CP3 Interview with Bill Simmons

[WinningCuresAll]

http://espn.go.com/espnradio/play?id=7611939

Just an awesome interview with CP3 and Bill Simmons. Talks about the whole squad, his recruiting of Reggie Evans, taking Bledsoe under his wings, the difference between having David West and Blake Griffin, and more.

[og15]

Listened to it, really nice interview.

Some interesting things:
-Paul believes the Clippers can contend

-Paul never knowing Reggie, but when VDN brought a list of guys, he immediately picked Reggie

-some insights into what Paul is saying when he's always working the officials (mentioned how DJ struggles at the line and Blake has been too, so he'll always inform the officials about guys crossing over the 3PT line and therefore having a lane violation so that DJ or Blake can possibly get another FT attempt)

-intensity with Lakers not a rivalry, but not nothing either. He said another word would be better, and I think Simmons chimed in saying "feud" is a good word

-Blake is one of the hardest playing guys ever, always gong all out, never taking breaks. Blake and DWest are different, West is the 17 foot assassin, but Blake gives more of a post option and consistently demands a double team, while West would get doubles when he got hot. Mentioned how West was a consistent pick and pop every time down the court

-how he's changed his game to pull up mid-range more b/c of avoiding injuries (not knee), but mentioned things like when he cracked his ribs, etc, but will still drive into the towers depending on the game situation

-mentioned spreading the ball out more early is because historically he has the ball in his hands a lot, and he doesn't always know how other players feel about that. He doesn't want to make anyone unhappy, and since he can get a shot whenever he wants, he lets others have the ball. So he spreads the ball around early so guys know he's a willing passer, then he takes over later, but the guys still understand that he is a willing passer (and I'm assuming therefore will still be active and won't just watch him)

-taking Bledsoe under his wing, and Bledsoe being an athletic specimen

Really down to earth guy, and a lot of things said in there showed why he's a good leader and a guy that's always positively impacting his team, that is, outside of just his basketball ability.

[RiversideClips]

I still can't believe CP3 is a Clipper & he wants to be here! This is a great article and I am hoping for some June parades in L.A. soon that don't involve purple or gold.

[illastrate]

Great interview. It helps that Simmons follows the Clippers, so he'll actually ask relevant, insightful questions.

[mkwest]

Great interview.

I love everything about Paul as a player. He just has the right attitude and mentality.

I do have to agree with him on the team's destiny if Billups never got hurt. His presence on the roster was that serious. Even without him, I'm confident in the outlook of this season, but we are in more of a need to make a quality addition now.

Bledsoe has been in the James/Paul/Melo/etc. camp for a bit and it was one thing that I got enthused about over the summer. I was hopeful that we'd get Paul, but I felt that Bledsoe being around those guys would elevate his game to greater heights. Then he injures his knee. I don't want to say it's a wasted season for him, but he's now playing catch up and doesn't have the benefits of a normal season with practices to soak it all in.

To me, he's now in a similar situation to Darren Collison. He's not getting the same playing time, but he has the opportunity to learn from Paul and Robert Pack. He's one of our more valuable (to us at least) assets, but we could totally keep him and benefit from it. As highlighted in the interview, he was key in sparking the comeback in the game against the Spurs. He may never become a player that you pencil in as your starter, but could be that much needed spark plug, change of pace guard off of the bench. We don't know how much longer Mo will be with us and the guard situation outside of him is sketchy at best moving forward.

I don't want to fast forward past this season or anything, but next season will probably be very exciting to watch in terms of fully knowing who these guys are and what they are capable of. Now just to us fans, but to the entire league. He and the new additions have been thrown into the frying pan with the circumstances of the lockout and the nature of this season. Having an entire offseason to grow, gameplan and mature as a team will do wonders.