Re:Ron (wasPippen)

[j.hironaka@unesco.org]

Josh Ozersky wrote:

> (...)Ron looks like he is going to be a fantastic designated scorer in
> this league -- an all-star talent who can be satisfied being the
> number three man.That's rare, and you can't buy that. (...)

Wishful thinking?

Ron Mercer has averaged 17.6 shots per game this month compared to 17.7
attempts by Antoine Walker. The way things are trending over the past
ten games or so, Mercer could well become the number one shot taker on
the team, and (arguably) at the expense of other "team" players. As Tom
Murphy noted, Paul Pierce's shots have plunged dramatically to 9.5 per
game in March (following February's glorious 15.5 shots per game Rookie
of the Month). Meanwhile, Antoine's attempts also have fallen
(thankfully?) by a full two per game this month (from 19.6). The key
thing is that Ron Mercer is hitting only .425 from the field, so you
can't really say he's "playing within himself" any more than you would
have made that claim about Antoine Walker in his dramatically expanded
offensive role last season. Has all this info shed light on our 4-13
record this month?

It's hardly the whole story (the entire team played poorly this month),
but it might be part of it. Another part of it is how Mercer's contract
extension year may be contributing to an attitude and play that simply
has not translated into wins for our Celtics (and may be driving Rick
Pitino bonkers). Logically, Mercer needs to jack up at least 18ppg
(apparently, by any means necessary) in order to be able to negotiate
this summer near the elite 71 million benchmark just set by guards Kobe
Bryant and Ray Allen (Master P stands to earn around 3 million in agent
fees from such a deal).

It won't make one shred of difference to me or to the Celtics' salary
cap flexibility if he sign at 71 million instead of, say, 50 million. I
don't mind if we pay him what he wants. I happen to like our team as is,
and agree with Josh that Mercer could be an excellent third scoring
threat on a championship-calibre team.

But this does not mean Ron Mercer deserves compensation on an Antoine
Walker scale. Both Ray Allen and Kobe Bryant have shown they are genuine
double-double contributers at least once every four games or so (not
Antoine Walker stats but certainly not bad). On a limited basis, the
double-double is the type of stat that frankly can happen more of less
by accident. In the course of a typical season, every member of our Bomb
Squad bench (Riley, Battie, Barros, McCarty etc.) might get one or more
such games. And normally, a young player will at least flash an
occasional glimpse of their passing and rebounding talent in the early
stage of his/her career (or at least in college). But as you all know in
the exceptional case of young Ron Mercer, the guy has never produced a
double-double game in his entire professional career. So unless his
defense improves really dramatically (I've seen him look quite bad on
defense), Mercer may fully deserve his reputation as a one-dimensional
player. I think this is how the league views him, in terms of his trade
value.

It could go either way, but I still don't see Mercer ever being a
well-rounded contributer on half the scale of Antoine Walker or Paul
Pierce. Unless he shows that he can be a more complete NBA player, he
may only project to develop into a nice Ricky Pierce, Dennis Scott, or
Dale Ellis quality player, minus their dependable, pure shooting range.
The fact that Ron can jump very high doesn't automatically mean he has
mouth-wateringly, superior basketball potential (as some people
automatically assume), anymore than it translates into an ability to hit
a Major League curveball or face an opponent in a boxing ring without
wearing any head gear.

*****