Was it JVG who said that offense is about talent and defense is about coaching? Or something like that? It's a bit too simplistic but yeah coaching has a lot to do with defense. I blamed the coaching a lot for last season's bad defense, and now I give them the credit they deserve.
Daryl Morey on 790 a few minutes back. Just a quick recap of what I heard. Nothing major. 790: It's funny ebcause we get texts from you at random times, what is your time frame? What is your normal routine starting at about noon until you get to bed, say on a game day like yday. DM: First thing is a massage to loosen up, then my lifts in (hahhaha). I was on the road yday, I was at the Duke game. No routine which is pretty normal. 790: You got to be happy with what your team did last night. Rockets went there and took care of business. What you guys did as a defensive unit was nothing short of spectacular. DM: Defensively, is where we have hang our hats all year. Bulls have been a better team offensively than defensively this year which is unlike them. Got a bit of revenge. They beat us up in Chicago despite us leading for quite a bit. 790: They did pull down 41 bards between their bigs but they didn't score much but the Rockets bigs in TJ, DMo and Smith were right there with them. What about the energy these trio are brining? TJ is working back up DM: He started slow, he is now healthy and playing well. Josh gave us a huge lift and so did all of the band of brothers. High energy game and our guys were focussed. 790: You guys announced DH having this procedure on the knee. Can you explain what this procedure was, how concerned are you about long term effects and how long he may be out? DM: Doctor talked yday, we are very positive on him. We are confident he will be back in time for the playoffs. We feel good about him getting back. Fluid on the bone on his knee, we got to get that out. The bone marrow injection that they did is sort of a "only help but cannot hurt" situation. The injection has got some healing factor in there and can only help. Mostly its going to be just rest and in 4 weeks we will see if the fluid on his knee has cleared up. 790: Does Dwights' injury limit what you do or what you do on the trade deadline? DM: We feel good about him coming back before the playoffs, we are very focussed on the playoffs. Trade deadline wise it doesn't affect us too much, still focussed on putting the best team out there for the playoffs. 790: On Brewer being such a great transitiion D to offense guy and his impact alongside Trevor. DM: Trevor has got the long arms and gets so many steals due to anticipation. Corey is probably the highest energy guy I have probably had on a team. You can't help but have your beer motor lifted by watching him come and play so hard, one of the better pickups we have ever had during the season. His energy, his locker room presence and he has been a winner everywhere he has been. 790: On his 16 footer that went in and Worrell saying that's his shot. DM: We are happy for any shot that goes in. 790: Harden being WC player of the month in successive months. DM: I mean, if he keeps being player of the month, it has to translate to MVP. WC is the best conference and surely it means he is MVP. He is having a special season, we are nowhere without him. 790: Are you surprised with what Jason Kidd has done with the Bucks roster? DM: A little. They picked high over and over and over and eventually that kicks in a bit and results in having a better team and he has them playing together and playing very well.
Just trying to point out how DMo for Donatas is one of the least imaginative nicknames out there. Reminiscent of the nicknames from the 00s. TMac, Q-Rich, J-Rich, J-Chill, J-Farm, D-Fish, J-Ho, J-Kidd, K-Mart, D-Wade, etc etc etc/
Something that can't be captured in a recap is how he didn't sound worried at all about Dwight. He was very believable when he talked about it not being something they think is a major problem.
Great news now we are b****ing about nicknames! Gotta love it when we win because all the fire DM and McHale gets tossed aside for a day. Best thing about the interview is DM is still looking to improve this roster for the play-offs.
