[sirius radio] Full Court Press: Kenny Smith today's interview

I just listened to todays interview.
Kenny interviews : SAM CASSELL!!

Sam talks about the lessons he learned during the Rockets championship years and how he applied them to the Clips.

Kenny first starts off by saying that he was doing a speaking event, then someone kept calling him like 3-4 times. he looks at the cell and its Sam!

He says he calls Sam back and Sam said he wanted to do Kenny's Sirius show today and talk about the Clips etc.

So today we hear Sam. Kenny calls Sam ' Two Ss and Two Ls' and Sam calls Kenny the ' the Jet '.

Kenny says he was shocked that during the 1st week of the season, he talked to Corey Magette and Corey told him that " Sam Cassell is our leader". Kenny was shocked that it only took 1 week and Sam was the leader.

Sam then talks about mentoring Shaun Livingston. Ian Eagle, the other host asks how can Sam ' A shoot first ' PG teach a ' pass first' guy like Shaun?

Sam says to be a successful PG, they have to respect you offensively. Once you get people playing agressive defense on you, its MUCH EASIER TO PASS. ( examples, Magic, Nash etc). Sam says he's trying to make Shaun be offensively agressive because of his skill/size.

Sam then talks about the lessons of the Rockets years:
Kenny asks "dont u guys want to be a lower seed so you can face Denver instead of Dallas"?

Sam says that (you know this Kenny) the Rockets won the championship as a 6th seed. That the best teams respond to the bigger challenges.

Lessons:
1. Respect and have confidence in all your teammates on and off the court. The team believes in each other and no one dogs on each other (knicks).

2. Told Elton Brand thats the superstar, he's the HORSE (sam calls him this). and that the Clips can only go as far as their HORSE takes them. Told him that he has to believe he's the superstar and act like it.

3. Told Chris Kaman that he should dominate the paint cause he's big and thats what hes suppose to do.

4. they have to learn win close games. Sam says winning close games is key to any championship.

5. Know what you do best. Sam says he can never be as fast as Iverson or dunk the ball (says his teammates would bet him $10k if he was going to dunk in a game). Sam says he knows he can freeze and fake players out in the midrange and score all night on it.

Other Moments:
1. Ian Eagle asks if whos a better shooter, him or Kenny. Sam says KENNY WAS THE BEST SHOOTER ON THE ROCKETS

2. Kenny said he promised to call Sam the "DON OF LA" if they made the playoffs.

....Clutch City 1&2 lives

 

my 2 cents:

1.part of me believes that the lessons Sam learned were the Rudy T philosophies.

2.this shows how close the old team was, since they still talk to each other on a regular basis

3.there wasnt a kenny vs sam contraversy, they seemed best of friends

4.Sam sounded so excited about basketball (when was the last time you heard the current rockets seemed that excited!) and keep in mind he got trade to the the CLIPPERS and he came in EXCITED TO PLAY

5.i am a superior fan. i shell out the $11/month for Sirius radio.

 

Sam kept saying "Kenny, this game is easy"

 

for you Rocket fans in LA:
Meet Sam Cassell At The Beverly Super Center Sprint Store This Saturday!

POSTED: April 3rd, 2006

Don't miss your chance to meet the Clippers' floor general, Sam Cassell, at the Beverly Super Center Sprint Store!

Along with members of the Clippers Spirit, Sam will meet and greet fans from 3:00 to 4:30pm PST THIS SATURDAY, April 8th. Directions to the Sprint store are below, and we hope to see you on Saturday!

Beverly Super Center Sprint Store
(At the intersection of San Vicente and La Cienega)
364 South La Cienega Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90048
Phone: (310) 360-6727

 

Sam was excited when he talked about Shaun. He wanted to tell people how well his mentoring has affected Shaun:

http://www.nba.com/clippers/news/atc0506_060406.html

With Sam out, Shaun Livingston stepped in with his finest NBA performance. His line of 12 points, 7 rebounds and a career-high 13 assists was nice, but they don't tell the whole story. Shaun's decision-making was top notch and his defense was smothering. In addition, one can clearly see the effect of Sam Cassell in his game as he exploited his height advantage over Nash for pull-up jumpers during key possessions. Elton was an absolute beast with 34 and 15, and Corey was a stud as well with 23 and 10, but the Around The Cooler game ball goes to Livingston no question.

 

who would u rather have bowen or bullard?