Re: Defense starts at the point

[Josh Ozersky <josh_ozersky@yahoo.com>]

This is insane.  Things must be dire indeed when Tom
Murphy starts proposing we trade Antoine Walker for
Toni Kukoc and Randy Brown.  I do agree about needing
defense at the point, though.  Still, you can't go by
this season.  Kenny is still a premier passer on a
running team.  I'm not giving up.


--- Thomas Murphy  wrote:
> 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
> 
> 

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