Sunday, September 30, 2012
Chauncey talks return
While speaking to the media, Clippers guard Chauncey Billups gave the world an update on when he may be able to return. Billups ruptured his left Achilles in February and is still recovering from surgery. He will not be able to return by opening night but he expects to be back on the court before 2013.
‘I’m going to listen to my body,’ Billups said. ‘When it tells me I’m ready to get back out there, that’s when I’ll be back out there.’
‘I’m going to listen to my body,’ Billups said. ‘When it tells me I’m ready to get back out there, that’s when I’ll be back out there.’
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Update on Raja Bell
As reported on various media outlets, the Utah Jazz have informed guard Raja Bell not to attend training camp. Below is the news release that the Jazz released via GM Dennis Lindsey detailing the situation
"I have spoken with Raja and his representative, Herb Rudoy, and we have mutually agreed that although Raja remains under contract, it is in the best interest of all parties that he not rejoin the team next week when the Jazz begin training camp. We will now move forward focusing on Jazz basketball and our preparation for the upcoming season. We will have no further comment on this matter."
"I have spoken with Raja and his representative, Herb Rudoy, and we have mutually agreed that although Raja remains under contract, it is in the best interest of all parties that he not rejoin the team next week when the Jazz begin training camp. We will now move forward focusing on Jazz basketball and our preparation for the upcoming season. We will have no further comment on this matter."
Q&A: Larry Drew
Courtesy of Chris Viviamore
Q: Can you share how you will rotate the point guards?
A: As of right now, I don’t know. I know that by bringing in Devin Harris we bring in another guy who is basically a speed merchant. A guy who can get from one end of the floor to the other. A guy who has the ability to run pick-and-rolls, break the defense down, he’s a good passer. He’s smart. He can make a 3[-pointer]. Lou Williams comes in and we know he can score. He’s a great pick-and-roll guy, a great open-court guy. I have three guys that basically are guys who can impact the game. As far as rotation right now, right now I don’t know. I know that I will be smaller in the backcourt than I have in the past. I don’t have that versatility that I had by moving Joe [Johnson] to the 2-guard and using his size. What those guys bring, they bring an unbelievable amount of speed and quickness to the game. Speed and quickness, we’ll be in the open-court more, running more pick-and-rolls, just utilizing what the strengths are. With those three guys, they bring an incredible amount of speed to the game.
Q: Will you use a similar rotation at center this season by starting Al Horford?
A: Yes, I would say there will be a similar rotation. [Horford's] ability to play some 5, his ability to play some 4, certainly enables me to use him in different ways, different capacities. Zaza played extremely well for us last year, particularly when Al went down. He has shown that he has the ability to be a starter. I’m not going to completely rule that out. I think there are going to be some times when we start Zaza at the 5 and Al at the 4. I’ve been in situations where I’ve used that combination and moved Josh [Smith] to some 3. I want to allow myself that type of flexibility again. I think with the makeup of our team right now, I don’t think we will be as big and as versatile particularly without Joe [Johnson] or Marvin [Williams] where we could move both of those guys to the 2 or 3. We may be a little smaller but I think we will be a lot quicker. I think we will be a team that will really move the basketball because we have good passers. But I really want to allow myself the versatility to be able to move things around.
Bradley talks progress
While taking part in the Boston Celtics' media day, guard Avery Bradley spoke about the process he's made since undergoing two shoulder surgeries. Doctors have targeted January for a possible return for Bradley.
"I've been trying to do too much," said Bradley. "They say I'm months ahead. That makes me feel good....I have to be prepared and strong enough when I do come back....I feel like I'm letting my teammates down if I rush myself back."
"I've been trying to do too much," said Bradley. "They say I'm months ahead. That makes me feel good....I have to be prepared and strong enough when I do come back....I feel like I'm letting my teammates down if I rush myself back."
Wallace back?
Reports indicate the former NBA All-Star Rasheed Wallace has decided to come out of retirement and join the New York Knicks. All signs point towards Wallace joining the Knicks on Monday when they open training camp.
Friday, September 28, 2012
Fact or Fiction?
Reports indicate that ESPN is considering hiring Isiah Thomas as a studio analyst.
Darrell Arthur Update
Darrell Arthur, 24, won’t be available when the Griz start training camp Tuesday and is expected to miss 4-6 weeks, according to team physicians. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed that Arthur has a small, non-displaced fracture in the head of the fibula.
Fines for Flopping?
Reports indicate the NBA is close to finalizing procedures that will deal with flopping. NBA Commissioner David Stern feels as if too many players are deceiving the refs into making incorrect calls. The league's 62 referee's are undergoing their training camp at this time and the enforcement of the anti flopping penalties will take place this season. NBA Spokesperson Tim Frank stated the following:
"The procedures will likely involve a postgame review of the play by the league office, rather than an official calling an infraction during the game, Frank said. Players would likely be fined if the league determined they flopped."
"The procedures will likely involve a postgame review of the play by the league office, rather than an official calling an infraction during the game, Frank said. Players would likely be fined if the league determined they flopped."
Dooling speaks on abuse
Sometimes in life enough is enough and we all come to a point where we are just done. Recently retired NBA player Keyon Dooling reached that point this past week when he shockingly retired after 12 years and 32 years of age.
The following article is from Jessica Camerato of csnne.com
At 32 years old, he still has miles left in his legs and plenty of shots to hit. He could have entered his 13th season if he wanted to. But he doesn’t anymore.
A wave of surprise hit the league last week when the Boston Celtics announced they had waived Dooling and he would be retiring from the game. Why? Why would a passionate player who loves basketball -- and, just as importantly, the Celtics organization and his teammates -- hang it all up when he had the opportunity to play on a squad he believes will win it all this season?
Sometimes the biggest factors in an athlete’s life have nothing to do with the sport he or she plays. In this case, Dooling’s decision to leave the NBA didn’t have much to do with basketball at all.
* * * *
Laughter bounced off the beige walls of the Dooling household as his loved ones filled the rooms with warmth and happiness. On this particular late September evening, Dooling, his wife Natosha, daughters Deneal (11), Gabrielle (9) and Jordan (5), son Keyon Jr. (2), cousin Kevin (17), brother Cedric Johnson, and godbrother Harry Turner had gathered together. These were the people Dooling had left every few days for a road series. These were the people who had shared his attention with the demanding NBA schedule.
“The average career is 4 1/2 years and I tripled that, almost,” Dooling told CSNNE.com as he settled into a brown leather chair at the marble high top table in his dining room, his usual three-piece suit traded for a tailored, buttondown shirt and jeans. “The grind of the NBA just has taken its toll on me, on my body. More so than that, my family . . . I’ve missed birthdays, school conferences, dropping my kids off, school plays, school dances. I’ve missed just being daddy so much.
"I have enough. I have all the resources I need, I’m a blessed man. I’m not limping away; I was able to walk away.”
Dooling, the 10th overall pick in the 2000 NBA Draft, contemplated retirement five years ago. Then a member of the Orlando Magic, he underwent tests that revealed a degenerative hip. But at the time he was only 27, too young to stop. Besides, no one wanted him to.
“I [thought about retirement] as soon as I found out [about the hip issue],” Dooling explained. “But I played ball for everybody else, for my family, and I still loved to play. I was still willing to go through that grind. I’ve taken medicine, I’ve gotten shots, I’ve done a lot of things to be able to go out on that court. But I couldn’t let my family down. They love to see me play ball.”
Dooling’s career was never about himself. That’s not the way he lives his life. The needs of others have always come first, whether it's a close family member, a teammate, or a distant friend of someone he knows.
His willingness to help those around him made him one of the most accessible players in the NBA. From All-Stars like Dwight Howard and Rajon Rondo to players like Trevor Ariza, Courtney Lee and Jameer Nelson, Dooling -- the first vice-president of the NBA Players Association -- has spent personal time with countless athletes around the league, listening to their stories, offering advice, and providing a shoulder to lean on and a place to turn.
He also extended the same generosity and commitment to every community he played in (Boston, Los Angeles, Miami, Milwaukee, New Jersey, and Orlando). Dooling felt his community outreach and desire to help went unnoticed, for the most part, in the NBA, yet he continued to give back without the recognition other players receive for their charitable deeds.
But who was Dooling leaning on?
* * * * *
For over 30 years, he took on everyone else’s problems and internalized his own. The pillar of resiliency had cracks, too. He was just too strong to notice them as he focused on his career and the needs of others.
Then, after re-signing with the Celtics in July and beginning preparations for another season, Dooling realized he didn’t want to play any longer.
“I was talking about it with my wife and with my pastors and all the people that are in my life, and nobody wanted me to retire. Nobody wanted me to retire,” he said.
Years of repressed emotions came rushing back during this realization. Memories that Dooling had tried to bury were flooding out.
"I actually had such a meltdown that I had to get professional help and I ended up in the hospital," said Dooling.
"It just all came to a head. To be honest with you, I blocked a lot of things out of my life. I’m a man who’s been abused, sexually, emotionally, mentally. I’ve been abused in my life, and there’s so many guys around the NBA who have been abused and I know it because I’ve been their therapist. I didn’t even have the courage because I blocked it out so much that I couldn’t even share that . . .
“It took literally a meltdown for everybody to see how serious I was about not playing ball anymore."
But he was absolutely serious.
"For so long I’ve always denied myself and what I feel for others, in particular my family of origin and my wife and my children and my friends who I really trust," he said.
“It just got to the point where it was like, they don’t know how much pain I’m in. They don’t know how lonely the road can be. They don’t know the stuff that comes along with being an NBA player. They don’t know how many people call my phone begging for money every day. They don’t know how many people call me asking for advice. They don’t know how many people rely on me to be happy when they’re down. They don’t understand the grind that mentally I have to go through to be this man I am every day.
“I just gave out too much and I wasn’t getting enough back . . . [With] the exception of the Celtics organization, nobody ever truly appreciated me until this year.”
* * * *
Dooling's mental strength allows him to block out pain, hurt, and anything else he doesn’t want to feel. But at 32, he finally faced the memories he had buried deep inside.
He had been abused by both strangers and those he knew as a child. He refuses to harbor hate for those who have hurt him. Instead, he wants to share his story as a way to help others in similar situations cope.
Dooling once had a fear of being judged for his past. Now he believes there are many players in the league who could benefit from it to build a stronger future for themselves.
“I used to think I had fear and anxiety, but I had the wrong concept of that,” he said. “It wasn’t fear and anxiety. It was actually power if you would embrace it."
His voice dropped.
"I just couldn’t embrace it at that time . . . I just wish I had the courage to talk about my abuses, and I’m not putting anybody out there because that’s neither here nor there. I was abused by some random people and some familiar people and it happened not frequently, but it happened. One time is too many. I just wish I had the courage because so many of our guys have been abused.”
* * * *
Dooling knew this was the right time to walk away from the game and contacted the Celtics' President of Basketball Operations, Danny Ainge, and coach Doc Rivers. He loved playing for the C’s and had turned down more money from other clubs to re-sign with them this summer.
“I had to come back for Rondo, Kevin [Garnett], and Doc,” he said.
The expressive Dooling had developed a close relationship with the two most enigmatic players on the Celtics. He sat next to Rondo in the locker room and shared many talks away from the court. Over the course of the season, he saw a side of the 26-year-old point guard few are familiar with.
“I see the leader that he is, that he’s becoming,” said Dooling. “I see the way he treats his teammates. Our guys spend so much time at the Rondo family home. His wonderful wife cooks meals for us and the ladies, they vibe, and we’re downstairs with the fellas playing cards, talking trash, watching sports. Rondo’s wife found this place for us. Rondo and I met each other in Toronto to go see Drake along with Kevin Garnett.
“Rondo is my friend. I want my son to play ball like Rondo but shoot like me. That’s my brother. It pisses me off to see the way the media treats him because he’s strong. They’re scared of strength and he’s honest. It’s okay to be strong. What’s wrong with that man being strong? He’s earned his right. He’s come from nothing, he’s come from nothing. He’s the second-best player in the league. He didn’t make the USA Team, sometimes he’s a replacement for the All-Star Game. He’s the epitome of an unselfish player. He rebounds the basketball, he affects the game in five statistical categories. He shoots a higher percentage than all the point guards and they always talk about how he can’t shoot."
Dooling continued, “Not only do I think he’s the second-best player in the NBA behind Kevin Durant, but I think he is an amazing leader. I think he doesn’t get a fair shake in the media and I wish they knew my friend the way I did.”
Dooling got to know Garnett during the NBA lockout last summer. He, like most players, was not a fan of Garnett when he was on an opposing team. A meal in the basement of a restaurant changed everything. By the time he was traded to the Celtics last winter, Dooling was reuniting with a new friend.
“I’m probably the only guy that can be a hundred percent transparent with Kevin and him respect it,” said Dooling. “I love him. He’s a brother to me. I hated him before I got here. During the lockout we went to Philippe’s and we ate in the basement and we just talked and wow. I was like, ‘I didn’t realize how much alike we are.’ Me and Kevin are just alike in so many ways.
“He’s a true intellect and he knows everything. We just get along so well and I’m so honest with him and I give him a different perspective. He gave me the last little lesson that I needed about toughness and being firm and how to empower people. Kevin Garnett is a genius. He is literally a genius. He knows everything. He stays up all night researching everything. The commitment that he has to the game of basketball is ridiculous.
“He’s probably the best player of this time, of this generation. If you look at the way all the bigs play, they don’t mimic Tim Duncan. They mimic Kevin Garnett. If Kevin was coached by Doc a long time ago and if Kevin played with five other All-Stars and all these great players in this great system, I’m sure he would have the same amount -- see, our game is a little bit weird. The best players don’t always win, and Kevin Garnett at the end of the day is probably the . . . if you don’t want to call him the best of this generation, you can definitely call him the most influential just because Kobe [Bryant] was like Mike (Michael Jordan). Derrick Rose and all these guys, it was other people who came before them like that. And when Kevin came into the league, he was different from Bob McAdoo, he was different from all those players who fit that mold.
“The Darius Mileses and all these young kids who come up, the Anthony Davises, all these kids are more Kevin Garnett than anybody else. They mimic Kevin Garnett more than anybody else. Kevin Garnett has motivated more players to get better than any other player in our time because of the way he approaches the game and how he talks to them. But he’s not doing it to belittle them, he’s doing it to drive himself. Kevin is awesome. I love that guy to death. I feel that way about a lot of our guys but those two guys in particular, I wanted to be there for them.”
* * * *
Dooling will still be involved with the Celtics this season. He plans to keep his home in the Boston area and has been invited by Rivers to travel with the team to road games. Dooling would like to do community service in the cities the Celtics play in through his charity, the Gametyme Foundation.
He also intends to keep his position with the NBA Players Association through the All-Star Break in February. He cites his relationships with the players in the league and NBPA executive director Billy Hunter as reasons to stay on the board for the first half of the season.
“The guys don’t want me to quit,” said Dooling. “I’ve got to be there right now for Mr. Hunter and I’ll probably step away after All-Star Break because Mr. Hunter is an amazing man. He’s an amazing man and he’s a stand-up guy."
Once his tenure comes to an end, Dooling would like to see new faces step up and join. He mentioned Garnett, Rondo and Philadelphia 76ers center Spencer Hawes by name as players he feels are qualified to serve on the executive board, with Garnett as president and Rondo as first vice-president.
“I think we need men of integrity, honesty, well-thought out men, men who aren’t controlled by their agents,” he said. “There are some great guys out there.”
As for the next step in his career, Dooling is considering his options as he enjoys the beginning of his retirement. One NBA organization offered him four job positions, including front office, player development and scouting. He had to put them on hold for consideration. Dooling would ideally like to take on a role that allows him stay with his family, which is why he has no interest in coaching.
“I don’t have any ambition to coach,” he said. “I would have to be away from my family too much and that’s the big reason I retired.”
Dooling is also involved in several business ventures, including his role as a distributor for Ritter Dental, a dental company, and Livingston Lures, which manufacturers fishing lures. He and Natosha also run the sports lifestyle website, Sportsality.
First and foremost, though, is his role as a family man.
* * * *
Dooling is enjoying taking his children to school and helping his wife around the house. After years juggling life away on the road, he is ready to be home.
“I have to be a better husband and I have to be a better father to my kids,” he said. “I have to cut off all my friends out there and just be their friend, not their provider. Not only [financially], emotionally. That’s where I was drained.”
The father of four encourages other players to focus on their families first, then basketball and charity. As he begins the next phase of his life with his family, he thinks back to how his parents, Brenda and the late Leroy Junior, raised him in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
“My dad always told me I was the best in the world,” said Dooling, batting back the tears from his eyes. “He always told me how great I was and how I could do everything. He always told me I was a president, he always told me I was the best basketball player, he just loved me for who I was . . . He would be proud of the man that I am, of the father that I am, the husband that I am. The basketball career he’d probably be like, ‘They held you back,’ because he always would say that. ‘You can’t see it, but I see it.’
“Both of my parents were amazing. My siblings, my big brothers were amazing to me. I thank God for my family of origin, and when I made it to the NBA it was a great moment because I was able to change their life to give them a better life. But now as I close my NBA chapter, it’s like a new chapter for me with my family, my wife, and my children and they’re the primary focus.
"Now it’s time for me and my family to grow together organically.”
After 12 years and 721 games in the NBA, Dooling has the opportunity to make that happen.
The following article is from Jessica Camerato of csnne.com
Keyon Dooling could have continued playing in the NBA.
At 32 years old, he still has miles left in his legs and plenty of shots to hit. He could have entered his 13th season if he wanted to. But he doesn’t anymore.
A wave of surprise hit the league last week when the Boston Celtics announced they had waived Dooling and he would be retiring from the game. Why? Why would a passionate player who loves basketball -- and, just as importantly, the Celtics organization and his teammates -- hang it all up when he had the opportunity to play on a squad he believes will win it all this season?
Sometimes the biggest factors in an athlete’s life have nothing to do with the sport he or she plays. In this case, Dooling’s decision to leave the NBA didn’t have much to do with basketball at all.
* * * *
Laughter bounced off the beige walls of the Dooling household as his loved ones filled the rooms with warmth and happiness. On this particular late September evening, Dooling, his wife Natosha, daughters Deneal (11), Gabrielle (9) and Jordan (5), son Keyon Jr. (2), cousin Kevin (17), brother Cedric Johnson, and godbrother Harry Turner had gathered together. These were the people Dooling had left every few days for a road series. These were the people who had shared his attention with the demanding NBA schedule.
“The average career is 4 1/2 years and I tripled that, almost,” Dooling told CSNNE.com as he settled into a brown leather chair at the marble high top table in his dining room, his usual three-piece suit traded for a tailored, buttondown shirt and jeans. “The grind of the NBA just has taken its toll on me, on my body. More so than that, my family . . . I’ve missed birthdays, school conferences, dropping my kids off, school plays, school dances. I’ve missed just being daddy so much.
"I have enough. I have all the resources I need, I’m a blessed man. I’m not limping away; I was able to walk away.”
Dooling, the 10th overall pick in the 2000 NBA Draft, contemplated retirement five years ago. Then a member of the Orlando Magic, he underwent tests that revealed a degenerative hip. But at the time he was only 27, too young to stop. Besides, no one wanted him to.
“I [thought about retirement] as soon as I found out [about the hip issue],” Dooling explained. “But I played ball for everybody else, for my family, and I still loved to play. I was still willing to go through that grind. I’ve taken medicine, I’ve gotten shots, I’ve done a lot of things to be able to go out on that court. But I couldn’t let my family down. They love to see me play ball.”
Dooling’s career was never about himself. That’s not the way he lives his life. The needs of others have always come first, whether it's a close family member, a teammate, or a distant friend of someone he knows.
His willingness to help those around him made him one of the most accessible players in the NBA. From All-Stars like Dwight Howard and Rajon Rondo to players like Trevor Ariza, Courtney Lee and Jameer Nelson, Dooling -- the first vice-president of the NBA Players Association -- has spent personal time with countless athletes around the league, listening to their stories, offering advice, and providing a shoulder to lean on and a place to turn.
He also extended the same generosity and commitment to every community he played in (Boston, Los Angeles, Miami, Milwaukee, New Jersey, and Orlando). Dooling felt his community outreach and desire to help went unnoticed, for the most part, in the NBA, yet he continued to give back without the recognition other players receive for their charitable deeds.
But who was Dooling leaning on?
* * * * *
For over 30 years, he took on everyone else’s problems and internalized his own. The pillar of resiliency had cracks, too. He was just too strong to notice them as he focused on his career and the needs of others.
Then, after re-signing with the Celtics in July and beginning preparations for another season, Dooling realized he didn’t want to play any longer.
“I was talking about it with my wife and with my pastors and all the people that are in my life, and nobody wanted me to retire. Nobody wanted me to retire,” he said.
Years of repressed emotions came rushing back during this realization. Memories that Dooling had tried to bury were flooding out.
"I actually had such a meltdown that I had to get professional help and I ended up in the hospital," said Dooling.
"It just all came to a head. To be honest with you, I blocked a lot of things out of my life. I’m a man who’s been abused, sexually, emotionally, mentally. I’ve been abused in my life, and there’s so many guys around the NBA who have been abused and I know it because I’ve been their therapist. I didn’t even have the courage because I blocked it out so much that I couldn’t even share that . . .
“It took literally a meltdown for everybody to see how serious I was about not playing ball anymore."
But he was absolutely serious.
"For so long I’ve always denied myself and what I feel for others, in particular my family of origin and my wife and my children and my friends who I really trust," he said.
“It just got to the point where it was like, they don’t know how much pain I’m in. They don’t know how lonely the road can be. They don’t know the stuff that comes along with being an NBA player. They don’t know how many people call my phone begging for money every day. They don’t know how many people call me asking for advice. They don’t know how many people rely on me to be happy when they’re down. They don’t understand the grind that mentally I have to go through to be this man I am every day.
“I just gave out too much and I wasn’t getting enough back . . . [With] the exception of the Celtics organization, nobody ever truly appreciated me until this year.”
* * * *
Dooling's mental strength allows him to block out pain, hurt, and anything else he doesn’t want to feel. But at 32, he finally faced the memories he had buried deep inside.
He had been abused by both strangers and those he knew as a child. He refuses to harbor hate for those who have hurt him. Instead, he wants to share his story as a way to help others in similar situations cope.
Dooling once had a fear of being judged for his past. Now he believes there are many players in the league who could benefit from it to build a stronger future for themselves.
“I used to think I had fear and anxiety, but I had the wrong concept of that,” he said. “It wasn’t fear and anxiety. It was actually power if you would embrace it."
His voice dropped.
"I just couldn’t embrace it at that time . . . I just wish I had the courage to talk about my abuses, and I’m not putting anybody out there because that’s neither here nor there. I was abused by some random people and some familiar people and it happened not frequently, but it happened. One time is too many. I just wish I had the courage because so many of our guys have been abused.”
* * * *
Dooling knew this was the right time to walk away from the game and contacted the Celtics' President of Basketball Operations, Danny Ainge, and coach Doc Rivers. He loved playing for the C’s and had turned down more money from other clubs to re-sign with them this summer.
“I had to come back for Rondo, Kevin [Garnett], and Doc,” he said.
The expressive Dooling had developed a close relationship with the two most enigmatic players on the Celtics. He sat next to Rondo in the locker room and shared many talks away from the court. Over the course of the season, he saw a side of the 26-year-old point guard few are familiar with.
“I see the leader that he is, that he’s becoming,” said Dooling. “I see the way he treats his teammates. Our guys spend so much time at the Rondo family home. His wonderful wife cooks meals for us and the ladies, they vibe, and we’re downstairs with the fellas playing cards, talking trash, watching sports. Rondo’s wife found this place for us. Rondo and I met each other in Toronto to go see Drake along with Kevin Garnett.
“Rondo is my friend. I want my son to play ball like Rondo but shoot like me. That’s my brother. It pisses me off to see the way the media treats him because he’s strong. They’re scared of strength and he’s honest. It’s okay to be strong. What’s wrong with that man being strong? He’s earned his right. He’s come from nothing, he’s come from nothing. He’s the second-best player in the league. He didn’t make the USA Team, sometimes he’s a replacement for the All-Star Game. He’s the epitome of an unselfish player. He rebounds the basketball, he affects the game in five statistical categories. He shoots a higher percentage than all the point guards and they always talk about how he can’t shoot."
Dooling continued, “Not only do I think he’s the second-best player in the NBA behind Kevin Durant, but I think he is an amazing leader. I think he doesn’t get a fair shake in the media and I wish they knew my friend the way I did.”
Dooling got to know Garnett during the NBA lockout last summer. He, like most players, was not a fan of Garnett when he was on an opposing team. A meal in the basement of a restaurant changed everything. By the time he was traded to the Celtics last winter, Dooling was reuniting with a new friend.
“I’m probably the only guy that can be a hundred percent transparent with Kevin and him respect it,” said Dooling. “I love him. He’s a brother to me. I hated him before I got here. During the lockout we went to Philippe’s and we ate in the basement and we just talked and wow. I was like, ‘I didn’t realize how much alike we are.’ Me and Kevin are just alike in so many ways.
“He’s a true intellect and he knows everything. We just get along so well and I’m so honest with him and I give him a different perspective. He gave me the last little lesson that I needed about toughness and being firm and how to empower people. Kevin Garnett is a genius. He is literally a genius. He knows everything. He stays up all night researching everything. The commitment that he has to the game of basketball is ridiculous.
“He’s probably the best player of this time, of this generation. If you look at the way all the bigs play, they don’t mimic Tim Duncan. They mimic Kevin Garnett. If Kevin was coached by Doc a long time ago and if Kevin played with five other All-Stars and all these great players in this great system, I’m sure he would have the same amount -- see, our game is a little bit weird. The best players don’t always win, and Kevin Garnett at the end of the day is probably the . . . if you don’t want to call him the best of this generation, you can definitely call him the most influential just because Kobe [Bryant] was like Mike (Michael Jordan). Derrick Rose and all these guys, it was other people who came before them like that. And when Kevin came into the league, he was different from Bob McAdoo, he was different from all those players who fit that mold.
“The Darius Mileses and all these young kids who come up, the Anthony Davises, all these kids are more Kevin Garnett than anybody else. They mimic Kevin Garnett more than anybody else. Kevin Garnett has motivated more players to get better than any other player in our time because of the way he approaches the game and how he talks to them. But he’s not doing it to belittle them, he’s doing it to drive himself. Kevin is awesome. I love that guy to death. I feel that way about a lot of our guys but those two guys in particular, I wanted to be there for them.”
* * * *
Dooling will still be involved with the Celtics this season. He plans to keep his home in the Boston area and has been invited by Rivers to travel with the team to road games. Dooling would like to do community service in the cities the Celtics play in through his charity, the Gametyme Foundation.
He also intends to keep his position with the NBA Players Association through the All-Star Break in February. He cites his relationships with the players in the league and NBPA executive director Billy Hunter as reasons to stay on the board for the first half of the season.
“The guys don’t want me to quit,” said Dooling. “I’ve got to be there right now for Mr. Hunter and I’ll probably step away after All-Star Break because Mr. Hunter is an amazing man. He’s an amazing man and he’s a stand-up guy."
Once his tenure comes to an end, Dooling would like to see new faces step up and join. He mentioned Garnett, Rondo and Philadelphia 76ers center Spencer Hawes by name as players he feels are qualified to serve on the executive board, with Garnett as president and Rondo as first vice-president.
“I think we need men of integrity, honesty, well-thought out men, men who aren’t controlled by their agents,” he said. “There are some great guys out there.”
As for the next step in his career, Dooling is considering his options as he enjoys the beginning of his retirement. One NBA organization offered him four job positions, including front office, player development and scouting. He had to put them on hold for consideration. Dooling would ideally like to take on a role that allows him stay with his family, which is why he has no interest in coaching.
“I don’t have any ambition to coach,” he said. “I would have to be away from my family too much and that’s the big reason I retired.”
Dooling is also involved in several business ventures, including his role as a distributor for Ritter Dental, a dental company, and Livingston Lures, which manufacturers fishing lures. He and Natosha also run the sports lifestyle website, Sportsality.
First and foremost, though, is his role as a family man.
* * * *
Dooling is enjoying taking his children to school and helping his wife around the house. After years juggling life away on the road, he is ready to be home.
“I have to be a better husband and I have to be a better father to my kids,” he said. “I have to cut off all my friends out there and just be their friend, not their provider. Not only [financially], emotionally. That’s where I was drained.”
The father of four encourages other players to focus on their families first, then basketball and charity. As he begins the next phase of his life with his family, he thinks back to how his parents, Brenda and the late Leroy Junior, raised him in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
“My dad always told me I was the best in the world,” said Dooling, batting back the tears from his eyes. “He always told me how great I was and how I could do everything. He always told me I was a president, he always told me I was the best basketball player, he just loved me for who I was . . . He would be proud of the man that I am, of the father that I am, the husband that I am. The basketball career he’d probably be like, ‘They held you back,’ because he always would say that. ‘You can’t see it, but I see it.’
“Both of my parents were amazing. My siblings, my big brothers were amazing to me. I thank God for my family of origin, and when I made it to the NBA it was a great moment because I was able to change their life to give them a better life. But now as I close my NBA chapter, it’s like a new chapter for me with my family, my wife, and my children and they’re the primary focus.
"Now it’s time for me and my family to grow together organically.”
After 12 years and 721 games in the NBA, Dooling has the opportunity to make that happen.
Barkley fires off on Knicks, praises Nets
Love him or hate him, Charles will be Charles. While speaking recently on the Atlantic Division, Charles Barkley again fired off on the Knicks' pairing of Carmelo Anthony and Amar's Stoudemire.
“It’s not going to work, and it’s not going to click,” Barkley said of the All-Star pairing. “I’m not a believer that a leopard can change its spots....They’re both very good offensive players — Carmelo is a great offensive player, Amar’e is a very good offensive player. But I don’t think all of a sudden they’re going to become great rebounders and great defenders...They don’t rebound the ball well and they’re not a good defensive team,” Barkley said, adding that he wasn’t a good defender himself. “ I really think that’s going to be their downfall....I don’t foresee them getting better, to be honest with you,” he said.
“I told somebody the other day, they were telling me about the Knicks getting Camby and Kidd. I said, ‘I love that (move) ... if it was 2000.’ I’m not so sure that I like it in 2012,”
“It’s not going to work, and it’s not going to click,” Barkley said of the All-Star pairing. “I’m not a believer that a leopard can change its spots....They’re both very good offensive players — Carmelo is a great offensive player, Amar’e is a very good offensive player. But I don’t think all of a sudden they’re going to become great rebounders and great defenders...They don’t rebound the ball well and they’re not a good defensive team,” Barkley said, adding that he wasn’t a good defender himself. “ I really think that’s going to be their downfall....I don’t foresee them getting better, to be honest with you,” he said.
On the Brooklyn Nets
“I think they are the best team in New York,” he said, calling Brook Lopez and Kris Humphries “underrated...I think Joe Johnson is going to be huge in Brooklyn, because he’s more of a role player,” Barkley said. “The problem he had in Atlanta was they expected him to be the best player. The best player (in Brooklyn) is Deron Williams. So I really think that they’re the best team in New York.”
About the Knicks' Off season moves
“I told somebody the other day, they were telling me about the Knicks getting Camby and Kidd. I said, ‘I love that (move) ... if it was 2000.’ I’m not so sure that I like it in 2012,”
Highlights from Spoelstra's Press Conference
Courtesy of Ira Winderman
He said Juwan Howard would not be part of the Heat's training-camp roster, but did not close the door on the veteran power forward possibly rejoining the team. Howard has been working out regularly at AmericanAirlines Arena
He said guard Dwyane Wade, coming off July arthroscopic knee surgery, would be brought along slowly at the start of camp, with the expectation that Wade would be ready for the Oct. 30 regular-season opener against the visiting Boston Celtics. "He's not 100 percent," Spoelstra said, "so we're going to be very vigilant on how we progress with him."
He also said Allen is progressing well from July ankle surgery. "He's not 100 percent, but I wouldn't notice it," Spoelstra said.
As for veteran forward Mike Miller, Spoelstra said the oft-injured veteran swingman is healthy enough to participate in all camp drills, but would be held back at times as a precaution.
Spoelstra said the only sidelined player heading into camp is rookie power forward Jarvis Varnado, who strained his hamstring three weeks ago. Spoelstra said guard Norris Cole is beyond the groin issue that had limited him in recent days.
Of James coming in only weeks after winning Olympic gold in London, Spoelstra said, "This isn't a path that hasn't been walked before . . . He's done it, in 2008. And other guys have done it as well. That walk has been walked by the greatest."
Of having so much veteran talent and a limited amount of minutes, Spoelstra said, "Everyone knows when they signed up here that one of our major core values is to sacrifice.
He said Cole has had a strong summer, following through on the team's goal of improved playmaking and shooting.
He said center Dexter Pittman is coming off a strong month. "This will be definitely the best condition he's brought into training camp," Spoelstra said of the third-year veteran.
Martin changes tune
With most NBA training camps starting in a couple of days, veteran forward Kenyon Martin remains unsigned. This is in the most part due to Martin not wanting to accept the veteran's minimum to continue his career in the NBA, holding out for one more decent pay day. Reports now indicate that Martin will only accept the minimum if he's in a "comfortable" team role.
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Frank Vogel speaks on team
Pacers Head Coach Frank Vogel made the following statements while speaking to Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star.
Vogel on the bench:
“I do believe it’s better, but that’s to be seen. Clearly change does not equal improvement, but the pieces we brought in, to me, are going to give us a chance at succeeding with the second unit. The more I watch the September pickup games, the more I believe in that strength.”
Vogel said Lance Stephenson has the inside track to backup Paul George at shooting guard.
“Lance Stephenson has challenged for playing time for two years. Now he’s playing with more confidence than he ever has. So he’s going to challenge the starters.”
Vogel on Gerald Green and D.J. Augustin:
“Gerald Green is doing things everyday I didn’t think was possible for human beings to do. D.J. has really blown me away in the limited time that he’s been here in terms of his ability to create and make others better. That’s a unique talent to have. Literally on almost every possession he makes somebody better with his passing.”
Vogel on Jeff Pendergraph:
“He might have had as good a September as anybody on our team. Donnie Walsh called him the MVP of the month. He’s going to be pushing for minutes.”
Vogel on Ian Mahinmi:
“We felt like Lou (Amundson) did a great job last year, but we also felt like we got lucky with injuries to (Andrew) Bogut, (Al) Horford, (Brook) Lopez and (Dwight) Howard. We think Mahinmi will size up and give us more depth against those elite centers better than Lou did.”
Nick Young talks joining Sixers, Bynum
The Philadelphia 76ers made a few moves this off season to continue to grow their franchise as in each of the last two postseasons' they have advanced by first making the playoffs and then last season by moving into the second round before losing a game 7 to the veteran Boston Celtics. If the pattern continues, the next step will be at least a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals this season. Yesterday one of their newest additions, guard Nick Young, spoke to the media about the process of joining the Sixers.
"I was shocked myself," said Young, "I didn't see them as one of the places I was going to end up coming. But that's the tricky thing about free agency. Doug called me early, like 6 a.m. LA time, and we were just talking, and it was a great talk. From there, I was really just leaning to coming here. He had a good spirit to him. He sat down and talked to my dad and my mom. Once my mom started raving about him, it was pretty much a wrap right there....I'm just going to do my best out there," Young said. "I really don't know my role. Of course, I'm going to be somebody who is going to score the ball, somebody that takes some of the pressure off of Bynum, when he gets double-teamed he can kick it out and I can knock down that shot."
"That was unbelievable, really," Young said. "It's big to get a player like that, Andrew Bynum. It makes us work harder because we know that we're going to have a target. People talked about that I made a mistake leaving LA, but it's like I brought LA with me. Look at all the LA guys on the team, and we brought one of the big men from LA."
"I was shocked myself," said Young, "I didn't see them as one of the places I was going to end up coming. But that's the tricky thing about free agency. Doug called me early, like 6 a.m. LA time, and we were just talking, and it was a great talk. From there, I was really just leaning to coming here. He had a good spirit to him. He sat down and talked to my dad and my mom. Once my mom started raving about him, it was pretty much a wrap right there....I'm just going to do my best out there," Young said. "I really don't know my role. Of course, I'm going to be somebody who is going to score the ball, somebody that takes some of the pressure off of Bynum, when he gets double-teamed he can kick it out and I can knock down that shot."
"That was unbelievable, really," Young said. "It's big to get a player like that, Andrew Bynum. It makes us work harder because we know that we're going to have a target. People talked about that I made a mistake leaving LA, but it's like I brought LA with me. Look at all the LA guys on the team, and we brought one of the big men from LA."
Chandler talks Wallace
While speaking to the media at a charity event, Tyson Chandler endorsed the idea of having retired All-Star Rasheed Wallace sign with the New York Knicks. The Knicks have offered Wallace a roster spot and are currently awaiting his answer.
“He looked good...Rasheed can be a great addition to us.....I hope he [comes],” Chandler said. “I don’t know what the situation is, but He’s a great communicator on defense and we know he can knock down the open 3 and jump shot...To have myself and Amar’e with Marcus Camby and Rasheed as backups ... That’s pretty nice.”
“He looked good...Rasheed can be a great addition to us.....I hope he [comes],” Chandler said. “I don’t know what the situation is, but He’s a great communicator on defense and we know he can knock down the open 3 and jump shot...To have myself and Amar’e with Marcus Camby and Rasheed as backups ... That’s pretty nice.”
Rondo talks Allen departure
When Ray Allen left the Boston Celtics to join the NBA Champion Miami Heat, many fans blamed Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo after reports surfaced that there was friction between the two during last season. While speaking to the media recently, Rondo finally addressed the rumors for the first time since the Allen signing in July.
‘People act like because me and Ray didn’t get along or they think me and Ray didn’t get along that I’m a bad person or he’s a bad person,’ Rondo said. ‘No. It’s just life. If you look at your job, everyone doesn’t always get along with every co-worker they work with. It’s just part of life. People are blowing the Ray thing out of proportion. We had some words, but other than that it was no big deal. There were so many rumors like I was looking Ray off. Why would I look Ray off? That doesn’t make sense. He’s the best shooter, so why would I look him off? People can see it how they want to. They can talk to Ray. But from my standpoint, he made his decision. I don’t know why he made the decision, but he made the decision. I don’t think it had anything to do with me.’
‘People act like because me and Ray didn’t get along or they think me and Ray didn’t get along that I’m a bad person or he’s a bad person,’ Rondo said. ‘No. It’s just life. If you look at your job, everyone doesn’t always get along with every co-worker they work with. It’s just part of life. People are blowing the Ray thing out of proportion. We had some words, but other than that it was no big deal. There were so many rumors like I was looking Ray off. Why would I look Ray off? That doesn’t make sense. He’s the best shooter, so why would I look him off? People can see it how they want to. They can talk to Ray. But from my standpoint, he made his decision. I don’t know why he made the decision, but he made the decision. I don’t think it had anything to do with me.’
Wittman Speaks
During a 30 minutes long press conference yesterday, Washington Wizards' head coach Randy Wittman covered the following topics:
On John Wall: “This is a big year for him and its time to take the next step. It’s his third year he knows the ins and outs if what to expect. . . . He’s done a lot of those things this summer to try to make that happen, work ethic being a big part of it. It just doesn’t happen. You have to be willing to put time, effort, it doesn’t matter who it is, John Wall, Okafor. I’ve seen a lot of that this summer that I’ve been pleased with.”
On the Wizards’ style of play next season: “It ain’t going to change. We’re going to be an up-tempo team with the ability to play inside-out. I think all of our bigs have the ability to get up and down the floor. We don’t necessarily have in our bigs plodders, so to speak, so you need to wait for them to get back down the floor to be involved, so we’re going to continue to take that advantage, long as we have John. . . . I’m a firm believer in fitting what I want to the talent I have instead of sometimes the other way around. I just don’t believe that. I believe we don’t all have the talent that we want but you’ve got to mold it to what you do have and put them in a situation that puts them at their strengths more than their weaknesses and I think our strength is still our ability to get up and down the floor.”
On possibly being a surprise team: “I don’t want to surprise anybody. I just want us to believe in ourselves. That’s what we have to do. We have to believe we can do this, that we can make that next step. But I’m not worried about surprising or sneaking up on anybody else. I think as the year went on last year, I think teams saw the change in us. I don’t think we’re going to sneak up on anybody. We’ve got teams in the East that have made improvement, some that may have slid a little bit so. It’s always the same when you start, when you’re starting with great optimism of what we can do, but it’s got to be a belief for our kids, our guys, that we’re going to go out and get this thing done and make that step upwards that I think we needed to make.”
On his expectations for the upcoming season: “I’ve never been one to be able to label, everybody throws out the 50-win thing. How in the world are you going to guess you’re going to get 50 wins? I don’t care if you’re the Miami Heat, there are too many things that can go on, that can derail that. I’ve never been one to put a number on it, but we’ve got to make a step in that direction, in terms of, I keep using the consistency of winning and then that develops as you move on.”
On Bradley Beal: “I’ve been impressed. Now summer league and NBA play are two different things and we all know that. But he has put in the time and effort. He’s a diligent worker. [That] solves a lot of problems. Now he’s going to have some ups and downs. Are they going to be early? Are they going to be mental? Are they going to be late? I can’t answer that question until we get into the flow but he’s a very confident kid, one that I don’t think is going to be intimidated by being the third pick and now stepping in and being part of a nucleus of moving forward and trying to take that next step.”
On Beal battling for the starting shooting guard battle with Jordan Crawford:“Obviously Jordan has been here, had got a little bit of an advantage right now. . . . I always think guys that know what to expect have a little bit of an advantage moving in. The guys that have been here especially after I took over as the head coach I think have an understanding of the dos and don’ts on what I want not only as an individual but as a team.”
On how he plans to use Nene and Okafor: “Obviously with Emeka and Nene we’ve got guys that have been around the block, have been to the playoffs, have been on good teams, understand what it takes to do those things. Nene has the ability to play multiple positions. He can play the four, he can play the five. We have a team, I think, with the additions that we’ve added, that is versatile, that can play a lot of different spots, which makes it nice for me. I’m a big proponent of that. When you put a team together, the more versatile you become with players playing multiple positions I think only gives yourself an opportunity to have more and more minutes.
On Kevin Seraphin: “We saw great progress in Kevin last year. I was really happy for him because he had to wait. It wasn’t all of a sudden, as he came into the league, it all kind of happened for him. Again, it’s all about confidence. He was able to go out the second half the year and play with confidence. That’s the biggest thing that you have to have. You have to have confidence at this level, or you’re going to struggle. You can’t play at this level without confidence, but Kevin made great strides.”
On the mental toughness of his team: “The people that we’ve got now in that locker room, from a professionalism standpoint and from both on and off the floor, is going to help our guys tremendously. In this league, you’ve got to have the ability as a player, if it was easy for everybody, we’d all be winners. You have to try to figure out and get players that when it does become uncomfortable, when it gets tough, that you dig a little bit deeper and you don’t say, ‘Well wait a minute, I’m getting paid a lot of money here, this is getting tough. I don’t need any of this.’ We need to have those guys that when it does become tough, when it does become comfortable, they’re not asking the whys, they’re becoming tougher themselves and digging deeper.
We’ve made that part of our team better through what we’ve done and that makes you a winner. That’s the edge. A lot of these kids that come into the league, they are hearing one thing, ‘Man, it’s great, you’ve made the NBA, you’re going have a lot of money, you’re going to have a big house, you’re going to have a lot of cars.’ Nobody tells them how hard it’s going to be. How difficult it’s going to be. You don’t hear that. So they don’t know. It’s not a knock against any of them, it’s just they don’t hear those things.”
Q&A: Mark Jackson
Courtesy of Tim Kawakami
-Q: How eager are you to get this going next week?
-JACKSON: Very excited about it. Young, energetic, enthusiastic guys. We’re certainly better than we’ve been and it’s going to be very interesting.
So it’s an exciting time across the board. When you look at the talent, when you look at the additions that we’ve made since the last game last year, you’ve got to applaud–me personally–our ownership and Bob, the front office, the job they’ve done of making us better.
-Q: You have a feel for how this team is going to play–you went into last year with Monta and Steph and going up and down. Now you have Bogut… Are you going to be more of a half-court team?
-JACKSON: No, no, no. I think the advantage with this team is we will able to play both styles. When you talk about our ability to score on the perimeter, score in transition, you talk about the ability of having, when Bogut’s ready to go, two guys at the 4 and the 5 that can score, can post, exceptional passers…
I think one of our greatest strengths will be our ability to push the basketball and also to execute in the half-court offense. No longer will we be a team that’s perimeter-dominated with one post player.
-Q: What’s Bogut’s status now?
-JACKSON: He’s certainly progressing and it’s important for us to stay true to the timetable, to listen to him, to listen to the doctors. As far as I’m concerned, we’ll see how he is physically and we’ll move forward.
But I’m a guy that looks at when it matters most, I look forward to him being as healthy as possible.
-Q: Will he be participating in next week’s practices?
-JACKSON: I’m not really sure. It depends on how he feels and what the doctors say. We’re going to be very wise and stay true to the timetable. I’m not really sure how much he’s going to participate in live practices next week.
-Q: The team announced that Steph Curry was cleared for all basketball activity. Does that mean he’s just like everybody else or do you have to still monitor his ankle and his time out there?
-JACKSON: I will monitor him… He’s cleared, he’s here every day and he’s doing everything that everybody else is doing. He’s playing live and feels fine. But I’m going to, as a coach, be smart with him.
There’s no sense with me having him doing “suicides” (sprint drills) and him running crazy and all of that. Once again, I know where my bread is buttered and I’m going to use wisdom with picking and choosing when to have him go full-throttle and when to shut him down.
He’s a guy that always wants to play and wants to participate, so sometimes you’ve got to protect him from himself and understand also it’s a long year. And here’s a guy that hasn’t played in quite a while.
-Q: How different for Curry is it now that Monta Ellis is gone? What kinds of opportunities does it present for Curry?
-JACKSON: I think it changes the game because he’s playing with a more traditional 2. Monta Ellis is an exceptional player, but he’s also a guy that needs the basketball and in order to be most effective at times you’ve got to run the offense through him.
Klay Thompson is a guy that traditionally gets his in transition, gets his off of down screens and catching and shooting, simple offense. Which makes it easier for a guy like Steph or a point guard to run his show.
-Q: You have a starting small forward in mind right now?
-JACKSON: I really don’t. I’ve watched… Ultimately what you do is you roll the ball out and you let those guys decide who starts. At the end of the day, I think it’s important–doesn’t mean who’s the best player–what makes us better as a team. And I’ll make that decision going forward watching them, watching them as a unit and seeing where we’re at.
But right now, I don’t have an answer for who my starting small forward is.
-Q: What did you think of Harrison Barnes in the summer league and maybe since he’s been working out here?
-JACKSON: I think he’s a very good player with a bright future. Works extremely hard. I’m at the gym, I don’t know, 10 or 11 o’clock last night, and he’s in the film room and he’s going over film. And we wind up with some of the coaches and the video people with three or four rookies just going to grab a bite…
He wants to be great. I think a lot of guys say it but they don’t act on it. It’s going to be important for him to continue to grow, continue to build. Adversity’s going to come. Tough nights are going to come. Missed shots are going to come. Getting your head handed to you by the elite in the world. You’re going to have nights like that.
At the end of the day, he’s a kid who works very hard, is extremely talented, and can do some things on this level.
He’s definitely going to play. I think ultimately the question will be whether he starts or comes off the bench. But he had a very, very good summer where when Klay left after the second game, he really showed some flashes of carrying a team offensively. And also one thing, he’s not afraid of taking a big shot. Not at all. And that’s awfully impressive.
-Q: Because your other main guys are so offense-focused–Curry, Lee, Klay–maybe is thought to go defensive-minded with your starting 3?
-JACKSON: Yeah, that’s important. And that’s what I was really talking about when I said what’s best for the team. You’ve got to realize, OK, who the other four guys are on the floor and who fits that group better. I think ultimately that’s going to help make the decision.
I’ve got some small forwards that can play and they’re going to play. If I’m them I don’t get caught up in whether I start or not, it’s how much I’m playing and finishing ballgames. I want to be on the court at the end of the ballgame.
If you want that, do the things that put you in that position–that’s defensively, offensively, executing and working your tail off.
-Q: Is Barnes’ biggest struggle going to be defense?
-JACKSON: I don’t think so. I think he has great athleticism. He competes. He has stepped up to the challenge. Basically every day he’s out there he’s defending Klay Thompson and that’s as tough a match-up as you’ll see on our court because he gets so many screens and Klay has the mentality of scoring the basketball. So you have to defend him all day every day.
But Harrison has not run from that challenge, and it’s refreshing to see.
-Q: Do you maybe want to see Steph attack the basket a little more and get to the line? What can you do to get him to do that?
-JACKSON: Well, I want him to be aggressive on the floor. I want him to be a guy that’s making plays. He’s more than a great shooter. He can use that deceptive speed, he can get into the paint and he can be a handful. And I think we’ve seen that when he’s been 100%.
I think having weapons around the floor is going to open up things for him much more. Whoever starts, you’ve got to guard five guys on the floor.
-Q: Don Nelson always said a great fastbreak is keyed by having four guys who can run the floor. When you’ve got Bogut and Lee, won’t that slow things down a little?
-JACKSON: No, I would argue that David Lee is a great runner. So I would say a great rebounder in Bogut and four guys that run above the average for their position. I would say we’re better fit to run and especially because we’re a better rebounding team. I think each gy rebounds their position well.
I would say running more and then I think when you have the weapons that we have offensively, the best way to attack the defense is when they’re not set. So we’re going to create open shots off of rebounding the basketball and pushing. And you can always push it with the purpose of pulling it out and running set offense.
But we’re not going to be a slow-down offensive team.
-Q: Don’t you want Bogut in the mix offensively?
-JACKSON: Absolutely. But I want to get stops and put pressure on the defense. That’s when we will be at our best. Bogut certainly gives us a weapon in the half-court, and also in secondary transition, when the ball is swung and he’s on the opposite block. You can certainly have the best of both worlds when that’s concerned.
-Q: With the talent that has been added to this roster, do you feel any added pressure?
-JACKSON: For me, whatever I do it’s pressure. There’s always pressure on myself to be better and to be efficient. So the same pressure is my mindset. I don’t care who I’m coaching, the pressure’s always going to be to win and do the job.
Certainly we have a better basketball team and I think there’s added pressure across the board. I don’t run from it, I embrace it.
-Q: Last year you promised the playoffs. This year, can you say that? Will you mean it more this time? Are you going to say it?
-JACKSON: No, I’m not going to say it. Not because I don’t believe it, but ultimately there comes a point where, enough of the talking, go out and do it.
We’re an improved basketball team, but certainly in this Western Conference other teams have gotten better. I think with us it’s going to be crucial to get healthy and then let the chips fall where they may. It’s going to be an exciting time and I’m certainly looking forward to it.
And again, I give credit to our ownership, to Bob Myers and our front office. They certainly put us in a position where we’re a better basketball team today than we were when I took over this team.
-Q: Should you be in the playoffs this season?
-JACKSON: I certainly hope so, certainly hope so. And I want to go back…
-Q: Injuries…
-JACKSON: Not only that, but teams have gotten better. And I’m sure there’s going to be 10 to 12 teams in this Western Conference thinking this exact same thing. But I’m not concerned about them. We get healthy and our key players are right, I like where we are.
-Q: So why promise it last year?
-JACKSON: To me, this is a team that I believe made the playoffs one time in… 17, 16 (seasons)… You had to raise the stakes and you had to make a statement and settle for nothing else.
Did that mean take some hits? I’ll take ‘em. But I think you had to let it be known right away what the goal was. And anything short of that is disappointing and it’s OK–own it and get better.
But certainly we had to make the statement that this is what we expect and no more business as usual. It should leave a bad taste. And you should have to answer questions if you don’t do it.
-Q: That doesn’t apply this year?
-JACKSON: We already made the statement. Everybody knows what the culture is around here–when you look at the gym it’s a different gym than it was a year ago. And it’s been that way for a while now. So there’s no sense in making statements.
They’re making all the statements by showing up early, leaving late and being dedicated.
-Q: Dominic McGuire gave you a lot of things last year. He’s not back. What kind of loss is that and how do you go about replacing what he did?
-JACKSON: He’s a big loss. He was a great guy, did a great job for me. I told my guys in the locker room–I don’t know, 50 times–that he was the poster child for what we preach from Day 1.
At the end of the day, you make decisions in this league and you move forward. We drafted Harrison Barnes, we re-signed Brandon Rush, both of those guys are small forwards, both of those guys are going to play a lot of minutes.
In fairness to Dom, I think last year we asked him to do a lot of things that you wouldn’t normally ask him to do if you were a good team. So I don’t know if that role would’ve been the same. And ultimately it comes down to money, too. We’ve gotten younger and we’ve made some additions and it’s a tough loss.
There will be times when we need a stop where we would love to have a guy that can guard every position–unless you’re facing a Dwight Howard or a superior center. I think we will have to find that defensive stopper within this group and then step up our games individually as support to the guy primarily defending the other team’s home run hitter.
-Q: Maybe not in the same role, but I hear Draymond Green was impressive in the summer. What do you see for his role?
-JACKSON: It will be interesting. I think we’re going to watch camp and get an understanding of the best way to use him, how much he will play, what will be his primary position. But he’s a guy that can play the 3, can play the 4, can handle the ball, can shoot the ball, can defend, can rebound. He’s a winner.
He’s just going to have to be a guy, pretty much like Dom, that had to stay ready and be ready and prepared to do the job whatever that job is.
But he’s a kid, another one, that stays in the gym, that works hard, that’s dedicated, has a great understanding of the game.
I can’t remember the last rookie I remember that I would say if he wants to, he’ll be a coach in this league. He’s been here from the beginning of the summer and if you sat him, had him diagram a play, a principle, a drill, he’d do it to a “T’. He’s an exceptionally smart young man and basketball player.
-Q: With the players you have now, can you be more creative?
-JACKSON: When you look on the floor, the weapons that we have, you don’t really have to be creative. Those guys can score. If you look at the great coaches or the great teams, there’s nothing creative about throwing the ball to Michael Jordan at the foul line or throwing it to Kobe at the wing or throwing it down low to Shaq or Tim Duncan or iso-ing Kevin Durant or playing a 1-3 pick-and-roll with Westbrook and Durant.
That’s not creative, that’s just some bad boys getting it done when it matters most. Ultimately, you look around this league and teams are running the same stuff. The ones that have the best players win.
I think it puts us in a better position because we certainly have weapons at every position now. And we added depth where coming off the bench there’s not, if any, drop off.
-Q: You don’t have a Westbrook or Durant, you have a bunch of guys at not quite that level…
-JACKSON: But I would argue that even though we don’t, we have guys at every position now that on a given night can out-play the best in the world.
If Klay Thompson gets 25 on–I’m not going to name anybody because I don’t want to get anyone upset–it’s not a shock. If Steph Curry out-plays the best point guards in the world, it’s not a shock. Same thing with our center, our power forward and whoever that small forward will be.
We are in position now where we can play with the best in the world at every position and feel good about our match-ups.
We are in position now where we can play with the best in the world at every position and feel good about our match-ups.
-Q: I’m not going to ask you to get into the details of the past blackmail situation [alleged blackmailing of Jackson, let me point out]. But you came into this job with some moral authority and just being a coach maybe means you need some of it. Do you think your position is weakened at all because of this?
-JACKSON: No. And my guys will answer that better. I think at the end of the day you show who you really are in the face of adversity. And you own it and you move forward. This is something seven years ago. I’ve been who I am for 47 years.
One owned mishap won’t define me. And anybody who wants to define with that, I’m fine with. But I’m going to keep it moving and I’m going to keep on being who God called me to be.
-Q: Have you addressed this with your players?
-JACKSON: Umm… no, that that I know of.
Q: Have you received support from them?
-JACKSON: These are my guys and they can tell you better than I can tell you. They know who I am and I’m awfully proud to be their coach. They can tell you how they feel about me as a coach. That’s not an issue and it never will be.
-Q: Is this investigation over? Is the process going on?
-JACKSON: The process is still going forward.
-Q: Change of subject–between Festus Ezeli and Andris Biedrins, what’s the back-up center situation look like right now?
-JACKSON: We will let that play out in training camp. I’m awfully impressed with Festus and what he’s done from the moment we drafted him. He’s been very good in the summer league, he’s very good in work-outs, he’s been here all summer, he continues to work his tail off and he’s even gotten better.
He’s certainly made a statement by being here. That hasn’t gone unnoticed.
-Q: What’s your contact with Biedrins lately?
-JACKSON: He hasn’t been here.
-Q: If Bogut can’t start the season, are you comfortable putting a rookie like Ezeli out there?
-JACKSON: No question, no question. I would certainly love to have Andrew Bogut as my starting 5, but I feel comfortable with what Festus can do for us. He’s going to have to earn it, but he’s done everything that I’ve asked him to do.
And he wants it. I don’t have to guess whether he’s committed to this thing, whether he buys in, or whether he’s saving some chips. He’s all-in and it’s good to see. Because that’s what you build winning teams around, guys that have that attitude.
-Q: Do you have to guess about Biedrins right now?
-JACKSON: Umm… no. I mean, at the end of the day, it was a long year last year. It was a tough year for a lot of players.
But I’ve got everybody in here, other than Andris Biedrins.
-Q: So… Is there a conclusion you’re making on that?
-JACKSON: Ummm… I’m a fair coach and training camp… if you told me that Steph Curry wasn’t here yet or if you told me that Shaq wasn’t here yet, I can tell you that Shaq’s going to start. (But) coming off of what we did last year, it’s important to get a running start on everybody, meaning the teams.
And I think you make a statement by being here, and everybody that’s been here… the young guys, all summer… and everybody else for a month now, certainly makes a statement. It wouldn’t be fair to them if they’ve put all this money in the bank by showing up, that it doesn’t mean anything to me. It means something.
Now, conversely, if you’re not here, you’d better be getting it done somewhere. And you better come here making a statement that you’ve done it.
-Q: Is Carl Landry a guy who can play some center?
-JACKSON: I think like in the past, it depends on who you’re going against. I don’t want Carl Landry having to defend Dwight Howard. In an ideal world we would use our traditional 5s. But on a given night, if a team like Portland is starting J.J. Hickson and LaMarcus Aldridge, well, you can certainly play a David Lee and Carl Landry together.
And I will say about Biedrins, getting back to him, he’s a very very good defensive center. Defending the post. And he’s a very, very good defensive player defending pick-and-rolls. There’s no question about his ability to defend. So I wouldn’t be surprised if he came in and was exceptional in those areas. That’s who he is.
-Q: Where’s Ezeli’s offensive game right now?
-JACKSON: He’s gotten so much better. He was raw when we drafted him. But he’s in the gym every day with our coaches individual workouts and he’s putting the time in. Certainly a guy that demands position and can do something on the block.
Now he’s not going to get a steady diet of it today. We need him to rebound, block shots, protect the paint, set screens and finish at the rim. But he’s certainly a guy that can score on the block and feels more and more comfortable.
-Q: Do you compare him to Udoh at all?
-JACKSON: Different players. He’s a big guy. But I can see the similarities–blocking shots, pursuing the ball. But he’s a center. So I think that’s probably why it’s not a fair comparison. He has a presence running down the middle of the floor, getting in the paint. It’s a handful if you’re guarding him. Jeremy Tyler is well aware.
I think he would probably shove me if I compared him.
-Q: Steph Curry’s best stretch you could argue was when Monta was probably hurt. Then he wasn’t so good when Monta was there. Do you think it’s good or bad for Curry that Jarrett Jack is there to maybe challenge for that spot or make Steph think about it?
-JACKSON: He doesn’t have to think about it. Steph Curry’s my starting point guard.
-Q: For now?
-JACKSON: Steph Cury is my starting point guard. I mean, I don’t know what you’re looking for.
Steph Curry is my starting point guard.
-Q: Jack and Chris Paul sort of split that job in New Orleans for a year or two–maybe they finished games together with Jack handling the ball a lot. Could you do that?
-JACKSON: Right. Yeah, you can absolutely do that. Part of the credit for ownership and Bob Myers and the front office, they went out and got a guy that can defend the position, has size, not afraid of the moment, can play on the ball, can play off the ball. So he’s a guy that can complement Steph and he certainly gives us some toughness.
And he’s a guy, there’s no question about it, he’s insurance. We’re not trying to create and panic… We’re going to miss Steph if anything happened to him, but we have a guy that’s a proven starter and is as good as it gets as a back-up in this league.
But Jarrett Jack knows his role. He’s going to play, he’s going to play both backcourt positions. But Steph Curry is my starting point guard.
-Q: Have you talked to Steph about his contract situation to make sure it’s not too much in his head during preseason?
-JACKSON: (Laughs.) I talk to him. I laugh because the dude is going to be filthy rich. There’s no pressure. Don’t let it get in your head? What? That I’m going to be paid?
To me, it’s hilarious. Hopefully it’s going to be us and I expect it to be us. But one way or another, Steph Curry is going to be paid and paid very well for a long time.
So no, I laugh about it and we’ve talked and laughed. But no, there’s no need. I’ve got real problems if he’s worried about the boatload of money that’s coming his way. (Laughs.)
-Q: What kind of adjustments does Klay Thompson have to make this year?
-JACKSON: The league knows him. So they’re going to make adjustments. They’re going to gameplan for him. They’re going to try to beat him up.
He’s going to have to be better defensively, and he’s certainly working on that, because he’s going to have to guard… he’s guarding legit players as a premiere position. But it makes him better. Once again, when he looks at the other four guys on the floor with him, it’s awfully tough for a team… he was playing at the end of the year basically with David Lee and a makeshift group of players and they would put their best defender on Klay, they’d beat him up and if a screen was set, they’d trap him or they’d try to contest…
It’s a price to pay if you do that, because if you look at the floor, there’s four other guys that can score, can shoot and can play. So he’s going to enjoy some more freedom on the court and he’s going to make them better and they’re going to make him better.
-Q: Bogut’s not a guy who parses his words at all. That have an impact so far?
-JACKSON: Yeah, he’s not going to bite his tongue. And that was from Day 1. I mean, if he saw something while he was riding the bike on the sideline, he’d yell it out. If he sees a guy…
One of my guys just yesterday, a move was made on him, big-time move, and guy dunks the ball, defender is on the ground like he got hit. Bogut is on the bike yelling, ‘Get up! Nothing happened to you! Get up!’
We needed that. And he’s a guy that certainly has a voice, the respect him, and he has a presence. So it’s good to see.
-Q: How confident are you that Curry and Bogut will be the players they once were and stay healthy?
-JACKSON: I hope so. My family certainly hopes so.
But it’s encouraging watching even though baby steps, that they’ve taken steps. And Steph has been cleared, because we stayed true to the process.
We’ve got to do the same exact thing with Bogut right now.
-Q: You mean Day 1 of the regular season, of camp, of the exhibition season?
-JACKSON: You can’t tell me what Shaq scored in his first preseason. You can’t even tell me whether they won it or not. That’s really not important–not to say it’s not important, but in the big picture, we need when we’re playing for real. And if he’s healthy come Tuesday, great. But we have to stay true to the process, what the doctors and the experts say…
-Q: What’s the Bogut timetable?
-JACKSON: He’s working out and he’s doing all the strength and conditioning with the trainer, with our coaches, and he’s getting closer and closer.
-Q: How is this team different than last year’s team?
JACKSON: This is a different team. I think this team is more talented, they know that they’re more talented. I don’t have to preach every day about working. We drafted three guys and added a fourth rookie and all they do is work. Charles Jenkins has never been a “rookie” when you talk about work.
Klay Thompson works. So the young guys are workers. Jeremy Tyler works. And then our veterans, with those guys it’s really been health. Really the one that’s been healthy is David. He’s looking great.
What I will say, from the day after Labor Day, these guys have been in the gym. I mean, that’s not normal. They’re embracing it. And that’s the difference. They’ve got a lot invested.
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