RE: Heat play-by-play guy

["Berry, Mark S" <berrym@BATTELLE.ORG>]

Couldn't agree more, Joe. I didn't mean to elevate the Nuggets anymore than
they are, just point out that Issel seems to have made some pretty good
personnel decisions. The Nugs certainly seem to be a team on the rise,
providing they can either re-sign Mercer or turn him into another quality
player. One caveat: They do not have a first-rounder this year (Orlando has
it) or, most likely, next year (Celtics have the option to take it, with
some protection for Denver).

We're a better team since the Mercer-Fortson trade, and so is Denver. I
supported the trade from the beginning, but circumstances since it happened
certainly seem to point to a lopsided edge to the Nugs. Fortson's injury
forced Toine to the PF spot, where it now appears he is destined to spend
35-40 minutes per game. It also opened the door for Adrian Griffin, who
charged through and now also seems like a 30-40 mpg guy. There's no way
anyone could have known all of this was going to happen.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), it did
happen. So the Celts are left with Fortson, scraping for backup minutes, on
the last year of his contract. The Nugs have Mercer, averaging 20 ppg
(admittedly a one-dimensional 20), in the last year of his deal. Let's
assume both teams decide to trade these players. In all honesty, who will
get the better return? You'd have to believe the Nuggets.

So we're left with Eric Williams (a cap disaster who just can't play
anymore) and, maybe the saving grace, Denver's No. 1 pick in a future draft.

Through no fault of Pitino's or Fortson's, the landscape of this team has
changed. Walker is the PF. Period. Griffin is going to play big minutes.
It's becoming more and more clear that Fortson is the odd man out. I expect
him to leave either via trade before the deadline, by a sign-and-trade after
the season or simply by walking as a free agent. Personally, I hope we
salvage something and deal him at some point.

And Joe, you're right about the Celts. Injuries have crippled them. And I'll
second your opinion of Kenny. He's been great. When he, Pierce and Toine are
healthy, this team can be a headache for anyone.

I really didn't mean to get into this Fortson-Mercer thing again, but I do
think it's shaping up as one of those "who knew" bad trades. Not because
Mercer's gone (we're better without him), but because in the end, we didn't
get equal value in return.

Mark 

	-----Original Message-----
	From:	opi@unesco.org [SMTP:opi@unesco.org]
	Sent:	Wednesday, January 26, 2000 2:16 PM
	To:	Berry, Mark S; Celtics@igtc.com
	Subject:	Re: Heat play-by-play guy

	"Berry, Mark S" wrote:

	> (You know, considering that was Issel's assessment of Battie, and
that he
	> also concluded Fortson would be hampered by the new rules, that
LaFrentz
	> wouldn't be another BWS and that Van Exel would mature into an
effective PG,
	> I'm beginning to think Mr. Issel just might be a pretty good judge
of NBA
	> talent.)
	>
	> Hoping for  a win tonight,
	>
	> Mark

	Hi Mark, nice post overall. I just wanted to interject that the
Nougats have
	only 18 wins and are five games out of the playoff race at the
season's
	midpoint. But the more important point of comparison is that they
haven't had
	any real injuries this season other than Billups (who sports a
forgettable
	.337FG%).

	As for the Celts, start with the fact that Paul Pierce has basically
missed ten
	games (included the two games he left after 11 or fewer minutes). If
you assume
	our 1-9 record in those games would be closer to 5-5 had he played,
then the
	Celts would be 23-18 (good for second place in the Central among
other things).
	Then you can add that the Celts have had injury DNPs from Griffin (9
games and
	counting), Fortson (25 games), Potapenko (3 games), Eric Williams (5
games and
	counting), Cheaney and McCarty (8 games) as well as Barros (4
games).

	This season is kind of a testament to Kenny Anderson's guts. He
hasn't missed a
	single game despite the hamstring injury. Antoine too, but he's
known to be
	pretty durable.