RE: FW: Fortson deals

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

I don't know, Joe, I think Croshere's pretty athletic. He really runs the
floor well. He's best in an open-court game. When teams isolate him in the
half-court is when he gets in trouble.

Mark Jackson isn't the perfect point guard for the press, but Jason Kidd
isn't available. Jackson is a big, unselfish point guard who knows and
respects Pitino. He'd be an asset.

I agree with you on Billups as a low-priced backup. Yes, Anderson is better
than Mercer, but he's out of our price range. The Mercer discussions started
just because he's realistic and he actually said he'd be willing to come
back to Boston.

Mark 



	-----Original Message-----
	From:	Joe Hironaka [SMTP:j.hironaka@unesco.org]
	Sent:	Wednesday, July 12, 2000 9:37 AM
	To:	Berry, Mark S; Celtics@igtc.com
	Subject:	Re: FW: Fortson deals

	"Berry, Mark S" wrote:

	> Finally, I'm cautiously optimistic about the direction Pitino
seems to be
	> taking in reshaping the team this summer. He's trying to find
players who
	> fit the style he knows. We all know Pitino's first year was his
best,
	> despite lesser talent. He did it with Billups, Mercer, McCarty,
Walker,
	> Knight, DeClercq and Co. functioning well in the press. It seems
Pitino is
	> trying to go back to that blueprint while improving the building
materials.
	> I hope so. At least that style was interesting. Watching the Celts
the past
	> two seasons has been miserable.

	It's hard to see how Croshere fits in the press. Or how Mark Jackson
fits in the
	press. This looks just as much like last year's failed blueprint as
the first
	year's failed blueprint.

	BTW, I don't mind bringing Billups back as a backup, if he'd take
1.25 million
	or if the 2.25 slot dries up for whatever reason. The positives are
his youth
	and the fact that he's a clutch player and a strong defender. Plus
he's
	articulate and comes across as competitive and team spirited. I'm
pretty sure
	he'll never be the point guard of the future, since he's had a shot
and failed
	on three teams since the trade.

	As for Mercer, I think Derek Anderson is a much, much better
basketball player.
	For one thing he plays defense and passes the ball. And no matter
how he spins
	it, Ron Mercer wasn't any kind of team chemistry asset, whether at
Denver or at
	Orlando.

	****