Sarver on 910 at 5:00Pm

[sly fly]

This is surreal.

How much suffering can us Suns fans take?

A little piece of me died when John Paxson drilled the 3. Losing the Dice Man was like seeing your girlfriend run off with the milkman. And, now JJ turns in to Terrell Owens.

Let's not forget Barkley throwing up clunkers at the line against Houston, Danny Manning blowing out his knee, Kidd getting thrown into jail for tossing french fries, or Walter Davis going into rehab for a Coke problem.

Kind of makes the days of KJ, Chambers, Hornacek, and Majerle seem like a walk in the park. Something about that era was just so pure.

One of these days (Amare willing), we're going to have one helluva party.

 

[Goldfield]

http://players.eonstreams.com/FastAim/Player/Player.php?PlayerID=179

You are My God!

 

[George O'Brien]

It was an amazing interview (I sat in the driveway for 15 minutes listening). For the me the highlights were:

1. He was prepared to pay the price to keep JJ and only bailed when it became clear JJ wanted to leave.

2. Said JJ was getting bad advice rather than blaming JJ himself.

3. Noted that it was a big year for #2 guards.

4. He confirmed that they offered $75 million for six years.

5. Trading Q was about getting KT so as to not have guys drive the middle against them rather than clearing cap space.

6. Raja Bell's quickness will make the team better, emphasizing his defense rather than three point shooting.

 

[ActingWild]

I've been tied up with a client so I couldn't post my opinions after posting the interveiw...but I'm fully in Sarver's camp now. The "This is a business" bit sold me on him. Exactly the attitude that makes this whole thing palatable. Does everything he possibly can to make JJ feel welcomed and wanted but when that fails and JJ says he wants out he's got the perfect attitude. You don't want to be here, too bad, we're going to keep you here UNLESS you get your agents on the phone and get us something good in return.

 

[HooverDam]

Does anyone know where I can get an archive of this interview? Thanks for the recaps, but I'd really like to hear it for myself. I went on Xtras site and it seems like I can only listen live, right now its some idiots going on and on about eye surgery.

 

[ActingWild]

Oh, and I almost forgot....

Kudos to Gambo and Ash for asking the tough questions!

No sugar coated questions/no sugar coated answers. Great interview.

 

[Chris_Sanders]

Nice to see we aren't bickering anymore.

 

[Chaz]

I would love to have a transcript of that interview.

 

[Yuma]

Read the original thread titled something like "Sarver on 910 at 5PM" There are good recaps in there. I was leaning on Sarver's side before the interview. I am totally behind the guy now.

 

[newfan101]

"You're saying this is business, so am I. We're gonna match and if you don't want to play here, you better get on the phone with your people at the Hawks and tell them to put together some compensation."

Nice, Robert. Very nice. You just moved up a notch in my book.

His cheap, petty moves during the season still have me leery of him as an owner, but I must say he is handling this very well.

It sucks to be a Hawk fan right now.

 

[HooverDam]

Read the original thread titled something like "Sarver on 910 at 5PM" There are good recaps in there. I was leaning on Sarver's side before the interview. I am totally behind the guy now.

We are in that thread right now

 

[Yuma]

We are in that thread right now

Sorry. Someone early in the thread had a synopsis that hit every point made in the interview. It was really good.

 

[Evil Ash]

His cheap, petty moves during the season still have me leery of him as an owner, but I must say he is handling this very well.

It sucks to be a Hawk fan right now.

 

[Lars the Red]

Say what you will about his not signing JJ last year. His explanation of the situation, (having just spent money on Q and Nash, not know how this team would mesh), made perfect sense. His admition that in hindsight he should have signed him shows he's accountable.

Every thing else from that point on has made even more sense.

-Evaluating the financial situation of the team and JJ's role on, and not offering the max right off the bat is a very intelligent business decision.
-Coming in with an offer that may have appeared low, but was within the range they felt JJ would bring. JJ took it as a slap, but in reality, they didn't see JJ as being an absolute max guy.
-Sarver and JC being as very forthcoming about the entire negotiating may have put JJ in a negative light, but it was refreshing not to hear 'management speak'.
-Sarver also making it public that a $75 million deal was on the table at one time and ignored.
-The emphasis he put on aquiring Raja as an upgrade over Q, and KT being a critical piece to the puzzle was perfect. What made that better was pointing out it actually cost more.

I was really impressed with the guy. He came across as someone like you or me, not a slick mouth piece trying to spin. Very solid, both by Sarver, and shockingly, by Gambo and Ash.

 

[TucsonDevil]

This is surreal.

How much suffering can us Suns fans take?

A little piece of me died when John Paxson drilled the 3. Losing the Dice Man was like seeing your girlfriend run off with the milkman. And, now JJ turns in to Terrell Owens.

Let's not forget Barkley throwing up clunkers at the line against Houston, Danny Manning blowing out his knee, Kidd getting thrown into jail for tossing french fries, or Walter Davis going into rehab for a Coke problem.

Kind of makes the days of KJ, Chambers, Hornacek, and Majerle seem like a walk in the park. Something about that era was just so pure.

One of these days (Amare willing), we're going to have one helluva party.

Sly Fly - I couldn't agree with you more! So much has happened when we thought we were headed in the right direction. But you forgot these miserable moments - "Ely kissing his two fingers after draining the 3 in Game 7 in '95"; "the whole Suns' Drug scandal in the mid 80s"; "the DJ for Ric Robey trade with the Celtics"; and "small ball with Ainge and our 4 guard lineup" (although it was fun to watch at times, especially the inbound pass from Kidd to a running Chapman as he housted up the three).

I have seen the face of the Phoenix Suns championship - and it looks a lot like the player wearing the #32 jersey...

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

But you forgot these miserable moments - "Ely kissing his two fingers after draining the 3 in Game 7 in '95";

I don't know much about Ely's Fresno career, but I can tell you he hasn't ever been in the playoffs before!

(I think you mean Ellie)

 

[devilalum]

I don't know much about Ely's Fresno career, but I can tell you he hasn't ever been in the playoffs before!

(I think you mean Ellie)

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[TucsonDevil]

I don't know much about Ely's Fresno career, but I can tell you he hasn't ever been in the playoffs before!

(I think you mean Ellie)

Yeah, I did mean Ellie, my bad... BTW, I hated seeing him in a Suns uniform a few years after that dagger...

 

[playstation]

there's one more thing that was said that i don't think has been mentioned and it had an affect on me:

gambo said 'what about the statement to KFAN that joe made that he'd be willing to put everything behind him if you matched, was that true?'

and sarver said obviously joe had to say that because at the time he didn't know if they'd match the offer, however from talking to him in private he really didn't know if that would be the case, and it just wasn't a chance he was willing to take.

----
the only question i have at this point (and for the record, i definitly see sarvers point of view), is that all those 'inside sources' that immediately said sarver had no intention of matching, etc, etc, they were ALL full of it? i mean, facts are still facts, and what we've seen over the last year (ESPECIALLY with only keeping 12 roster guys) leads me to still think of him as one of the cheaper owners in the league.

so what i'm trying to say is that while i think i see his point of view in THIS instance, its not like i haven't noticed what's been happening for a while here.

 

[devilalum]

there's one more thing that was said that i don't think has been mentioned and it had an affect on me:

gambo said 'what about the statement to KFAN that joe made that he'd be willing to put everything behind him if you matched, was that true?'

and sarver said obviously joe had to say that because at the time he didn't know if they'd match the offer, however from talking to him in private he really didn't know if that would be the case, and it just wasn't a chance he was willing to take.

----
the only question i have at this point (and for the record, i definitly see sarvers point of view), is that all those 'inside sources' that immediately said sarver had no intention of matching, etc, etc, they were ALL full of it? i mean, facts are still facts, and what we've seen over the last year (ESPECIALLY with only keeping 12 roster guys) leads me to still think of him as one of the cheaper owners in the league.

so what i'm trying to say is that while i think i see his point of view in THIS instance, its not like i haven't noticed what's been happening for a while here.

I agree.

Sarver may be justified in this case but he's a real bottom line guy. He says he's about winning but only if its under budget. That doesn't always get it done.

The other thing I took from the interview is that collectively we know more on this board than any reporter in the country. Every fact that was shared had already been posted on this board days ago.

One more thing. He talked about how they made JJ a book. (Sarver moaned about it costing 10 grand)They did this for Penny and Nash. I think they need to come up with a new gimmick. Now its like, "Hey JJ they sent the book." "Throw it over there by my video games and I'll look at it later."

 

[playstation]

and one more comment:

sarver kept saying how JJ said being happy is more important than winning a title. now, i don't know what you'd do in that sitation, but here's exactly what i'd say if I was told that:

'JJ, you've been here for a year under my presence, we've had a ton of success and people left and right have been saying what gets them about this team is how they GENUINELY like each other. SO, you tell me, what is it about Atlanta's situation that will make you MORE happy than being here.'

I would want to do what i can to make sure he understands i'd be flexible for him. if he needs him family, we fly them over, buy them a house. if he needs more black folks around, we build a CBNC INSIDE HIS HOUSE (no offense to anyone, cause CBNC is all good). If he needs to be the man, tell him how he'll be featured more prominently in marketing campaigns and on the court in coming years. Happiness is NOT something that is a constant.

any you know what, maybe he DID ask all of this, but i heard nothing to that extent during the interview, so i do wonder about it. does this not occur to some of you as well?

 

[clif]

and one more comment:

sarver kept saying how JJ said being happy is more important than winning a title. now, i don't know what you'd do in that sitation, but here's exactly what i'd say if I was told that:

'JJ, you've been here for a year under my presence, we've had a ton of success and people left and right have been saying what gets them about this team is how they GENUINELY like each other. SO, you tell me, what is it about Atlanta's situation that will make you MORE happy than being here.'

I would want to do what i can to make sure he understands i'd be flexible for him. if he needs him family, we fly them over, buy them a house. if he needs more black folks around, we build a CBNC INSIDE HIS HOUSE (no offense to anyone, cause CBNC is all good). If he needs to be the man, tell him how he'll be featured more prominently in marketing campaigns and on the court in coming years. Happiness is NOT something that is a constant.

any you know what, maybe he DID ask all of this, but i heard nothing to that extent during the interview, so i do wonder about it. does this not occur to some of you as well?

As a person who grew up as a black man in the south... I can understand why JJ would want to move to Atlanta and be near "family"... BUT... with $70 mil in my pocket I can make it work. I really do believe it is immaturity. He wants to be the man.. not only on the court, but in the city.

 

[devilalum]

and one more comment:

sarver kept saying how JJ said being happy is more important than winning a title. now, i don't know what you'd do in that sitation, but here's exactly what i'd say if I was told that:

'JJ, you've been here for a year under my presence, we've had a ton of success and people left and right have been saying what gets them about this team is how they GENUINELY like each other. SO, you tell me, what is it about Atlanta's situation that will make you MORE happy than being here.'

I would want to do what i can to make sure he understands i'd be flexible for him. if he needs him family, we fly them over, buy them a house. if he needs more black folks around, we build a CBNC INSIDE HIS HOUSE (no offense to anyone, cause CBNC is all good). If he needs to be the man, tell him how he'll be featured more prominently in marketing campaigns and on the court in coming years. Happiness is NOT something that is a constant.

any you know what, maybe he DID ask all of this, but i heard nothing to that extent during the interview, so i do wonder about it. does this not occur to some of you as well?

He did say he tried like a million times to sit down and talk with JJ. I'm sure the conversation would have included many of these topics which is exactly why JJ's agent wouldn't let it happen.

In this way the whole situation is so much like the McNugget fiasco. Escept for the fact that all the Suns players have been talking to JJ all summer.

Did Sarver ever say that Amare talked to Joe about coming back? I remember him saying Nash and Marion?

 

[arthurracoon]

Wow...I wish I would have heard this interview.

Hopefully 910 archives this interview in the near future.

From your reactions, I'm behind Sarver now as well.

 

[AZZenny]

I thought about that interview for awhile - man was it nice to hear him just SPEAK without all the tactful cliche crap - I get so sick of baseball people for that.

Gambo and Asher asked tough questions (they actually do some great interviews at times) and Sarver never retreated into fuzzy doublespeak or platitudes - maybe there was spin, but sounded like it was what he believed. He answered quickly, firmly, and was not overly defensive.

Mainly, he sounded like a really hard-nosed business man - shark, even - that is, what / who you invest in, and how you assess risk/reward are what he DOES, and he's freakin' good at it - but he is still learning where that will and will not mesh with professional sports. When it comes to business, if Joe is saying "It's a business, man," he's just walked on to Sarver's court with his shoelaces tied together.

Sarver clearly is hooked on the team and excited about winning, but he said something like 'you can only go so far in spending without getting some financial return, and maybe you have to take that farther in sports as opposed to business, but you cannot go all the way upside down with that or the team will not be successful over the long haul.' (Must have watched JC and Joe Jr. nearly bankrupt the DBacks.)