RE: Houston, do we have a problem?

["Thomas Murphy" <tfmiii@worldnet.att.net>]

> You make it sound like a team can be successful with a bunch of one skill
> players, as long as that one skill is strong enough.

Check out Indiana or Philly

> Well, we'll have
> Houston to shoot, Childs to pass, Fortson to rebound, hopefully someone
else
> to play defense, and all will be great.  What's Pierce's one great skill?
> Or Vitaly's?  Do we have to trade them too?

That's a pretty cheap shot (actually, several in succession). We don't HAVE
to trade anybody. We can choose to continue to suck. After all, we're
keeping Pitino, so not all the decisions are about improving the "product".

> I don't think it works that way
> at all.  Like you said, one exceptional player is worth several good
> players.  And the exceptional players are the ones who can do several
things
> very well, preferably including some aspect of defense.

Yes, some defense would be nice.

> You casually
> dismiss Antoine's skills by saying he doesn't shoot well and only dribbles
> and passes well for his position.

I really don't think you're being very fair here (yet again). After all, I
don't think NY would want to trade Houston for a bag of dirt. I think
Antoine's a very good player. I've defended him in the past. I just don't
think he's the second coming of Larry Bird.

> Well, scorers don't have to be shooters,
> and if Antoine sticks to his strengths he has proven he's capable of being
a
> plenty efficient, all-star calibre, scorer.  He's a good rebounder,
period.
> No, his dribbling is not as good as a point guard's, but it certainly adds
> all sorts of possibilities to the team.  It is not Antoine's ability to
> bring the ball up the court that is important, although the fact that he
can
> do this and other teams don't even bother to try to pressure him shows you
> what they think of his ball handling abilities.  The real value of this
> skill is his ability to beat his man and create offensive openings for
> himself and, using his passing ability, others.  Regarding his passing,
I'd
> say he's already exceptional, regardless of position,

All-star scorer, good rebounder (period), dribbling and exceptional
passing - damn, he IS Larry Bird!

> when he remembers to
> do it.  And that's the only real problem with Antoine, isn't it?

Isn't that enough? Haven't you seen enough "wasted talent" players over the
years to be at least a bit nervous? The name Derrick Coleman comes to mind.
. . But to be fair to Antoine, I think he'll get his act together IF he's in
the right environment (like Mark Aguire). Unfortunately, Boston (read:
Pitino) doesn't seem to be that environment - hence his "memory problems".

Oh yeah, and that may NOT be the only problem - remember, some defense would
be nice.

> He's got
> all of these exceptional talents that he proves time and time again he can
> dominate with, but he keeps straying away from the most effective ways to
> use them.

He's  proved time and again that he can make amazing, eye-catching,
heart-stopping individual moves. He's got skills. Unfortunately, baskets
don't come with a "degree of difficulty" rating in the final score (except
in the slam dunk contest).

> I'll grant you that I don't think Antoine's on the verge of being
> a "top 5" player.  You've got Shaq, Duncan, Hill, Iverson, Webber and
others
> who are all pretty young.  Antoine would need to add some credible D to
leap
> up into that league.

We can agree on this.

> But we're talking about Alan Houston here.  You
> graciously credit Houston by saying that his scoring is underrated because
> he hasn't had to carry the load for a team, but he could just as easily
wilt
> under the additional defensive attention he would see night after night.
I
> know a lot of people don't like this name brought up, but isn't Houston
just
> Ron Mercer with a little more range, a little more poise, a little more of
> just about everything except rebounding and passing?

So Houston is Ron Mercer? That's a pretty low blow! ;?)

> Yes, those little bits
> make him a significantly better player than Mercer, but not better than we
> could have reasonably expected Mercer to become, I don't think.

Except that he's really not Ron Mercer, he's a Ron Mercer who is better in
every way (except for rebounding and passing)?

And Antoine is Larry Bird, but just not all the time because he forgets he's
Larry Bird!

OK, I understand now - I'd never want to trade Bird for Mercer!!

> These are
> not the type of players to build a team around, which is what you're
talking
> about if you're trading Antoine.

What is Indiana built around? What is Iverson other than a really short
shooting guard? Yet they still win games. . . pretty darn good for not
knowing what type of player to build a team around! Versatility is nice -
it's desirable if everything is equal. But everything is not always equal.

> Unless you think this is Paul Pierce's
> team?

Where's this innuendo coming from? Left field? What does Pierce have to do
with it? He may well be the one to go . . .

BTW I think the picture on the programs tells us whose team it is. It's not
Antoine's, it's not Pierce's - it's Pitino's. That's why he's not going
anywhere but there is a good chance that one (or both) of the players might.

> I guess this is all just a very long way of saying that if you're just
> looking for a sharpshooter (and the Celtics could certainly use one) you
> shouldn't need or want to give up Antoine Walker to get him.

If it's that easy, then why haven't we done it? Is Calbert Cheaney our
sharpshooter?

> Now, if
> Antoine can just show up in October in shape to play like he did the last
> couple of months of last season, I don't think we have any more
> conversations about trading him for Alan Houston.

"IF"?!?

For all the bluster up front, you don't sound all that convinced about
Antoine yourself.

I'd have expected a tad more confidence from someone who just finished
taking me to task merely for contemplating including Antoine in a trade for
something a heck of a lot more tangible than a draft pick for "swifty" or
whoever. . .

-TomM