nba basketball news, rumors, articles, links, draft, players and teams NBA basketball news, rumors, articles, interviews, links, mock draft, players and teams - daily. The web's top NBA coverage. Plus college hoops, streetball and more.

  NBA NEWS & RUMORS
News
NBA rumors
Media Links
Basketball Blog

  EMAIL & FORUMS
Message Board
Free Email

  SCORES & STATS
Scores
NBA Stats
Previews
Recaps
Standings
NBA Video
Schedule
Transactions

  NBA FEATURES
Fantasy Basketball
Power Rankings
NBA Awards Watch
NBA Articles Archive
NBA Salaries
Free Agents
Interviews
Depth Charts
MVP Race
Rookie Watch
NBA Draft
NBA Mock Draft




  MORE BASKETBALL
History
NBA All-Star Weekend
Business
Playing Tips
NBA Throwback Jerseys

  MORE LEAGUES
Olympics
World
USA
Minors
Summer

  WEBSITE INFO
About Us
Write For Us
Advertise
Contact Us


nba basketball news rumors



InsideHoops NBA [Home] Feb. 14, 2004

Sam Cassell Interview

 


"LIKE" US ON FACEBOOK


 






It took Sam Cassell a long time to finally make the all-star team. Of course, if you ask Sam - and lots of experts and fans - he should have made the team several times already. As a member of the Minnesota Timberwolves, he's finally done it. Cassell spoke with the media a few days before the 2004 NBA All-Star game, in Los Angeles.

Q: Even though the Timberwolves have had success up to this point, are the Lakers the team to beat?

Cassell: Who won the championship last year? The Spurs won last year. The Spurs are the team to beat. The Lakers have a great team. They added Karl Malone and Gary Payton to Shaq (O’Neal) and Kobe (Bryant), but so far they are just a great team on paper. Sacramento is playing without Chris Webber and they have the best record in the league, so they are probably more of a team to beat than the Lakers. That’s 24 (points) and 12 (rebounds) coming back in the next few weeks.

Q: How does it feel to finally make an All-Star team?

Cassell: Well, I don’t know why it took this long. I mean, I’m not a bad guy, but I knew for a fact that I wouldn’t get voted in. It’s all a political thing nowadays to make an All-Star team. It’s not like the old days when they knew what they were working with. Players got rewarded for playing on good teams. I sort of feel like a new-age version of Rod Strickland. I never understood why he didn’t make it. I consider myself a student of the game, and there’s no way you can tell me that in back in 1993 Rod Strickland wasn’t one of the two or three best point guards in the game of basketball. Rod Strickland was the top guard in the game of basketball, so this game for me, personally, goes out to Derek Harper and Rod Strickland. They were two guys from my era, two guys I played with, that didn’t get to make it here, so I am representing for the three of us.

Q: What has happened to the Eastern Conference?

Cassell: I was talking to Baron Davis and they (the New Orleans Hornets) are moving to the Western Conference next year, so I told them they better make it to the Finals this year because in the West it is a dogfight every night. You have to be fundamentally sound and have a great gameplan for every game over here. Even against teams like Denver and Utah, games that used to be easy wins, you will get beat this year. Also, teams like San Antonio and Dallas and Houston figured it out that you need to start inside and then go outside. Once that happened, it was sickening because you just never get a night off.

Q: Is this your best year in the league?

Cassell: I think we are winning more. My numbers are better, but you have to remember, they were never bad. Now, I’ve got Kevin Garnett and Latrell (Sprewell) to throw the ball to. I’m the third option and I’m averaging 21 points a game. It’s not bad to be averaging 21 points and be the third option.










MAIN BASKETBALL SECTIONS
NBA Basketball
College
High School
Streetball
Basketball Forum
BASKETBALL SOCIAL MEDIA
RSS (of our blog)
On Twitter
On Facebook
On Instagram
On YouTube
KEY BASKETBALL WEBSITE INFO
About Us
Contact Us
Advertise
Write For Us

All content copyright 1999-2023, InsideHoops.com. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy. Terms of Use.
Partner with USA TODAY Sports Digital Properties. Owned by InsideHoops Media Inc.