Re: Blabbermouth GMs

[opi@unesco.org]

Jim Meninno wrote:

> Now, I was remembering recently how Johnny Joe Paris Hironaka predicted that
> Fortson's addition could send the Bat Man heading to his cave to escape all
> the cans of whup ass being enflicted on him in practice.  Lo and behold, as
> soon as Fortson returns, Battie does a Copperfieldesque disappearing act.
> If the cause of that is the intimidation Danny's doling out at Healthpoint,
> Joe deserves the prediction of the year award.

Jungle Jimbo, I can't take credit for Battie developing into such an
inconsistent player thus far. This is a similar situation to how a lot of the
young players seemed to be in the Chris Ford era (Dee Brown etc). IMO, it helps
to have a clearly defined role and the implicit trust to have a predictable
number of minutes each game, even on an off night (not many off nights in a row
naturally). I was always a bench-warmer-for-life before joining the Unesco team
(hey now I get to be a barely 6 foot starting "centah" in our zone defense
because our 6-8 former Cameroon national team member has tendinitis), so I know
what it feels like to look over your shoulder to the bench if your first few
shots don't drop.

I'm not necessarily blaming Pitino (or Fort) for Bat Girl's poor return on
investment. Tony Battie is a confounding basketball player and I haven't
sympathized with him much since he reportedly tried turning up his stereo, then
rolled up his car window on a black cop's arm.

The one thing about non-complaining, hard-working, quiet killer types like
Fortson is that they do tend to have a rub-off effect on team chemistry. Antoine
and Vitaly have morphed into really tough, blue-collar rebounders since he
joined the team and this shouldn't be that surprising (look at all the hidden
passing talent the selfish Celtics veteran had the moment Bird arrived). When or
if Fort leaves Boston for some rebuilding first round draft pick (if that), I do
hope (but don't necessarily predict) that Antoine and Vitaly can still maintain
the level of intensity and commitment that Fortson embodies in his approach to
rebounding. They sure looked to me like a couple of fruits before he arrived
back off the injured list.

Pitino's rationale will be to blame our league worst defense on the fact that
Fortson couldn't quite cut it, and that his 15 game presence really couldn't
help but ruin our stats. You've got two guys (Antoine and Kenny) who are
reportedly playing the best defense of their lives, and three others (Adrian,
Pierce and Potapenko) that have brought a reputation - at least outside Boston -
as solid man defenders. So who's the real scapegoat for the failure of the
"monkey outbreak"?

Danny Boy, it's all your fault!! Just give us a few more Walter McCarty-caliber
nincompoop athletes and let them take the six years or so it apparently requires
to learn the Pitino defensive system (and hit the weightroom), and yeah sure
this headless chicken outbreak might finally work at the NBA level just like the
"Great Leap Forward" worked wonders on China's grain production. Plug Fortson
into the majority of NBA playoff teams and he is an instant 10+ rebound per game
unselfish starter. What a ridiculously major upgrade he would be for the Lakers.

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