Re: I agree with Mishra...sort of

[Dan Forant Sr <dforant1@nycap.rr.com>]

Wrong, the board crashing we're going to witness this season will more than
make up for the loss of Mercer. Shooting guards are a dime a dozen. 

At 12:49 PM 8/3/99 -0400, you wrote:
>
>>>> Shailendra Mishra <shailendra_mishra@yahoo.com> 08/03/99
>12:00pm >>>
>I am  terribly disappointed with this trade. Mercer had his
>limitations, but he also had tremendous upside. I don't see the same
>potential in the incumbents that we have got in return. With this trade
>Pitino has proven to me he is clueless as far as the pro-game is
>concerned. He is a poor evaluator of talent, he plays favourites and
>has ruined this team. Mercer may have been asking more money but if
>Pitino had not given that stupid contract to McCarty that money would
>have been there to sign Mercer.
>
>Just imagine with the 3rd and 6th pick in 1997 draft we have got
>Anderson, Fortson and 1st round pick. I am not counting Eric Williams
>because he was already there. I hated the Billups trade and I hate this
>one and I am convinced we were much better with M.L.Carr at the
>helm..Pitino is a joke. - Mishra <<<
>
>> 
>
>A little harsher than what I might have said, but essentially I agree with
>Mishra.  If Fortson is so much better than Mercer--as many are
>asserting--then why would Denver throw in a future first round draft
>pick?  Fortson had a very good year (and a great year on the glass, to
>be sure), but I have my doubts about his ability to play defense in this
>kind of system.  I've listened to everyone talk about his ostensible lateral
>quickness and how he played in a similar system at Cincinnati, but there
>is a big difference between giving your all for 30 games and giving your
>all during the course of an 82 game season.
>
>Incidentally, I think that it's highly unlikely that the draft pick will
end up
>being low enough to be especially valuable.  Denver now has McDyess,
>LaFrentz, Billups, Van Exel, and Mercer, and are pretty well-stocked.  In
>a year or two, they will probably be a formidable team in the western
>conference.
>
>Finally, I'm very worried about Pierce playing full-time at the two guard
>position.  His game is much more suited for small forward--especially
>defensively.  And while he is a very good shooter, that in and of itself is
>not a determinant of success at the "two."  For all of the Mercer
>detractors who lamented Ron's poor ball handling, wasn't that precisely
>the biggest knock against Pierce pre-draft 1998, too?  So then what did
>we gain?
>
>And while we're discussing the potential void at the shooting guard
>position, forget about Griffin playing extended minutes there; he's a burly
>small forward all the way.  He will take (and make) some perimeter
>shots, but I question his overall quickness / ability to stick with "twos"
>defensively  (for what it's worth, I liked his acquisition very much, but
I've
>watched him play numerous times when he was at Seton Hall, and I
>assure everyone that he is NOT a guard).
>
>I do like picking up the Erics:  Williams and Washington.  I think that they
>significantly upgrade the second unit.  However, I have lingering doubts
>about both Pitino's overall general manager aptitude and whether this
>trade will improve the overall play of the team.
>
>To wit:  if Mercer would have completed his college eligibility, he likely
>would have been the number one pick in the draft--certainly among the
>top three.  So, we traded a player with a tremendous upside for a
>somewhat limited, undersized power forward and a draft pick that isn't
>likely to be all that high.  We have a glut of small forwards, but no
>shooting guard on the roster with the  ability / talent to be a full-time
>starter.  We have an owner who is unwilling to pay the salary demands
>of an up-and-coming second year backcourt stud, and a front office
>who compensate by going out and trading him for another second year
>player who will command a higher salary by virtue of his tremendous
>past year.
>
>To revisit Mishra, I'm not sure that I totally condemn this trade, but I
think
>that at best it could work either way.
>
>Ryan
>
>
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