Could the current roster beat last year's team?

[Chris Littlefield <chrisl@mjr.com>]

First, let me disclaim by stating that I'm not going to compare coaches.  I
don't think it's hard to argue that Rick Pitino is one of the preeminent
coaches in basketball at any level.  It's his personnel choices that I am
starting to question.

Check out the primary players for each team:

96-97 team:			Current 97-98 team:

Starters:			Starters:

Wesley				Billups
Fox				Mercer
Williams			Williams
Walker				Walker
Conlon				Knight

Primary subs:			Primary subs:
Day				Dee Brown (injured last year)
Hawkins				Dana Barros (injured last year)
Szabo				Greg Minor (injured last year)
				Declerq???
				Strong???


How big a difference is there?  Really.  All Pitino seems to have done is
improve the team in one of its areas of strength, and bring in what I deem
limited-potential improvement along the front line, if that.  At the same
time, if the Declerq and Strong deals go through, he will have continued to
go against what he wanted to do in the first place, which is create salary
cap relief.

Because of Pitino's success record, I am more than willing to give him the
benefit of the doubt.  If I understand what he's doing right now, he has
committed to putting together a small, trapping, athletic and aggressive
team, with the primary spotlights focussed on what I am assuming will be
the very potent group of Billups/Mercer/Williams/Walker.  He's filling in
the gaps with marginal role-players of size like Knight, Declerq, and maybe
Derek Strong.  I think he will complete the structure of this year's team
with a trade designed to upgrade in size, for example Minor/Brown for
Person/Ceballos.  Eric Murdock will then be signed as a backup point guard.

If you think about it in a resource-oriented manner, though, what if the
C's had drafted big instead, going with Battie and Foyle?  Wesley and Fox,
arguably the two best, most consistent players on the team last year, would
then have had to be resigned, and you would have been left with much
higher-quality big men.

Is there anyone out there who thinks that Travis Knight and Declerq will
have better years than Battie and Foyle?

Conversely, will Billups and Mercer be SO much better than Fox and Wesley
have already proven they are?  I really don't think so though I hope I'm
wrong.

Call me crazy, but wouldn't that have created much greater depth and better
overall talent?

I question what Pitino is doing, but I guess the proof will have to be in
the pudding.

What do people think?  Talk to me!


Chris