AD Interview with Marty Smith

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it's nothing groundbreaking. AD gives some insight into how the team has been talking about what they will do but said whatever it is, it will be as a team. Said they have in the past had sit downs with local law enforcement and inner city kids.

the handshake/hug at the beginning...marty hangs on a LITTLE too long there.

Thanks quail and Tiger...hard to post from mobile and I have been driving around all day.

Fair enough but even at home I post on my phone. Oh well c’est la vie

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The only really basketball related thing he said was he talked about this being the most talented and competitive team he's been on

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I have to imagine that Davis has to say that, but I don't think it's the best. Heck, last year's team was better IMO (post Cousin's trade). The 14/15 team was way better though, both beginning and end. But if you compare the final roster (playoff squad)..

PG: 14/15-Evans/Cole> 17/18-Rondo/Clark
SG: 14/15-Gordon/Holiday> 17/18-Holiday/Moore
SF: 14/15-Pondexter/Cunningham> 17/18-Cunningham/Miller
PF: 14/15-Davis/Anderson> 17/18-Davis/Diallo
C: 14/15-Asik/Ajinca<< 17/18-Cousins/Ajinca

No doubt we made a massive upgrade at Center. But that team was better and deeper at every single other position. That was a dramatically better team..

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That was a dramatically better team

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Pondexter's arrival literally turned us from borderline moronic IQ to reasonable. Dont forget how downright below average we were before QPon and Cole came on board.

What positions are you giving massive advantages to? Because there's a MASSIVE advantage at the C spot for 17-18.

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Heck, last year's team was better IMO (post Cousin's trade).

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agree to disagree. We had dogshit at PG. Solomon Hill is not that much better than Cunningham to negate the upgrade from Frazier to Rondo/Clark.

You also neglect Tony Allen completely.

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What positions are you giving massive advantages to? Because there's a MASSIVE advantage at the C spot for 17-18.

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I wrote it all out. The 14/15 team was better at every position, other than Center. I don't think one player/position is able to overcome a team being better at 6-7.

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We had dogshit at PG.

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Holiday and Frazier were the PGs last year. You know the guy that was supposed to be a top 10 PG that just got a 126M contract. Frazier's not a bad back-up either. That's a pretty solid unit. Replacing Holiday with Rondo can't be an upgrade. No doubt we got a steal getting Rondo so cheap (which is why he won't be here next year). But Holiday is a "franchise" player and we take a dip moving him over.

Now you could say moving Holiday to SG gives us a boost there. That position should be improved over last year. I really like Hield though. He was just going to take some time to develop. Holiday will take some time to adjust to SG full time. But he will be better than what we did there last year.

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Solomon Hill is not that much better than Cunningham

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Losing Hill was massive. Cunningham is a gamer, but it's not his natural position. Cunningham was on the market all off season and got no offers. We were literally it. If that don't tell you something, I don't know what will.

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You also neglect Tony Allen completely.

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I only went 10 deep. Most teams only really play 8-9 guys anyway, so doesn't matter beyond that group. Besides, I don't know where he fits in. He is the 4th SG and I'd prefer Moore (the guy making 8M+ a year) as the back up there. If they really think that he can play SF, that would be a disaster. The guy is a demon defender, but he is just 6'4. He guarded SFs in the past, but he is 35 now and has lost a step. It just seems like a desperate move to me..

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You can't tell me that he is 100% healthy and couldn't draw interest from any contenders,

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Your suspicion seems warranted but hasn’t Allen basically been played off the court in the playoffs like was a traditional center? Maybe there really was limited interest. That doesn’t explain the lack of preseason minutes though.

You're not supposed to be on your phone when you're pumping gas

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Post trade, Jrue was exposed. Rondo looks more comfortable in one game than Jrue looked at ANY point with AD and Boogie.

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The argument of Holiday vs Rondo is a complicated one and I'm sure system fit would go pretty far in determining the better player. But Holiday is and has always been considered a PG. Both were on the market this summer. One was bought out and took a low ball contract to prove himself. The other was a top 5 FA and landed a massive contract. So I can't see how anybody would point to Rondo and say he is an upgrade. That just doesn't compute to me. Sure you can point to Holiday sliding to SG and try to shoehorn his value in there. But his past performances would not support that type of gamble and it would be a massive reach by the franchise. I don't like the move, especially with the huge contract. Either way, it's a step down to me.

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but how does he factor into this at all? Now you're arguing pre trade roster was better than post trade?

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I was just being wistful and miss having Hield on the team. Post trade, we sucked at SG. So Holiday moving over would be a big improvement. But I believe we took a big dip at PG as a consequence.

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What do you think Solomon Hill's free agency would have looked like this year after his performance last year?

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I think GMs value potential over performance. Demps thought that Hill could have been a break out type player if given more minutes. I thought he was ok, nothing special. Plus the spending was way down this summer. But he is a solid bench/emergency starter type vet that would have probably got somewhere around 8M or so on the open market (ala Aminu).

I disagree with you on his loss. We are definitely going to feel it. Hill is more physical than Cunningham and has an edge. The team doesn't have many guys like that.

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I don't understand how fortifying the end of the bench with a grizzled vet who's been in the trenches is a desperate move. To me, it's the exact opposite.

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It's not that I don't like it. I just don't think it matters or that he will make that big of a difference. Plus if he was brought in to play SF, that is just a reach. He can't do it full time. If he could be effective, why would the Grizzlies let him walk? He has been with them forever. Players like him, I like them staying with their teams. If they can still play..

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I just really disagree mostly on your assessment of Rondo. Can he stay healthy is the question. He's our PG. I don't see chemistry issues the way this is set up.

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I didn't say anything bad about Rondo. I just said Holiday is better or should be better.

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ETA: how far do you define roster out of curiosity because Uncle Al/Erman/Finch to me are worlds ahead of Monty and the gang post Malone

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NBA coaching is totally overrated to me. The most important things to me are talent, fit and harmony/inspiration. I just watched Ty Lue coach a team to the NBA finals twice and win a championship. I'm sure his system had nothing to do with it.

Demps is a horrible GM and ownership is shaky. We should have built the right way (draft and development). Now we are one of the least talented teams in the league with nothing outside of two Superstars. It's frustrating..