Shortly after winning the 2008-09 NBA Championship as a Lakers assistant coach, Kurt Rambis interviewed for the head coaching job of the Minnesota Timberwolves, impressing new President of Basketball Operations David Kahn and owner Glen Taylor enough to beat out a slew of other candidates.
What Rambis inherited was the league’s newest roster, full of young players, freshly-signed free agents and only five holdovers from the previous season.
To break down a complicated offseason and look ahead towards Rambis’ first campaign as the main man in Minnesota, we called Wolves radio play-by-play voice Alan Horton.
Prior to every home game, we sit down with whichever Lakers assistant coach prepares the scouting report for that night’s opponent, which in this case is the Dallas Mavericks.
Jim Cleamons joined us after practice yesterday to talk about the addition of Shawn Marion, what to do defensively with Dirk Nowitzki in Pau Gasol’s absence and how the improvement in Jason Kidd’s outside shooting makes him a different player.
Of course, the same level of talent that existed in the Valley of the Sun during the team’s magical run may no longer be in place, but with the presence of Steve Nash, Amare Stoudemire, Grant Hill, Jason Richardson and Leandro Barbosa, Phoenix can still get up and down the floor.
In fact, Suns TV play-by-play voice Tom Leander told us that Head Coach Alvin Gentry sets the practice shot clock at 18 seconds, and the team is expected to continue the running pace that produced 100+ points in 27 of the team’s final 31 games last season.
For those details, a health update on Stoudemire/Nash and more, here’s Leander:
The Oklahoma City Thunder promise to be a very good basketball team sometime in the near future … the question is, can that possibly be this season? Too early?
With a talented young roster spearheaded by Kevin Durant (who could well lead the NBA in scoring in 2009-10), the Thunder started last season on a horrid 3-27 pace, but rebounded to win 19 games to 30 losses after January 1. Durant put up 25.5 points per game on 47.6 percent shooting and 42.2 percent from three, plus 6.5 rebounds and 1.3 steals, while rookie Russell Westbrook and second year forward Jeff Green served as solid complements.
To look more closely at the Thunder, we called radio play-by-play voice Matt Pinto.
Rockets radio play-by-play voice Craig Ackerman joined us to talk about a team that became quite familiar to the Lakers after a seven-game Western Conference Semis last season.
However, this group of Rockets is quite different from the 2008-09 variety, first due to the season-ending injury suffered by Yao Ming, in addition to the Ron Artest for Trevor Ariza swap (effectively) that occurred in free agency. Yet we did learn a potentially positive piece of news about Tracy McGrady when speaking with Ackerman after asking him about T-Mac’s status:
“Frankly I’d be shocked if (his return is) any later than (December),” he said. “At least from what I can see with my own eyes, he looks great … I think if it were up to him personally, he’d be playing right now.”
Ackerman also offered his take on Ariza’s first few weeks in Houston, talked about Ron Artest’s 2008-09 for the Rockets and delved into the point guard combo of Aaron Brooks and Kyle Lowry.
It’s quite a mix in Memphis, with veteran scorers Zach Randolph and Allen Iverson being added to a young core of Rudy Gay, O.J. Mayo, Mike Conley and Marc Gasol, not to mention No. 2 overall pick Hasheem Thabeet.
To help us break things down, we dialed up Grizzlies radio play-by-play voice Eric Hasseltine.
Hasseltine pointed out that Memphis lost Darrell Arthur to a torn pectoral muscle that could keep him out up to four months (a blow since Arthur was set to be the first Grizzly off the bench), discussed the unfortunate Andrew Bynum injuries suffered in back-to-back years against Memphis and offered his insight into Mayo and Gay in particular.
The Golden State Warriors, a.k.a. the league’s youngest team, may not jump off the page as a title contender … but they’re sure fun to watch. With high-flying youngsters like Monta Ellis, Stephen Curry, Anthony Randolph and Andris Biedrins plus Stephen Jackson, there’s plenty of offense coming out of the Bay Area.
We spent some time with Warriors TV play-by-play voice Bob Fitzgerald to talk about the team that traded Al Harrington and Jamal Crawford and went 31-51 last season yet is sure to score in the 100’s.
It promises to be an interesting season in Texas as the Dallas Mavericks are set to take the floor with five key players who are at least 31 years old: Jason Kidd (36), Erick Dampier (34), Jason Terry (32), Dirk Nowitzki (31) and Shawn Marion (31).
While they may be old in NBA years, they’re also pretty good, with Kidd, Dirk and Matrix combining for 21 All-Star appearances in their collective careers. Yet it’s not all positive in Dallas right now, as head coach Rick Carlisle recently said that athletic swingman Josh Howard, still recovering from offseason ankle surgery, could be out for “weeks.”
We welcomed in Dallas TV play-by-play voice Mark Followill to go over those topics and more.
Our tour of the Western Conference next went through Utah, where we welcomed Salt Lake Tribune beat writer Ross Siler to discuss a team that’s consistently given the Lakers a tough test.
Siler broke down the Carlos Boozer - Paul Millsap power forward situation, confirmed a statement that Deron Williams (not Chris Paul) may be the best point guard in the NBA, offered his take on Andrei Kirilenko and Mehmet Okur and gave us his Top 5 coaches to interview (including both Jerry Sloan and Phil Jackson).
The Lakers first see Utah on Dec. 9 at STAPLES Center before flying to Salt Lake City that same week.
Prior to the 2008-09 season, the Hornets were considered among the steadiest of road blocks thought to impede L.A.’s chances in the West, but the Hornets ended up fighting just to finish seventh to earn the right to face Denver in the First Round, where they fell 4-1.
In the offseason, the Hornets traded center Tyson Chandler for Charlotte’s Emeka Okafor, lost Rasual Butler to the Clippers and drafted UCLA point guard Darren Collison to back up Chris Paul.
Hornets radio studio host Joe Block joined us to discuss those topics and more as we continue piecing through the Western Conference.
Shortly after winning the 2008-09 NBA Championship as a Lakers assistant coach, Kurt Rambis interviewed for the head coaching job of the Minnesota Timberwolves, impressing new President of Basketball Operations David Kahn and owner Glen Taylor enough to beat out a slew of other candidates.
Seven seconds or less is back in Phoenix.
The Oklahoma City Thunder promise to be a very good basketball team sometime in the near future … the question is, can that possibly be this season? Too early?
Rockets radio play-by-play voice Craig Ackerman joined us to talk about a team that became quite familiar to the Lakers after a seven-game Western Conference Semis last season.
It’s quite a mix in Memphis, with veteran scorers Zach Randolph and Allen Iverson being added to a young core of Rudy Gay, O.J. Mayo, Mike Conley and Marc Gasol, not to mention No. 2 overall pick Hasheem Thabeet.
The Golden State Warriors, a.k.a. the league’s youngest team, may not jump off the page as a title contender … but they’re sure fun to watch. With high-flying youngsters like Monta Ellis, Stephen Curry, Anthony Randolph and Andris Biedrins plus Stephen Jackson, there’s plenty of offense coming out of the Bay Area.
It promises to be an interesting season in Texas as the Dallas Mavericks are set to take the floor with five key players who are at least 31 years old: Jason Kidd (36), Erick Dampier (34), Jason Terry (32), Dirk Nowitzki (31) and Shawn Marion (31). 
Our tour of the Western Conference next went through Utah, where we welcomed 
Prior to the 2008-09 season, the Hornets were considered among the steadiest of road blocks thought to impede L.A.’s chances in the West, but the Hornets ended up fighting just to finish seventh to earn the right to face Denver in the First Round, where they fell 4-1.
