Inside the Hornets: Jeff Bower Chat
Jeff Bower’s season-ending, State of the Hornets interview included queries from beat writers on a wide range of topics. Here are the questions, followed by Bower’s responses.
Question: With draft workouts beginning this week, what is the process you use to determine which players you bring in to work out and evaluate?
Answer: We will bring in players who fit into the range (we expect to draft from), regardless of position. In the range of 13 to 15, that group of players. We’ll bring in players who are projected to go higher, just in case they slip, or we make a move to move up. We’ll bring in guys projected to go lower as well, in case we move down in the draft. We always try to cover ourselves either way in a range of 10 to 15 spots.
Q: What are the workouts like?
A: They’re a combination of athletic testing, skill testing and one-on-one or two-on-two play. You can only have a maximum of four guys, so you can’t have a five-on-five scrimmage.
Q: When you brought in Chris Paul to work out last year, what was the most impressive thing he showed?
A: Just his overall poise and confidence. His performance was great, the quickness he showed, the basketball skills he showed. His personality all came out on the court all at once. It was a dynamite workout.
Q: Did he get into any one-on-one or two-on-two situations?
A: From what I remember, he fooled around with Byron (Scott) a little bit.
Q: Who won that?
A: I’ll let Byron answer that [Bower grins].
Q: People were saying back in summer league that Chris Paul could be the Rookie of the Year? Were you impressions as positive that quickly as well?
A: Oh yeah. I was real excited when we were able to draft him. We watched him all through his college career and had a sense that he was a special player.
Q: Where will you be during the NBA draft?
A: We’ll be in our locker room, where we’re set up for the draft. It’s all done on conference calls, with a phone line to New York that will allow us to submit a pick directly.
Q: What was the adjustment like for you personally this season, taking over for your first season as general manager after filling other roles with the Hornets?
A: I don’t feel any differently, to be honest. I feel real comfortable with it. Your time is a lot more in demand – you have to really try to keep an eye on that, obviously – but I feel fine. I was always involved with all of the decisions real closely. All of the discussions about trades and what we wanted to do, I was always in the inner circle, finding out the background information to help (make a decision) on a trade. I still operate that way, but the difference now is being the one who’s charged with making the final call, or initiating trade discussions.
Q: You had three players, Chris Paul, David West and Speedy Claxton, in the running for NBA postseason awards. Does that kind of take the sting out of not making the postseason?
A: You’ve got to understand that from where we started this season, we totally changed the expectation levels, to where you couldn’t even have asked that question (in October), about if missing the playoffs ‘stings.’ To me, that’s the ultimate compliment of success, where the expectations are completely changed. (Rebuilding) is a hard, hard journey that rarely gets accomplished in one year. This is all part of a process that we have to work our way through step by step. We may have skipped a step this year, but we’ve still got a lot of work to do, to get better.
Q: When you look at other GMs and how they have constructed their team, is there a certain general manager that you admire?
A: You look at the teams that are not only good, but can sustain it. I look at how different teams are built, whether it’s the NBA or NFL. (Successful teams) are smart with drafts, smart with free agents, smart with player development. The vogue answer is how the Pistons or Spurs have done it. There are aspects of each of those teams and key components that each used for that springboard to success.
Q: From the outside looking in, you’ve got a star point guard. You’ve got salary cap room and the vibe of a good season. Is this a pretty good time to be Jeff Bower?
A: I’m excited. I kind of like being him any time [laughing], because the few times I tried to be somebody else, it didn’t work out real well. But I think we have great assets to improve this team. But it all starts with the idea of what type of team we are trying to build. This season showed the mentality and energy that we have.
Q: Do you feel like you established an identity for the team this year?
A: Exactly. We feel like we established that for the team, and for the organization for that matter. We’re very aware of how important that is to long-term success. You don’t want to be the kind of team that cuts corners or is short-lived. You have to have a solid foundation.
Q: Do you think having Chris Paul will help attract free agents?
A: I think it does. Big men are going to see that he’s a point guard who makes his big men look good. Chris gets the ball to areas where players are comfortable, and his penetration opens up the lane and creates dump-offs. His selection to play with USA Basketball is another feather in his cap, putting him on a stage to play with all of the elite players of the league. His personality of taking care of everybody else first – everyone wants to play with that kind of guy. That’s a great piece to build with.
Q: How do you feel about the youth of this team?
A: I feel like the ages of our core guys are such that there’s a lot of room for growth, and to get better. J.R. Smith, Kirk Snyder, players like those have room to improve. The rate of progress, how quickly they can improve within the framework of the team, will determine our success.
Q: What’s the market for Speedy Claxton going to be like (in free agency)?
A: It’s going to be pretty strong. A lot of teams were watching him all year and have a definite need for his talents and capabilities. There is going to be strong competition for him. I think Speedy saw a lot of things this year. I think he’s real comfortable with his role on this team and how involved he was in our success. I’ll let Speedy speak for himself, but we were really pleased with how he played and fit in with the team. It was a great year for him. Teams will go after him.
Q: What’s the timetable for you talking with Speedy?
A: I can’t even negotiate with him until July 1. No one can sign a contract until July 15, but you can do all of your negotiating between July 1 and July 15. There will be deals made in the first two days; you just can’t make it official until the 15th.
Q: How difficult will it be to find a big guy who is aggressive and can block shots?
A: Well, it’s tough. Everyone is looking for size in this league. Obviously watching our team this year, we didn’t have a strong, physical paint presence. Finding that delicate balance between size and speed is a difficult thing to reach.
Q: You are a proponent of statistical analysis and finding “inefficiencies” in the player market, a la baseball’s Moneyball theory. Would you say you did that with the midseason moves of trading for Aaron Williams and Marc Jackson, two players who weren’t playing much for their previous teams, but made a nice impact with the Hornets?
A: It’s about finding something you value, that may not be apparent to the general (opinion). That’s what we did: Found guys who were not being used. Maybe it’s because of another team’s style of play. Or maybe it’s, are there minutes reduced because they are playing behind somebody? Like Darko Milicic, for example. He’s not as bad a player as he was portrayed in Detroit. It’s just that because of guys like Ben Wallace and Rasheed Wallace, he wasn’t going to get on the floor. Until he played (in Orlando), his confidence wasn’t going to be there.
In our situation, Aaron Williams couldn’t get on the floor in Toronto. Neither he nor Marc Jackson was playing a lick. Linton Johnson, too. It goes back to sight evaluation and familiarity with players. We knew what Aaron Williams had done in the past, not only when he played for Byron Scott, but at all of the stops during his NBA career. We knew what Marc Jackson did when he was at Temple or Golden State, and understanding that.
The thing was, Jackson (Vroman) got hurt, and Chris Andersen was completely eliminated from the equation. You had to do something, and go out and get a big guy.
Question: With draft workouts beginning this week, what is the process you use to determine which players you bring in to work out and evaluate?
Answer: We will bring in players who fit into the range (we expect to draft from), regardless of position. In the range of 13 to 15, that group of players. We’ll bring in players who are projected to go higher, just in case they slip, or we make a move to move up. We’ll bring in guys projected to go lower as well, in case we move down in the draft. We always try to cover ourselves either way in a range of 10 to 15 spots.
Q: What are the workouts like?
A: They’re a combination of athletic testing, skill testing and one-on-one or two-on-two play. You can only have a maximum of four guys, so you can’t have a five-on-five scrimmage.
Q: When you brought in Chris Paul to work out last year, what was the most impressive thing he showed?
A: Just his overall poise and confidence. His performance was great, the quickness he showed, the basketball skills he showed. His personality all came out on the court all at once. It was a dynamite workout.
Q: Did he get into any one-on-one or two-on-two situations?
A: From what I remember, he fooled around with Byron (Scott) a little bit.
Q: Who won that?
A: I’ll let Byron answer that [Bower grins].
Q: People were saying back in summer league that Chris Paul could be the Rookie of the Year? Were you impressions as positive that quickly as well?
A: Oh yeah. I was real excited when we were able to draft him. We watched him all through his college career and had a sense that he was a special player.
Q: Where will you be during the NBA draft?
A: We’ll be in our locker room, where we’re set up for the draft. It’s all done on conference calls, with a phone line to New York that will allow us to submit a pick directly.
Q: What was the adjustment like for you personally this season, taking over for your first season as general manager after filling other roles with the Hornets?
A: I don’t feel any differently, to be honest. I feel real comfortable with it. Your time is a lot more in demand – you have to really try to keep an eye on that, obviously – but I feel fine. I was always involved with all of the decisions real closely. All of the discussions about trades and what we wanted to do, I was always in the inner circle, finding out the background information to help (make a decision) on a trade. I still operate that way, but the difference now is being the one who’s charged with making the final call, or initiating trade discussions.
Q: You had three players, Chris Paul, David West and Speedy Claxton, in the running for NBA postseason awards. Does that kind of take the sting out of not making the postseason?
A: You’ve got to understand that from where we started this season, we totally changed the expectation levels, to where you couldn’t even have asked that question (in October), about if missing the playoffs ‘stings.’ To me, that’s the ultimate compliment of success, where the expectations are completely changed. (Rebuilding) is a hard, hard journey that rarely gets accomplished in one year. This is all part of a process that we have to work our way through step by step. We may have skipped a step this year, but we’ve still got a lot of work to do, to get better.
Q: When you look at other GMs and how they have constructed their team, is there a certain general manager that you admire?
A: You look at the teams that are not only good, but can sustain it. I look at how different teams are built, whether it’s the NBA or NFL. (Successful teams) are smart with drafts, smart with free agents, smart with player development. The vogue answer is how the Pistons or Spurs have done it. There are aspects of each of those teams and key components that each used for that springboard to success.
Q: From the outside looking in, you’ve got a star point guard. You’ve got salary cap room and the vibe of a good season. Is this a pretty good time to be Jeff Bower?
A: I’m excited. I kind of like being him any time [laughing], because the few times I tried to be somebody else, it didn’t work out real well. But I think we have great assets to improve this team. But it all starts with the idea of what type of team we are trying to build. This season showed the mentality and energy that we have.
Q: Do you feel like you established an identity for the team this year?
A: Exactly. We feel like we established that for the team, and for the organization for that matter. We’re very aware of how important that is to long-term success. You don’t want to be the kind of team that cuts corners or is short-lived. You have to have a solid foundation.
Q: Do you think having Chris Paul will help attract free agents?
A: I think it does. Big men are going to see that he’s a point guard who makes his big men look good. Chris gets the ball to areas where players are comfortable, and his penetration opens up the lane and creates dump-offs. His selection to play with USA Basketball is another feather in his cap, putting him on a stage to play with all of the elite players of the league. His personality of taking care of everybody else first – everyone wants to play with that kind of guy. That’s a great piece to build with.
Q: How do you feel about the youth of this team?
A: I feel like the ages of our core guys are such that there’s a lot of room for growth, and to get better. J.R. Smith, Kirk Snyder, players like those have room to improve. The rate of progress, how quickly they can improve within the framework of the team, will determine our success.
Q: What’s the market for Speedy Claxton going to be like (in free agency)?
A: It’s going to be pretty strong. A lot of teams were watching him all year and have a definite need for his talents and capabilities. There is going to be strong competition for him. I think Speedy saw a lot of things this year. I think he’s real comfortable with his role on this team and how involved he was in our success. I’ll let Speedy speak for himself, but we were really pleased with how he played and fit in with the team. It was a great year for him. Teams will go after him.
Q: What’s the timetable for you talking with Speedy?
A: I can’t even negotiate with him until July 1. No one can sign a contract until July 15, but you can do all of your negotiating between July 1 and July 15. There will be deals made in the first two days; you just can’t make it official until the 15th.
Q: How difficult will it be to find a big guy who is aggressive and can block shots?
A: Well, it’s tough. Everyone is looking for size in this league. Obviously watching our team this year, we didn’t have a strong, physical paint presence. Finding that delicate balance between size and speed is a difficult thing to reach.
Q: You are a proponent of statistical analysis and finding “inefficiencies” in the player market, a la baseball’s Moneyball theory. Would you say you did that with the midseason moves of trading for Aaron Williams and Marc Jackson, two players who weren’t playing much for their previous teams, but made a nice impact with the Hornets?
A: It’s about finding something you value, that may not be apparent to the general (opinion). That’s what we did: Found guys who were not being used. Maybe it’s because of another team’s style of play. Or maybe it’s, are there minutes reduced because they are playing behind somebody? Like Darko Milicic, for example. He’s not as bad a player as he was portrayed in Detroit. It’s just that because of guys like Ben Wallace and Rasheed Wallace, he wasn’t going to get on the floor. Until he played (in Orlando), his confidence wasn’t going to be there.
In our situation, Aaron Williams couldn’t get on the floor in Toronto. Neither he nor Marc Jackson was playing a lick. Linton Johnson, too. It goes back to sight evaluation and familiarity with players. We knew what Aaron Williams had done in the past, not only when he played for Byron Scott, but at all of the stops during his NBA career. We knew what Marc Jackson did when he was at Temple or Golden State, and understanding that.
The thing was, Jackson (Vroman) got hurt, and Chris Andersen was completely eliminated from the equation. You had to do something, and go out and get a big guy.
