OKC:
Question 1: You're the first presser I've read start to finish without stopping. You're welcome. I liked the way it was broken up into segments and wasn't 2000 words long.
Thanks. I figure, we all know who these guys are, let's just get down to the nitty gritty and the Q&A, yes?
Question 2: Brad Stevens (he's so hot right now) is full of crap. He pays some graduate from William and Mary of Holy Cross 30k to work 50 hours a week preparing advanced metrics reports. Don't think you get to pretend that numbers don't exist by quoting some folksy maxims.
Brad Stevens, Hansel of the NBA's coaching ranks.
Obviously, numbers exist. But they don't tell entire stories. This is what struck me in one of yesterday's pressers, where a GM was bringing out stats to demonstrate the particular defensive prowess of one of his players during a playoff series. I checked the numbers: that same player had the worst +/- rating on either team for the entire series.
Question 3: Did Shump Shump really shoot 40% on nearly 5 attempts per 36 minutes from long? Did that actually happen? How did I miss that?
I thought his series vs. the Celtics was truly a revelation. He seemed to knock down big shot after big shot from deep.
Question 4: Dwight Howard took half the season last year to get healthy, and his injuries stem from now chronic back problems. Houston's concerned enough about it to keep a disgruntled Asik on the roster rather than have the possibility of having nothing when Howard has his minutes limited or misses extended time. What's your backup plan, cowboy?
Yeah, like every other team, if I suffer a major injury to one of my superstars, my team's hopes are pretty much dashed. I'm OK living with that, though. Investing resources in top-flight backups for my cornerstones seems counterproductive to me: I'd rather use my chips to improve the quality of play around them, rather than have a pricey guy play out of position, or only 15-20 minutes a night.
I fully believe Daryl Morey will jump at a trade offer for Asik that makes his starting lineup better talent- and fit-wise. Asik as PF is just posturing/GM-speak.
Question 5: I like a lot of your depth. Maynor, Marco Bellinelli, Landry Fields, Haslem, Mahini. All guys where you're like, "Well, they're not starters, but they'll do great."
Yeah, those are the types of guys I gravitate towards. Substance over style or flash. Would rather a bunch of utility guys than one-trick ponies.