Re: C's at the All-Star Break

[Rohan Prashad <rprasha@clemson.edu>]

Well, we knew before the draft that whoever we took at 3 would be a considerable
dropoff to Duncan and VanHorn at 1 and 2.  That is why we tried to
trade up for them.  That is why Pitino said he was building his backcourt
of the future.  Billups and Mercer have plenty of time to grow
and develop their game.  As far as us being better off with Cleveland's
picks, no way.  Brevin Knight is a good point guard, and much better
than Chauncey right now, but in the future I don't think so.  Anderson
and Knight and Henderson all had four years of college, they are older,
more mature, and have more refined games right now. That is the reason
they have the good stats.  Chauncey is 6'3, Ron is 6'7.  That
is a big backcourt tandem, what you need to go far in the playoffs. 
Not only will Mercer be much better than Anderson in the future, but Anderson
has that injury problem that will plague him the rest of his career. 
The Celtics are in the best possible position we could be in since we were
dealt a bad hand in the lottery.

Rohan

John Lyell wrote:

On Saturday, February 07, 1998 6:41 PM, Cecil Wright
[SMTP:nocw1@nsh.library.ns.ca] wrote:
> Amid the constant backdrop of trade discussions and unhappiness at player
> performances, and at the risk of being redundant, I want to say how much
> enjoyment I have gotten from watching our team play thus far.  Sure I too
> get frustrated when, for example, Chauncey makes a bad pass, but these
> are the elements which rookies must learn before ascending to another
> level.  I heard Antonio Daniels commenting today on how tough the
> adjustment has been for him to the pro game.  This coming from a man who
> has previously played the same position in college.  He said that he has
> relied on the advice of more mature players on his team, especially Lee
> Mayberry who he competed against for playing time.  Though I do not feel
> that Billups and Mercer have the luxury of learning from teammates who
> are that much more mature they themselves, I think they've done well thus
> far.

I agree Chauncy's play has improved,  when you compare him to the top 2
picks you see a major dropoff at 3, and guys taken lower like Brevin
Knight, Cedric Henderson & Alvin Williams playing comparable.  Remember
there was a lot of discussion at draft time about moving one of the picks
to Cleveland for their 2 picks.  Would we be better with Knight & Anderson,
or Cato ?  That's debatable.