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[Fwd: Re: Mercer for Dampier]

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Greg Odegaard wrote:
> 
> Jeremy thank you for your thoughtful responses; you make some great points.
>  I guess I was trying to say that I and probably most of us wouldn't trade
> Mercer for Dampier or all but maybe 50 (or maybe 100) others players in the
> league at all positions.  Am blind or do I overate a player like Mercer,
> Hell yes.  For many reasons he has huge upside, he is only 20 +/- years
> old, he has what appears to be all the athletic, motivation and personnal
> characteristics we could hope for in a starting guard/forward, and he has
> played for Rick, with Walter and AW, yada yada yada.  Is he as good as the
> lists of guards yourself and others have put together, maybe not today, and
> frankly I don't care because the Celtics couldn't or wouldn't want to trade
> for all but a couple of this list of guards.  Who here really wants any of
> the guards on these lists older than 30, or head cases like Penny, Rider or
> Iverson.  It is not unfair to ask if we want a championship team at any
> cost now, without regard to people involved or the ability to sustain this
> success.  This franchise is storied in long term success, "Celtic Pride",
> and some of the players noted don't fit into any aspect of this concept.
> 
> Am I naive, about Mercer and Walker, to a degree yes.  But remember they
> are on the roster, know the system and want to play their careers in
> Boston.  There is real, not perceived value in these qualities.
> 
> On the matter of the center, again we can succeed without a top tier
> center.  Would I want one, of course.  There are probably only 6 or 7
> current centers who themselves could or have carried their teams to a
> championship (Hakeem, Ewing, Mourning, Clank, Robinson, Duncan, Mutombo).
> The rest of the 20+ teams are in the same boat as us, needing or wanting
> strong players at the other positions, with a very good center.  Reality is
> their aren't any other options.  With a great PF the likes of Rodman, et
> al, the team can succeed without a top ten center.  Here again I am
> assuming to a degree that AW might be better suited to being a great SF,
> than PF.  Who knows.
> 
> You ask if I watch the games, certainly, but did you watch Sonics/Fakers
> the other night.  Watch tonight, and unless Clank picks it up big time, it
> will prove at least in the case of the Fakers, that a big body isn't
> necessarily all it take to beat them.
> 
> I agree totally on your assesment of RP working with Dampier, and would be
> glad to have him.  He would likely fill out that role nicely but not at the
> cost of Mercer.
> 
> Warning!  I am not comparing Mercer to MJ, but when MJ came into the league
> no one except maybe him, expected him to be the total force he has become,
> and even then he needed a strong supporting cast.  I don't expect Mercer to
> be one of the very best at SG, heck he may be a better SF, ala Drexler, but
> he will be good, and we won't need to fill that position for the next 10
> years when he is around.
> 
> One last detail I believe the order of importance, on average for the 5
> starting positions to a teams success is the following:
> 
> 1. PG
> 2. Center
> 3. SG
> 4. PF
> 5. SF
> 
> This is based on leading the team first (PG), with scoring and defense
> being close second and third.  Now of course a great center therefore is
> more important to a SG in this scheme, but Dampier is less likely to be
> great IMO than Mercer ever is.  By putting these words down, this order
> could be argued at length.
> 
> Thanks again Jeremy for your hearty dialogue,
> Greg
> 

HEY GREG,
GREAT POST, COULDN'T AGREE WITH YOU MORE.
REGARDS,
HART

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