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sport307.htm
Here's a great article I found in Sunday's Denver Post. Any comments?
****dave
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The Denver Post Online
Sports
Race to point guards concern for Nuggets
By Mike Monroe
Denver Post Sports Writer
June 8 - There are some interesting developments shaping up in advance
of the draft, little more than two weeks hence, that could have a big
impact on the Denver Nuggets.
Nuggets vice president of basketball operations Allan Bristow has
targeted a point guard for the draft, fully aware it is the team's
most pressing need. With the fifth pick in the first round, it didn't
seem they were in much danger of having the guy they favored snatched
away before it was their turn to pick. Now, though, it looks as if
both Boston, picking third, and Vancouver, picking fourth, might opt
for point guards, too.
The Grizzlies already have a solid front line, with Big Country Reeves
and Shareef Abdur-Rahim. They are going to lose, without regret,
starting point guard Greg Anthony to free agency. They have brought
both Antonio Daniels and Brevin Knight in for workouts and interviews
and attended the Chauncey Billups dog-and-pony show agent Eric
Fleisher put on for scouts at a gym in Connecticut.
The stock of Texas Tech's Tony Battie has been steadily on the rise,
and the 76ers appear ready to make him the second pick in the draft.
Tim Duncan's selection by the Spurs, picking first, is a no-brainer.
Boston coach Rick Pitino is said to love Billups' game. He has said he
doesn't think his former Kentucky star, Ron Mercer, is ready for the
NBA, which doesn't necessarily mean he won't take him, but means he
wouldn't be real comfortable putting Mercer on the spot immediately in
Boston. In fact, don't be surprised if the Celtics trade Dino Radja
and the third or sixth pick for disgruntled SuperSonics star Shawn
Kemp. But the fact the Celtics are at least considering Billups has to
be a concern for Denver.
Should the first four players taken be Duncan, Battie, Billups and
Daniels, could Bristow possibly pass on Keith Van Horn, a player he
clearly loves?
No way.
But then what would the Nuggets do for a point guard?
Camp futility
Nearly all of the league's coaches and scouts were in Chicago last
week for the league's annual predraft camp, which has turned into an
exercise in futility for most teams. None of the top 15 to 20 players
takes part anymore, most fearing a poor showing might hurt them. In
fact, perhaps the luckiest general manager in Chicago last week was
Charlotte's Bob Bass, whose team has neither a first-round nor a
second-round pick. "To be frank with you,'' Bass said, "I don't want a
draft pick. It's sad that the draft is in Charlotte and we don't have
a pick, but after looking at the players in the camps, and from what
the scouts are telling us, this is not a very good draft. "The first
eight or 10 players are pretty good, but after that, some teams might
get stuck with a guy for three years that's not much of a player.''
All first-round picks are guaranteed three-year contracts by the last
collective bargaining agreement with the players' association, so more
than a few teams at the bottom of the draft are trying to trade their
first-round picks, for that very reason, including Houston and Utah.
Every year, of course, there is an occasional Shandon Anderson in the
second round who makes the whole tournament/camp process worthwhile
for one team or another. And this year's Chicago camp wasn't
completely devoid of talent. San Jose State's Olivier St. Jean
probably earned himself a spot in the first round with his play there.
KJ's fate
The Suns expect to find out this week about Kevin Johnson's decision
to retire or return for another season. They would love to hear him
say he wants to play one more season. Then they could use his $7
million salary slot to help them out when all those 1995 draftees,
including Denver's Antonio McDyess, become free agents next summer.
Good guys, times two
Detroit Free Press basketball writer Perry Farrell, who took over the
Pistons beat when cancer struck writer and all-around good guy Corky
Meinecke, recently organized a benefit bowling tournament for a
college fund started for Meinecke's three children after Meinecke died
in April. The bowling tournament and auction of sports memorabilia
raised nearly $13,000 and Farrell, an avid bowler who carries an
average of 209 in league play, rolled a 300 game. There were a few
pins we know got an invisible tap from above during Farrell's
perfecto, the third perfect game he has bowled. Meinecke was one of
the sweetest guys ever to cover the league, and he would be proud his
successor is carrying on in the spirit of his humanity. Since the
topic is good guys, Houston Rockets equipment manager David Nordstrom
deserves some good words. Nordstrom made sure John Stockton got the
game ball he used to drive a spike through Nordstrom's Rockets' hearts
by hitting a 3-pointer at the buzzer in Game 6 of the Western
Conference finals at The Summit. "I thought he deserved to have the
ball that got them to their first NBA Finals,'' Nordstrom said. "When
I gave it to him, he practically had tears in his eyes.''
Reporters can be reached at sports@denverpost.com.
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