Archive for the 'Interviews' Category

Ben Gordon as The Microwave

Published by Matt Watson on July 3, 2009 in Interviews. 15 Comments

Ben Gordon in a radio interview with ESPN Chicago (via Sports Radio Interviews):

How hard did Chicago pursue you?

“They didn’t pursue me at all, they didn’t even make an offer. It was pretty much a one-man race.”

[…] Did you function well with Derrick Rose or are you a better fit in Detroit?

“Personally, me and D-Rose, I thought we played well together. Our games are pretty different - I’m more of an outside shooter, he’s more of an attack player. I think we played well off of each other. Moving forward with Detroit, one thing Joe told me he wanted to create was that 3-guard offense that they used to have back in the ‘Bad Boy’ days when it was him, Isiah, and ‘The Microwave.’ I think with Rip, Rodney Stuckey and myself - we’re no Isiah, Joe, and Microwave but I think anytime you have three guards of that caliber, it makes it a tough matchup.

He’s doing a good job selling the “three-guard” line — who knows, maybe it’s actually true. My hunch is that Dumars will trade Rip for a big man in a heartbeat if the right package comes along, though. Time will tell.

Talking with (future Piston?) Terrence Williams

Published by Matt Watson on May 20, 2009 in Interviews and Q & A. 98 Comments

Terrence Williams, a four-year star out of Louisville, was in town yesterday to work out with the Pistons. Teams work out dozens of players before the draft, and in the past, hearing an update from any one player might merit only a line or two at the bottom of a newspaper article published days later.

But these days? You can hear from the man himself simply by checking his latest updates on Twitter, where you can also find his latest iPhone pics, such as this shot of him posing with Joe Dumars at the Pistons practice facility.

Williams, who’s probably spent more time in airport terminals the last couple of months than many of us will in years, wasn’t in town for very long, but he made time for a brief phone interview on his way out (and I mean “on his way out” quite literally — he was speaking from outside his airport gate, and our conversation was occasionally interrupted by airport announcements). Familiar bias aside, he’s exactly the type of player I think the Pistons should target — a strong, physical wing capable of getting in the paint, making a few plays for teammates and himself and doing the dirty work on the glass and on defense.

If you want a scouting report, check out DraftExpress, NBADraft.net, ESPN or Rivals. If you want to hear his candid thoughts on the travel grind, whether NBA teams should listen to Malcolm Gladwell and press more often and why athletes on Twitter isn’t a fad, keep reading.

Matt Watson: How did the work out go? What did they make you do?

Terrence Williams: You do a lot of shooting – do a couple of shooting drills and then you’re ready to play. It’s not really long – just a short, quick, good workout, do a couple of shooting drills and play against the players, 3-on-3, 2-on-2, 1-on-1.

Matt Watson: I know you’ve been going all over the country so far – how has the travel been? Has it been non-stop?

Terrence Williams: I mean, after awhile you get tired of it, but it’s the work that you have to put in to get your name called on June 25th. It’s cool, you’ve got to get used to it, but it gets tough getting off the plane and go out to dinner and then you’ve got to wake up at nine in the morning to workout for the team. This is my third one, so I’m kind of used to it, but I know some guys who it’s their sixth one or their seventh one. I mean, it’s cool.

Matt Watson: That has to be pretty nerve-wracking. Are you going to be watching the lottery at all? I know you’re about to get on a plane now, are you going to be able to see it?

Terrence Williams: I won’t be able to see it.

Matt Watson: Being in the Big East and everything, you’ve obviously faced a lot of really tough competition. Who would you say would be the toughest player that you faced last year?

Terrence Williams: I don’t have a toughest player that I faced – Connecticut was probably the toughest team, but as far as players, I did my share well in the Big East, so I don’t really feel like there was a tougher opponent in the Big East. I had tough teams that I played against, but not opponents.

Matt Watson: Okay, that’s a nice, competitive answer. Growing up, was there any players that you tried to model yourself after? Any NBA players that you looked up to?

Terrence Williams: Magic Johnson.

Matt Watson: Completely changing subjects here – I noticed you’ve got the Facebook going, you have the Twitter going, I think a lot of younger athletes, they’re coming through college and they’ve already been exposed to a lot of this stuff. A lot of older athletes already in the NBA, it’s something that they’re really new to. Do you see that as the wave of the future? Is that something that you plan on doing as you go throughout your career, having that real close connection with your fans?

Terrence Williams: I probably will have Twitter. I mean, the main thing is to show people that me and everybody else that’s playing basketball in the NBA — or trying to get in the NBA – that we are human, you know? I know, for me, I speak for myself, I know that I’m not untouchable, so I’ve had conversations with fans that’s related to basketball so many times. … When a fan can reach you, I think that makes them stay a fan. When they can get on Twitter and write a question that they really want to know about basketball and you answer it, that will make the guy’s day.

I know that if there was some resource where you can write LeBron James – or write Magic Johnson or Michael Jordan back in the day – and they answer it? That’ll make you feel so much more better about your day. And I’m not saying guys – there are some kids that may look up to me like that and some kids that might look up to Dwight Howard like that, or Nate Robinson, so trying to reach that person on Twitter, it just shows that we are human. So I think that people like us have Twitter and I think that we will continue to have Twitter.

Matt Watson: You’re obviously no stranger to YouTube, either. Do you have a favorite YouTube clip of yourself?

Terrence Williams: Nah. It makes a clip because it’s a highlight, so I believe that any clip that’s up there is a good clip because it was a highlight. … I think every clip that’s up there is a good one. I don’t really sit down and watch it, to be honest with you. There is one I’ll watch, with plays from my freshman year to my fourth year, it plays like a sad song. That’s probably my favorite one because it shows my memories throughout the four years.

Matt Watson: There’s been some talk recently among NBA fans, there was a writer who was asking why coaches don’t use the full-court press more often, and he used Rick Pitino as an example of someone who’s had a lot of success with that. Do you think an NBA team could have success in the NBA doing that non-stop energy press?

Terrence Williams: Nah. You only see non-stop energy only in the playoffs. You’re not going to see that in the regular season. Not when you have game 14 and game 26 when they’ve got to play 82 and then the playoffs? Nah. Too many guys in the league are older; too many guys would get hurt trying to play that pressing defense. Pressing defense is for kids. Kids in high school do a lot of things different than kids in college; kids in college as you see do a lot of things different than in the NBA. You can’t try to change the NBA’s style. There’s no problem like it is, that’s what makes it the NBA.

Matt Watson: Alright, fair enough. I think you’re probably right, especially about the length of the season. There’s always been talk about whether the NBA should shorten the season. Where are you headed to next?

Terrence Williams: I’m going to Vegas.

Matt Watson: You’re going to Vegas?

Terrence Williams: Yeah.

Matt Watson: Good stuff. Well, thanks a lot for your time, and good luck. Who knows, maybe we’ll see you in Detroit next year.

Terrence Williams: Alright, I appreciate it.

The James “Buddha” Edwards Interview

Published by Matt Watson on October 31, 2008 in Former Pistons and Interviews. 7 Comments

James Buddha EdwardsIn my line of work, I talk to a lot of famous people. I don’t get starstruck, especially around guys younger than me, but I do enjoy it. For one, it’s just so interesting to have a conversation with a guy and see how his personality compares to the preconceived notion I may have already formed. I’m frequently surprised, sometimes disappointed and at least occasionally validated for having the opinion I did.

But while I can play it cool while chatting with even the biggest of today’s superstars, I couldn’t contain my enthusiasm when asked if I wanted to spend a few minutes with James “Buddha” Edwards, who was in from his hometown of Seattle to do some PR work for the Pistons. As the name of this site suggests, the original Bad Boys are the reason I grew up a basketball fan, and as such, the reason I eventually made writing about basketball my career. Did I want to talk to Buddha? He helped put me on this path; of course I did!

We spoke for several minutes before Wednesday’s season opener. To my relief, he was very friendly and personable — it was already weird seeing him clean shaven without his trademark Fu Manchu, I would have been heartbroken to find out he was a jerk. In the end, I kept my wits about me, avoided accidentally turning off my recorder and didn’t stumble too badly over my questions — the result of our conversation is below.

Matt Watson: First of all, where’s the Fu Manchu? I barely recognized you.

James “Buddha” Edwards: [Laughing] I might have to grow it back when I come back for our 20th year celebration, but it might be a little gray.

Watson: Last I heard, you were getting active in sports agency stuff, right?

Buddha: I was doing a little bit of that, but I was more trying to get into doing a little coaching. I was working on a lot of guys with the Sonics and a lot of guys from the University of Washington and now that the Sonics are gone, there’s no more NBA ball in Seattle, so it’s going to be a little dry up there as far as basketball now.

Watson: What do you think about that whole situation? As someone who grew up in that area, what’s it like to have that team taken away?

Buddha: It’s almost like one of your kids dying or something like that because there’s a lot of young kids that love the basketball game and it’s going to hurt a lot of the young kids that liked to go to the Sonics games all the time. Now, the closest place to go see an NBA ball game is going down to Portland which is a two and a half hour drive — which isn’t bad, and they should have a pretty good team this year — but the town was very disappointed when the Sonics left after 40 years.

Watson: I remember watching you, it seemed like early in the game they always made sure to give you the ball down in the post. That was by design, right?

Buddha: Yeah, that was by design. So if I’m hot and they’re not going to double-team me, I’m going to keep on going to work. But usually I’m pretty hot so they would double-team me and I’m kicking it out, guards are having great shots and from then on the game is just flowing beautifully.

Watson: Rasheed Wallace has caught a bit of criticism for floating out a lot. Do you think that’s something they should do, that old strategy [that worked] with you, trying to establish him in the post early on?

Buddha: Well, personally, I would like to see Rasheed down in the post more because he’s a great low-post player and no one can stop him down there. And he can shoot the three also, you’ve got to do both with him. But start him off in the post, let him start bruising those guys down low, get the guys in foul trouble — he can get a Kevin Garnett in foul trouble very easily, get two quick fouls on him. That’s what Chuck Daly tried to do when I went against Patrick Ewing or a big center like that — go right at him, try to get him in foul trouble, make him try to work harder on defense so he’s not so fresh on offense.

Watson: Another comparison: Amir Johnson is an energy guy, doing a lot of rebounding and blocks. Some people now say he reminds them of Ben Wallace; personally I think he’s a little bit closer to Dennis Rodman. As someone who’s played next to someone who does all that energy stuff, how much does it open things up for the rest of the team knowing that someone else is doing all that dirty work?

Buddha: I mean, that’s great. I didn’t have to really worry about rebounding that much because I didn’t want to fight Dennis or [John] Salley because they were always in there. I’m just shooting my fade-away, I’ll get my rebounds here and there, but I’m not going try to fight Dennis for them because he was leading the league in rebounding for three or four years in a row. It would be stupid for me to try to fight him for a rebound.

Watson: Fans get really caught up in a lot of the rivalries, though it seems like they were a little stronger back in the day with the old Pistons and Bulls teams. You have a unique perspective because you played on both sides of that. Was that as real as the fans made it out to be? Was that hatred there between the two teams?

Buddha: Yeah, it was, it was. It was hatred. I mean, I didn’t really hate them but I think they hated us. And our physical style of defense kind of messed them up until they finally got over the hump. I think our team made their team great because if they could beat us, they could beat anybody, which they proved because they swept us that one time.

Watson: That rivalry is probably always stronger for the up-and-coming team, the one trying to knock down the team on top down.

Buddha: Oh yeah, it is, it is. It was a great rivalry between us and Chicago, and a rivalry between us and Boston, also.

Watson: When Joe [Dumars] was a player, did you see qualities then that made you think that he had what it took to run a team on his own and have the success that he’s had?

Buddha: His demeanor; he knew the game very well out there on the floor. He was one of the toughest defensive players that we had, he always guarded the toughest guy. He made the transition very smoothly into the front office, he’s doing a very good job for the Pistons.

Watson: What do you think — not to try to get you say anything bad about anybody — but what do you think about Michael Jordan, who’s struggled? He was known for being extremely competitive but just hasn’t had anywhere near the same success.

Buddha: Some guys make that transition pretty smoothly and other guys don’t, they struggle a lot. Maybe this year, when they got the new coach down there, things might go smoothly. You also have to have a good team. If you don’t have a good team, you’re going to struggle.

Watson: Last question, what’s the future? You mentioned coaching a little bit, you said you’re working with some of the guys up there. What’s next?

Buddha: Since there’s no NBA basketball there, I’d be honored to come back here and work for the Pistons and do something around here. I’m coming to do a little PR work during the first week of the season and hopefully they’ll have me come back and do some more stuff.

*****

I want to thank James Edwards for his time, and I think I speak for all fans by saying I hope he figures out a way to stick around full-time. I’d also like to thank long-time friend of DBB Dave Wieme for putting this together.

Bill Davidson goes to the Hall

Published by Matt Watson on September 5, 2008 in Former Pistons and Interviews. 29 Comments

The Basketball Hall of Fame induction ceremonies are tonight — 7:30pm ET on NBA TV and ESPN Classic — and there will be some Detroit connections: Pistons owner Bill Davidson, former player Adrian Dantley and former coach Dick Vitale are all getting the nod. We’ve known this was coming since April, but it’s still nice to see.

Davidson doesn’t give many interviews, but when he does, you’re guaranteed to get some interesting answers. Fortunately for us, Mitch Albom scored an interview in today’s Free Press. Some highlights …

About his relationship with Isiah Thomas, which has since been repaired:

Q: Can you say anything — and I recognize it’s been a complex relationship over the years — about the falling out you two had at the end of his playing career?

A: Well, I was very, very close to Isiah, and there were times he was almost like a son. But, because of his background, um … I told him he had to change — you know, coming from where he came from. I said, “You’ve got it made now. Don’t keep doing those things that you’ve been doing.” I won’t tell you what they are. But he couldn’t change.

On his short leash with coaches:

Q: Speaking of coaching, let me ask you about a few coaches. Larry Brown. What can you tell me about him?

A: Well, Larry Brown is not what he appears to be. And he’s built a reputation for himself based on his own PR people. He’s not what he appears to be.

Q: What about Flip Saunders? Another case of someone who lost his players?

A: It’s a story by itself.

Q: Anything you can share?

A: No. He had definitely lost the players.

On referees dictating games and missed opportunities:

Q: What do you think of the whole Tim Donaghy scandal?

A: That’s the tip of the iceberg with referees.

Q: Do the refs’ calls upset you that much?

A: Yeah, it’s what they call and when they call it — and on whom they call it. And when you see what they do, you know that they’re kind of taking over the game and making the outcome certain — all they have to do is call a couple ticky-tack fouls on say, (Chauncey) Billups, and you’re not gonna win that game.

Q: Which of your teams, in your view, underachieved the most? Which was most frustrating?

A: Well, the worst loss was out in L.A. (in 1988) when I was in the room with David Stern getting ready to accept the trophy, and they call a foul on Bill Laimbeer against Kareem. Bill pulled down a clean rebound, and Hugh Evans calls a foul. You know that he was set up, and you know … I don’t say he had a bet on the game, but that was … that was unconscionable! And that cost us a championship, which we should have had. Which we had.

Q: What others?

A: The other bad one was the steal in Boston, when we had that game (and Larry Bird stole the ball). So the Bad Boys had two championships, which — one was legitimately taken away and the other was illegitimately taken away — and they still won two. So they basically should have had four.

It’s a rather lengthy interview and there’s there that I’m not mentioning, so I urge you to read the whole thing.

Hall-bound Bill Davidson on all the banners and all the bummers / Detroit Free Press

Michael Curry answers questions

Published by Matt Watson on June 13, 2008 in Interviews. 19 Comments

Keith Langlois has a lengthy Q&A with Michael Curry on Pistons.com. Some highlights:

Langlois: You also said the other day you had opportunities to be an assistant coach when you retired yet you decided to go the administrative route with the league office for two years. Just talk about why you decided to go that route if you knew you wanted to be a head coach.

Curry: It’s funny. As you sit around, you prepare and I’ve always thought at times it’s difficult to get to a point unless people really see you in that light. I’ve seen some guys I thought were really good coaches that everyone kind of saw as an assistant coach. I didn’t want to take a job as an assistant just to be an assistant coach. I wanted to be a head coach. I’m a leader, I have a strong personality and I crave leadership positions. So that wasn’t quite the offers that were there when I first came out, once I interviewed with the league office, with what I could do in basketball operations and what I would be able to do within the D-League, it would be the best of both worlds. It would quench my thirst as far as the actual and on-the-court aspect in the D-League and the business side of basketball working in basketball operations.

Langlois: But it was done with the thought of becoming a head coach in mind, not a general manager?

Curry: I’ve always liked that part of basketball as well, being a general manager or being a head coach. Either one of those leadership positions. I knew after my two years in the league office, just talking with guys and GMs around the league and some of the interaction I’ve had with players. A lot of guys outside where I’ve been, they didn’t know me as well. But in that same setting, they knew I possessed the qualities to lead. Halfway through my second year in the league office, I knew that right now I craved being on the court more so than being a general manager. If I was a general manager right now, I’d probably get in my own way – in the way of the coach I hire – because I still see a lot of things I want to do and being on the court actually coaching is one of those things.

One of the things that impresses me the most about Curry is how calmly confident he is. He knew he’d be a head coach but didn’t want to settle for taking the usual path to success. And reading his answer to the quest above, I get the feeling he knows he’ll eventually be a GM some day, as well. It’s rare to see a new coach speak so candidly about his ambition.

His thoughts on holding players accountable:

[Players] want playing time. When you go out here you have 15 players. If you preach certain things to the guys and this is what you are going to hold them accountable for, if you allow two or three guys to do what they want to do, then not only those two or three are gone but you lose the other 10 that are not playing at the time. The best thing to do is make sure you follow what you’re teaching the guys and what you’re saying are your points of emphasis and make sure you keep those other 12 that are doing right and the other two or three, they’ll conform and be the way you want them to be.

I said this before, but I hope he’s serious, and I hope he doesn’t change his mind come playoff time.

His thoughts on some of the team’s young players:

Amir Johnson has to be more consistent every day and I think we have to coach him more consistent. What I mean by that is, he’s not a guy who can take two days away from the gym and come back and still be playing at the same level. As you saw when he played, he played four games in a row and he played really good. If you don’t play him for two games, he doesn’t go all the way back down but he takes a step backward. We have to find a way to make sure we give him consistent minutes and a consistent role so he can grow. Hopefully, once he starts to grow and get that consistency, he’ll realize how valuable he can be for us as a team.

Stuckey can take a big leap. With increased minutes, we want to put things in place to make sure he can stay aggressive when he’s out on the court. The biggest thing for him this year was trying to figure out when to be aggressive and when not to be aggressive. Sometimes he erred on not being aggressive. We want him to err on the side of being aggressive. Be overly aggressive and let us calm you down. That’s sort of our thought process with Stuckey.

Arron is great. He’s one of the few guys that I just thought never had a bad game. The way he prepares every day, he’s going to be a model where he doesn’t stand out so much by the way he prepares – we have to get everyone else preparing that same way every day. The way he prepares, the way he competes every day, every day in practice, he is the poster boy for the way we have to be.

Afflalo definitely gets overlooked when most people talk about Detroit’s young players, but that’s exceptionally high praise. If you’ve been paying attention, though, it’s also not surprising — I’ve heard Dumars and Flip Saunders say as much all year. No matter what your impressions are of Afflalo’s game right now, don’t underestimate him — with that kind of drive, anything is possible.

Cheick Samb is going mainstream

Published by Matt Watson on April 27, 2007 in Around the Internets and Interviews. 9 Comments

When the Pistons traded Maurice Evans for Cheick Samb last summer, I figured it was little more than an effort to dump Evans’ contract for a long-shot prospect who might not ever play a single minute in the NBA.

That still may be the case, but over the past year Samb has emerged from a complete unknown to a name people are starting to talk about. Chad Ford wrote about Samb yesterday for ESPN Insider, ranking him the 10th-best international prospect:

Africa is still the new frontier in NBA scouting. The league has had a presence there for a few years with the Basketball Without Borders program, and a few teams — including the Mavericks and Nuggets — have full-time African scouts. But for the most part, it’s not easy to evaluate and project players from Africa.

A good example is Samb. He got little-to-no buzz before the 2006 draft, and the Pistons stole him late in the second round without much fanfare. Then Samb arrived at the Las Vegas Summer League and shocked people with his size, athleticism and ability.

Now 22, Samb spent this year playing for Cornella in Spain, working on his game and building up his thin frame. Over the course of the year, he’s gained nearly 30 pounds and is starting to dominate in his league. He had 19 points and 15 rebounds the other night and it seems, in a few years, he might be the answer to some of the Pistons’ big-man woes.

I’m going to skip right over Ford’s comment about Detroit’s “big-man woes,” since the only “woe” they have right now is which player to leave out of the rotation. Also, as astute Pistons fans are likely chomping at the bit to point out, Samb isn’t playing in Spain’s top division, but Tony Ronzone, Pistons director of basketball operations and international scout extraordinaire, claims he’s still facing some tough competition. From Keith Langlois on Pistons.com:

Ronzone said Samb is capable of playing in Spain’s top division, but doesn’t because Cornella’s counterpart in the first division is loaded with older players in a system that leans toward seniority.

“He could have played on the first team but it would have been spot minutes,” Ronzone said. “The first team guys are 28 and 30 and it’s an age thing there. But there (sic) level two league is comparable to high Division I (American college basketball). Those guys can play.”

Ford recently had Ronzone on as a guest on his Daily Dish podcast, where he spoke more about Samb’s progress. The entire interview is worth a listen (mp3), but kudos to Justin Rogers of MLive for transcribing the pertinent parts:

Ford: You talk about Africa, The Pistons drafted a guy named Cheick Samb late in the draft and nobody had really heard about him. Even on the internet, the few photos that were available were kind of grainy. Then he shows up at the NBA Summer League camp in Las Vegas and he puts up pretty some big numbers for a guy no one has heard of, and I think surprised a lot of people. How did you find this guy and what kind of prospect do you think he can be?

Ronzone: I think he’s going to be an incredible prospect. A great story about when we brought him over to play in Vegas and we’re flying from Phoenix to Las Vegas, you know Cheick speaks very little English. He speaks Spanish, French and two different African dialects. So we’re flying into Vegas and he looks at me and say, “Coach, coach, this is Detroit?”

“No Cheick, this is Las Vegas”

“Oh I like.”

You have to remember, this is the first time he’s played or even been in America, and he doesn’t really understand our coaches’ terminology, but he goes out there and plays really well.

When he arrived in Las Vegas he was a whopping 205 pounds, but since that time he’s put on 35 pounds. I just showed some of the staff, including Joe Dumars, a photo of Samb because I saw him last month and the first thing they say is, “Who is that? Is that Nene?” because that’s what his body looks like now. His body has completely changed. We’re really excited to have him come back this summer to see the improvement. He’s 7′ 2″ with a 7′ 8″ wingspan, but the beauty is that he can catch and shoot. He’ll step out and shoot a three, he’ll go down in the post and he has great passion for the game.

Samb has only been playing basketball for only five years. He’s from Senegal and he was found pretty much because of his brother, who I can’t speak about right now because he’s an underage player. His brother was recruited to play for Barcelona, and the GM over there is a good friend of mind, so that’s how I got the connection with Cheick. Their mother said that if you take the young one you have to bring Cheick too, and he just happened to develop a lot quicker than anyone expected. We’re very fortunate to have landed him late in the second round and we’re hoping we’ve found another Mehmet Okur, but he’s obviously a different type of player.

No matter how questionable the competition he’s facing is right now, I’m excited about adding a 7-foot-2 center with that kind of wingspan and range to the end of the bench a year or so down the line. Will he ever start a game? Maybe not, but I don’t see why he couldn’t eventually crack a rotation. Yes, he’s already a bit old for a prospect, but his circumstances are unique considering he’s only been playing organized ball for a few years now. Plus, under the tutelage of professional coaches he’s apparently already made great strides — not to mention filled out his previously rail-thin frame, which was the biggest knock on him last summer. Consider my interest piqued.

The 10 best international NBA prospects [ESPN Insider ($)]
Futures Market [Pistons.com]
Pistons scout hypes Cheick Samb [MLive.com’s Full-Court Press]

Previously on DBB:
John Hammond watches Alex Acker and Cheick Samb

Rip Hamilton on Coatesville, Mike Gminski, and his love of the Bulls and Lakers?

Published by Ian Cameron on December 20, 2006 in Alley-Oops, Around the Internets, Interviews and Videos. 0 Comments

GameVideos.com has an interview with Rip Hamilton, done in conjunction with the newest NBA Street game. The interview focuses mainly upon his experiences growing up in Coatesville and some of the old-school players from his home court. (Update: The folks at EA Sports actually added a virtual version of the Coatesville court that Rip grew up playing on. Here’s a video with some footage.)

Chad Ford interviews Joe Dumars

Published by Matt Watson on December 16, 2006 in Around the Internets and Interviews. 8 Comments

I’m just about the last one to comment on this, but Joe Dumars was recently a guest on ESPN’s Chad Ford podcast.

The two cover a variety of subjects, starting with how Dumars was this close to pulling off a trade for Allen Iverson back in the summer of the 2000. How close is this close? Close enough that Dumars had already called Roundball One’s pilot to meet him at the airport in two hours to pick up Iverson. The proposed four-way deal, which would have cost Detroit Jerry Stackhouse and Jerome Williams, fell apart at the last second when Matt Geiger, of all people, refused to re-work a trade kicker for the deal to work within the salary cap.

Dumars said he was looking to make a deal that would give the Pistons, who were just 42-40 in 1999-2000, some sort of identity — and it’s hard to argue that a 25-year-old Iverson wouldn’t have done just that. Iverson went on to win the MVP in 2001, leading the 76ers to the NBA Finals with an otherwise hodgepodge roster. (Of course, what wasn’t mentioned in the interview is that Dumars accomplished that task with another deal that summer — the Grant Hill for Ben Wallace and Chucky Atkins sign-and-trade.)

Dumars goes on to say that not only has he not entertained the notion of jumping into the Iverson sweepstakes but that it’s too early to consider a trade of any sort. He points out that the Pistons had just 26 games remaining when they acquire Rasheed Wallace in 2004, whereas they barely have 20 games in the books right now.

The whole interview runs about 16 minutes, so if you have the time I recommend checking it out. As Henry Abbott pointed out, it’s obvious Ford and Dumars have a very good rapport, which results in a more natural back-and-forth than some interviews.

Joe Dumars talks with Chad Ford [ESPN.com]

A Will Blalock interview

Published by Matt Watson on December 12, 2006 in Alley-Oops and Interviews. 0 Comments

Matt Dery from WDFN interviewed Will Blalock, and the fine folks at PistonsForum.com did everyone the favor by transcribing it.

Pistons State of the Union

Published by Matt Watson on December 12, 2006 in Around the Internets and Interviews. 4 Comments

Joe Dumars spoke with a couple of hundred Pistons season ticket holders on the phone today. He answered (pre-submitted) questions, and fortunately for those of us who weren’t on the call, Natalie Sitto from Need4Sheed provides a transcription of some of the more interesting questions. Here’s a sample:

Q: Will Amir Johnson be playing more?

A: “Yes, it’s a long season and they are going to try to find minutes for Amir.” They think Amir has an incredible upside and they want to get him on the floor more this year.

Eh, I’ll believe it when I see it.

Q: Do you believe Chauncey is a max salary player?

A: “What a guys number is, is whatever you negotiate. Whether he’s a max or not it’s irrelevant.”" We are committed to keeping Chauncey here.”

I hope so, but again, I’ll believe it when I see it.

Q: What’s wrong with Rasheed, why won’t they give him the ball in the post?

A: “That’s a two way street. Sometimes he has to get there and call for it. Sometimes Rasheed doesn’t get there and demand the ball in the post. So sometimes that is the issue as much as the guys not getting him the ball in the post. Rasheed is not a guy that you’re are going to get the ball and throw it in the post for 48 minutes. He’s not that type of guy, he is going to float out to the three point line, he’s going to pick and roll, he’s going to pick and pop he’s going to do all those things. He is going to move around a lot on the floor. Me personally, I would love to see him down on the block a whole lot more, but I also understand that you have to allow a player to play and feel comfortable on the floor. Usually what you see is when the game gets tight in the fourth quarter or when it’s tight and we really need a basket you can rest assured that he goes down there then. He understands how good he is in the post, he just doesn’t want to have to play that position the entire 48 minutes. He usually gets down there when things are really tight though.”

It’s always good to hear from the man in charge, but I beg to differ about Rasheed’s play in the low post: far, far too often I find myself cringing when he takes random three-pointers late in tight games. Sometimes they go in, sometimes they don’t, but I’m amazed that a guy who’s shot 51.4% for his career on two-point field goals and just 33.9% on threes has such a green light.In all fairness, his two-point percentage is down this year (.462) while his three-point percentage is up (.395), but that I’ll just say “sample size.” Maybe it wouldn’t annoy me so much if his little turnaround jumper from the block (you know what I’m talking about, where his arms are fully extended before he even releases the ball) wasn’t so freaking devastating and impossible to defend — I don’t think I’ve ever seen that shot blocked.

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