Coaches Teleconference Transcript: Mike Dunleavy

Dunleavy Audio

Dunleavy: First of all, our trip to Russia was a nice experience. As far as training camp goes, I think it set us back a little bit. We missed some training camp time while we were in Russia. We weren’t able to do any two-a-days because of the traffic and we couldn’t come back to the U.S. and run the two-a-days we missed because, I guess, of the Collective Bargaining Agreement with the Players Association. We went to Santa Barbara last week, tried to do a little bit of catch-up. We had some good practices. Last night we went to Phoenix and played fairly well without a bunch of veteran guys - Tim Thomas, Aaron Williams, Chris Kaman – but the guys who played for us did a pretty good job, so we made up some of the ground. We’ve got three more games this week and we’ll have a better idea of where we stand and what areas we have to catch up on.

Q: Looking at Shaun Livingston’s development, how much will it benefit him that he is getting to play three positions, and how much will it help him playing the point, down the line, being that he gets to learn from Sam Cassell?

Dunleavy: Well, first off, Shaun got a lot of experience last year in the playoffs. His first two years were marred by injuries, which slowed his development a little bit. But he’s worked extremely hard this summer. He’s changed his shot around, changed his rotation on the ball, and he was very diligent, spending two or three hours a day this summer in the gym, working on it. And it’s really coming along. It’s only going to get better over the next couple of years, and he’s shooting the ball well right now. He’s been an excellent defender and playmaker already. He’s got great size, has a post (up) game. He put some weight on this summer, probably another eight to 10 pounds of muscle, which will, I think, continue to happen for him for the next couple of years. We have no timetable with Shaun. It’s basically, we don’t want to push him into a situation that he won’t be ready for. But as his confidence grows, the better he gets, the harder it is to keep him off the floor, because again, I think he’s an excellent defender and someday he will be one of the best defenders in this league.

Q: You managed to get a guy like Paul Davis in the second round (of the 2006 Draft). Is it possible he will be able to get some minutes in your frontcourt this year?

Dunleavy: We’ve been very pleased with Paul in training camp. He had a rough summer, he pulled a hamstring at our Vegas Summer League and didn’t get a chance to play. But, he’s a very smart player. We played him last night in Phoenix and he did a great job – guarding pick-and-rolls and court defense. All things he’s supposed to defensively, he picked up very nicely. He’s a good outside shooter. He didn’t have his legs early, but of late he’s been making his shots, as well, in practice. We like his development and we like him as a player. I can say right now, I have no problem putting him into a game period. So, he just needs to continue to work hard and grow.

Q: Coach, can you talk a little bit about how you envision your backcourt rotation working, and are you leaning in any way toward Cuttino Mobley’s offer to come off the bench?

Dunleavy: Well, the bottom line is, that was great. I want all of our players to be willing to do whatever it takes for our team to win. Basically, the way I’ve always approached the game has been from a defensive standpoint. So, the first thing I look at is stopping the other team, and then figuring that we can figure out a way to win offensively. You know if we get into a close game and some pressure situations, we have some excellent players on our team – Elton Brand, Sam Cassell, Corey Maggette, Cuttino Mobley, Chris Kaman, Livingston. So, basically, we may shift our lineups around at times to be in a better position to defend. Last night was a good example for us. A team like Phoenix, who plays up-and-down, they’re so fast, they play great off the dribble – we started Shaun Livingston and Quinton Ross, with Cuttino Mobley and Maggette and Brand. We went with a smaller lineup and it was a positive fit for us. So, there are times along the way where everybody has got to check their ego at the door, and understand that it’s nothing personal, but we’re going to do whatever it takes to win and nothing can get in the way of us winning.

Q: You mentioned Chris Kaman. It seems that based on last season, he is on the cusp of being one of the league’s better centers. What do you envision from him this season?

Dunleavy: The same thing that he ended the season doing last year, for the most part. He’s capable of putting up double-doubles. He’s a very good rebounder. He scores in the low-post. He can block a shot. The areas where he will grow are, and we see it, we know it’s there, are his ability to put the ball on the floor, his ability to make plays, his ability to shoot the ball with range. And, all of those things are works in progress in a sense because, he has got to make his decision-making a little bit better, his confidence in his outside shot – he can make that shot, he shot 77 percent or 78 percent from the free throw line last year, so he has some range. And it’s just getting in that comfort zone of shooting the ball. Most of the time I’m more on him about the times that he doesn’t shoot it as opposed to when he does. So again, with all our young guys, we want to be a gradual, comfortable, growing in the system. And they’re just going to get better.

Q: How much time, if at all, did you spend thinking this summer about the fact that your team was just a few minutes away from the Conference Finals where it would have had at least a puncher’s chance against a Dallas team that was playing pretty well?

Dunleavy: Yea, you think about it of course, but when it’s over, it’s over. Phoenix was a terrific team and they fought all year to get that home court. They had the seventh game on their home court with a bunch of days rest, which helped them, and they took advantage of it. And that has to be a learning experience for us and our guys have to be able to grow from and take it into the summer and come back as better players. And we’ve had, I think, right off the bat, guys who – Livingston is better, Quinton Ross is better, I think Kaman is better. Those are three of our younger guys that play, and I feel I see improvement in all of those guys, and that’s positive for us.