Positives and negatives

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

First of all, Josh is probably right. It's probably better to ignore last
night and not really look at the exhibition season until we can see some
patterns emerge. Having said that, I'm going to completely disregard it and
make a few observations after watching the first three quarters (I'm a
responsible American and switched to the debate at that point).

1. Biggest disappointment for me, by far, was Tony Battie. More of the same.
He's El Busto. It's clear that Pitino desperately wanted Battie to come in
and take that starting job, but he just drifts out there. It has nothing to
do with his weight or strength. He lacks any tenacity. Joe H.--don't you
wish you could put Danny Fortson's toughness into Tony Battie's body?

2. We saw why Chris Carr has been with six teams in six years. The guy is an
athlete who can get some shots up (not necessarily in), but he's a terrible
defender and doesn't seem to have much of a feel for the game. Still a good
signing for the price, however.

3. Toine and Kenny played awful, but these don't have anything to prove in
the first exhibition game. We know what we're going to get from both of
them.

4. Not going to bother to say anything about Jordan or Elliot, because
neither of those guys will ever see the Fleet Center floor when the games
count. When evaluating the team's performance, remember that both of these
guys played big minutes.

5. Vitaly is what he is.

6. Did Eric Williams do most of his damage in the fourth quarter? When I was
watching, he looked awful.

7. Finally, the one positive: Mark Blount. Clearly, after reading the rest
of the posts about the guy, there are differing opinions. Here's mine: He's
already better than Tony Battie. He's active and blocks shots. He had two of
those "Wow!" blocks last night, when he was the only thing between a Bucks
player and a layup/dunk, and he sent it back cleanly. 10 points, 3 boards
and 2 blocks in 22 minutes and, more importantly, he looked like he belonged
out there. I honestly think this guy could emerge as the team's best center
at some point this season. He needs some polish on the offensive end, but
the guy is a presence. Apparently not everyone agrees, but he was the one
reason for optimism last night, in my eyes.

8. Opposition note: I was a big Joel Przybilla backer before the draft, and
nothing I saw last night changed my mind. He is exactly what the Bucks need
out of a center, and I still say he would have been great for the Celts and
worth the price Milwaukee paid (Jason Collier and next year's
first-rounder). He's an NBA shot-blocker and more athletic than the "big
white stiff" stereotype.

All and all, not much to go on. We won't be able to judge much tonight
either. We'll see next week, when Moiso, Brown, Herren and Stith are there.

Mark