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Interview with Peter Vecsey of the New York Post
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When the Denver Nuggets and Detroit Pistons traded Allen Iverson for Chauncey Billups in the beginning of the season, it was to make room for Rodney Stuckey. I didn't feel it was the right time for Stuckey to be handed the reins of a team and I felt he could have benefited more having Billups around. I hadn't seen enough of Stuckey to see what Pistons General Manager Joe Dumars had seen in him.
Tuesday night the Bulls and I saw what Dumars has seen in this talent, strong guard. Stuckey gave the Bulls 40 points, got into the lane whenever he thought about it and simply out muscled anyone who tried contesting his shot. The Bulls lost 104-98.
I'll save criticism of their lack of defensive communication for another post. Earlier in the day, I had a chance to talk with Peter Vecsey of the New York Post. His Hoops Du Jour column is one of the most informative I keep tabs on. I have always admired his knowledge on everything involving the game, but I'll save my petty admiration and get onto the interview.
Give your thoughts on Derrick Rose and what kind of pieces the Bulls will need to put around him to return to being a contender.
The Bulls have reached a point now where there trying to put pieces around Derrick Rose versus Deng and Gordon. A couple of years ago, they were trying to do that and the truth is they need the same pieces they needed all along and that's that inside scorer that can draw double teams and make the outside shooters so much better. Derrick Rose, from what I've seen, he's a stud. Other than Mayo, I think everyone would agree that Rose is far and away the best rookie in the league in a class that's excellent. There are a lot of really good rookies in this class. Guys you never even heard of, guys I never even heard of. The point guard from the Spurs, George Hill. My God! He's a poor man's Derrick Rose. He's terrific but there are so many of them. I really like Rose. He's a guy that can take over the offense when it needs to be done at important times. He's a much better jump shooter than we thought. Amazing, amazing hops. I love to see him finish and as a point guard, he's good, but he's not really good. To me, that's the one thing he has to work on, but maybe if he had an inside scorer that would take the pressure off of him, he could concentrate more on that than scoring.
Six head coaches have been fired so far and the interim coaches haven't had much success. Do you feel that there will ever be a time again where the GM's stand behind the coaches?
PV: I think first of all, the GM's don't make these decisions, the presidents don't make these decisions. The owners for the most part are the one's putting the pressure to make the decisions. If Del Negro were to be fired for whatever reason, you can't really believe its John Paxson, it's Jerry Reinsdorf that's urging him to do it, or telling him to do it. That goes for all organizations I believe or 99% of them. The instability of the league as far as the coaching goes, is the fact that the owners don't back their guys. That's why Jerry Sloan stands out and Greg Popovich stand out against all the rest. Phil Jackson and Pat Riley reached a position where they're in a different category because they won so many championships. Popovich is in that category also, but his owner gives him complete support. He's also the guy that makes the personnel decisions. Even though they have a general manager, it's Popovich who makes the decisions. Even in Popvich's case, Peter Holt, the owner was the one who pressured him, or forced him, whatever word you want to use, told him that he had to get rid of Louis Scola and to get rid of all the guaranteed contracts to make sure they were below the luxury tax. So they gave up one of their best players, from what I was told from that moment when the deal was made, when he was traded to Houston in the division of all things, that he was the second best big man on the team next to Tim Duncan. So he had to give up this young guy whose now starting for Houston. He's a terrific player who proved himself on the Argentine Olympic team. It was a matter of $10 million, so decisions are made financially in a lot of cases by the owner and a lot because they are losing.
As far as Sloan goes, his teams owner, Larry Miller has stuck with him since day one. Let the players know that the coach has the full support and don't come crying to me. Tell your agents to go see Jerry Sloan if they have a problem, which they would never do and that's why he's lasted so long. It's that unmitigated support from owners. So these six guys that got fired, the pressure was on, they were losing, expectations were high in some cases. No expectations in others. The Oklahoma franchise, how they can expect anyone with a team that the owner told the new general manager in Seattle last year that they weren't going to offer Rashard Lewis a contract, they traded Ray Allen and had they kept those two guys and put them together with Durant, they would have had a decent team, but he didn't want to have a decent team in Seattle, he wanted to move to Oklahoma City. So, there goes that. Now you have P.J. Carlesimo taking his last shot as a head coach, failed. What a shock and he's out. Now you have another guy, [Scott] Brooks he's going to fail to and he'll be out until the young guys grow up and they decide to put some veterans that can help the young guys.
In every situation, it's different. Maurice Cheeks, they were basically looking for an excuse to get rid of him. Ownership again, Peter Luukko. He's the CEO of Comcast-Spectacor. He did not like Cheeks during the last regime of Billy King. So, when Ed Stefanski came in, the pressure was on to get rid of Cheeks and presto, the team wins and makes the playoffs so unexpectedly. They give him one extension for a year and another one for next year, but they're still waiting on him to fail. They lost 8 out of 10 and they had some real easy games coming up, 4 easy games and they dumped him. Had they kept him, he would have won 3 out of 4 like his replacement, Tony DiLeo and than they wouldn't have been able to fire him. So, I blame the owners. Bottom line.
There are some contracts that expire at seasons end. Carlos Boozer has given notice that he will opt out and receive a raise. What big name do you see getting traded?
I don't believe Boozer will be traded. He's been hurt the last 17 games. Certainly the Jazz are in a position of weakness. After this year, they'll probably lose him. He's kind of made it clear that he's going to go somewhere else. I look for the Pistons or Miami, they have the cap space to sign him. The player he is, he's one of my favorites. How he handled the Cavaliers situation and the way he's handling this situation, he's not one of the most reputable guys that I ever covered. Obviously, its all about the money with him. As far as a big star being traded, I really can't pull that one out of a hat. Usually, you're surprised if a big star is moved unless it's a big star who's a problem. Some think with the way the Clippers continue to lose- things look like they were going well for a while, Zach Randolph gets hurt, Kaman has been out for awhile, Camby missed a game the other night- you could see one of those guys gone. Maybe not Zach because they're happy with the way he has been playing. Possibly Kaman. I really can't answer that. It's all guess work.
The New York Knicks have cleared a ton of cap space and will have even more in the summer of 2010 when arguably one of the greatest class of free agents will be available. What must they do to improve their roster to make the situation more appealing for potential free agents?
Why would those top free agents come if they don't see anyone around to support them, which was my premise in the beginning. Why would LeBron James leave a situation where he has guys he's comfortable with to come to the Knicks who aren't winning anything. He likes Mike D'Antoni because he was an assistant on the Olympic team, but both teams are going to have a huge amount of cap room. Just comparing those two teams, how does Donnie Walsh put guys on the roster to lure LeBron? It's going to be very difficult. He did not exercise the options on David Lee or Nate Robinson. He has to do something with those two guys, particularly Lee and D'Antoni loves Robinson. During the offseason, he's going to have to do something because those guys will be able to go out and get restricted offer sheets and you don't want to lose those two guys. He's going to have to commit to them at some point past into that LeBron year. [Wilson] Chandler will be there. He's real decent. Everybody else will be a free agent except Eddy Curry.
I'm still not down on Curry enough to say they shouldn't have him. He would certainly be a force put together with LeBron. They [Knicks] have to find a way to get two super free agents. Whether it's LeBron or two of the others from the tremendous class that's coming out that year that will be available. Cleveland has guys that LeBron could win a championship with this year very easily, not very easily. They have to beat Boston, but they could win it. There's no question that the Cavaliers are there and vastly improved.
Mo Williams, Delonte West, two rookies, they'll still be under contract when LeBron is free. I know [Anderson] Varejao would love to play with him. Ilgauskas might be reaching the end by that time. Ben Wallacewill be at the point. They can bring in a tremendous free agent or two to play with LeBron. Before they even have to resign him, they can bring in one or two.
Individually, who has surprised you the most with their play?
Lets start with the Nets. Devin Harris, before the trade was ever made, I branded it a terrible trade for the Mavericks. When it was made, I continued to label it that. His play has surpassed, I think anyone's thought of what he could accomplish. So, Devin Harris would be right up there as maybe the surprise player in the league. Look at his stats, look at him play. He's so enjoyable to watch. An unstoppable jump shot, stops on a dime, pulls back, you can't stop him. You can only hope he misses. He goes to the free throw line 10-12 times a game and makes them. He gets in that middle with no problem at all. He's a great finisher and he's an assists guy. Not a pure play-maker like a Nash or Kidd, but he's getting there and to me, he's the biggest surprise. Another surprise is [Rajon] Rondo, he certainly had a strong last year. To me, he's the key to that team, the way he keeps the ball and bodies moving. He's such an excellent rebounded for his size. His toughness is amazing. He's another guy that's thrilling to watch. I got some favorites. He was one of them last year and even his rookie year I loved him. There are a bunch of guys in this league that I would pay to see, but Rondo is now one of them. He can beat you half-a-dozen ways, his defense is terrific, his jump shots gotten better. Talk about a guy who can finish crazy. Another one is Brandon Roy. I absolutely love watching him play.
It's amazing that those two guys that are on the same team that were traded in the same draft and the Blazers got the best of both trades. LaMarcus Aldridge and Brandon Roy, instead of [Tyrus] Thomas and [Randy] Foye. It's not even close in either case.
Who plays in a game first this season, Stephon Marbury or Eddy Curry?
Put in Jamal Tinsley in there. That's a great question. I might use that one in the column. I'll say Antoine Walker. How's that? I'll go for the guy you didn't give me. He might have a better shot than all three of these guys because he's already bought out, so he is ahead of the process. You could have put [Danilo] Gallinari in there, even though he's played a little bit.
I'll give you a question to end it. What general manager would be stupid enough to draft an Italian big man high?
I laughed at his question before thinking. Several of names came to my head, but I guessed that some teams still has some love for Italian big men.
I don't think they'll be drafting big Italians anytime soon., not high anyway. They're going to have to really step it up for a general manager to take a chance on another big Italian. Spain, yes. Argentine, yes. Lithuanian, yes. Chinese, yes. Italian, no.
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