Re: have you seen fortson play?

[opi@unesco.org]

I think Fort can push 25 mpg without Battie losing too much PT. With Griffin's
slump and natural timidity to create his own shot in a starting lineup with
scorers like Walker, Pierce and Anderson, maybe now is the time to reinvent him
as a sixth man and start Fortson for the first six minutes of each half (with
more minutes depending on matchups and how he's doing).

The second unit could use some ball movement via Adrian wing point skills. If
there's one thing I loath as a fan (other than soft, wimpy big men), it is wing
forwards and guards who don't have the skills to pass the ball. I would
definitely put the "three stooges" (Waltah, Eric Williams especially, Cheaney)
in that category.

Frankly, even "El Busto" can  make a legitimate claim that his mind-boggling
inconsistency (at least on offense) can be atttributed to the inability of Dana
and company to give him the ball when and where he can do something with it.


Alex Wang wrote:

> 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.