Re: wins and ugly losses

[opi@unesco.org]

"Berry, Mark S" wrote:

> And your point about Pitino isn't fair. He also took Providence to the Final
> Four when Billy Donovan was his best player and made Kentucky a winner in
> his first season when the 'Cats were on probation and John Pelfrey was their
> best player.
>
> Any coach needs talent to win championships, and if you don't think Pitino
> is doing the job, that's fine. But this guy has won everywhere he's been,
> and not always with superior talent.

Fair enough. Nice points.

At this level, I think only Pitino's NBA years with the Knicks are a relevant
point of reference. I'm not sure if there was quite as restrictive a salary cap
back then, although I do remember the back-and-forth maneuvering with Sly
Williams.

My feeling about Antoine is that he can realistically start alongside an
offensive glass cleaner and still be the predominant go to inside guy in the
paint, only covered by small forwards like Bird was. Fortson is not just a
one-dimensional rebounding machine. He'll contribute a high percentage from the
field and the line, plus he shows a level of unselfishness and mental toughness
that you can't find just anywhere among NBA kids anymore and which will probably
someday make him the captain of the or a team.

To say Fortson is unathletic compared to say McCarty (the heart-and-soul of
Pitino's much more athletic 36-win team) is an understatement, but that doesn't
mean McCarty could guard Fortson to save his life. That's my point. That's the
beauty of basketball. When you're a Boston fan, you know that athleticism (did
Paul Silas, Bird, Maxwell, McHale etc need to jump to dominate?) isn't really
important UNLESS your coach chooses to employ a "headless-chicken outbreak"
system (our system du jour). Then you are in trouble and your player's start to
look bad.

Fortson's college production, girth, degree of mobility and work ethic look like
a mirror image of Elton Brand (minus an inch of height and lots of hype). In
fact, he's a better FG% and rebounding guy. If we find a coach who will use Fort
in that way instead of as backup center and he might be less of a foul-prone,
low-minutes kamikaze and more of a traditional power forward like Brand or
Oakley.

If Fortson feels he's getting jerked around with these 12 minute appearances at
backup center, then without doubt he'll probably leave as a free agent. Who
knows, he might even go back to Danny Issel for the 28mpg they gave him over
there.

In any case, I agree it is too early to write off Fortson at this stage in
Pitino's evolution and education. For example, let's wait until Fort is actually
allowed to play 20 minutes in a single freaking game, which is about half of
what McCarty used to get in the outbreak system of Pitino's best season in
Boston.

****