Hornets.com’s 1-on-1
October 10, 2006
Hornets.com caught up with up-and-coming Mavericks forward Josh Howard and Mavericks second-year television play-by-play broadcaster Mark Followill prior to Tuesday’s preseason game.
Dallas forward Josh Howard
Q: The Mavericks were already one of the deepest teams in the league, but you added several veterans, including Anthony Johnson, Devean George, Austin Croshere and Greg Buckner. Do you feel like you should have an even stronger bench this season?
A: I do. Every guy we brought in has experience, as far as being in the playoffs. Guys like Croshere, Devean George and Anthony Johnson – they’ve been in the Finals before. Those guys have been in the league for a while and are experienced players. We’re a lot more experienced this year. But tonight is the first game we’ve played together, so we’re just going to play it by ear and see what happens.
Q: Like Chris Paul, you are a Winston-Salem (N.C.) native and played college basketball at local Wake Forest. What were your impressions of Chris’ rookie NBA season?
A: He came out and ran his team, like a point guard is supposed to do. You have to give credit to (Wake Forest) coach (Skip) Prosser for getting him out there and putting the ball in his hands in school. It carried over to the NBA. I didn’t get to see him play a lot (when Paul was) in college, because I was playing too, but I kept up with him and saw what he was doing.
Q: What was your reaction to the Hornets’ signing of Peja Stojakovic? That move definitely was a surprise to a lot of people around the league.
A: Any time you can get a player like that as far as a shooter, that’s good. Because Chris is going to need him out there, someone to get the ball to on the perimeter. (The Hornets) really didn’t have a guy like that last season that he could find. It’s a big signing, and hopefully he will do well, especially if he can stay injury-free.
Dallas TV play-by-play broadcaster Mark Followill
Q: Coming off a season in which the Mavericks reached the NBA Finals, they made numerous roster additions, including veterans such as point guard Anthony Johnson. What was your opinion of Dallas’ offseason?
A: I love what they did, because they’ve added more quality depth and more guys with experience. You’ve got three players that at a minimum have been to the NBA Finals in (Anthony) Johnson, (Austin) Croshere and Devean George, who has won (three) championships. Greg Buckner is familiar to the people in Dallas and has grown as a player in the four years that he’s been away from the Mavericks. He’s going to get after you defensively.
They’re all solid pros and role players who know their jobs. They’re not going to make waves and complain about playing time. They just want to make the team better. I read a quote from Greg Buckner during training camp, where he said that it’s not about playing time; it’s about winning an NBA championship here. Everything they did in the offseason will only improve their depth and give them a better chance to finish the job this year.
Q: The Mavericks won 60 games last year and reached the Finals for the first time in franchise history. Given that they realistically can’t surpass that win total significantly in 2006-07, what will be the focus of preseason and the early portion of the regular season?
A: It’s implementing the system that Avery Johnson wants them to carry out, like they did last season. They want to get back to that same place and finish the job. Even though in theory they can’t accomplish their goal until June, you have to take steps toward that, beginning in November. I think they’d love to have homecourt advantage in the playoffs for as long as possible – they didn’t have it against San Antonio last year, but they still won the series – so the emphasis is on winning right out of the chute and playing as well as they can.
Q: Switching over to the Hornets, many analysts rated their offseason as the best in the NBA, or second-best behind Chicago. What was your reaction to the Peja Stojakovic signing and some of the Hornets’ other moves?
A: Certainly the Stojakovic signing was surprising because the organization has had a history of not keeping its own free agents, let alone going outside the organization to sign a big-name guy like Peja. It was a great signing. There is no question that they had a very, very good offseason and I would be in agreement with most people that if it wasn’t the best in the NBA, it was certainly among the best. Also because Chris Paul got some help, a great backup and fiery competitor in Bobby Jackson. Tyson Chandler gives you a much more athletic presence in the middle than you’ve had in the past.
I haven’t had a chance to see them, but from everyone I’ve talked to, people seem to really like the two rookies.
From my perspective it’s going to be a surprise if the Hornets don’t improve enough to be a serious contender for a top-eight spot in the Western Conference. I’ve got them penciled in. I see two or three teams who have a chance to move up in the standings, along with Golden State and Houston. A couple teams like Memphis and Sacramento might be in for a tumble for various reasons.
Q: One of the things that is noticeable from watching Mavericks games on NBA League Pass is that your partner, veteran analyst Bob Ortegel, seems to thoroughly enjoy ribbing you on the air during broadcasts. Is there any chance of him easing up on you a little bit this season?
A: [laughs] I don’t know that Bob is ever going to ease up on me! We’re good pals though, so that makes it a lot of fun to work with him. Obviously when you get to broadcast a great team, it makes your job a lot easier. … One of the things we realize is that we have a real opportunity to grow our fan base – there is a lot of interest in the Mavericks from them reaching the Finals last year, so we want to appeal to even more people and make the organization even more popular in Dallas.
Hornets.com caught up with up-and-coming Mavericks forward Josh Howard and Mavericks second-year television play-by-play broadcaster Mark Followill prior to Tuesday’s preseason game.
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Q: The Mavericks were already one of the deepest teams in the league, but you added several veterans, including Anthony Johnson, Devean George, Austin Croshere and Greg Buckner. Do you feel like you should have an even stronger bench this season?
A: I do. Every guy we brought in has experience, as far as being in the playoffs. Guys like Croshere, Devean George and Anthony Johnson – they’ve been in the Finals before. Those guys have been in the league for a while and are experienced players. We’re a lot more experienced this year. But tonight is the first game we’ve played together, so we’re just going to play it by ear and see what happens.
Q: Like Chris Paul, you are a Winston-Salem (N.C.) native and played college basketball at local Wake Forest. What were your impressions of Chris’ rookie NBA season?
A: He came out and ran his team, like a point guard is supposed to do. You have to give credit to (Wake Forest) coach (Skip) Prosser for getting him out there and putting the ball in his hands in school. It carried over to the NBA. I didn’t get to see him play a lot (when Paul was) in college, because I was playing too, but I kept up with him and saw what he was doing.
Q: What was your reaction to the Hornets’ signing of Peja Stojakovic? That move definitely was a surprise to a lot of people around the league.
A: Any time you can get a player like that as far as a shooter, that’s good. Because Chris is going to need him out there, someone to get the ball to on the perimeter. (The Hornets) really didn’t have a guy like that last season that he could find. It’s a big signing, and hopefully he will do well, especially if he can stay injury-free.
|
Q: Coming off a season in which the Mavericks reached the NBA Finals, they made numerous roster additions, including veterans such as point guard Anthony Johnson. What was your opinion of Dallas’ offseason?
A: I love what they did, because they’ve added more quality depth and more guys with experience. You’ve got three players that at a minimum have been to the NBA Finals in (Anthony) Johnson, (Austin) Croshere and Devean George, who has won (three) championships. Greg Buckner is familiar to the people in Dallas and has grown as a player in the four years that he’s been away from the Mavericks. He’s going to get after you defensively.
They’re all solid pros and role players who know their jobs. They’re not going to make waves and complain about playing time. They just want to make the team better. I read a quote from Greg Buckner during training camp, where he said that it’s not about playing time; it’s about winning an NBA championship here. Everything they did in the offseason will only improve their depth and give them a better chance to finish the job this year.
Q: The Mavericks won 60 games last year and reached the Finals for the first time in franchise history. Given that they realistically can’t surpass that win total significantly in 2006-07, what will be the focus of preseason and the early portion of the regular season?
A: It’s implementing the system that Avery Johnson wants them to carry out, like they did last season. They want to get back to that same place and finish the job. Even though in theory they can’t accomplish their goal until June, you have to take steps toward that, beginning in November. I think they’d love to have homecourt advantage in the playoffs for as long as possible – they didn’t have it against San Antonio last year, but they still won the series – so the emphasis is on winning right out of the chute and playing as well as they can.
Q: Switching over to the Hornets, many analysts rated their offseason as the best in the NBA, or second-best behind Chicago. What was your reaction to the Peja Stojakovic signing and some of the Hornets’ other moves?
A: Certainly the Stojakovic signing was surprising because the organization has had a history of not keeping its own free agents, let alone going outside the organization to sign a big-name guy like Peja. It was a great signing. There is no question that they had a very, very good offseason and I would be in agreement with most people that if it wasn’t the best in the NBA, it was certainly among the best. Also because Chris Paul got some help, a great backup and fiery competitor in Bobby Jackson. Tyson Chandler gives you a much more athletic presence in the middle than you’ve had in the past.
I haven’t had a chance to see them, but from everyone I’ve talked to, people seem to really like the two rookies.
From my perspective it’s going to be a surprise if the Hornets don’t improve enough to be a serious contender for a top-eight spot in the Western Conference. I’ve got them penciled in. I see two or three teams who have a chance to move up in the standings, along with Golden State and Houston. A couple teams like Memphis and Sacramento might be in for a tumble for various reasons.
Q: One of the things that is noticeable from watching Mavericks games on NBA League Pass is that your partner, veteran analyst Bob Ortegel, seems to thoroughly enjoy ribbing you on the air during broadcasts. Is there any chance of him easing up on you a little bit this season?
A: [laughs] I don’t know that Bob is ever going to ease up on me! We’re good pals though, so that makes it a lot of fun to work with him. Obviously when you get to broadcast a great team, it makes your job a lot easier. … One of the things we realize is that we have a real opportunity to grow our fan base – there is a lot of interest in the Mavericks from them reaching the Finals last year, so we want to appeal to even more people and make the organization even more popular in Dallas.
