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djsunyc
Posts: 44927
Alba Posts: 42
Joined: 1/16/2004
Member: #536
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- how ya doing lb? i'm dying mike (jokingly). he has alot of young kids trying to get better. he's in an evironment that he loves but feels bad that he hasn't delivered. he has to do better. he's motivated by that and looks forward to help turning this thing around.
- it's almost 50 games, do you have a feel after 50 games? no, he knows our team. when lb got the job, he thought he would have a veteran team with young kids coming off the bench. then getting eddy changed the dynamics of the team in alot of ways. he's in favor of that and he's happy they have eddy. when he talked about the job, he thought it was steph, penny/h20, tim, sweets, jerome. and then everything changed when they got eddy and then more injuries came on and forced us to play young kids. it's not easy to play the young kids around quality teams. he thinks it's a healthier environment with the young kids that are trying to get better.
- about bringing in vets like lynch and ratliff...lb doesn't want to do anything for a quick fix. anybody they bring in, isiah mills dolan talk about this as a 3 year plan. if they can win great, but they want to build for the future. they did bring jalen in but they got a lottery pick out of that and he will help the young kids development. any move they think about doing, they talk about how will it impact us over the next 3 years. he doesn't mind vets coming in here and he sacrficies toughness over ability anyday and they have a couple of kids that can get better.
- about the AD comments...it's not true. isiah has a way he wants to play and that's the way isiah has coached. he has an idea of how to build a team and when lb got the job, the only thing he asked was to listen to him. and if you're going to hire me, then you have to be comfortable with the way i coach and isiah has always been comfortable with that. it's not easy changing things overnight. and they're not going to make a move unless he feels comfortable coaching them and will help for the future. he hurts b/c when he sees how we play, the turnovers, no defense, it's killing lb b/c of the fans and isiah has assured him he will help him without mortgaging the future.
- do the young kids understand that? playing in ny is different. he can talk for 45 mins and read an article and see one statement he made and can't even remember when he said it. lb was joking about trevor being delusional and going to ucla and all of the sudden it was a big deal. lb made a statement about wins and loses, only about getting better...well it was presented to steph in a different way and said steph didn't agree with that. lb then joked back about going to an engineering school and all of the sudden it's blown up like it's news. he explains that to the players. he's completely honest with the players and some take it better than others. all he's trying to do is coach them and make them better, as long as they understand that, it's good. the character of the team tells him that they do understand.
- about curry...curry is 22 and younger than frye. he's unbelievably athletic and really wants to do well. what he noticed during his career is he's not a consistent, rebounder, shotblocker and defender. in most big men progress, there's been a jump as each year. all he talks to eddy about is defend, rebound and block shots and that's something he never dealt with before. we don't throw him the ball b/c we don't have alot of guys that can throw it to him inside. our perimeter guys may be playing out of position and have difficulty throwing the ball down low but with steph + jalen, it will help.
- about the young guys...he's trying to play lee in the SF spot and he's never played there before. they had injuries and lee never played SF. then they get AD, mo, malik, and channing at the PF. they were shorthanded at SF and started working with him at that position. he has alot of deficiencies there but he's getting better and better. will he be an nba starter? probably not but he can be a good player and a contributor but he needs to learn how to play on the perimeter and that's tough.
- talking about ball distributor and marbury...lb can live with steph - absolutely. the more quality players you have around steph, and the more options he'll have, the better he'll distribute the ball. with jalen, it will help. he's tried everything lb has asked. he's never had the prototypical pg, remember, he had haywood workman but wasn't a natural pg. you gotta try to bring out the best in what a guy brings and he truly believes steph is doing everything he's asked of him.
- is he getting the effort from the players? we've had nights with no effort. he saw nate, jamal, q2, frye, and butler playing major minutes and they have vince, rj, kidd, and cliff. but to lb, those kids are going to get better. q2 has improved as much as anybody that he's coach and believes jackie is going to be in the league a long time. he likes that but what he doesn't like is that he's putting out a bunch of kids out at the same time and that's a recipe to fail and that's not fair.
- jerome...he's come to practice and he's trying to get better. the last couple of games, they've seen signs of him doing things they asked him to do. he's been playing with a bad hamstring all year but he's been great and really believes he'll get better.
- is there a light at the end of the tunnel? he understands ny fans frustrations. best fans, most knowledgeable fans. he has a great owner that will give them any resource they need. he has a gm that he trusts and cares about lb. they have more assets now before isiah got here and some young kids they can build around. the future is bright but right now it seems ugly but he can deal with this. it's going to make winning here alot better for what they have to go through now. lb sometimes wants to jump off the bridge sometimes but he has a great staff and the players really want to learn and want to get better. the games stink b/c you're not seeing the results but he does have faith and alot of people in this organization want to win.
- about the list for isiah? when lb took the job, he told isiah what he wanted. isiah knew that when he hired him. they both talk everyday and evaluate our team and every other team on a consistent basis. they just don't want to make any move that will kill our future. he thinks they have some young guys outside of frye to build something here. they can't mortgage our future for a trade and for the right reasons. he can live with steph. the more he sees steph, he's a guard and they have to make him the kind of guard he needs to be based on the personnel around him. he brings some special stuff to the table and he's gotta bring that out.
- is this rock bottom? well, we're pretty low but they gotta get steph back. they have to play differently, they have to find ways to stop turnovers, defend better. he's finding out after 50 games that he needs to do some things differently but that's ok. he thought it was going to be tough but not as tough of this. b/c of where we are the the love of the game in nyc, and it's important to the league for nyc to do well. we get no respect and when you're losing and a young team, they give you no respect but he keeps telling the players they have to earn that respect. nate, first game, started complaining to the officials and it impacted his development. he told them that he as to earn their respect. but if they ever do it in nyc, it helps the sport and that's the challenge he's taking.
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2/9/2006 3:24 PM
