Re: The Pierce-Conner thing

[opi@unesco.org]

"Berry, Mark S" wrote:

> P.S. Every time I watch the Kings, I say a little thank you for their
> selection of Jason Williams. That was the pick that pushed Pierce to the
> Celts. Williams was expected to go right after the Celtics' pick (the Lakers
> were trying to trade up for him), but the Kings pulled the surprise. Throw
> in Don Nelson's lust for Nowitzki (Pitino's original target) and you end up
> with Pierce in green. A lot of good luck involved.

Hi Mark:

I do think Kestas overreached with the "pleading" part of his argument, but in
fairness Rick Pitino never bothered to bring Pierce in for a workout so he was
an unknown commodity. I remember him as a 6-6 guy who played a fair amount with
his back to the basket on offense and whose best non-scoring tool was his nearly
double-figure rebounding. There was no way of knowing Paul Pierce would turn
himself into an elite NBA shooting guard in less than two seasons.

Celts fans really did luck out. I think it is fair to say that Pitino himself
did acknowledge this fact, as well as Conner's role in this.

In general, Pitino really does try to be a 98% positive reinforcement guy. But
like anyone else, he's human and sometimes passes the buck instead of admitting
his role in a failure. Because he is such a slick talker, the press and fans
will magnify these occasional examples of hypocrisy. He partly brings it on
himself.

Joe

p.s. It is ironic that Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Williams turned out to be pretty
valuable, near "franchise" quality players on their respective teams. I thought
Sacamento's surprise decision to draft Jason Williams that high was an example
of "deja-vu all over again" (Bobby Hurley). It was fun watching that draft
unfold.

If Jason Williams was still on the board at number 10, it's highly likely he
would have fallen all the way to Orlando at pick 13. I very much doubt Pitino
would have drafted him (he already had a frail, weak-defending, long-term
pointguard in Kenny Anderson for one thing). This means we would have had Keon
Clark instead of Paul Pierce. Quite a scary thought.

****