Earlier today, lead ESPN and ABC NBA analysts Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson discussed the start of the 2014-15 NBA season on a media conference call.
ESPN’s NBA season tips off Wednesday, Oct. 29, at 8 p.m. ET when the Chicago Bulls and the returning Derrick Rose visit the New York Knicks and Carmelo Anthony. Van Gundy and Jackson will join Mike Breen – the voice of the NBA – and reporter Doris Burke for commentary. At 10:30 p.m., the Oklahoma City Thunder and Russell Westbrook visit the Portland Trail Blazers and Damian Lillard.
Van Gundy and Jackson will also join Breen tonight as the Los Angeles Clippers and Chris Paul host the Phoenix Suns and Goran Dragic in a preseason game at 10:30 p.m. In the first game of the ESPN doubleheader, the Cleveland Cavaliers – led by LeBron James and Kevin Love – visit the Memphis Grizzlies with Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph at 8 p.m. All games are available on computers, smartphones, tablets, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku, Xbox 360 and Xbox One via WatchESPN.
Here is the replay of today’s conference call.
What do you guys make of the Bulls? Derrick Rose finally had a big game the other night. Where do you assess where he’s at and his recovery and what do you expect from the Bulls this year?
MARK JACKSON: I think for the first time in a long time, Derrick Rose looked like himself and obviously everybody was aware it was going to take some time. But he’s an explosive talent. He is a tremendous weapon. He makes them a totally different basketball team and he was in attack mode.
I think adding Pau Gasol makes a difference. You have two big guys in Gasol and [Joakim] Noah, that can make plays at the pinch post area, read off of each other, tremendous size, tremendous skill and the underrated fact that they’ve added shooting. And I just love Taj Gibson as that back-up big guy who can impact the game from the post, get to the line and defend at a high level. That’s a team that’s extremely dangerous and as an NBA fan, it is refreshing to see Derrick Rose back to himself. He’s a high-quality individual and tremendous for the game.
JEFF VAN GUNDY: And for me, I think anybody who is expecting Rose to consistently be what he was the other night against Cleveland, I think doesn’t understand how hard it is in the NBA to regain your edge.
I think when you are basically out two, two and a half years, it’s not easy, even when you’re as talented as Rose. And so that consistency of play, of recreating great habits on the floor, that will be difficult and it will be challenging. There will be some great moments and there will be some moments where he’s disappointed.
I think I agree with Mark about their front court depth. I think with [Nikola] Mirotic as well, their strength is if Rose gets back to who he is and their front court, I think Tom’s going to have a challenge to try to decide who he’s going to finish with, because Gibson, as Mark was talking about, is versatile defensively. There are going to be difficult choices down the stretch of every game. Which pairing do you finish with?
And then perimeter wise, my one question is how are they going to hold up on the perimeter at the two and three? [Jimmy] Butler is, to me, is the one guy who is a starter. I think everybody else would be better served coming off the bench.
So they’re really going to have to piecemeal their two and three positions. To me, I think they’re very top heavy in the front court and particularly when you think of them matching up with Cleveland, who is your other defender against James other than Butler?
I think they’re going to have to try to get that question answered.
Can you recall a season going into it where we have a lot of wildcards? How is Cleveland going to come together and Rose in Chicago? It seems like there’s more so than in the last few years, things are up in the air trying to pinpoint who is going to do what and come playoff time?
VAN GUNDY: I don’t see it as a big question mark in the East. LeBron and [Kevin] Love and [Kyrie] Irving will be in the Eastern Conference Finals. I think Chicago will find their way there if their two and three hold up and if Rose is Rose again.
But out West to me there are like five teams you could say I could see them advancing to the Finals. So in the East, barring major injury, I can’t see Chicago or Cleveland not finding their way to the Eastern Conference Finals.
If you had to predict today, and I understand that the NBA is filled with a lot of variables, would you predict LeBron James will win at least one title in Cleveland? If yes, why? If no, why?
VAN GUNDY: Oh boy. I can’t say you can predict a title because I think that’s underestimating just how hard it is to win one. He’s been there five times. He’s gotten to another Eastern Conference Finals. He’s going to be in play. His teams will be in play because of his greatness and they’ve done a terrific job in Cleveland of adding Kevin Love.
So to me they’re going to be in the final four and if you’re in the final four you have a chance to win it. But I still see for the next couple of years the team, whoever advances out of the West, winning it. I think the teams in the west are also very talented and I think James is going to be in play for championships and you never want to bet against the best player, but I think you also can’t underestimate how hard it is to win one.
JACKSON: I’d say yes. He does win at least one title in Cleveland. He’s the best player in the world. They’ve done an outstanding job of putting great talent around him.
When you think about LeBron, Love, Irving, those are three of the best in the game, not just at their positions but in the game. You’ve got a guy in Irving that just won the MVP representing our country. That’s a talented, talented basketball team. And that’s not to mention the other guys on that team. So they’re very deep, very talented and I would say yes they will win one. I’m not going to sit here and tell you that’s going to be this year. But to me, it’s an easy call to say they’ll win one.
And I did hear Jeff say that for the next couple of years that the champion will come out of the West. The West is loaded. The West does have talented great basketball teams. But I’m not going to go that far to say that Cleveland or Chicago cannot beat the representative in the Western Conference.
With LeBron back in Cleveland, with Kobe [Bryant] coming back, with the Knicks having [Carmelo Anthony] back, plus franchises worth $2 billion all of a sudden and the new TV contract, it would appear the NBA is about as healthy as it’s ever been. You guys have been around the league for a long time. Do you share that view? Do you see this as kind of a high point in NBA history just going into this season?
JACKSON: I really believe it’s an extremely high point. And it’s a job well done by everybody involved – the players, how they represent the league, obviously ownership, coaches, management and an incredible job done setting the table by Commissioner Stern and then following up and finishing by Commissioner Silver. So an outstanding job across the board. And it’s an awesome time to be an NBA owner, player, coach, management. It’s just an incredible time.
And I think as a fan, there are so many stories because no longer can you say, well, this is a team that’s going to run away or these are the two teams. I think there’s so many teams that have a legitimate chance, even if you say like Jeff said earlier, the two in the Eastern Conference and five at least in the Western Conference, that’s seven teams with a legitimate chance to, at the end of the day, win it all and I think it’s great for basketball and it’s great as a fan.
VAN GUNDY: I agree with Mark. He listed a lot of reasons and people that have put the NBA in this great position and a lot of people who are about to benefit.
And I think the one thing that the NBA through this era of prosperity has to be very aware of is what they can do for the fan. Because prices continue to go up. Everything around the live viewing experiences continues to increase.
And I just think we have to keep the fan in mind. And I think sometimes when you’re in this prosperity era, where everything is going well, we can lose sight of who are the main reasons for our successes – the great players, the people who drive the business aspect, but it’s also the fans that continue to buy the product.
And I think we have to look out as all this money is getting passed around. How can we make it better for the fan? Is there a way to cut concessions or ticket prices to make it more affordable? I think it’s something we need to explore.
Jeff, beyond your idea you mentioned regarding fans, of all the ideas tossed around casually the last few weeks (LeBron suggesting a shorter season, NBA thinking about a 44-minute game trying, that in preseason). Are there any of these ideas or others which you haven’t mentioned that would be a good idea for the league and do any of these strike you as absurd?
VAN GUNDY: Well, I think this goes to the fan idea. I think fans oftentimes get an inferior product on back-to-back games, and I think that has to be the number one thing that gets addressed for the fans and for the players. – the elimination or the drastic reduction of back-to-back games. And I think it starts with the owners giving up preseason games. There’s no need and I’ll tell you how you know there’s no need for these preseason games – it’s because no one plays in them.
And yet we charge the same prices. And so let’s stop with the ruse that we need seven preseason games or eight preseason games to get a team ready. So let’s play two games, three games, and start the regular season two weeks earlier so we can eliminate some back to back games. Let’s not have as long a period at the All-Star break for back-to-back games.
So we can reduce them. And let’s extend the season a week or two in the regular season so that we can drastically reduce – or the goal should be to totally eliminate back-to-back games. I think that more so than the number of games of 82 or the length of a game of the 48 minutes needs to be changed. Because again, as a fan, they deserve our very best and you never want to give your players excuses, but to expect them to play great after playing the night before and flying three hours to a different time zone to have the same energy I think is a stretch and I think it leads to a lot of bad basketball and doesn’t give the product that we should be giving our fans.
JACKSON: And I’m in total agreement pretty much with everything that Jeff just stated. As a former player, I wouldn’t want to get rid of back-to-backs totally. But I would certainly minimize the amount of back-to-backs.
I definitely agree with Jeff as far as the preseason games being played. There’s no way in the world that the number should be seven or eight preseason games. That would certainly help scheduling and minimizing how many back-to-back games there are during the course of the season.
I’m in agreement that it should be two or three preseason games because you have training camp. You have the games. There’s plenty of time to get guys situated and get a system in and get yourself ready for a long season.
I like the idea of what they played with as far as extending the All-Star break. It gives guys an opportunity to enjoy their families, shut their bodies down. For the guys in the All-Star game, they really don’t have a break.
I think we should keep them in mind. But I’m in total agreement with what Coach just said.
I just wondered why you guys think the East has just been unable, besides Miami, to compete with the West in overall depth over the last few years? This year, like Coach Van Gundy just said, seems like the same thing. Why is that? Is it just a cycle? Why are most of the bad teams, the lottery teams in the East and what are your thoughts on the voting down the lottery reform and whether you guys think the Draft lottery needs a reform?
VAN GUNDY: I have no idea why the disparity for such a prolonged period of time. I have no idea. As far as lottery reform, I don’t think there should be any incentive at all to lose. I don’t think that you should get one advantage from losing. And so I’m for anything that takes out any incentive to lose.
I think the next part, where I agree with the players, particularly the star players, is that I think there should be a salary cap like we have. Whatever the number is. But I don’t think there should be like a player cap within that salary cap.
So if someone wants to pay LeBron James $40 million a year and have 40 more million for the rest of their team, I think that’s fine to me. I don’t understand why we don’t limit anybody else in the game really other than the best players.
And I just don’t think that’s fair or equitable.
JACKSON: And I think like you stated in that question, it’s just a cycle. And this is a time when outside of LeBron, the best players pretty much have been in the Western Conference, with the best teams. And the East has struggled for some period outside of the success of the Miami Heat.
But I think with LeBron [staying in] the Eastern Conference, we’ll see teams in the Eastern Conference get better. When you look at some of the teams at the bottom of the Eastern Conference, they are getting better.
When you continue to add talent and draft picks, you’ve got no choice but to get better. And in agreement with Coach, it’s scary that we’re agreeing so early on, this is not the norm, but I certainly agree that teams should not be rewarded when you talk about the Draft being reformed for losing.
So I really believe that at the end of the day, it should be a situation where it’s a straight up lottery of some form where we’re not encouraging teams to find ways to lose games when it matters most during the course of the season.
Jeff, obviously Brooklyn set the payroll record last year and it didn’t quite work. Obviously taking a step back, they didn’t bring back Paul Pierce and lost Kidd and now rumblings about the owners selling. How do you assess the management of Brooklyn and its prospects going forward, given all the risks they’ve taken?
VAN GUNDY: Well I think, and it’s proven out in professional sports, stability wins. And everything starts at the very top and it gets passed down. So great ownership over periods of time will win out. And then having stability in your front office and having stability in the coaching end of it pays off.
So they have had some things where they haven’t been stable. I give them credit for even though the moves weren’t necessarily great moves, but for at least trying to give a great product to their fans. Trying to win.
Now, they didn’t work. It’s going to cost them in the future, obviously, with a lot of draft picks and things of that nature. But I’m going to be very interested to see how they play this year.
I like their team. I think they’re a playoff team. But a lot of it goes to health as it always does and are Deron Williams and Brook Lopez going to be healthy. And if they are, they’re going to have a chance to be a top four seed in the East.
I know you’re a big supporter of Kidd last season. What do you think of his move to Milwaukee and how it was handled by both him and the Nets?
JACKSON: Unfortunately, not being there, I don’t know how it was really handled. I only know how it was reported and I think from both sides it could have been dealt with better.
One thing I do know is that Jason Kidd has proven to be a very good coach. I think after the team struggling early on last year, they got it back together and Coach talked about stability being key to success, he also touched on health.
I think when you talk about Deron Williams not being 100 percent, when you talk about Brook Lopez obviously being out for an extended period of time, that was a team that found a way in spite of those injuries to get into the playoffs and have some success. And then I look at Jason now and that Milwaukee team is a young, talented, well coached basketball team that is going to be dangerous.
And I like their direction. So obviously I’m a Jason Kidd supporter and I think that both the Nets and Jason could have handed it better. But I’m only speaking from what was reported, not from the facts.
What do you guys think of the Philadelphia 76ers? Last year they only won 19 games, 26-game losing streak, in a total rebuilding process and asking the fans to be patient. And they feel down the road that the team’s going to be very competitive, be able to compete with the best teams in the league. I’d just like to get your thoughts on the whole process and what kind of year do you see them having?
VAN GUNDY: They’re playing by the rules. And when you play by the rules, this is why I think there needs to be lottery reform. They’re trying to accumulate talent. And it’s hard to get a player or players who can be the best players on the best team and win it. There’s like maybe 12 guys that you see could be the best player on the team and still win a championship.
And so to get one, it’s either you’re going to sign one, which is very hard, like a LeBron James, which Cleveland did, which had extraordinary circumstances or back in the day when O’Neal went from Orlando to LA, or you’re going to draft them. And what they’re trying to do is give themselves as many opportunities as they can to get that generational-type player that can be Tim Duncan-ish and come to a place and for two decades make you relevant and put you in the championship hunt.
Now, so I understand what they’re doing. I also understand why they’re asking their fans to be patient. I can also, from a fan standpoint, see why you would never buy a ticket right now because it’s a substandard product.
And I thought last year Brett Brown did one of the greatest coaching jobs I’ve ever seen. What did they win, 17 or 19? 19 games. He got them in great shape. They played with great confidence.
And even though they lost a lot last year, they didn’t play like a losing team. They came out, competed, played with great unselfishness, with a great attitude. I think they’re just less talented this year right now because Michael Carter-Williams is hurt. They lost Thaddeus Young who is a good player. [Joel] Embiid is hurt.
So if they win 15 games they will have overachieved to the highest level.
JACKSON: I think the concern is as Coach said, substandard product right now. I watched three guys in the Draft work out and I would have taken two with the number one pick.
I love Wiggins, with all due respect, but there’s no question that Jabari Parker would have been my number one pick or it would have been Joel Embiid. I watched both of those players and they were absolute home run players, home run talent and work ethic, incredible. They’re headed in the right direction.
It’s about getting healthy. When you talk about Embiid and Michael Carter Williams being healthy, you can see two guys at those positions that are going to seal it for a long time. And my concern with the Sixers, they developed a losing culture, when you have that many young guys, they don’t know how to win and all they know right now is losing.
At some point you’ve got to develop a culture of winning and winning habits and gaining some results so the guys can believe it. Because that can fester and be like a disease that you’ve got to rid those guys of in order to get a winning culture.
So that would be my concern, if I was the Sixers right now.
I just want to know how big of a jump do you think it’s going to be for Derek Fisher to go from playing the game to coaching it? What do you think his biggest challenges are going to be with the Knicks and finally with Jason, having made the same jump last year, do you see this now as a trend in hiring and what do you guys think of it?
JACKSON: Well, I think when you pick the right person, it can be successful. So certainly, do your homework. Interview guys. Watch their body of work beforehand.
And there have been so many – whether it be even hiring veteran coaches, there have been some that have been successful, a lot that have been successful. There have been a lot that have failed.
So I think it goes the same way with hiring guys fresh off of playing. You can’t say it doesn’t work if somebody is not successful at it. But I think when you look at Derek Fisher, when you look at his body of work as a player, as a leader, as a quality guy, there’s no question that he’s a guy that you can see being a head coach in this league for a long time to come.
So I’m sure he’ll do just fine. And he’s a guy that’s studied. He’s reached out to coaches. He’s prepared for this moment. So I think he’ll do just fine. The challenge is when you take these jobs, taking jobs where you’re in position to win.
Obviously him having Phil Jackson making decisions in the front office, they’re going to what you believe is put them in position to be successful and by that I mean getting talent around them. I think it’s overblown to believe that somebody from the front office could win or lose ball games. This is going to be on Derek Fisher. And if it’s not on Derek Fisher, then he loses credibility within that locker room.
I’m sure he understands that. But he’s a young talented basketball mind that’s going to do very well. And I think it’s a trend that has gone that way lately. And some have been very successful and some haven’t. But I think ultimately you’ve gotta do your homework with knowing who you’re selecting to spearhead your next move as an organization and a franchise.
VAN GUNDY: I agree with Mark in that to me it’s all about who you’re picking and not just their level of experience. I think experience in any job is a great help. And whether you start as a head coach or start as an assistant coach anything you do will help you formulate your philosophy. And yet people like Mark who had never coached, hit it out of the park in Golden State.
And so there’s no right or wrong. You asked about Jason Kidd. I think how Jason Kidd left Brooklyn has gotten a lot more attention unfortunately than what was accomplished when Jason Kidd was there. I thought Jason Kidd, after a real struggle early, kept his team together, helped them when they were injured to figure out a style of play that would help them be successful.
They won a tough seventh game on the road in the playoffs. So I think right now, because of all the innuendos thrown out about how he left, what gets overlooked is what a good job he did in his one year.
And I think Lionel Hollins is a great coach as well. But great coaching, if it was easy to always know that it was going to follow a certain path, it would be easy to pick a great coach.
I think different coaches have followed different paths and I think that the most important thing is to do what Pat Riley always used to say as far as identifying a coach. Find someone who is competent, sincere, reliable and trustworthy.
And I think that’s what the New York Knicks have in Derek Fisher.
I was curious after seeing him play this preseason and knowing Kobe, how do you envision him playing this year, considering coming off of two major injuries?
JACKSON: I think he’s going to be aggressive. I think he’s going to be in attack mode. I think he’s going to score the basketball. But I think that’s a team that’s going to struggle.
When you talk about the talent level and having the battle in the Western Conference, he’s got to be incredible or have an incredible season for them to have a chance to make the playoffs.
They’re just a team that’s in the process of changing right now. But it’s refreshing as a fan of the game to see him back. But I think the talent level around him will make it a tough season for the Los Angeles Lakers.
VAN GUNDY: I agree with Mark. You’ve seen even in preseason there’s been no hesitation or shyness. He’s getting them up there. And he’s going to have to be aggressive and efficient and really hit home runs every night, because around them they just don’t have the level of talent that the Laker fans are used to seeing.
And I think defensively they’re really going to be challenged. They just don’t have defenders. They don’t have basket protectors. I mean, it’s going to be a challenge to get stops.
And so everyone’s going to focus on Bryant and there’s a lot of noise around now about him. But it’s great to have him back. He’s going to give championship effort.
He’s going to play as well as a 36 year old guard can play in this league. But at the end of the day they’re going through a rebuilding phase right now and they’re just going to have a lot of times where they can’t get stops. Because of that, it’s going to be a little bit of a struggle.
On that point, the talent you mentioned and the defensive part, Jeff, how do they overcome that? What’s your biggest area of concerns in regard to those two areas, as far as the talent?
VAN GUNDY: That they don’t have it. I’m being serious. How do you overcome that? You don’t. That’s why teams lose to better teams in this league. To think that Carlos Boozer all of a sudden is going to lock down the forward position and be able to guard pick and rolls, that’s not happening. To think that they’re going to get a shot blocking center that’s an everyday presence, Ronnie Price going from third point guard to he may start for them.
These are real issues. These aren’t easy things to overcome. It’s hard to win in this league, and I don’t think people understand how hard it is to get one win, let alone be a team that can be in the 50 win range and to do that you’ve got to have a lot of things.
And the Lakers have had it for their whole history. So what they’re going through now is what most teams go through a lot of these struggles to find a roster that is capable of competing for a championship or to get into the playoffs.
This is not unusual. It’s just unusual for the Lakers.
With regard to Russell Westbrook, I am curious where you both would rank him in terms of best player in the game or best players in the game, and just how ready do you think he is to take on this challenge of carrying the Thunder team without Kevin Durant?
JACKSON: I love Russell Westbrook. He’s as good as it gets. Extreme motor. Extreme passion for the game. Extreme competitor and playing against or coaching against Russell Westbrook, it baffled me when people would talk about they needed him to be more of a point guard.
I wish he was – in coaching against him – more a point guard because it would make life easier for me as an opposing coach to game plan against him. I think what makes that team so dangerous or what has made them so dangerous and so successful has been that two-headed monster of Durant and Westbrook. As great as Durant is, I think Westbrook’s greatness and his constant attack mode makes life so much easier for everybody else on the floor.
But he’s as good as it gets. Not just at a point guard position, but he’s to me he’s a top five, top seven player in this league and I think that team is going to be successful in the absence of Durant and when he comes back they’ll take time to pick up where they left off.
I don’t have them missing much. And that’s not to disrespect Durant. I just think that obviously Scott Brooks has done an outstanding job coaching that team. They’re loaded with talent. And they have a culture of winning. So they will find ways to win ball games along with Westbrook’s greatness.
VAN GUNDY: I agree with Mark. I love Russell Westbrook. I love his competitive spirit. They always say your greatest strength is your greatest weakness. And so I love his emotion.
I love his emotion and aggressiveness. Sometimes can that be a negative? Yeah, but who cares. You look at the body of work, as Mark always says, and overall Russell Westbrook has been one of the great draft choices and unexpected by many for him to have this type of career.
I mean, this is a guy who came out of college, who wasn’t labeled a point guard. He has made the transition extremely well. He handled an injury after being extremely durable and has come back. I just love everything about him.
You know, they have a real challenge with Durant out. They’re going to need everybody to be playing well. And I think if they can be .500 during his absence or a little bit above, that will be a tremendous accomplishment.
They have great stability. They have ownership stability. They have Sam Presti stability and they have Scott Brooks stability, along with their two foundational pieces in Durant and Westbrook. Now one of those foundation pieces is out, but because of [Serge] Ibaka, Reggie Jackson and Nick Collison, Perkins, if he gets back from injury, they’ll be able to manage Durant’s absence. But no one can overcome it.
So I think a great goal for them would be .500, a little bit over. That would be a tremendous accomplishment in the West during Durant’s absence.
Why don’t more teams use the triangle offense? And I know Jeff you’re not a big fan of the preseason, but just judging from what you’ve seen from the Knicks, do they look like a playoff team? Do you think they’re going to make the playoffs?
VAN GUNDY: So yes I think they’ll make the playoffs. And yes, I still agree with myself that the preseason is a waste of time. So I’m going to agree with both of those things. The triangle, first of all, you don’t teach anything you don’t know.
I think anybody confusing a system with a reason for success is making a huge mistake. Systems don’t win games, players do. What you try to do with any system that you incorporate is to put the players in their areas of strength and try to hide or minimize their weaknesses.
And the triangle for Pippen and Jordan, with a lot of shooting around them, was a tremendous system. The same with Bryant and O’Neal and Gasol and Bryant. So it can work and other systems could have worked and they would have won it.
So the triangle itself is just an offense based on freedom of the ball to go to different places. Everybody feeling involved. I think it’s a good thing. But the triangle itself is not going to be the reason they win or lose. It’s going to come down to Carmelo Anthony playing exceptionally well, [Iman] Shumpert bouncing back with a big year. J.R. Smith playing well. All of those things. It’s not going to be because of a system.
JACKSON: And I agree with Coach. Obviously in this league you win with players and Phil Jackson had tremendous success in his coaching career with the triangle offense, with incredible basketball players, all-time great basketball players.
And I think that more than a system won the championship. I think there are teams in this league that run part of the triangle offense. But nobody has experienced the success of Phil Jackson with that system.
And talking about whether they’ll make the playoffs, I think they’ll be in the hunt along with some other improved teams in the Eastern Conference. The question will be the challenge on the defensive end for the Knicks, the approach defensively, and I think the wildcard is Amare Stoudemire, watching him in the preseason he’s got a lot of body, looks like, sad to say, the old Amare. He was a guy that was explosive at the rim, pick and pop as good as it gets, big man in the pick and roll situation. But that’s a team that’s going to be in the mix with a bunch of other teams as far as chasing down a playoff slot.
When you said you believe they will make the playoffs, what’s the number one reason why you say that?
VAN GUNDY: Well, I like [Jose] Calderon. Not just that he’s a great shooting, low-turnover point guard, which really doesn’t fit necessarily the triangle, in that he’s not going to be in a lot of pick and rolls. But I also think he has Nash like qualities where he’s a beloved teammate.
And in difficult situations, he can bring people together. I think he’s a great leader coming into a team. I also think Carmelo Anthony is going to find a way to have a great year. And then they need, I think, their wing play is going to improve. Last year their wing play was not even close to good enough.
And I think both Smith and Shumpert will have better years.
Jeff, I know you were a believer in the Rockets last year, and you mentioned that you thought five teams from the West had a chance to make the Finals. Are the Rockets one of those teams, and if so why? If not, why not? And how much of a difference would Bosh have made?
VAN GUNDY: I think I was a little light on my Western teams. I actually have six teams. And I do think the Rockets are one of them. It’s well chronicled they lost a lot of good pieces, Chandler Parsons being the highest paid one that went away.
But I thought [Omer] Asik had some great moments for the Rockets and I think they would have been seeded higher last year if not for him being unavailable for a good chunk of the regular season.
And Jeremy Lin, I think, even though it’s become a sport unto itself to try to pick apart Jeremy Lin, he was a valuable contributor there. So I think they did a good job in getting Trevor Ariza. I think their starting lineup has better balance between offense and defense there now with Ariza there. And you have two of the top 10 players in the game in Dwight Howard and James Harden. So I think it’s going to come down to they’re going to score and score well. And then what are they capable of on the defensive end? Will Harden and Howard set an every night tone? Because everybody can talk about it. Everybody can say it in the preseason, and that’s why I really don’t listen to a lot of what people say. It’s about what they do. And so will they set that tone defensively every night where everybody else says, man, defense is important to our two best players? They’re going for it this year, and then [Patrick] Beverly and [Terrence] Jones and Ariza, their defensive prowess becomes even more impactful.
So I think it really comes down to the defense and getting better and it starts always with your best players.
Bosh, how much of a difference would he have made?
VAN GUNDY: That’s a night and day difference. You know what I’m saying? Because not only if they had Bosh, but then they match on Chandler. So the roster is just different. Bosh is a great, great basketball player with the versatility from a shooting standpoint to do what Houston loves to do which is spread the floor and also the versatility that he could have been the backup center.
He could get to the free throw line. I mean, he’s already proven, Bosh has, that he can play and fit in with other great players. So listen, if they got Bosh, I think they would have had the best roster in the league, because I think then they would have gone over the – I think they would have chosen to have gone over – not only the salary cap but the luxury tax, but they would have been all in and I think it would have been a good bet with that team.
Mark, do you agree that Houston is one of the five or six that could be a finalist?
JACKSON: I agree with that. And the reason why is just like Coach said you’ve got two of the top 10 players in the world and game changers. Dwight Howard, his ability to dominate from the paint position. He looks healthy. His body looks live and James Harden, offensively he’s got it all, his ability to score the basketball, carry that team, get to the free throw line and put pressure on your defense. I think the challenge with them won’t be scoring the basketball. The challenge with them will be being better on the defensive end.
And when they do that, they’re a dangerous team that’s certainly more than capable of winning it all.
I have a Miami Heat question for each of you. Jeff, when you look at teams that have lost the superstar like Miami just did, a lot of times they go into these prolonged slides. Do you think Miami has done enough to avoid that?
VAN GUNDY: It’s hard to recover from losing a talent like James. But Miami has shown, with Micky Arison and Pat Riley, that they have found ways to always acquire a star. And in this case they kept stars and everybody is talking about Wade’s diminishing skills.
And I don’t see a diminishing in skills. I think diminishing area is in health. So it’s critical that he remain healthy for them to have a shot. I think Bosh is an excellent player. I think they’re going to win between 45 and 50 games. I think they’ve got a great shot to have home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
And I think they will guard and they’re going to share the ball and they won’t beat themselves and I think Erik Spoelstra does a magnificent job. I think they’re going to be a very solid playoff contender and yet down the road, you look in a couple more years, Wade and Bosh, as they keep getting older, where is that next star talent going to come from?
The only thing I would say is Micky Arison and Pat Riley have found a way since Pat Riley has been there for years.
Mark, from a coaching perspective what do you think about the idea of running an offense primarily through Chris Bosh?
JACKSON: That’s a great question. And Chris Bosh is a proven guy. When you look at his success in Toronto when he was the primary focus on the offensive end, his ability to post the basketball, isolating that post area, getting to the free throw line, he’s now added the ability to step out and shoot the three-pointer. He’s a guy that certainly can carry that team at times.
But their success will depend on the health of Dwyane Wade, his explosiveness, how he’s able to bounce back from game to game. He’s a guy that’s a game changer and proven to be able to carry a team offensively whether it be pick and roll, isolations – that team will win ball games because of the culture that’s been developed, the habits that they have, because of Micky Arison and Pat Riley and Erik Spoelstra. I thought they did a great job of identifying Luol Deng, a guy who doesn’t have to prepare for a system. He knows how to play the game of basketball and he’s a winner.
I think this preseason I’ve heard four or five different teams claim to have the best back court in the league. Just wondered where you thought the Warriors fit in in that discussion, and also with Klay [Thompson] and Steph [Curry] playing together for a fourth season now, how do you see them expanding together as they go forward?
JACKSON: I think there are a number of teams that can boast having the best back court in the league. And certainly the Warriors are one of those teams. I’m close to those guys. Obviously, in my opinion they’re the greatest shooting back court that’s ever played in the game.
They certainly are in discussion for the best back court in the game. And when you’re talking about Steph’s jump from what he was to an All-Star and All-Star starter and talk about Klay’s jump to where he is a guy that’s going to make a boatload of money and in my opinion the best two way shooting guard in the world, and it’s not even close. To see the summer they have had, both winning gold medal winners, and both high-quality, high-character individuals that defend and compete, I think they’re in the discussion and I would be biased to say that they are.
VAN GUNDY: I want you to be my height man, I love it. I agree with Mark. I think what’s been overlooked is Curry’s improvement from when he first came in to now. I think he was always a great shooter, but I mean he is a great, great player. I’m not into rankings as much. But he’s gotta be in the top 15 players in the world, right? I mean, this guy is so good.
When Mark said what I thought at the time was the audacious thing of the best shooting back court ever last year and Klay Thompson being the best two way guard and you start studying it and you say to yourself who guards like Klay Thompson? I think Klay Thompson his defensive versatility is a perfect fit for Curry in that they can always put Thompson on whoever is the most difficult matchup and with his size and length and lateral quickness, I mean, it wasn’t like Klay Thompson came in a great defender through his work and great coaching in Golden State. This guy has really developed into like a legitimate all defensive type player which fits in perfectly with Curry.
So to me Klay Thompson is without question a maximum-salary player. And I think he’s going to get it. I mean, he’s going to get it from someone. This guy is a max-salary guy.
JACKSON: You can take the think out. He’s going to get it.
VAN GUNDY: You’re right. And he should. He’s that good.