Re: wins and ugly losses

[opi@unesco.org]

"Berry, Mark S" wrote:

> Hate to say it, but I think Issel judged
> his effectiveness under the new rules better than Pitino (or than I did,
> because I liked the trade). Now we have a 12-mpg PF who can't stay out of
> foul trouble in the walk year of his contract. Remember when Pitino was
> weighing trade options for Mercer and said "we have a valuable asset and we
> have to be careful. We can't afford to make a mistake." Well, guess what?

I think it's premature to write off a guy coming back from a fractured foot and
into a totally new system. He began last year with a lot of kamikaze fouls as
well, before settling down foul-wise once he had his starting role. So far he's
had three games with three or fewer fouls. More importantly, after a slow start
he has three games with six or more rebounds (not bad for a 12.4 minutes per
game player). He's also auspiciously hit 15 of his first 20 field goal attempts.

Pitino is definitely bringing Fortson along slowly and definitely playing him
predominantly or exclusively as a 6-8 backup center. If this continues, it is
obvious to me that Fortson will walk at the end of the year. All he wants is a
chance to start and a chance to be a power forward.

He along with Antoine and maybe Potapenko are three guys about whome five years
from now all of us will be saying "Didn't they used to play for the Celtics!? No
wonder we are still a lottery team!"

I say move the glib, fast-talking coach before we touch any of our players (all
of whom seem bright, talented, likeable and hard working from my point of view).
Think about it. Il Duce had seven first-rounders and three NBA 20ppg players on
his 1996 championship team (more depth than even the Michigan "Fab Five" or
Larry Johnson's UNLV teams). Take away that recruiting advantage (or inheriting
Patrick Ewing) and how good a coach is he in the age of salary caps?

****