No Subject

Hmmm.  Okay.  The C's draft Duncan.  We're definitely eye-eye on this one.
Then your big players who stand a reasonable chance of being healthy are
Duncan and Radja, and Walker as a superfast but not very big 4.  I'm
assuming that Lister and Brick and Conlon will be gone, and Pervis will
remain more or less out of service.  I agree that Walker can play the 4 and
play it very well.  I think that a 3-man rotation at the 4 and 5 spots is
adequate, but thin.  If there were enough money under the cap to go out and
sign a serviceable veteran wide-body as a backup 4/5, I would think about
getting a 2 with the 2nd pick.  But with (knock on wood) two lottery picks
and David Wesley to resign, I don't think there will be any money left to
go get someone.  If big and athletic is available to a team sporting a 6-9
center, draft big and athletic.

Battie, when I checked last week, was 3d in the nation in rebounding at
12.3, behind Foyle and Duncan.  Every stat line I see, he gets 3-4 blocks.
Last night against #1 Kansas, he shot 13-16, 29 points, 10 rebounds, 5
blocks, a steal, a 3-pointer and okay, 4 turnovers. He's averaging around
21 points a game.  He had a 31/17 a couple weeks ago, then a 26/13 with an
injured hamstring last week.  The Big 12 is a tough conference.  He's
putting up big numbers.  But he is 6-11, 220, so he's got a Joe
Smith/McDyess kind of body, not an NBA center.  If McDyess can have a
mediocre college season, bust loose in two tourney games and get taken 2nd
overall, I think Battie, with a big regular season, will probably be very
popular come draft time if he comes out early.  If we draft Battie and
Duncan, Duncan plays center.  I have no qualms with that.

Koul is a little enigmatic.  Stat-wise, he'll put up a 21/16 with 3 blocks,
then follow it with a 11/4 with 4 fouls in 28 minutes.  Again, I've only
seen snippets.  UMass' only regular-season loss last year was to GW, and
Koul just put the clamps on Camby.  He's 7-1, and seems to be a big game
player.  What is he on, ESPN?  What time?  It'd be Koul to see.  Hah.

With Day, Minor, Brown, Barros, and in a pinch Fox, there are enough bodies
to fill the two-spot.  We have enough scorers who can drive or post-up in
Walker, Williams, Radja and Wesley.  Minor shouldn't be a big part of the
offense.  He can live coming off picks and getting his points in
transition.  Reggie Miller can't really drive.  He uses picks to get free.
We need anchors in the middle, and a Radja/Walker/Duncan triumvirate is
thin at best.  Another big body is needed.  Given Celtics luck, they'll all
get crippled and we'll start Dee Brown at the 4.

Of the guards you mentioned, though, I also would take Billups first if he
were available.  Mercer's more of a small 3 than a big 2 from what I've
seen.

Skinner I've followed very little, but Battie dominated him in their
matchup.  Battie is very much for real.  If the C's get Duncan, and Battie
or Koul were still available, I would take either of them before taking a
shooting guard or Van Horn, who worries me.  He could be Laettner or
Gugliotta.  He could be Ferry or Michael Smith.

Later


>interesting thoughts again.  But why draft a big goon if you get Duncan?  I
>see Antoine as our 4 of the future.  That is clearly his best position.  Fox
>and Williams are 3s who can play 4 in a pinch, but who can't defend at that
>position at all.  Duncan, if we get him, is our center.  End of story.  If
he
>is worth drafting at number one, he's a center.  He's outplayed every center
>in college, and did a decent job on the shaq as well.  Immaterial anyway,
>since we probably won't get him.   How is battie "a scoring machine?" he
>doesn't seem to get the ball much in texas tech's offense, and I don't see
>him among the leaders in rebounding or blocked shots.  We'll have to see
what
>he does in the camps.  I read that Skinner is better.  As for Koul, he's on
>tv tonight, so let's scout him.  I don't know the details of Minor's
>contract, but he good be a very good player -- nevertheless, we aren't in a
>position to go to war with a guard who doesn't drive.  I say (in order of
>preference) take billups, mercer, parker, or seals instead.