Re: Our needs

> Anthony Parker would be a major reach with our first pick. Shea Seals,
> Derek Anderson, James Cotton, Dedric Willoughby, & Cory Carr all have been
> putting up better #'s against better competition than Parker.  Koul is
> another  big slow sloth, I'll pass on him. Can you imagine Dino & Koul in
> the same lineup ?  We would get ran off the court. I would much rather see
> us take Tony Battie of Texas Tech or Scot Pollard.  These guys have been
> putting up big rebound numbers against top college competition, play a
> physical game, and can run the floor.  I think Battie may be the best big
> man next to Duncan.  I have not seen Foyle, but his competition is not at
> the same level.
  

Several comments:

I don't understand references to Dino as slow.  End to end, he's one of
the fastest players at power forward.  After his low post moves, his
biggest asset is his speed - and he is very good at running the break
(notice his numbers go up whenever the team gets in a running game).  In
the last three years he has repeatedly abused players like Juwaun Howard,
Antonio McDyess, Shaq, and even Kemp on a couple occasions by simply
outrunning them repeatedly on the break.  Moreover, he has repeatedly
tracked down guards on breakaways for blocks, and has shown the ability to
lead the break and dribble past the other team.  This is not a slow
player, but for some reason, people keep propogating the sterotype that he
is a big slow player.

Second, although I've only seen Koul play a couple of times, it is also
being unfair to lable him as slow.  He is another player where one of his
biggest assets is his foot speed.  He runs the floor very well, and if
anything, often moves his feet to much, getting out of control and picking
up easy fouls.  But I wouldn't classify Koul as slow, especially compared
to most NBA centers (like Reeves, Montross, Johnson, McIlvaine, Ewing,
Spencer, West, Cage, Muresan, Bradley, Dare, Lister, Wright, Vrankovic,
Lang, Mutumbo, etc.)

Third, I wouldn't knock Foyle because of the competition.  His size,
reach, armspan, and speed aren't any less because of his competition.  He
does play division 1 basketball, and they have played several decent teams
(like Indiana).  He is putting up good numbers despite the fact that he
faces a triple team or worse most games, as there are no supporting
players right now.  His situation seems rather comparable to some other
big men on little teams like Robert Parish and David Robinson.

Finally, I do agree that Battie looks very good - but I would take Koul or
Foyle over him in a heartbeat.  I'd probably take Battie after Duncan,
Koul, Foyle, and maybe VanHorn.  I also like the looks of Crozier,
Anderson (of Kentucky), Carr (of TT) and Knight(of Stanford).

Adam

PS.  SOmeone else mentioned trading for Stackhouse.  I'd like to
say...NO!!!!  I didn't like him coming out of college, and I don't like
him now.  He has tons of athletic ability, but very few basketbal skills.
I don't like players who have to rely on the referees whistle to score,
and Stackhouse is definately in that catagory.