Defense starts at the point

["Thomas Murphy" <tfmiii@worldnet.att.net>]

Defense starts at the point

After last night’s debacle in Cleveland, there seems to be a growing
consensus that many if not most of the team’s problems start at the top.
Unfortunately there’s not much that can be done about that. Remember how
long it took to get rid of M. L.? I expect that Pitino will be calling the
shots for a long time to come. 

We can, however, speculate on what “El Presidente” may be planning for the
summer, for he assuredly will not be looking to make the play-offs with the
same crew next year. If what Michael Holley is reported to have said Monday
is an accurate representation of Pitino’s state of mind (which has been
known to change in mercurial fashion) then Boston will be shopping for a
point guard over the summer. I presume he will be looking for a “defense
first” type of point guard. Say what you will about Chauncey Billups, he
seemed to be a pretty tough defender. 

There is not much to be had out in the market. I’m sure that L.A. would be
pleased to send us Derek Fisher and who knows who else to secure Kenny
Anderson, but I find it hard to get excited about Fisher or about helping
secure L.A. a world championship. Hasn’t Charlotte already done enough?
Lloyd Daniels would certainly be available, but isn’t he the chump we
passed on in taking Billups? Utah might be convinced to part with Jacque
Vaughn, a player who coming out of Kansas certainly had the reputation of
an old-school pass-first, shoot-second playmaker. However, other than
practicing against John Stockton (not to be underrated) or Howard Eisley,
his pro experience could fit inside a thimble. The Nuggets’ Corey
Alexander? He showed us that he can certainly shoot the three a few weeks
ago, but is he the defensive stopper Pitino wants? And what would Denver do
with Kenny Anderson AND Nick Van Exel? The Magic’s Darrell Armstrong would
be a wonderful fit, but not only has he been the sixth man, he’s also been
the Magic’s MVP this year and I don’t think that they’d be inclined to part
with him.

That leaves a couple of options I haven’t discussed yet. The Knicks have
been looking to shore up their point for a long time now and I’m sure
they’d love to get their hands on hometown boy Kenny Anderson. Not only
would it be a P.R. coup after the Marbury trade, but many of Kenny’s
defensive deficiencies would be covered up by the shot-blocking of Ewing
and Camby. The Knicks run a pretty traditional pro offense so that should
prove to be no problem for Kenny. Of the Knicks current two point guards
Charlie Ward is far more attractive than Chris Childs: Ward is younger (27
versus 30 years), more consistent, more rugged (a former Heisman don’t
forget), and defensively the more aggressive. His new contract calls for
$28 million over 5 years, so salary-wise he and Kenny are very close. How
would a straight swap grab ya? Ward is a bit taller than Kenny (6'2") and
not nearly as creative, but Kenny’s creativity seems wasted in Pitino’s
“offense” (I use the term loosely). I’m sure the Knicks could be convinced
to toss in a draft pick or two, seeing as Ewing only has a few years left.
Realistically, this may prove Boston’s best bet for upgrading the point
defense.

Another option would involve the Chicago Bulls. Randy Brown has been their
starter all year. Although he probably should not be a starter on a good
team (he’s never had more than 8 assists in a game his entire career) he’d
be fabulous coming of the bench with the bomb squad. Brown is a bit older
(30 by next season) and a bit taller than Kenny at 6'2" and has one more
year on a contract that pays roughly $1.5 million. Prying him from the
Bulls might be a problem, but I’m sure Krause would listen to a package
deal in which the key components would be Walker for Brown and Kukoc. Now,
I know that Walker-knockers would be happy just to move Walker, thinking it
would be addition by subtraction. For those of you who feel otherwise feel
free to insert either Pierce or Mercer for Walker above. The Cs would
obtain Kukoc with the intention of packaging him off to a third team that
could use a veteran SF who can pass with the best and fill it up. My own
preference would be to send Kukoc ($4.6 mil) and either Barros ($3.5 mil)
or Minor ($2.5 mil) for Brian Grant ($6 mil) and Carlos Rodgers ($2 mil and
currently stashed on the IR) - but then I’m cuckoo for Grant, who I see as
the next decade’s Charles Oakley. I’m just dreaming now, but let me finish:
the Cs starting five - C  Vitaly Potapenko, PF Brian Grant, SF Paul Pierce,
SG Ron Mercer, PG Charlie Ward; the Bomb Squad - C/F Tony Battie, C/F
Carlos Rodgers (Two fab shot-blockers), SF Walter McCarty, SG Bruce Bowen,
PG Randy Brown. 

All of this is of course highly doubtful. 

It would seem that the best option for obtaining hard-nosed defender short
of a “CBA discovery” (isn’t that why Chris Wallace is around?) would seem
to be Anderson for Ward.

-Tom Murphy