shots to Kobe, but Lou Williams? I can see the passive aggressive quotes to the media already.

It's not just Williams but Smith, Beasley, and Nelson are scorers too. Gasol is your best facilitator after Curry and Billups (too HUGE injury concerns) so why is ball movement not going to be an issue?

id take my team over westbrook gasol griffin our big men are better than yours and the rest of your team is baadddddd

So you arent going to answer any of his questions about cohesiveness of your team?  Or how your players will work together?

[ronaldo943]

Washington

What kind of season does gortat have without playing with nash?

You have zero all star players. Pau gasol is the man. The last two seasons he has been under a lot of scrutiny. Kobe repeatedly called him out and his track record as the best player on a team is not good. He by far is your best player, so tell me why on this team he can take this team to a title?

Also how many minutes are Williams and smith planning to play together?

Gortat's confidence has grown he is still going to be dominant without Steve Nash its kind of like Rondo, he wasnt that good but the big 3 made him seem good at first but then he got a lot of confidence and now he doesnt need the big 3 if anything they need him.

I can care less how many all star players i have. I'd say we easily have the best big men. Marcin Gortat is a 15 and 10 guy. Pau Gasol is a 17 and 10 guy. We also have Gerald Wallace, Steph Curry, J.R. Smith, Lou Williams and well actually all our players on our team are quite good, i'd take this group over a team with 3 all stars. Also i never said he would take us to a title, we dont see this team as a championship or bust team we see it more as a first lets make the playoffs then start thinking about winning the championship. Also how do you expect him to carry a team that has these guys as their starters Chucky Atkins, Hakim Warrick, Terrence Kinsey, Dahntay Jones?

Lou Williams and J.R Smith will most likely be together on the court Williams will play way more than J.R.

I would never put Gortat and dominant in the same sentence, but in looking at his per 36 minute numbers I think Gortat can keep up solid play without Nash.

As for Gasol. He played with solid players in Shane Battier, Jason Williams, and Mike Miller. He had talent around him to win 50 games, but 0 playoff games in three years? He couldn't lead his team to one win? I don't get it. He's just not a number one guy.

You say you don't care about having All-Star caliber players. That's fine, but the NBA is a star driven league and Quality wins over Quantity every time. Look at the Nuggets. Look at the Sixers. They play a nice game but they aren't taken that seriously in the grand scheme of things.

Also while you have quantity I don't see the chemistry. It's one thing to have quality and lack some chemistry because top tier talent usually overcomes most things. But teams that lack both top tier talent and chemistry usually just make the playoffs.

Williams gets points but he doesn't shoot well. He is a volume scorer. Hollinger below:

Williams' shot fake is so tempting that defenders bite on it virtually every time, even though he's not much of a threat as a jump shooter. He's a career 33.0 percent 3-point shooter who made 34.2 percent last season; he also made 37.0 percent of his long 2s and 21.1 percent from 10-15 feet. Let him shoot it, guys.

Lou Wiliams averaged 4.7 apg per 36 minutes. Hollinger says this about him:

Because Williams drew so many fouls on the perimeter, he also had a remarkably low turnover rate for a player with so many free throw attempts. While it was low for other reasons (like how rarely he passed, for instance), the results was that Williams led the Sixers in PER and ranked ninth overall among point guards.

It was one thing for Pau to sacrifice shots to Kobe, but Lou Williams? I can see the passive aggressive quotes to the media already.

It's not just Williams but Smith, Beasley, and Nelson are scorers too. Gasol is your best facilitator after Curry and Billups (too HUGE injury concerns) so why is ball movement not going to be an issue?

id take my team over westbrook gasol griffin our big men are better than yours and the rest of your team is baadddddd

So you arent going to answer any of his questions about cohesiveness of your team?  Or how your players will work together?

I'll say this Lou Williams was second place for Sixth Man of the Year his PER is 20.22 he is efficient.

[Rondo2287]

soooo any other questions?

[indeedproceed]

I'll say this Lou Williams was second place for Sixth Man of the Year his PER is 20.22 he is efficient.

Lou Williams rank among point guards for assist ratio: 70th
Lou Williams rank among point guards for usage: 10th
Lou Williams rank among PG's for TS%: 32nd
Lou Willaims actual FG% and 3pt%: 40.7 FG%, 36.2 3pt %
Lou Williams' PER as a PG: 20.8 (good for 7th best)
Opp PER at PG: 12.1

My take: Lou Williams is a volume scorer who relies on FT's, 3pt shots, good defense and not turning the ball over to ensure that his play is efficient and helps the team. He's best when paired with a SG option or PG option who can pass very well, who can defend opposing SG's, and who won't relegate Lou Williams to being a spot shooter by being overly ball-dominant.

[riah32]

To Orlando. Just a tiny bit of question.

Why start Henderson over Thornton? Thornton can light it up on some nights, why is he coming off the bench. Did you feel that Henderson is a better talent than Thornton is?

Also, how do you deal with Amare's lingering back and Lamar's dropping morale?

Starting Henderson only because I like his defense a little better than Thorton. Thorton however will see majority of the minutes at the two. Thorton will provide a nice spark and scoring punch of the bench.

To deal with Amare's back problem, we will limit his minutes as best as possible. We will probably give him a few nights off if need be. To deal with Lamar's morale, I think he will like South Beach. I think his wife will like it better than Dallas. Her family will visit her freqently which will keep her happy which will mean a happy Lamar.

[Lucky17]

Roster

C:  Duncan (28)/ Dalembert (20)/ Hollins (garbage)
Pf: West   (32)/ Mbah A Moute( 8 )/ Allen ( 8 )
SF: Hill (22)/ Mbah A Moute (23)/ CJ Miles (3)
SG: Kobe   (34)/ George Hill (10) / CJ Miles (4)
PG: George Hill(25)/ Jason Kidd (20)/ Reggie Jackson (3)

Q1. Can you talk a little bit about how the triangle specifically suits your personnel?

Q2. If you intend to manage minutes during the regular season, what are your realistic expectations for standings within the division and the conference?

Q3. What happens to the offense when Kobe is on the bench? How will it change? Who will be on the floor?

[Lucky17]

Roster:
C : Marcin Gortat/Spencer Hawes/Greg Stiemsma
PF: Pau Gasol/DeJuan Blair
SF: Gerald Wallace/Michael Beasley/Steve Novak
SG: J.R Smith/Lou Wlliams
PG: Steph Curry/ Chauncey Billups/ Jameer Nelson

Q1. What are the expected minute breakdowns for these players? A lot seems to be made of Novak's importance/detriment to the lineup. How much floor time is he or Jameer Nelson really going to see?

Q2. Will Michael Beasley play PF? Will Gerald Wallace see any time there?

Q3. Do you have any concerns about a lack of defense in your backcourt?

Also, as an aside, you'll want to consult 82games.com for information on where players played last season. For instance, Novak spent the overwhelming majority of his time at PF. Only spot minutes at SF.

http://www.82games.com/1112/11NYK11.HTM

[Lucky17]

Orlando Magic presser:

Starters:

Pg: Jeff Teague- good shooter will run the pick and role with Amare
PPG   APG   RPG   PER
12.6   4.9   2.4   15.83

SG: Gerald Henderson: energy guy who can a little defense
PPG   APG   RPG   PER
15.1   2.3   4.1   14.05

SF: Loul Deng-Good all round guy and solid defender
PPG   APG   RPG   PER
15.3   2.9   6.5   14.13

Pf: Amar’e Stoudamire-Superstar still, just had an off year do to playing with the ultimate chucker Melo.
PPG   RPG   BLKPG   PER
17.5   7.8   1.0   17.73

C: Javelle Magee-Up and coming center who showed some promise with Denver. Change of scenery from Washington did him some good. Solid Shot blocker
PPG   RPG   BLKPG   PER
11.3   7.8   2.2   19.90

Sixth Man:
Lamar Odom and Marcus Thorton
Odom: will see the floor a lot with Amar’e shifting to center, stats for last year miss leading.
Marcus Thornton-Microwave, can score a ton of points, will see a lot of playing time. Might even run some pick and roll with Amar’

PPG   APG   RPG   PER
18.7   1.9   3.7   17.43

Bench:
Marvin Williams-solid back should rebound this year, very good defender
Mullins-Capable big who can play both pf and center and can shoot.
Mo Williams-Points off the bench with see a lot of playing time
Vince Carter-energy and points of the bench will see some playing time
CJ Watson-nice 3 pointer shooter and ball handler should see playing time
Larry Sanders-shot blocker and can score a little. Play mainly in defensive situations.

Rotation:
With the exception of Amar’e no one will play heavy minutes and no one should really complain since their all equal stars.

Coach:
Doug Collins-great defensive coach

Expectations-All honesty I think were the deepest team in the league and should have no problems finding are way to the Finals and maybe even winning. I know we don’t have that sexy name outside of Amare but I think Amar’e and this team really thrive together.
Best Move-Traded back out of the 1st round got 1st round talent in the second round. Also like moving one of my 2nd picks for even more depth.

Q1. Can we see an expected minutes breakdown for your lineups?

Q2. Javale McGee seemed to benefit from his trade to Denver last season. However, his minutes declined, to the point that he played 20 minutes a night. Is he capable of giving you 25 minutes of focused basketball a night?

Q3. How will you manage Amare's minutes? What does the PF rotation look like?

[Rondo2287]

Roster

C:  Duncan (28)/ Dalembert (20)/ Hollins (garbage)
Pf: West   (32)/ Mbah A Moute( 8 )/ Allen ( 8 )
SF: Hill (22)/ Mbah A Moute (23)/ CJ Miles (3)
SG: Kobe   (34)/ George Hill (10) / CJ Miles (4)
PG: George Hill(25)/ Jason Kidd (20)/ Reggie Jackson (3)

Q1. Can you talk a little bit about how the triangle specifically suits your personnel?

Q2. If you intend to manage minutes during the regular season, what are your realistic expectations for standings within the division and the conference?

Q3. What happens to the offense when Kobe is on the bench? How will it change? Who will be on the floor?

1.  So I have done a good amount of research on the triangle the past week or so but im by no means an expert but my general understanding is that what is necessary to run the triangle is a big man who can score in the post but who is also an excellent passer.  We have that in Tim Duncan and West can also do some damage in that roll. 

Also, for the triangle to work you need good spacing.  With Kobe, Duncan, West and Hill we have 4 guys that can all hit jump shots with regularity which should spread the floor well and allow the offense to function.

Also I believe that George Hill, Grant Hill and Mbah A Moute will all thrive on cuts to the basket while in the offense. 

Also by using the triangle offense it will allow kobe to Drive the ball to the hoop, (with very good spacing) Drive and pull up for a jumper, or post up.

2. I think with managing my minutes I can still win the division though I don't know if I will be a top 3 seed, I generally think like the celtics this year I will win the division but be a 4 seed.

3.  With Kobe out of the game I will have Kidd in the game orchestrating the offense and George Hill will move over the 2 guard.  Ideally when Kobe is out we will have both Duncan and West in the game to provide the offensive punch. 

[Kane3387]

Washington

What kind of season does gortat have without playing with nash?

You have zero all star players. Pau gasol is the man. The last two seasons he has been under a lot of scrutiny. Kobe repeatedly called him out and his track record as the best player on a team is not good. He by far is your best player, so tell me why on this team he can take this team to a title?

Also how many minutes are Williams and smith planning to play together?

Gortat's confidence has grown he is still going to be dominant without Steve Nash its kind of like Rondo, he wasnt that good but the big 3 made him seem good at first but then he got a lot of confidence and now he doesnt need the big 3 if anything they need him.

I can care less how many all star players i have. I'd say we easily have the best big men. Marcin Gortat is a 15 and 10 guy. Pau Gasol is a 17 and 10 guy. We also have Gerald Wallace, Steph Curry, J.R. Smith, Lou Williams and well actually all our players on our team are quite good, i'd take this group over a team with 3 all stars. Also i never said he would take us to a title, we dont see this team as a championship or bust team we see it more as a first lets make the playoffs then start thinking about winning the championship. Also how do you expect him to carry a team that has these guys as their starters Chucky Atkins, Hakim Warrick, Terrence Kinsey, Dahntay Jones?

Lou Williams and J.R Smith will most likely be together on the court Williams will play way more than J.R.

I would never put Gortat and dominant in the same sentence, but in looking at his per 36 minute numbers I think Gortat can keep up solid play without Nash.

As for Gasol. He played with solid players in Shane Battier, Jason Williams, and Mike Miller. He had talent around him to win 50 games, but 0 playoff games in three years? He couldn't lead his team to one win? I don't get it. He's just not a number one guy.

You say you don't care about having All-Star caliber players. That's fine, but the NBA is a star driven league and Quality wins over Quantity every time. Look at the Nuggets. Look at the Sixers. They play a nice game but they aren't taken that seriously in the grand scheme of things.

Also while you have quantity I don't see the chemistry. It's one thing to have quality and lack some chemistry because top tier talent usually overcomes most things. But teams that lack both top tier talent and chemistry usually just make the playoffs.

Williams gets points but he doesn't shoot well. He is a volume scorer. Hollinger below:

Williams' shot fake is so tempting that defenders bite on it virtually every time, even though he's not much of a threat as a jump shooter. He's a career 33.0 percent 3-point shooter who made 34.2 percent last season; he also made 37.0 percent of his long 2s and 21.1 percent from 10-15 feet. Let him shoot it, guys.

Lou Wiliams averaged 4.7 apg per 36 minutes. Hollinger says this about him:

Because Williams drew so many fouls on the perimeter, he also had a remarkably low turnover rate for a player with so many free throw attempts. While it was low for other reasons (like how rarely he passed, for instance), the results was that Williams led the Sixers in PER and ranked ninth overall among point guards.

It was one thing for Pau to sacrifice shots to Kobe, but Lou Williams? I can see the passive aggressive quotes to the media already.

It's not just Williams but Smith, Beasley, and Nelson are scorers too. Gasol is your best facilitator after Curry and Billups (too HUGE injury concerns) so why is ball movement not going to be an issue?

id take my team over westbrook gasol griffin our big men are better than yours and the rest of your team is decent players, no floor spacing way less chemistry, We talking about chemistry?!

Haha Come on man, quit playing chicken  We can do this in the playoffs.

Seriously can you answer the questions I have asked? If not it's cool, but don't just say look at the PER. PER is cool but it is far from the end all be all and IP showed why William's PER is what it is.

How about the cohesiveness of your lineup.
How about the fact that Gasol is 32 and on the downside, but is your best player and leader. Why is that not a concern
How about why his playoff averages were pedestrian the last couple of years.
How about Beasley, Smith, and Williams in the same locker room and on the court together looking for shots.
How about how you plan on making everyone happy with their role on the team. What is each player's role on the team?

If you can't answer these or are unsure then that isn't an issue. I think everyone has been asked questions about their roster that they are unsure how to answer. If that's the case just say so, but please address the questions if you can. 

[Who]

I am leaning towards Atlanta as the best team in the division come playoff time but I haven't decided whether I prefer Washington or Atlanta in the regular season to win the division.

Orlando 3rd (undecided whether they make the playoffs) and Miami 4th (non-playoff team).