Dell Demps spoke for a few minutes about Eric Gordon and Austin Rivers today at Summer League.
Yesterday Austin Rivers told me that he hadn’t yet spoken with Eric Gordon, but plans to soon. Turns out Dell really hasn’t had much of a conversation with him either.
After thinking about it for a second, he said he doesn’t have any doubt that Gordon will be 100% on board with the team. He said he obviously thinks that Gordon and Rivers can play together. Demps also seemed to agre with what we’ve been saying–traditionally defined positions are kind of worthless to talk about.
For everything else he said, watch the damn video!
Oh, and obviously there are tons of things I’d like to ask Dell, but he wasn’t available for enough time to get into anything. He went right from the media session to a packed elevator (with me) and then to scout either Charlotte-Cleveland or San Antonio-Atlanta. One day we’ll actually get some extended exclusive availability, I promise. As for when, I make no promises.
22 responses to “Video: Dell Demps Speaks About Eric Gordon and Austin Rivers”
It’ll be interesting.
Never were words more understated.
He’s right though, about if EG plays hard and through pain, implying that fans will forgive him or at least overlook it.
Austin Rivers is so well spoken and has great confidence. I can see him being the leader of our team pretty soon. May take a couple of years, but Eric Gordon and Anthony Davis seem too soft spoken. Not a knock on them, just they don’t feel like players who will fill the leadership role. As for this interview Demps seems unsure of how things are going to play out for Eric Gordon. He probably hasn’t talked to him in about a month. Very strange to me.
Also, don’t forget that there are different types of leaders. Some lead with their words, while others lead by example. We need to have both.
Well we will see how it works out. At least we have until Jan. 15 to judge his play and attitude. All bets should be off after the 15th. This will also allow the Hornets to see the landscape of the other guards in the league. I am sure Dell will make the right move at the appropriate time.
Thanks for the video. I was surprised that Dell and Eric didn’t already discuss those comments.
Dell sounds pissed with Eric Gordon… it is clear that bridges have been burnt.
Dell does sound a little bit thrown off with EG but he did what he said he was going to do (and that was match the Suns offer). Seems to me like he’s giving EG rope to see if he hangs himself with any more dumb moves and/or statements. I guess they are attributing his comments to testing the market which he has done now, so it’s business from this point forward. I’m excited to see the game tonight. Let’s geaux Hornets.
Man Dell is one smooth and smart dude. Love the way he oh so subtly answers questions, after you can almost see him running them through his mental rolodex, to give himself as much wiggle room as possible and … like someone said above … give Gordon plenty of rope should he choose to hang himself again. Excellent tactician, that Mr. Demps is.
where can i watch the game tonight?
Austin Rivers already showing unselfishness. People need to stop doubting him
Dayshavoo! The hornets have lost another big league!
Lead, hate spell check
Rivers shoots too much.
Joe – Interested in doing that Hornets Playoffs wager? I’d give 3:2 and you indicated you’d take 50/50. Shoot me an email if ya want to discuss further.
From one game, I foresee Rivers being really inconsistent and really streaky. He’s fast, attacks relentlessly, and is really active. But I’m a little weary on his finishing ability, or if he can spot his teammates.
Hoping he’ll show better signs throughout summer league.
I agree as well Rivers was a little too inconsistent. It will be a tough transition to play PG for him in the short run, but once he gets comfortable, then the sky’s the limit for him.
Rivers is a natural shooter and it’s going to be a huge learning curve to get him to look for others first and that may spell a couple of frustrating seasons for Hornet fans.
He may be decent shooting off the dribble, but I wouldn’t call him a natural shooter by any means. He really needs to learn to catch and shoot to be successful in our system.
My notes on the first summer league game
1. I loved Webber and Dell talking.
2. Henry looked way bigger than I remember.
3. Bowels was awesome. That series of boards before he got the bucket in the third(?) was awesome. He and Thomas may be decent as our 4th and 5th bigs.
4. Why didn’t we see more of Miller? I didn’t get to see him enough to get a very good idea of what he can do. Hopefully we get to see more of him in the upcoming games. His steal was great and I loved Dell’s comments about him and it sounds like a great role with…
5. Drive and kick! Seriously, Henry and Rivers were great at penetrating off the dribble and trying to get to the basket. Rivers didn’t look for the open man too much (which is exactly what you would think of from any player who thinks he’s the best player on the floor with a team he doesn’t know well, after spending his life as a scorer and not a distributor, before he looks at film and gets comfortable with his teammates and learns the sets). The drive and kick is one of the best parts of Gordon’s game and if we have both guards doing that and finding Anderson or Davis open then were in for an fun and effective offense (finally!)
6. Free throws. I know its just the summer league but if Henry and Rivers are able to play anything like this in the league then we’re looking at getting the other team in the penalty, where we can then go inside with our bigs (who as MM pointed out aren’t too bad at FT%)
7. Defense. Thomas proved he still does a lot of the little things but still gambles too much. Otherwise I thought that we looked pretty good on D. I thought Rivers looked locked in.
8. With all the slashing I hope Rivers and Henry don’t get injured.
Get excited. If Davis is good enough to be one of the best bigs available to play for our country on top of Gordon, Anderson, Smith, and Vasquez, with Monty and Dell at the helm, and the better parts of the team I just saw play then I think we are in a really good spot.
Go Hornets!
I was really happy with the way Rivers attacked the basket, and really unhappy with the volume of pull up 3 pointers. But we all saw those coming. He is incredibly quick with the ball. I think we have a stud in the making, though it’ll take a while to refine his game
Bowles is a load in the paint, and a pretty skilled offensive player as well. Looking forward to seeing him more
I thought Rivers showed great signs of beig able to effectively run the point for this team. He has a great handle, can get to the rim, and split defenders on the dribble. I mean this is his first game playing point guard with a bunch of new players that are really not that great. He will only get better and he showed me his willingness to make plays for his teammates(they just have to make the shots, lol). Once he gets stronger and more PT at the position, the sky is the limit!
Denzel Bowles and Lance Thomas looked really good. I hope we have found our fourth big in Bowles and he continues to play like this. I think Thomas looks alot better since putting on the 17 lbs of muscle. I think he and Jerome Dyson are locks to make the roster as currently constructed. I believe our 12 man roster will be like this:
C: Davis / Smith
PF: Anderson / Thomas / Bowles
SF: Aminu / Miller
SG: Gordon / Henry
PG: Rivers / Vasquez / Dyson
As of tonight Bowles makes this team, but that could change tomorrow, lol
Was VERY impressed with Bowles!
Rivers will take time with the pull-up 3s, but I love the way he penetrates and kicks.
Defense in the first half was OUTSTANDING!
Free throw practice.