S50 Clip City Presser

[MexicanMamba]

Last off-season was the first time that I can remember having any real money to play around with in free agency where it also made sense to try to spend big on it.  So, I put bait on the hook and sent it out into those waters.  I did not hit big, but I was able to pull enough able bodies to pull together a team that would have been a 50+ win team if not for the unfortunate mid-season injury to Marcel McAlister, who was also a first-time starter and 20-point scorer.  Terry Sterner took the reins at Point Guard full-time, also for the first time, and rewarded us with a 21-9-5 season, showing that he is more than capable of running a good basketball team.  We lost in the 1st round to a very game Thunder squad.  As disappointing as that was, we tried to re-focus.  Knowing that we again had more than enough cap space to dig into free agency, we wanted to go all-in on trying to build a winner around McAlister and Sterner.  We had several goals which we wanted to accomplish.  We needed more scoring first and foremost and with Grayson Allen and Jaren Jackson once again going into free agency, we needed presence in the paint. 

 
Enter:  John Stoll and Norris Turney. 

 
We are obviously no stranger to Mr. Stoll, who performed incredibly well for us a few seasons ago.  Things just were not fully complete around him, so we had to move on at the time.  Still, he was one of the most complete scorers on the market and we were happy to bring him back.  The big outside hire though is Norris Turney.  Players leaving the cold of Canada to the sunshine of California isn’t anything new.  Turney is an incredibly efficient scorer, leader and one hell of a defensive presence.  We look forward to the four-headed monster of Sterner, Turney, Stoll and Jere Ratliff to make life very difficult for opponents on the perimeter.

 
We were not able to bolster our post play as much as we would have liked to this point but having Randy Abney’s scoring and Daron Hord’s all-around ability back in the fold isn’t bad.  Adding defensive specialist, Derrick Hunter is a bonus as well.  Our young players, Harland Cain, Aaron Nesmith and rookie Point Guard, David McCafferty all had very nice training camps and will compete for playing time. 

 
We see a very real shot at making noise this season, so we are not finished making moves.  I’ve been working the phones all day long and will continue to do so every day until that trade deadline hits.  There’s already some smoke building up above the fires I’m creating, but I can get more into those when deals are finalized. 

 
I don’t have a set starting 5 just yet as some talks are on-going and preseason will be used to tinker and play around.  I can say that Sterner is my Point Guard and Turney is starting at the 2 or 3.  Things after that are a bit more uncertain at this time but you’ll know soon enough. 

 
Let me also say that we are excited to see new blood in the same division and look forward to getting into the trenches against everyone. 


Now, are there any questions?




Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

[ballsohard]

How did you feel about being picked by Pauly in the draft?

[MexicanMamba]

How did you feel about being picked by Pauly in the draft?

:: Thinks about all the mistakes I've made ::

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

[Darth Vegito]

How many games will you finish behind the Jazz?

[MexicanMamba]

How many games will you finish behind the Jazz?

The same number of games as there are Alex Caruso's on the Jazz roster

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

[Darth Vegito]

How many games will you finish behind the Jazz?

The same number of games as there are Alex Caruso's on the Jazz roster

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

So a tie...I like it!

[garbageman]

Sham Smith, Bulls.com: On paper, your team looks incredibly small-ball oriented. How do you weather the lack of post-presence until you can make some moves, perhaps at day 60? Despite having a lot of talent, do you have expectations for the first month and a half of play?

[MexicanMamba]

Sham Smith, Bulls.com: On paper, your team looks incredibly small-ball oriented. How do you weather the lack of post-presence until you can make some moves, perhaps at day 60? Despite having a lot of talent, do you have expectations for the first month and a half of play?

Moves will certainly have to be made, but until then we have already discussed making some gameplan choices defensively that our team is unaccustomed to. Generally speaking, we like to play a lot of man defense with emphasis on on-ball pressure. This current roster is more than capable of doing that on the perimeter but a lack of size would lead to suicide by manning up down low. So, preseason will be a test for running more zone sets with Marcel playing the 4 since he is strong and surprisingly adept at defending on the block.

It'll be fluid in the early-going as we adjust to all the new pieces and figuring out how to cover our deficiencies so a slower start wouldn't be shocking but I expect us to adapt quickly.

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

[K-100]

Heading into his 2nd season as the Clips starting point guard, where would you rank Terry Sterner among the league PGs at this point in his career?

[MexicanMamba]

Heading into his 2nd season as the Clips starting point guard, where would you rank Terry Sterner among the league PGs at this point in his career?

I'd say he's outside of the top 5 but certainly in that top 7-10 range. Yandell, Dangerfield, Bias, Dort, Hunt, Leiker, Morant, Raspberry, Winston and, after last season, Blakemore, have claims to the upper room. Due to his lack of perimeter shooting and turnovers, I can't put him at the very top with the likes of Yandell, Dangerfield but I say he can compete with most.

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

[NickMalone77]

The Lakers are in your conference now for the first time in at least a decade. Do you feel any sort of rivalry could potentially grow between you two now that you have to face them more often or who do you see now with your new division could potentially grow into that new feud for the Clippers?

[MexicanMamba]

The Lakers are in your conference now for the first time in at least a decade. Do you feel any sort of rivalry could potentially grow between you two now that you have to face them more often or who do you see now with your new division could potentially grow into that new feud for the Clippers?

There's been only some fun banter between the Lakers and Clippers to this point, particularly leading up to/after our Finals matchup. Once that was over, there wasn't much interaction because we saw each other so infrequently. Unless we have a number of consecutive playoff bouts in the coming years that's likely how it'll stay. Really, rivalries have eluded us. We've rarely been going full-stop at the same time as another squad nor had numerous memorable playoff battles with one. I'd say the Jazz but they just want to bug everyone and the Pacers set a target on their backs for the entire division as well. Perhaps Detroit, but our peaks and valleys look to be on opposite schedules.



Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

[greepleairport]

The Lakers are in your conference now for the first time in at least a decade. Do you feel any sort of rivalry could potentially grow between you two now that you have to face them more often or who do you see now with your new division could potentially grow into that new feud for the Clippers?

There's been only some fun banter between the Lakers and Clippers to this point, particularly leading up to/after our Finals matchup. Once that was over, there wasn't much interaction because we saw each other so infrequently. Unless we have a number of consecutive playoff bouts in the coming years that's likely how it'll stay. Really, rivalries have eluded us. We've rarely been going full-stop at the same time as another squad nor had numerous memorable playoff battles with one. I'd say the Jazz but they just want to bug everyone and the Pacers set a target on their backs for the entire division as well. Perhaps Detroit, but our peaks and valleys look to be on opposite schedules.



Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

It’s been a blast playing down the hall from one another but seriously though, who takes the series this season: Lakes or Clips?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[MexicanMamba]

The Lakers are in your conference now for the first time in at least a decade. Do you feel any sort of rivalry could potentially grow between you two now that you have to face them more often or who do you see now with your new division could potentially grow into that new feud for the Clippers?

There's been only some fun banter between the Lakers and Clippers to this point, particularly leading up to/after our Finals matchup. Once that was over, there wasn't much interaction because we saw each other so infrequently. Unless we have a number of consecutive playoff bouts in the coming years that's likely how it'll stay. Really, rivalries have eluded us. We've rarely been going full-stop at the same time as another squad nor had numerous memorable playoff battles with one. I'd say the Jazz but they just want to bug everyone and the Pacers set a target on their backs for the entire division as well. Perhaps Detroit, but our peaks and valleys look to be on opposite schedules.



Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

It’s been a blast playing down the hall from one another but seriously though, who takes the series this season: Lakes or Clips?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Right now, I have no problem saying the Lakers. Abney and Hord are incapable of slowing down Sabo and the inside scoring. I do look forward to some great Delmar-Bjorn-Bias vs Sterner-Turney-Loredo battles though.

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk