Re: Ben Pepper

[jumpshot@iniaccess.net.au (Karen J Davies)]

Well everygody is entitled to their opinion obviously.  I saw two of the
games vs Arizona at Gosford and Newcastle and thought, though he was not
used as a focal point in the offense, that he played well with the minutes
he got (he was backing up both Melmeth and Anstey).  I certainly have NEVER
seen him manhandled at the block.  His skills are way off NBA as yet but one
thing he is NOT is soft.  

And yes, he's been dunked on.  Big bloody deal mate, i've seen every centre
thats played respectable minutes dunked on.  In fact, if you watch the
highlight reel, its some of the best big men that seem to get the most
facials.   I also saw (211cm) AJ Bramlet (who I assume you mean by Brantley)
and Bibby get rejected by Ben.  Don't start judging players by indivdual
moves amigo, that's not basketball.

Although the Australian u/23 outsized the Wildcats marginally (avg 198cm vs
196cm) this was not a great factor in the games that I saw.  Maybe ESPN made
a mess up and showed a different series, I don't know.  Pepper is a very
strong rebounder and has heart and desire.  The Celtics organization have
taken a bit of a gamble on his development for the Show but IMHO it was well
worth a #56 and it could just pay off.

But the Celtics have often taken gambles in the draft...

I am not discouraged at all my friend.  

***********************************************************************
Hi, guys.  I've been watching a lot of ESPN here in Asia.  And they've
been showing the Australian 22 under team goin against the NCAA champ,
the Arizona Wildcats.  It's a three game series which the Australian won
due to immense height advantage.  Though the wildcats get to win a
game.  

Anyways, I got to see Benjamin Pepper play and he is sooooooo soft and
he really sucked big time.  He may be over 7 feet but he is really
skinny and gets bumped and tossed around alot and there was a time when
Miles Simon even dunked in his face!!!  Pepper couldn't even catch the
ball right; rebound against smaller players (AJ Brantley, Davison,
Harris, Simon and even Bibby!!! are some that kicked his ass during the
tournament); couldn't shoot well at point blank range; and embarassingly
get blocked by smaller centers and get dunked on by GUARDS!!!of the
opposing teams.  If the Celtics are really considering to take him in
then he would make Szabo or Hamer look like Hakeem or Pat Ewing!  It
really dissapointed me to see a draft pick get wasted.  Why didn't we
just get the best talent available instead of having to fill a need but
unsure about the skill and talents of the player?  I see this as a bad
move by whoever's in charge (wallace?) of choosing.  Willoughby, Seals,
Awojobi, and Freeman are better choices coz they have better talents and
credentials.  We should just consider getting or filling up the center
need thru free agency.  Don't you think?  

Well, I hope I get to supply some info about Pepper (unfortunately,
discouraging ones).  Comments and opinions would be very much
appreciated...thanks.
*****************************************************************************
J Davies