Mateen was (Great discussion)

[opi@unesco.org]

"Berry, Mark S" wrote:

>  Before this season, I was
> never a big fan of Mateen Cleaves, but I decided to watch him more closely
> this season. Now I know why he is so highly regarded. The guy is 6-2, built
> like a linebacker and sees every rebound as a chance for a layup at the
> other end. You want to see a PG committed to pushing the ball? Watch Cleaves
> and MSU. He absorbs contact and finishes because he's strong as an ox. He
> defends like a madman. He's an emotional leader with a knack for making the
> big play. He's not a good shooter. Neither was Jason Kidd or Andre Miller.
> When it comes to the draft, I always say take the best player, regardless of
> position, but we could do a lot worse than Mateen Cleaves.

Just a word of caution. In Indiana's 81-79 win over the weekend, Mateen Cleaves
had 9 turnovers but just 2 assists, while AJ Guyton smoked him for a career high
34 points on 13-24 shooting.

Cleaves is a senior in a NCAA circuit where NBA-caliber prospects rarely stay
longer than two years. So Cleaves is SUPPOSED to dominate and put up career
numbers, based on the experience and maturity gap (same with Kenyon Martin). Due
to injuries etc.Cleaves is only averaging 11.4 ppg this season, but he was never
much of a shooter to begin with.

The analogy I would make (in terms of bulky rock-solid body, bad shot, natural
Big 10 leader & winner) is Quinn Buckner or Rumeal Robinson.

There are plenty of genuinely good NCAA teams this year and March should be a
lot of fun. But while there are some great college players (Cleaves, Scoonie,
Guyton etc.) there seem to be relatively few great NBA prospects.

One more reason that I hope the Celtics make the playoffs.

Joe

p.s. I haven't seen enough of Fortson on the court, or at least in doesn't gibe
at all with what his critics have been saying. Frankly, I don't think any of us
really have seen enough of him on the court to make a definitive judgement.
;-)   Also, if you were guarding Shaq, wouldn't you foul and send him to the
line as often as possible? Seems like a smart strategy to me. Maybe one reason
Shaq "outplayed" Fort this time is because he hadn't forgotten the last time
Fort outscored (on 8-11 shooting) and outrebounded him last year. A 14-rebound
game against the Porland frontline and a poor 13 minute, five point outing
against the Lakers does not sound to me like much evidence to dump any
23-year-old with his rebounding resumé.

****