Monty interview on Black and Blue Report

- Mentions Withey at the top of an answer about Summer League and how it was important for "Jeff, Russ and Patric" and never mentions him again.
- Likes Russ Smith, "he pressures the ball like not many guys can do in the NBA" but he has a lot to learn like playing more under control and in space against NBA caliber players.
- Likes Young, got what he expected, tough and rebounded the ball, but was surprised by his leadership.
- Has "coveted" Asik since the first time he saw him in Chicago. Likes that he's big and one of the best defensive bigs in the league. May not block shots like Dwight or Anthony, but he knows how to play defense.

quote:

---

Sean Kelley asked a question about Monty previously telling him in the spring that the next step in the program was getting guys that related more to his style and if he felt the roster additions like Asik did that.

Monty: Yeah. I do. You know, Asik is somebody that fits, it's not so much my style, it's just what I feel you need to win in the NBA. You know I think you need guys on your team who have a defensive aptitude. And that doesn't mean the guys we had before Omer didn't have that, we just had a lot of young guys. And with all the injuries it was hard to figure out what you had. But your right in that getting Omer, getting Jrue those were acquisitions that fit what we've been trying to do here since we lost Chris Paul and David West and Emeka Okafor. We felt like we needed to recapture that aspect of our team. We didn't want to do anything to hamstring us going forward, but we felt like we needed to move back in that direction, and getting guys like Ryan and Tyreke, those were necessary moves because you have to be able to score the ball. And that doesn't mean that Ryan and Tyreke don't like to play defense, but truth be told, what they do well is score the ball, it spreads the floor and affects the game in a different way. Moving forward we are getting to the point where we are trying to put together a complete team, and that's something that I think is going to help us make a great improvement this season.

SK: ...Is this as good as it's been as far as maybe the way you feel in the off season.

Monty: Yeah, I think so. Mostly because we have some guys that have been with us for a couple of years. Tyreke's gonna have another camp, he's been with us for a year. Ryan is going on his 3rd year, even though he had a setback last year, he knows what we expect. But more importantly Anthony Davis is a guy that he continues to improve. This will be his 3rd year, we all know that he's the guy and yet he has some guys that are right behind him as far as experience and how they are viewed in the NBA. Couple that with Russ and we've got some X factor guys that could have a huge impact on our team in Jimmer and John Salmons. I just feel like this is a really good time for the organization, and you know, like all of our fans, we've been through a lot. And it's good to have this feeling going into the season. I just feel like we have the pieces and the people to have a vast improvement this season.

SK asked what's going to happen at SF

Monty: It's something that ummm, do we have a prototype small forward? No, but I have to be able to make some adjustments at that position. I'm not gonna reveal what I'm going to do just yet, but I do feel like we have the people around on our team that can allow me to maybe play a bit differently than other teams, but because of the defensive moves that we've made, especially getting Jrue back, it might not be your prototype line up that you see out there from time to time but it's going to be an effective lineup just because of who we have on our front line and the experience that we have and our pace of play is something that we feel like has gotten better over the last couple of years and I think we're going to be even better this year. It always starts on the defensive end. We don't have a prototype Small Forward, but nobody has a perfect team. You have to make the most of what you have and we have some really good guys and that's something that I'm looking forward to.

---

LINK