RE: Pitino on Mark Jackson

[Bruce Allen <BAllen@NHPTV.UNH.EDU>]

It's my opinion, (which is worthless) that Mateen Cleaves could be this
years Mark Jackson. Like the article says, Point guard is largely a position
of intangables. I think Cleaves has those intangable qualities and could be
a Jackson-type NBA player. I don't think he's worth the 11th pick in the
draft, but I would try to get a mid first rounder to try to scoop him up. 

-----Original Message-----
From: Berry, Mark S [mailto:berrym@BATTELLE.ORG]
Sent: Tuesday, June 20, 2000 1:19 PM
To: 'celtics@igtc.com'
Subject: Pitino on Mark Jackson


No, not as a free agent signing. I cut and pasted this from a Fox Sports
story about draft sleepers. I don't know what it says about Pitino and his
talent evaluation skills. Maybe he has learned something over the years. You
have to hope so. Joe Wolf?

Oh, I forgot to clip the writer's name. Tom something.

The Jackson story
Mark Jackson, who will finish his career as the third greatest assist-man in
history-behind John Stockton and Magic Johnson - was the lowly 18th pick in
1987 NBA draft. Considering his astonishing accomplishments - NBA Rookie of
the Year, 1997 NBA assist champion, NBA All-Star, third-most assists in
playoff history, etc. - it has to be quite clear by now that he should have
gone about 15 places higher. 
Worse, there were some truly terrifying hoop nonentities that year - Armon
Gilliam (2nd), Dennis Hopson (3rd), Reggie Williams (4th), and Joe Wolf
(13th) - who were picked way ahead of him. 
But when it comes to drafting, weird circumstances can sometimes conspire
against you. And, in Jackson's case, there was a slew of those - all bad. 
1. Jackson, in a game that sometimes overvalues scoring and overlooks other
factors, was not a naturally great shooter. 
2. During the later stages of his college career, Jax has acquired a bum rep
as a slow and defensively deficient player. "You must understand, most
scouts don't know what the hell they're looking at so they just parrot what
everyone else's opinions," New York Knicks chief scout Dick McGuire says.
"So it's all too easy for a player to acquire an unfair reputation he'll
never get rid of. Whether it's too good-or too bad." 
3. Jackson is a point guard. Point guard, more than any other spot on the
floor, is mainly a position of intangibles, one that's about a lot more than
"just" physical talent. And, the fact is, too many scouts don't understand
intangibles. 
4. Jackson, just a few weeks before the draft, got burned horribly (for a
then-record 32 points) in the Big East Tournament by Providence's marginally
talented Billy Donovan. 
5. And, most mysteriously, some of the greatest basketball minds in the game
- as far as "X's and O's" goes - could not recognize talent if it hit them
in the face at times. 
Then-new Knicks coach Rick Pitino - now President and Coach of the Boston
Celtics - was one of those guys. He also just happened to be Donovan's
mentor at Providence, making things look far worse for Jackson. 
He was also my friend. So he called to talk about the draft - his first with
the Knicks - and, believe it or not, took notes for a full hour and a half. 
Astonishingly to me, he wanted the woeful Wolf. "Ricky," I said. "Your new
team won 23 games last year because you already have a whole team of Joe
Wolfs. This is a 6-11 guy who can only do one thing: Shoot. And he is way
too slow to ever translate that one skill to the NBA level." 
I advised Mark Jackson. Pitino, after relating all the common dogma floating
around about Mark, claimed "he'll never play well in the NBA. I can't see it
- not after what Billy [Donovan] just did to him." 
He was too close to the situation, I told him, entirely unable to see the
forest through the trees. "Don't box in your thinking based on one game," I
said. "Jackson is the best intangibles-type point guard out there in years,
the one kid who will turn everyone else on your team into a far better
player." 
We argued for another half an hour - and basically agreed to disagree. A
week later, the Knicks picked Jackson. 
A year later, after improving a full 18 games in the standings and Jax
winning Rookie of the Year (over Pippen, David Robinson, and Reggie Miller,
among others), there was a big game at the Garden against Michael Jordan's
Bulls. Jackson, in perhaps his best-ever effort, went for 33 points and 16
assists. Afterwards, an overjoyed Pitino pulls me out of the group of
writers interviewing him, spins me around completely and says "This could
have never have happened without Tom. He deserves most of the credit for us
drafting Mark." 
Rick Pitino was (is?) that great a guy. 
And drafting for the NBA is a difficult, complicated process. It's truly one
of the world's greatest mysteries, one that'll never be completely solved.

Mark