Re: Ben Pepper !!!! Must Read

[Dave Hastings <hastingd@ocean.com.au>]

Advice from an Australian here, I suggest you all ignore this article.

Facts:  Pepper does not average 34.7 points per game, and a league-leading
21.3 rebounds per game.  He's averaging about 15 points per game and 10
rebounds.  Nor does he play for a non existant team the Melbourne Flying
Eagles in the Australian National League.  He plays for Victoria Titans in
the Australian National League.

If he was as good as this article makes out, Pitino would have had him
playing for the C's this year, and we'd have no problems at centre.

Dave

At 05:35  13/02/99 -0500, KK wrote:
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>>From: Bos3332@aol.com
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>> You are mistaken to disparage the Cs 1997 no. 2 pick, Ben Pepper. I just
>> got the April 1, 1999 issue of ASIA-PACIFIC BASKETBALL QUARTERLY and
>> there is a cover story on Pepper, who was named the 1998-99 Asia-Pacific
>> basketball Player of the Year. Upset after not making the Australian team
>> for the world basketball championships last year, Pepper hired the top
>> physical trainer in Australia and has worked out extensively on his hoops
>> game. He has been working with former NBA player Spencer Haywood.(Prior
>> to 1998 Pepper was more interested in pursuing a carrer as a professional
>> tennis player. He was ranked third in the under 21 category in
>> Australia.) Pepper now stands 7'2 in his barefeet, weights 290 lbs., and
>> has a 38" vertical leap.
>
>Did they really mean inches? Not centimeters?
>
>>He is currently playing for the Melbourne Flying
>> Eagles in the Australian National League and is averaging a
>> league-leading 34.7 points per game, a league-leading 21.3 rebounds per
>> game, and a league-leading 8.1 blocks per game. Melbourne's record in
>> 52-4. In addition, Pepper is an incredible second in the league in
>> assists and steals.
>
>Warwick, are these numbers true?
>
>> According to Andrew Gaze, the Aussie who played a bit
>> in the NBA and starred on Seton Hall's 1989 Final 4 team, Pepper is
>> "going to be every bit as good as Hakeem Olajuwon. He already is better
>> than Shaq or David Robinson"
>
>Hmmm....A guy who's "already better than Shaq or David Robinson" not making
>the Australian team? Either Gaze is out of his mind, or Pepper's personal
>trainer and Haywood are miracle workers. And what's this implied claim about
>Olajuwon being better than Shaq or Robinson? Not anymore...
>
>> Apparently Pepper refuses to play for the
>> Celtics (or any other NBA team) unless he is the highest paid player on
>> the team.
>
>Not to dis the Aussie league, but is he even making the NBA minimum Down
>Under? Or is it "respect" he's after? Not to mention that, under the new
>CBA, teams could not make a rookie their highest-paid player unless they
>waived all of their higher-paid veterans.
>This story seems almost completely bogus...
>KK
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