Re: Ben Pepper

[Warwick <giants@eisa.net.au>]

True.... But as a member of the list has said in the past (I appologise - I
remember the comment but not who made it) about Earl in college and not having
the talent there to make it to the NBA straight off the hat then thats why he
didn't do it.. Earl is a monstrous bloke, have you ever seen him standing next
to another big man in the league?? He towers over them and thats why he is such
a good player here. I presume that is exactly what he was like in college -
pretty much the same as Robert Traylor. Big man, great hands and uncanningly
fast for his size..

Mark Bradtke went to the NBA too late in his career (sure its only in the
middle to latter parts now, but to be a rookie when he was one is too much -
unless of course you're an Arvydas Sabonis which of course we all recognize
that he isn't)..

Pepper is young enough to be given a year or so in the NBA under one of the
greatest basketball minds the game will ever see (Rick Pitino) and a big chance
to develop into a fine backup lower tiered starter.

We shall see.. I'm a huge Pepper fan and believe he is massively underrated and
is solid in every area that he needs to be.. Just wait until he realises his
talent.

Warwick

Greg Davis wrote:

> Your last paragraph illustrates the point I was trying to make re Pepper's
> potential for playing in the NBA. Even if his numbers rivalled that of King
> and Bradtke (and therefore we could assume comparitive skill and ability),
> you have two examples of  centres who failed to make any positive impact
> whatsoever in the NBA.
>
> I don't mean to denegrate Pepper as a basketballer, but simply wanted to
> put his playing ability in perspective. You're quite right in pointing out
> that Sydney has no depth at centre and this obviously inflates King's stats
> to a degree.
>
> Greg
>
> ----------
> > From: Warwick <giants@eisa.net.au>
> > To: Greg Davis <pakpoy@one.net.au>
> > Cc: Celtics Mailing List <Celtics@igtc.com>
> > Subject: Re: Ben Pepper
> > Date: Monday,February 15,1999 15:27
> >
> > That is massively understating the situation with Ben Pepper.
> >
> > Acie Earl plays for a team that has absolutely no depth at big man while
> Pepper
> > has one of the deepest teams in the league around him and a fellow Boomer
> > (Australian team) camper in Brett Wheeler backing him up at center and
> remember
> > the Australian team came the closest to beating the Dream Team at the
> Atlanta
> > Olympics so to say that having a fellow Boomer camper backing you up
> isn't a
> > big side would be wrong.
> >
> > Earl's numbers should increase now that the Kings star player (Matt
> Nielson)
> > has gone down with a season ending injury.
> >
> > I'm certain that Pepper's #s would rival Earl's and quite possibly Mark
> > Bradtke's if given equal playing time.
> >
> > Warwick
> >