Post by miketrain (aka Flipu8) on Jun 25, 2011 16:01:46 GMT -5
We are taking the time to pick the brain behind the rebuilding project in Arizona, young General Manager Rich Cho- who was hand picked by new owner Michael Williford when he purchased the team a few years back:
Rich Cho only dines with the finest
"Rich, let us start off by discussing a hot topic: you inherited one of the top teams in the league, with the greatest player in SSBL history, yet after going for the championship early on, you completely dismantled the entire team and started from scratch. Why?"
Rich: "I consulted with [Michael] and we both decided we wanted to make the team 'our own'. Joe Johnson was our cornerstone, yet he was approaching FA and was in the midst of his prime, so we knew we needed to act fast and get the highest value we could for him. Michael always had a fascination with Kemba Walker, and in his eyes saw the killer mentality that normally is reserved for players like Kobe or MJ. Kemba was motivated by being the centerpiece of a trade involving the greatest player in the league, he knew that he could not disappoint the high expectations set upon him. He proved our faith by busting out in training camp last season and showed he can be our future PG for the next 10 years (with hopefully many All Star appearances as well).
The legend of Phoenix
"Interesting, and what about your other star, Ha Seung Jin?"
Rich: "We decided to keep Ha Seung Jin because his skillset is entirely unique to any other in the league. He is a monster on the boards at 7'3 300 lbs, and gets putbacks like never seen before. He can shut down any opposing center, and unlike other top defensive centers, his A rating is not bloated up due to high shotblocking (even though he has a career average of 1.5 a game). We believe he can be a mentor to our young players and would love for him to stay with the Suns."
"You seem to be enamored with building through the draft, care to explain?
Rich: "We set out a 3-4 year goal that we hope to achieve in the coming seasons, and this years' draft will be looked at as the key to this project. We like to pick our players based on how they fit in our system and mold them together, bringing them up at the same stages at the same time. With the exception of SG/SF Lance Stephenson (who we feel can be a great #2/#3 option), all of our young players were picked by us. Last season, we targeted Tristian Thompson all along pre-draft, and were shocked he fell to us (especially with his extremely high potential) at #10, being a long armed shotblocking alternative to Ha at PF. We are hoping he can add another 10-20 pounds in the offseason to handle the rigorous grind of an 82 game season. Getting Darius Morris at #27 was another gift, as he was considered by some experts to be the best pure passer in the draft, and at only 20 should have plenty of potential to round his game out. We absolutely love his size for the position, and he provides a mix off the bench backing up Kemba.
I was beyond happy with our draft this season, and it all started with the lucky ball bouncing our way. Leading up to the draft lotto, we knew we had to get an elite scorer at SF and a young big man (knowing that either T2 or DCuz would be traded), and we targeted one player in particular, but today I will not reveal that player. Once we knew we were picking first, it appeared there was no clear cut #1. But the closer we looked at the top 7-8 players, the more it became less cloudy, and that Perry Jones III was the best bet (even though he played the same position as our top 10 pick last year). We had a vision that he could play SF better than PF, and potentially be a lockdown defender, towering over other 3's. We weren't satisfied though, and we wanted to get back in the top ten (but at the same time keep our picks for next year). We wanted to get a potential elite wing scorer, and so we traded bruiser Demarcus Cousins and 2 late 1sts + a future 1st to trade up to #8, my favorite number. To be honest, we were looking at Harrison Barnes to be there, yet he went quickly and then #2 on our list was LeBryan Nash. He went right ahead of us and we scrambled in the warroom to look at our notes to get that wing we needed. Bradley Beal fit that description, being better than thought at first glance, and looks like he could be an elite combo guard with many skills. We are shocked that we were able to get two picks in the top 10, and we feel we made the most of it, getting 2 of the top 5 most talented players in our opinion. We still were not satisfied with that and knew we needed to replace DMarcs gurth and ability to play PF/C. We were looking at Greg Smith and his already stellar defense, and were dismayed when he was selected in the 20's, but we still felt there was a diamond in the rough everyone seemed to overlook and even though we had an early 2nd, we had to pull the trigger and snag the #28 pick. Joshua Smith, all 280+ pounds of him, seemed like the ideal fit to replace Demarcus- wielding an SSBL ready inside game. He provides an off the bench spark and should be a bully inside."
Funny thing he is he's not even jumping
Not a smart move.
"This concludes one of our conversations with GM Rich Cho. Fascinating."
Rich Cho only dines with the finest
"Rich, let us start off by discussing a hot topic: you inherited one of the top teams in the league, with the greatest player in SSBL history, yet after going for the championship early on, you completely dismantled the entire team and started from scratch. Why?"
Rich: "I consulted with [Michael] and we both decided we wanted to make the team 'our own'. Joe Johnson was our cornerstone, yet he was approaching FA and was in the midst of his prime, so we knew we needed to act fast and get the highest value we could for him. Michael always had a fascination with Kemba Walker, and in his eyes saw the killer mentality that normally is reserved for players like Kobe or MJ. Kemba was motivated by being the centerpiece of a trade involving the greatest player in the league, he knew that he could not disappoint the high expectations set upon him. He proved our faith by busting out in training camp last season and showed he can be our future PG for the next 10 years (with hopefully many All Star appearances as well).
The legend of Phoenix
"Interesting, and what about your other star, Ha Seung Jin?"
Rich: "We decided to keep Ha Seung Jin because his skillset is entirely unique to any other in the league. He is a monster on the boards at 7'3 300 lbs, and gets putbacks like never seen before. He can shut down any opposing center, and unlike other top defensive centers, his A rating is not bloated up due to high shotblocking (even though he has a career average of 1.5 a game). We believe he can be a mentor to our young players and would love for him to stay with the Suns."
"You seem to be enamored with building through the draft, care to explain?
Rich: "We set out a 3-4 year goal that we hope to achieve in the coming seasons, and this years' draft will be looked at as the key to this project. We like to pick our players based on how they fit in our system and mold them together, bringing them up at the same stages at the same time. With the exception of SG/SF Lance Stephenson (who we feel can be a great #2/#3 option), all of our young players were picked by us. Last season, we targeted Tristian Thompson all along pre-draft, and were shocked he fell to us (especially with his extremely high potential) at #10, being a long armed shotblocking alternative to Ha at PF. We are hoping he can add another 10-20 pounds in the offseason to handle the rigorous grind of an 82 game season. Getting Darius Morris at #27 was another gift, as he was considered by some experts to be the best pure passer in the draft, and at only 20 should have plenty of potential to round his game out. We absolutely love his size for the position, and he provides a mix off the bench backing up Kemba.
I was beyond happy with our draft this season, and it all started with the lucky ball bouncing our way. Leading up to the draft lotto, we knew we had to get an elite scorer at SF and a young big man (knowing that either T2 or DCuz would be traded), and we targeted one player in particular, but today I will not reveal that player. Once we knew we were picking first, it appeared there was no clear cut #1. But the closer we looked at the top 7-8 players, the more it became less cloudy, and that Perry Jones III was the best bet (even though he played the same position as our top 10 pick last year). We had a vision that he could play SF better than PF, and potentially be a lockdown defender, towering over other 3's. We weren't satisfied though, and we wanted to get back in the top ten (but at the same time keep our picks for next year). We wanted to get a potential elite wing scorer, and so we traded bruiser Demarcus Cousins and 2 late 1sts + a future 1st to trade up to #8, my favorite number. To be honest, we were looking at Harrison Barnes to be there, yet he went quickly and then #2 on our list was LeBryan Nash. He went right ahead of us and we scrambled in the warroom to look at our notes to get that wing we needed. Bradley Beal fit that description, being better than thought at first glance, and looks like he could be an elite combo guard with many skills. We are shocked that we were able to get two picks in the top 10, and we feel we made the most of it, getting 2 of the top 5 most talented players in our opinion. We still were not satisfied with that and knew we needed to replace DMarcs gurth and ability to play PF/C. We were looking at Greg Smith and his already stellar defense, and were dismayed when he was selected in the 20's, but we still felt there was a diamond in the rough everyone seemed to overlook and even though we had an early 2nd, we had to pull the trigger and snag the #28 pick. Joshua Smith, all 280+ pounds of him, seemed like the ideal fit to replace Demarcus- wielding an SSBL ready inside game. He provides an off the bench spark and should be a bully inside."
Funny thing he is he's not even jumping
Not a smart move.
"This concludes one of our conversations with GM Rich Cho. Fascinating."
