I can't wait for you guys to read this. It is pure comedy. Just shows what a true cancer and ego maniac "The Liability" truly was. "The initial reaction to the trade was strange," Fisher said of a swap that become public July 5 and was made official July 12, but was not formally completed until the 31-year-old took a physical exam Friday. "Because I wasn't expecting to be traded." But Fisher, make no mistake, wanted out of Golden State. He wanted out? What? It is the only team in the league that would have given him that much floor time. He and his agent even spoke about the possibility of a contract buyout with the Warriors, which instead wound up shipping the veteran combo guard to Utah for three younger guards with contracts that will expire after the coming season ? Devin Brown, Keith McLeod and Andre Owens. "I had expressed some unhappiness at times before with wanting to be a starter and wanting to have a bigger role, because I felt like I was capable of doing more to help the team," the Little Rock, Ark., native said. "But they had basically frozen me out on any type of trade talk. They weren't going to trade me. They felt like I was 'too important.'" TOOOOO IMPORTANT!!!! that is the funniest thing i have ever heard. There is not a team in the league fisher could start for. "I'm sure at times Deron and I will play together," Fisher said. "There may be some times when I'm starting and he's not, or he's starting and I'm not. Why would Fisher ever think he would start over Deron. Is fisher not the biggest ego with littlest talent ever. I thought he was an ok role player with the lakers because they had two players that could take double teams and get him open shots and could cover his defensive liabilities so he could take risks on D On the warriors his limitations exposed, and there were many, too many to list as that has been covered. At any rate here is the complete article. I was seriously laughing my head off at some of his comments. This is like Foyle thinking he should be an all star based on his play. Pure comedy. http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,640196784,00.html
Fisher arrives in Utah Initially stunned by trade, he is now happy with move By Tim Buckley Deseret Morning News Derek Fisher was well-spoken, honest and upfront as can be Friday about the reality of being dealt to the Jazz. Image Tom Smart, Deseret Morning News New Jazz guard Derek Fisher smiles at a press conference with owner Larry Miller, in the background, Friday afternoon where he was introduced as the newest member of the team. It caught the combo guard, who can play some shooting guard but clearly prefers the point, rather off-guard. It came, in fact, as a downright shock. One that required quite a bit of time with which to come to terms. And the initial uneasiness about it all has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with working in idiosyncratic Utah. "The initial reaction to the trade was strange," Fisher said of a swap that become public July 5 and was made official July 12, but was not formally completed until the 31-year-old took a physical exam Friday. "Because I wasn't expecting to be traded." But Fisher, make no mistake, wanted out of Golden State. He and his agent even spoke about the possibility of a contract buyout with the Warriors, which instead wound up shipping the veteran combo guard to Utah for three younger guards with contracts that will expire after the coming season ? Devin Brown, Keith McLeod and Andre Owens. "I had expressed some unhappiness at times before with wanting to be a starter and wanting to have a bigger role, because I felt like I was capable of doing more to help the team," the Little Rock, Ark., native said. "But they had basically frozen me out on any type of trade talk. They weren't going to trade me. They felt like I was 'too important.'" The jolt came when the Warriors traded Fisher anyway, news the father of newborn twins received from "some guy" as he headed to a workout at a California gym. "I think they respected my wishes in maybe wanting to have a bigger role on the team," said Fisher, who signed with Golden State as a free agent in 2004 following an eight-season, three-championship career with the Los Angeles Lakers. "But when you have Baron Davis at the point guard position and Jason Richardson at the 2-guard position, I'm the odd man out. "I think (Warriors basketball boss) Chris Mullin and the organization wanted to give me the opportunity to have the role I always wanted to have, and I think the Utah opportunity presented one that was good for them and one that they also saw as good for me ? but it wasn't something that had been discussed prior to the deal going down, so that was what really caught me off-guard. "I thought we were close to getting some other things worked out. I didn't even know they were thinking about trading me. So, that was the surprise ? and it took me a while to get over that surprise." It in fact took a couple weeks' worth of soul-searching as Fisher, who has four years and more than $26 million remaining on his current contract, and his family dealt with the unexpectedly early arrival of a baby son and daughter. The path to getting there was paved by a somewhat unconventional visit from Jazz basketball boss Kevin O'Connor, who flew to California to meet with Fisher. "Kevin was kind enough to come in and talk to me face-to-face," he said, "and really explain the purpose for the move ? because, from what I could see, Deron Williams (chosen No. 3 overall by Utah in the 2005 NBA Draft) was a guy that was pretty solid at the point-guard position. "So I kind of saw myself going into another situation where, Am I going to start? Am I going to come off the bench? What opportunity am I gonna have to be really be the player I'm capable of being? "After Kevin and I talked at length for a couple hours, I felt a little bit better about the situation. But it was still something that was strange to me," Fisher added. "So, my wife and I and my mom, who was there to help with the babies, talked about a number of different things for the last several days. "We all got to a place where I was so appreciative of what (Jazz owner) Larry (Miller) and Kevin and the coaching staff saw in me that, two days ago, the hesitancy and the reluctance ... subsided." Now, Fisher seems to have genuinely accepted his fate. "I'm OK with it now," he said. "I'm more than OK with it now. I'm excited. "The world is open in terms of opportunities and what I can do as a member of this team, so I don't feel backed into this in any way. This is a great opportunity for me. It really is." Certain issues, however, remain unresolved. Jazz coach Jerry Sloan is not one to promise anything to anyone, and Fisher is quite cognizant of that fact. Yet he seems willing to make it work. "I've been made no promises ? nothing under the table about how many minutes I'm going to play or what role I'm going to have," Fisher said. "I respect that, and I expect that, because that's what I expect from myself. I don't expect any favors, I don't expect any handouts. I don't expect to play just because of the type of contract I have. I expect to come and earn whatever it is the coaches feel like I deserve ? if that's starting, if that's coming off the bench. "What it comes back to is 'whatever it takes for the team to win.'" It's possible Fisher will serve not only as a mentor to Williams, but also play alongside him at shooting guard ? even though Fisher sees himself as a point. "I'm sure at times Deron and I will play together," Fisher said. "There may be some times when I'm starting and he's not, or he's starting and I'm not. "I don't know if I can be the 2 (shooting guard) that the team needs," he added, "but I can be 'the player' that this teams needs. And not just 'the' player in terms of taking anything away from anybody else." O'Connor concurs: "We think Coach Sloan does a great job with matchups, and we're going to take advantage of (Fisher's) ability to be 'a basketball player' and a guard. ... I don't want to pigeonhole anybody in a position." Nor does Fisher want anyone to think he feels coming to Utah is for the birds. "This is exciting," he said, "because it presents new beginnings, it presents new challenges. "This organization has always stood for professionalism, and doing things the right way. That's what I've been about my entire career. And I think the synergy that we can create is going to be not just good, but great."
He averaged career highs and 31 mins a game last season! What the hell is he complaining about? He wants 40 mins or something?
Well Fisher did add one or two strengths to the team. He wasn't completely useless, but he was pretty bad as a point guard. Frustratingly bad! For a guy that lacked quickness, height, decision-making ability, how did Mullin ever think of this guy as a true starting point guard? Even backup point guard Speedy Claxton was way better and the guy couldn't shoot as well as Fish and he was small.
Anyone who's read my posts the last few years knows my mantra: <font size=""6"">Derek Fisher believes he's Jordan.</font> How many times have I needed to say that? He's 0.4 baby. He's Mr. Clutch. When Baron arrived Fish still thought he was going to start. He played 30+ minutes a point guard and yet he rarely tallied an assist, shot 40 ft. rainbow threes, and ran the worst fast break in the history of sports. Now he'll get a chance to start and be the franchise guy in Utah (sorry AK47) Just like he did in LA, Fisher will bring a championship to Utah.
Actually Fisher had some good assist stats in terms of fantasy ball, but stats don't show what kind of point guard he was. Also, ideally we want some assists coming from everybody, but between Dunleavy and Jrich, that's not too many playmakers... Murphy doesn't pass, and Foyle can't catch.
What will we do now that the mighty fishbait has been traded! We might as well throw in the towel for next season. Never again will we see a basketball touch the rafters and miraculously fall in the hoop. NOOOO! No more half court would be continuation three pointers, and no more out of controll lay ups that defy the impossible and go in the hoop, (at least 39% of the time they do) and oh yeah no more bank shot bail out luck box jumpers that only god could dream of making, (I called glass on that one kid!) yeah right, and no more of that fruity ass french-artist-looking goatee, haha, also no more garbage looking fast breaks, or chest bumping against guards a half foot taller than him cause hes too inept at running point so he has to play an undersized two, and uh, yeah, we might as well just jump on the utah jazz bandwagon cause we all know there going to win the finals now. AK47 + Fish = dynasty, cause afterall, he did carry the lakeshow to three consecutive titles, didn't he? Man! How will we ever replace the god-like Stuart Fish? Seriously, I havn't been this sad since John Starks left the team. Oh well, I'll get over it, it might take a while, but i'll move on, just like when Puki Blaylock left, and bug eyes err Nick Van exel left, and when baldy, I mean Brian Cardinal,left. Now lets just hope God is listening to all of our prayers, and we don't lose the elephant man, I mean Mike Dunleavy.
Fisher will do better in Utah as they have a very good front line compared to ours, but Monta will break his ankles!
Oh -- P.S., Fisher was indeed considered "untouchable" by Mullin. That's why he traded his ass for 3 scrubs
Oh my god, you guys just traded away the best PG in the league! you will suffer greatly now! Good to hear he is out though. He was great for the triangle in LA but thats it really.
alright lets pop the bottles! we should throw a parade for this..now we can have successful fast breaks without this guy trying to run plays for himself!
He was that bad. He's a chucker. If you had to watch him throw up a three without passing the ball one time and clank it over and over again, you'd hate him too. Even when his shot was on, he was a disruption to the flow of the game, exactly the opposite of what a point guard should be.
He did two things well and didn't disrupt the locker room. Those two things were: He did free throw shooting well and he was excellent on catch and shoot. The dilemma was he needed to get to the foul line WITH the ball in hand and for catch and shoot, he needed to pass the ball first so somebody can set him up. Other than those two things + his nice guyness, he would disrupt the flow of offense like CohanHater mentioned. He basically ran plays for himself where he would overdribble the ball and then hoist early in the shotclock either right off the dribble or right in transition. That's not his strengths, but he would do it anyway. Dribble penetration wasn't his strengths, decision-making on the break wasn't his strengths, shooting off the dribble wasn't his strengths, playing D against most of the starting point guards wasn't his strengths, and him running offense wasn't really his strengths. The guy was just overrated with the ball in his hands, but we didn't have a choice because we have few ballhandlers that can actually shoot or get by defenders! Fisher didn't add to the decision-making let's just say. The only reason he got played was because Montgomery didn't want to put the pressure on the rookie point guard. He'd rather go NBDL guy or that one point guard we had in the beginning of the year that got waived (Aaron Miles). Understandable because Ellis is a high school shooting guard player and only 19, but I'd rather see Ellis.
I guess a shorter comment would be to underline CohanHater's opinion that Derek Fisher was no point guard in his role. He was an undersized shooting guard that had no quickness or skill level to play a David Wesley type role. Anything besides catch and shoot is where Fisher becomes a dud.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting DIRK4L1FE:</div><div class="quote_post">Wow. You guys are a little harsh. Fisher wasn't that bad. I hope he does well in Utah.</div> Ah, he just wasn't the right fit. So the expectations at his position were high, especially on a team that needs more playmakers and guys who can attract double teams. After all, the most important positions on a team are point guard and center because one makes plays and owns the most quickness on the team while the other is the strongest, most dominating on the team. Right now I think Ike and Jrich could whoop Troy Murphy and Adonal Foyle in the post. If those two (jrich/Ike) were bigger, they'd be my ideal power forward and center. Plus, I bet Monta Ellis could beat out Derek Fisher for point guard spot if he wasn't in "learning by observation" by the coaching staff. I don't care if Ellis sits a lot and plays some minutes, as long as the coaching staff knows what is best for him to develop the right instincts for his future role, his confidence and make fewer mistakes.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting DIRK4L1FE:</div><div class="quote_post">Wow. You guys are a little harsh. Fisher wasn't that bad. I hope he does well in Utah.</div> Fisher put up good numbers in the stat sheet, but those #s did not translate to good chemistry on the court or wins. The only shots I did not gripe at him about were when he missed a 3 then the ball came back to him right away. I know if I miss, I know why I missed. So if I get the ball back right away in the same spot I will shoot and most likely make it because I can adjust what I did wrong. Fisher seemed to miss again!
