Re: Do you think...

[j.hironaka@unesco.org]

Gregory Odegaard wrote:

> Ron Mercer will be well received in Boston OR Denver next season.  A wolf in sheep's clothing.  He makes Antoine seem like a near saint.
>
> "Monday, Aug. 9 6:23pm ET
> Mercer finally shows up
>
> DENVER -- Ron Mercer, the newest member of the Denver Nuggets, showed up Monday to meet the team, five days late without assurances he will remain with the Nuggets beyond the year remaining on his contract.
>
> "This is a business decision, just like the Nuggets have a business decision whether they want to extend the contract before or after the season," Mercer said. "I have to look after myself and give an opportunity to go to other teams and explore it."
>
> Scott said they met with general manager Dan Issel "so we all understand each other."

> Issel said Mercer took his physical exam and passed it to finalize the deal.

Whew, It's a done deal. Before overhyping this kid, my advice to Dan Issel would be to research the last time an NBA player made an All Star team while producing just 2.3 assists and 3.6 rebounds in 35 minutes per game. Even assuming Mercer scores 25 ppg next year (because we somehow
underrated his ability to dribble and create his own shot), he will still need to get a lot better in the non-scoring stats.

I'm not kidding. Below is a list of 8 respected NBA guards who like Ron Mercer are hoping to beat out an incumbent in order to play on their very first All Star team next season.

Allen Iverson (career 4.1 rpg, 6.3 apg)
Ray Allen (career 4.4 rpg, 3.5 apg)
Stephon Marbury (career 8.4 apg)
Allen Houston (2.8 rpg, 2.3 apg, Dream Team member)
Michael Finley (career 4.9 rpg, 3.8 apg)
Rod Strickland (career 4.1 rpg, 8.0 apg)
Damon Stoudamire (career 4.0 rpg, 8.3 apg)
Kendall Gill (a solid 4.6 rpg, 3.5 apg)

Assuming Dan Issel instead expects Ron Mercer to be an All Star at forward, then Mercer needs to show superior versatility to other first time NBA All Star hopefuls like Shareef Abdur Rahim, Antonio McDyess (believe it or not), Paul Pierce, Keith Van Horn, Glenn Robinson, Anthony Mason, PJ
Brown not to mention Theo Ratliff, Brian Grant, Bo Outlaw, Corliss Williamson, Maurice Taylor, Danny Fortson.

Contrary to popular belief, there also is still a logjam of "non-geezer" All Star incumbents (Kemp, Garnett, Grant Hill, Penny, Tim Duncan, Chris Webber, Eddie Jones, Kobe, Zo and Tim, Toine, Baker, Rice, Shaq, Kidd, Latrell, Steve S๙ith) to go along with late career All Stars (Dikimbe, Jayson
Williams) and a half-dozen original Dream Team era guys (Robinson, Ewing, Mailman, Stockton, Barkley, Pippen, Olajuwon etc).

When people like Jackie MacMullin and Dan Issel lament/rejoice that the Celts "may have traded a future multiple All Star" for a bunch of "backups", I think they are getting ahead of themselves. If Mercer develops a 3-point shot to go with his blistering .431 mid-range jumper, I believe he and
Tevester Scott can look forward to a Dale Ellis, Dennis Scott, Jeff Malone type NBA career in Denver. If Mercer doesn't quite develop that shot, then Alex Wang's analogy to Calbert Cheaney sounds perfectly appropriate.

Just watch this guy dribble or play straight man defense. Some college swingmen are "natural born" NBA shooting guards (Isiah Rider comes to my mind) in terms of ball skills. Ron Mercer is nothing of the sort. Yeah, I know I'm being harsh. Just watch him  though.

Someone on this list needs to explain what the big deal is with Ron Mercer.

Joe


N.B.  Some have said Mercer should be valued as the number one pick in this year's NBA draft based on an extrapolation of his HS Player of the Year credentials and overall college stats (4.1 rebounds and 1.93 assists in 74 games) which mirror his present NBA stats.

A number of NBA players (notably Othella Harrington and Danny Ferry) can claim Mercer's HS POY distinction, while many NBA players (notably Larry Bird and David Robinson) received virtually no major national HS All Star recognition (McDonald's or Parade Magazine). In retrospect, Kevin Garnett,
Shareef Abdur Rahim, Stephon Marbury, Vince Carter and Paul Pierce might be the top five talents of Mercer's High School talent pool, making the Mercer as #1 overall draft pick boast a bit moot. Even when you start talking about NCAA players of the year (Walter Berry etc.) you realize what a
totally imperfect science this is. BTW, Mercer wasn't the college POY, I believe Tim Duncan was.

Historically the top three NBA draft picks have been selected according to the same criteria as those of bonafide NBA All Stars (namely, they always tend to be statistically well-rounded beyond scoring numbers). I simply don't buy the argument that Mercer would have gone number one overall
this year. If he were picked number one overall as a college senior, all this would shed light on is why certain NBA GM's are picking from that spot year after year in the first place. Denver's Dan Issel comes to mind.

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