Re: Fortson, the PF spot, and optimism

[Kestas <Kestutis.Kveraga@Dartmouth.EDU>]

Thomas Murphy wrote:
> Hence it seems
> not that far-fetched to conclude that Pitino has decided (yet again) that
> Twon is his PF, for better or for worse.

Great post as always, Thomas. I completely agree with your analysis. I
think one of Pitino's biggest weaknesses is his inability to put the
best people (or best combinations) on the floor at the same time. Why
Fortson and 'Toine can't both start, or at least play together for
prolonged periods of time, is a complete mystery to me. Even if Fortson
can't play long minutes yet, it makes sense to play with the  people,
and at the position, that he's going to be when he makes it all the way
back. That Pitino is using him the way he is may indeed be a harbinger
of things to come. 

And that would be a shame. Twon's and Fort's games seem very
complementary: Walker is excellent at driving at people, dishing, and
quick low-post spin moves, while Fortson feasts on leftovers (i.e., off.
rebounds), is excellent at creating space underneath, and seems to have
a nice repertoire of fake moves to score from within 5 feet of the
basket. What Antoine misses, Danny could clean up; he would also create
more space for Twon to work in because Danny, unlike McCarty or Cheaney,
has to respected offensively down low; if Antoine gets cut off on his
moves to the basket, he would have an excellent target to dish to for a
layup - Fortson has great hands and converts at an excellent % from
close in. Toine would create huge matchup problems for opposing SFs in
the low post.  At C, either Potapenko or Battie could shoot short
jumpers, which they both are quite good at; in Pitino's offfense, the
center mostly hangs out at the top of the key anyway. It's just a
possibilities galore offensively. 

Defensively, some of the  quicker SFs could take advantage of Antoine,
but it's not as if he's all that great at defending PFs either - Howard
was scoring at will against him yesterday, and so do most other decent
PFs. On the flip side, Fortson's rebounding, low-post defense, and fine
outlet passes would, IMO, more than make up for any differential
defensive liability created by Toine at the SF slot.