Re: have you seen fortson play?

[Alex Wang <awang@mit.edu>]

The other thing is, what is up with Tony Battie? On this road trip,
he's shot 4-16 from the field, no trips to the line, 8 points,
11 rebounds, no blocks in 59 minutes. He doesn't seem to match
up well at all against the size and toughness of the Western 
Conference big men.

One of the problems with Danny is that he's never going to be an
effective defensive center for our team. This isn't his fault, it's
just not a position he's suited for. He can bang one-on-one but
he's not going to remotely challenge anyone with his help defense.
I agree that he'll be ok under better circumstances - after more
time getting used to the new rules, more regular playing time - 
but, for the most part, it needs to be at power forward, and ideally
next to a shotblocking center.

Anyway, even if he is a defensive liability, I'd like to see him get
25 minutes per game for the rest of the season, probably at Battie's
expense (if he isn't traded). I'd like to see how the team runs when
we actually outrebound our opponents by 5 per game.
 
> 11.6rpg over a season and leading the NBA in offensive rebounding, don't
> happen by accident. Neither does getting 14 rebounds (8 offensive) in 25
> minutes against a frontline as potent as Portland's. We outrebounded
> Portland last night for only one reason - Fortson. Not only does he gobble
> up rebounds himself, he clears out a large area under the basket so his
> teammates can get rebounds easier as well.