Re: effect of Duncan staying put

[Joe Hironaka <j.hironaka@unesco.org>]

OzerskyJA wrote:

>  Believe it or not, I want
> to see what David Vanderpool can do before we trade
> Antoine for a Jamal Crawford package....

I believe you. Crawford is a 20-year-old who averaged over 3.1 turnovers
per game and shot 41.2% from the field. If he plays NBA shooting guard
initially, he'll need to demonstrate that he can rebound (2.8pg) better
like Penny.

It isn't fair to Crawford to expect him to contribute right away to a
NBA team, based on the evidence. He would have been great as Kenny's
rookie backup but we're jumping ahead of ourselves talking about trading
Antoine for him.

--------

As others have noted, Pitino's GM style this year resembles his
mentoring of Antoine, writ large.

In the case of Antoine's development as an NBA player, one offseason
he's going to be the next Pippen, the next off-season's he needs to bulk
up to be a Karl Malone, now "believe it or not" he has a better option
than playing small forward....that's right, point guard!

Similarly with the Celtics, first Pitino goes with rubber chicken
athletes who can press (McCarty and Billups). Admittedly, that was the
only season that was fun to watch, but there a limit to the upside. Next
they need tough guys with thicker bodies who won't get rag-dolled every
night in the paint like that first year crew was (so they add Fortson
and Potapenko). And now 180° again to draft "Euro Battie", arguably the
least consistent player drafted in the first round this year. Our savior
is a kid who "terrorized" the Pac 10 with all of 1.67 blocks per game.

Nor is "Moiso-what?" that much of a prospect if defined by age or
experience. He is 22-years-old (same age as Pierce) and claims he was
playing basketball since the age of six. If Pitino thinks he can coach
Moiso to play consistently, then he's forgotten just how well his great
motivational skills have worked on Battie.

Basically they drafted Moiso based on two workouts and now they
desperately covet Croshere based on two weeks of good play against AC
Green.

That is NOT how you evaluate players! And I don't even mind this "flavor
of the month" front office mindset, provided they are consistent.

If you want to use the rubber chicken outbreak defense, don't move your
best player to sign Croshere. And if you want to draft guys who play
unselfishly and consistently (how's 10.6 NBA rebounds per game for
goodness sake?) then don't draft Moiso on "potential" if it means losing
Fortson for nothing.

Like others have mentioned, Pitino is hedging between pure bimbo
athleticism versus smart/productive non-athletes (Griffin, Fortson,
Potapenko). He has a halfway, half-ass roster and that's why the results
no matter which system he uses will be mediocre.

All I can ask is that we survive Pitino's "aggressive" final offseason
without much further damage. When rebuilding starts next year, do you
really want your second best player (after Pierce) to be Austin
Croshere? This is a situational, tweener forward who adds nothing to
team play with his passing (1.1 assists) or on the boards.

I know I'm ranting. I have positive things to say about the Celtics
players. It is just this Croshere "flavor of the month" crap that is
making my summer (until August 1st) so miserable. Just get it over with!
I try to soothe my anger by trying to picture the image of Pitino "in
diapers at BU".

I truly, truly hope the Van Horn for Antoine rumour start up again. As
completely putrid as that was, if Boston really needs an overpaid white
boy then at least get one who gave his team 8+ rebounds and has actually
proven he can score 20 per game over 82 games, not just over four or
five games. Clearing 6.5 million to sign Croshere based on two weeks
play is the most retarded thing I've ever heard. Trading Antoine to
accomplish this nearly constitutes grounds for criminal malpractice.

****