Thanks for moving. I apologize. Jason Friedman on 1560: -(On if he's surprised about the Lowry article): I think so. The timing of it more than anything. It's the off-season around here. That sort of stuff, you always want to keep in house if possible. We know that just like any other workplace situation, there will be people thrilled with their situation, others who may be or have their eyes open, looking for what they perceive as greener pastures. It's always best, regardless of feelings, to keep it in house. I don't look at is as the end all be all of the situation. Primarily because, heck, 10 days ago Dwyane Wade and Erik Spoelstra are having at it on the sidelines and people are thinking this is the beginning of the end for the Miami Heat. They haven't lost another game and Wade is playing amazing. It's not the perfect comparison, there are different situations but goes to show, in my mind anyways, I don't want to make a bigger deal out of it because these things can get blown up out of proportion a lot of times and I think this might be a similar situation. -(On if McHale is being too open and honest of his assessment of players): Depends on the player right? That's what part of coaching is these days, playing amateur psychologist and knowing what buttons you can push. Sometimes that will get under guy's skins and make them cranky and piss them off a little bit but that's not necessarily a bad thing either. There are plenty of situations, McHale going back to his playing days included, I guarantee you he wasn't always the happiest camper under Bill Fitch. Looking back now 3 decades later, he'll have nothing but glowing things to say about it. It was a tough year for Kyle obviously. He got off to such a great start to the season, being talked about as an All-Star Point Guard. By the end of the season, he's banged up, coming off his infection, he's got sports hernia he's dealing with, now he's playing backup and his minutes are going down, and the Rockets are falling out of the playoffs and I think there is still a lot of lingering frustration there and it will manifest itself in different ways. I do think as well, to have it be so simple as black and white--I can't play here anymore, I can't play for this coach anymore, you know, I don't think it's that simple. I think we all knew, from a common sense standpoint, it was going to be very difficult, big picture, long term, it was going to be difficult to keep Kyle and Goran. They both demonstrated they're starters. You don't pay 2 guys starters money when only one of those guys can get the majority of the minutes. They also showed they can play well together. Now I don't think you want to go a full 82 game season with one of them as your starting one and the other as your starting two. I don't think that's a championship caliber mix. I do think they can play well together. But like I said, common sense just dictates that when you're looking at the big picture, the next 2-3 years, both of those guys probably won't stick on your roster. One of them is going to have to be moved. I don't necessarily think that has to be this summer. It might turn out to be. It might be in less than a month at the draft and you might be able to move a guy like Lowry to move up in the draft or get a player who is a better fit with regards to your needs. I don't think it changes Daryl Morey's position in terms of trying to put together a championship caliber roster and putting any additional pressure on him, again, you wish all these things would always stay in house, but it's not going to force his hand in any way, shape, or form. -(On the $$$ situation between Dragic/Lowry and Lowry not being able to put up with making less than Dragic): It could be an issue. That's modern sports today, right? When you got a guy who feels like he should be the starter and wants to be paid accordingly and then sees someone else who is not only competing for the same position he plays but also competing for a bigger contract. Simple supply and demand states that yeah, Goran is probably going to get more than Kyle makes on the open market right now because he'll have more teams going after his services. Kyle signed his contract a few years ago, he was a restricted FA. Goran is unrestricted. That changes the dynamic of negotiations. You mentioned Portland. You can throw Phoenix in there, Brooklyn, Toronto, there are a lot of teams looking for a guy like Dragic, the Rockets included. Morey and McHale both have said bringing Goran back is a major priority. If they're going to do that, they're probably gonna have to pay him more than mid-level money, which is what Kyle is making right now. -(On what he thinks Morey's first goal is this off-season): I think it's the same as the last couple of years. The number one priority for this team right now is to get that foundation piece, that face of the franchise, regardless of position. A guy they can truly say we're going to build around this guy. Whether that's striking gold in the lottery tomorrow night and having the opportunity to take a guy like Davis or pursuing a guy like Howard. They need that guy. We've talked about it at ad nauseum for the last few years, Morey & co. have shown they are capable of finding the diamonds in the rough, whether it's signing guys via FA to sorta off the radar or the draft, a guy like Parsons. They can put a great supporting cast around. They got the role players that if you can find one of those superstars, again easier said than done obviously, as we've said the last couple of years, but if you can find one of those guys, this group absolutely knows how to put the other remaining pieces around them but they've got to get that guy. Until that happens, that is going to be priority one for Daryl Morey and his group. -(If he's focused on a guy other than Howard): I think there is still interest in a guy like Gasol. The equation has changed somewhat. Another year is gone. Last year he thought he could pair him with Nene and hope they would have been able to bring Chuck Hayes back as well. You look at Pau Gasol, I know people are somewhat down on him, but he's still one of the best big men on the planet. He only has 2 years left on his contract, and paying him a ton of money at 19 million a year but again, he's still playing at an all-star level. If things don't work out, you got a 19 million dollar expiring contract in 2013-14. I think he's still an attractive piece out there. Depending on what happens with Miami, you got Bosh out there. Again, the dynamic is different there. With Bosh, even though he is younger, he got 2 player options at the end of his contract. You could be talking about 4 years, and a ton of money taking up that cap space. With the new CBA, it's a different era. You got to really feel comfortable about having a championship mix if you're gonna lock yourself into big money on one player for 4 years. As we've seen here, if you have one of those guys that suddenly gets injured or not performing at that same level, you're sorta stuck. Unless you really have a championship mix, you always have to have one eye on maintaining future flexibility. You can continue to add and maybe sometimes subtract pieces of the puzzle that can help you get closer to hanging a banner. -(On what happened to Martin this year): First and foremost, he was a player that fit perfectly well into Rick's system. He's also a player that has shown ,when healthy, he can score among some of the top 10-15 in the league. He obviously wasn't healthy and I think he struggled to find his way and ideal fit into McHale's system. You saw stretches where it seemed he had it going but one thing with McHale's system vs. Rick's, it tends to be more PG friendly because it's a lot more PnR's which is why I think you saw Goran and Kyle put up big numbers. It played to their strengths. You didn't see much of Martin getting those backdoor cuts and everything else he was getting via Adelman but I think you also have to say to that regard, McHale had 9 days of training camp to install a system and you didn't have time to put everything in that you thought maybe fit or meshed perfectly with each guy's skill set. I also think the focus on calling the game differently, Kevin Martin's game is so much about getting to the FT line and I really believe, at least for the first month or so in the season, that was in his head. Almost like, they're not going to call the fouls the same way so I don't think he was as aggressive in trying to get those calls. I still think you have to put the onus on the officials to either make or not make those calls and Kevin had it in his head that they won't make these calls so I'm not going to try the same strategy as I did in the past. His FT shooting, his attempts went down. If he continues to be aggressive, yeah maybe he won't get all the calls he got in the past but he'll get the vast majority of them. We know how this game works. They'll still call it some of the time. The combination of those 3 or 4 factors really worked against Kevin. It's not like he's over the hill. I still think he can be a very effective player but I think some of the stuff got into his head, he was clearly not 100% and that didn't help either, but I still think he is more than capable of giving you 20 points a game. He's got to come back and learn from it. He gotta be mentally stronger and mentally tougher and physically tougher too and put more of an effort into the defensive end to get back to being what he considers himself to be, which is one of the top 5 SGs in the NBA. http://www.1560thegame.com/audio/ja...-the-latest-on-the-kyle-lowry-situation-5223/
I'm going to throw in Sam Amick's interview, if you don't mind. Spoiler Sam Amick on 1560: -[...Talks about Celtics/Heat...] -(If Bynum is worth going after and will he mature?): I think he will. He's an interesting guy. In some ways, he's mid 20s going on 19 when it comes to the maturity process because he's been hurt so much, living in his own existence for a lot of that time. The talent is through the roof. I think he could blossom even more where he isn't 2nd or 3rd. Kobe, even at 39, will be fighting for that alpha dog role. If I was the Rockets or anybody else, I'd be pretty tempted. Guys with that size don't come along and his game has come along. We're kinda seeing the bad stuff on top right now but I think he's a guy worth investing in. His health is another topic all together. -(If he would still do the Gasol deal): Depends on what you're giving up. Pau has plenty of basketball left. Similar to Andrew in that, I think it's hard to play with Kobe. When he first came to town, he was fresh and a new face and Kobe didn't have a sidekick. It went well for awhile but I think his game is much better than what we're seeing because of who he plays with. Depending on what you're giving up, yeah he would give you a unique guy in the post, a skilled offensive, versatile player that will give you 25 a night. So depending on the price tag, I still think he is worth going after. -(On Lowry's value): It's pretty good. I think the value is good. PGs are still a fairly rare commodity in this league. Anybody who doesn't have a high level one is way behind. It's very high. Last year [he] showed a guy, when healthy, aggressive and a determined competitor and has some leadership qualities. To me, he's become a top 10 PG in the NBA and I think you can get a lot in return. -(Around the NBA, if McHale got good reviews for the job he did): Yeah he did because in my little corner of it, it's interesting that early on, I was hearing negative stuff. That the locker room was not loving his rotations, not loving quite a few things about him. I remember writing a notebook where I had quoted a scout anonymously saying that his sets were as easy to defend as they come in the NBA. Rough goings early on but they put some wins together. Seemed like it reached a point where you couldn't knock the work he was doing because they were doing ok, all things considered, and by the end of it, it was decent reviews. -(If he's convinced Sloan is ready to come back): He's definitely ready, beyond ready. There is a little desperation in the way he is surveying the NBA coaching landscape. He did the Charlotte interview, and we'll see what happens, but I had heard some strong stuff right out of that meeting that "Hey, maybe they'll go in that direction." Doesn't seem like that just yet but wouldn't be surprised if Jerry is the guy. He is open to any number of positions. Shows how bad he wants to get back in. He mentioned Orlando, I don't know if they're interested in him just yet. Portland is another job I think he would take. I was told definitively a couple of months ago that NY was one that he would be interested in. He wants to get back in. We'll just see what the level of interest is in return. Unfortunately for Jerry, being out of the game only a year and a half took him into his next decade. When teams see Jerry Sloan and 70 years old, call it whatever you want, you have that perception battle you're fighting and that might be an issue. -(If he's up for it): Very fair question. He claims he has the energy back but a different grind when you get into the season. Only he knows. -(Deron Williams thinks the Nets might be a better place to play than Dallas?): The sense I got on Dallas was that there is no longevity there. Dallas wimping out of the playoffs was not good for their recruiting efforts. That's the irony of Cuban doing what he did with the roster and payroll. You let guys go to preserve cap space but in doing so took some of the shine off your team and young guys like Deron Williams were maybe not as interested anymore. Dirk is still a great player but on the downside. For Deron, what will you have in a couple of years? Money wise, it's hard to pull off Howard and Williams. They could do it but would be a lot of work. The Jersey situation, it's pretty much the microcosm of this discussion what athletes prioritize? Winning and what's going on on the court or the extra stuff? The big market, the marketing opportunities and things like that. That is coming into play. Deron, I'm told, likes living out there. His kids enjoy their schools. ... They are walking a high wire act right now. I'm surprised they still seem to be ahead of the game in terms of Deron and what he wants to do. I think part of it is because not that much has changed with Dwight Howard. I think he is still looking strong at Jersey. Sounds like he probably still wants out. He does not like how things were handled with the SVG situation. I expect Dwight to be getting out of there sooner rather than later. -[...Talks about Celtics/Heat & Spurs/Thunder...] http://www.1560thegame.com/audio/sa...a-huge-difference-maker-for-the-rockets-5225/
