Fortson, Indiana

[Ellie Cutler <ellie@oreilly.com>]

With all due respect to Jackie Mac (who said Fortson is a one-dimensional
player),  No Way.  Dennis Rodman was one dimensional. When a layup came his
way on the offensive end, he looked surprised,  like the ball was a
foreigner. He'd shrug a half smile and put up a shot that, most of the
time, wouldn't go in. And if he got to the line, he shrugged that off
nonchalantly as well, misfiring FTs without even taking a breath
beforehand.  Danny Fortson, on the other hand, knows and likes offense. He
can score, he gets to the line on purpose and makes a good percentage of
his FTs.  Another thing, Bird (among others I respect) has always talked
about team roles as being important to success - players knowing what
they're supposed to do. Certainly the Cs haven't had that in a long time -
they more often stand around waiting for someone to get a bright idea and
execute it.  What if we knew that Fortson should get the rebounds, and
Toine and Pierce should score.  And AG & Turner should steal the ball. etc.
 Would that help?

This noise about trading Antoine to Indiana scares me. Who do they have
that would possibly take Toine's place in the scoring column?  Now that we
have Fortson, would he be shipped out before training camp to make room for
Dale Davis? Yuk! They play the same position, and Fortson wants to start.
Hmm... Jalen Rose is intriguing. He can play both guard positions, but is
still a streaky player, and I'm not sure how he would get along with a
coach like Pitino.   I'd take Harrington, but I don't think they'd give him
up.  

I like the way the roster looks post the Denver trade:

C: Pots, Battie, Fortson
PF: Fortson, Battie, Walker
SF: Walker, Williams, McCarty, Griffin
SG: Pierce, Griffin, Washington
PG: Anderson, Barros, Turner

Scorers in Walker, Williams, Pierce, Griffin
3-pt threats in Barros & Washington
RB in Fortson
Ball distribution from Turner (if Kenny hasn't changed his game, look for
Turner to get the minutes)
And good D all around

I'm not sure what to think about Potapenko. Depends what the refs do this
year, in part. But it wasn't encouraging to see him struggling in the
summer.  I'm not worried about Pierce playing 2. The positions get jumbled
during a game anyhow. Look at NY with Houston and Sprewell, who are
interchangeable at 2/3 (I saw a Cs/Knicks rerun last night where Pierce was
guarding Larry Johnson!), Michael Finley regularly rotates between 2/3,
Jalen Rose, Mercer, even.  I think many of the players Pierce will end up
guarding are close to his size/quickness.  

One last thing - while watching the rerun last night it was in my face how
much Antoine loves to play this game, how competitive he is, and how
devastatingly talented his is.  It would be a damn shame to lose that. Will
he ever grow up? Should we give him another year to find out? Maybe if the
team came together and people had roles and he could play within the game
and get a taste of the playoffs, he'd bring his A game to the table on a
consistent basis.  If we had a point guard who ran the floor, Toine
wouldn't have so many decisions to make.  The more confidence he has in his
teammates (like he has in Pierce), the more he can hopefully relax and play
within the game flow.