monsterpile wrote:JVG was on Barreiro today. The biggest thing that stuck out was when Dan said that the young guys got along great and now Butler comes in and how would that all play out. JVG said he doesn't know if those guys got along well off the court or had great chemistry off the court but he said they didn't on the court. They didn't make each other better. They didn't make winning plays. He said he hopes there is some conflict because you need some of that. He said Butler had to work his way up he wasn't a #1 overall pick. I have to agree with him.
Another thing he said that was interesting that Dan fleshed out was he mentioned how media can be fooled by what players coaches say but players and coaches aren't fooled. He said guys have to actually do the right things and commit to it. Dan thought that could easily be an indirect reference to Espcially Towns saying stuff but not really doing the things defensively he needs to do.
JVG led with saying emphatically the Wolves just traded for their best player period. It's very tough to argue with that and yes this team should be much betterthis year just adding Butler. He is a better player than anyone they had on the roster last year probably by healthy margin yes even Towns.
It was a great interview. I listened to it twice. I've always liked JVG. He speaks his mind and has a great personality. Listening to him reminded me of why I wanted to hire him over Thibs. I thought his personality and humor would connect better with the players and fans. But JVG thinks very highly of Thibs as a coach. I loved when JVG said that "Thibs isn't the most huggable dude". He went on to say something to the effect that the Wolves players don't need hugs, they need prodding and need to be driven. I wish he were our GM instead of Layden.
Anyway, JVG made some great points about how Butler will help this team. But he also said there's a lot that still needs to be done with the team. I agree that when JVG said it's easy to conn the media, but you can't conn coaches and your teammates, he was referring to Towns and Wiggins, especially Towns. He really went off on KAT's poor P&R defense. But he also mentioned that poor defense is often just part of being young.
Dan B also intererviewed a Chicago sports reporter who knows Butler and Thibs really well. He talked about how hard Butler was on the younger players and that he had something called "Butler's Bootcamp" that the younger Bulls' players attended. Apparently, it was really tough. The players stayed in some shack -- no TV or communication -- all basketball all the time, getting up at 5 a.m.
