(Photo by Layne Murdoch/NBAE via Getty Images)
On May 23, Jimmy Smith interviewed New Orleans Hornets GM Jeff Bower concerning his analysis of the past season and his blueprint for becoming a championship caliber team. Bower provided typically evasive answers filled with GM double-speak to some pointed questions by Smith.
Smith, being a respected member of the mainstream press corps, was not able to tell Bower that he was speaking out of both sides of his mouth or that he was being unnecessarily evasive. However, I can, as I'm neither a member of the mainstream press corps nor very well respected!
In this article, I will provide some of the text of the original conversation between Bower and Smith, and then attempt to decode the double-speak into direct English.
On what he liked and did not like about the season, Bower said:
"There's a lot of things we liked and a lot of things obviously we'd like to change. Everything we do is geared toward putting ourselves in position to play at a championship level and to bring a championship to New Orleans. How we get there is what we're looking at the deepest.
What he really meant:
It's hard to believe that as poorly as we played, we won as many games as we did. If not for Chris Paul and David West, we would look like the LA Clippers.
On how the regular season ended, Bower said:
"When you look at the last week and a half of the season and how it unfolded, and saw how close the second through seventh seeds really were, you saw the balance of those teams in the Western Conference. We were right there in that group competing for the Southwest Division and competing for home-court advantage as we entered the final stretch of the season.
What he really meant:
We are slipping and slipping fast in our conference. We limped into the playoffs. Teams like Denver have sailed through the playoffs and we sunk like a rock.
On if his mind changed about whether the team is good enough to contend for a title with the core group in place, Bower said:
"I think the levels of play of each position determine all that. I don't think over the course of the season we had enough there to put us in that position, due to various factors, whether it was injury or the combination of talents not creating a greater result."
What he really meant:
What do you think Jimmy? Were you watching the same games as I was? Other than point guard, we are consistently outplayed at every position.
On prioritizing current needs, Bower said:
"I think we need to upgrade, and obviously the thing we're going to try to do is get better and improve this summer. We'll look at each position across the board and see if there's a way to upgrade what we have to make it more productive. That would go from one through five. We're going to look at everything, not rule out improving at any area -- whether it's point guard, off guard, power forward, small forward, center. We're looking at everything.
What he really meant:
Upgrade. Every time I hear Beyonce sing "Lemme Upgrade You," I say to myself—she would be an improvement! If we had a center and a power forward that could be a presence inside, a shooting guard, a backup point guard, and a bench that could hold on to a 15 point lead, we could have a decent team.
On any roster untouchables, Bower said:
"I'm not going to go into that type of discussion as far as particular players with trades. That's not something I'm going to distinguish at this point."
What he really meant:
If I tried to trade Chris Paul, the people of New Orleans would tie me up by my thumbs and drag me behind a Mardi Gras float. If I tried to trade Paul, I would go down in history as the biggest loser in all of professional sports. Now Peja and Tyson Chandler, they're another story. They're not untouchable, however no one is going to want either of them with their inflated contracts.
On Jannero Pargo, the one and two guard who the Hornets opted not to re-sign at the end of last season. Instead, the Hornets signed Antonio Daniels as backup for Chris Paul. Bower said:
"Well, I'm not going to comment on talks with any specific players. I've talked with Mark about a number of players; he's got a number of players in the draft. Hypothetically, because he's a European player and free agent, we could. I'm not going to go into interest level on any players."
What he really meant:
We're going to send you the most entertaining New Orleans Hornets articles, videos, and podcasts from around the web.
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