Re: Alonzo out for season

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

Hi Mark:

Alonzo Mourning being out for the year makes all the difference in the
world for the Heat, which looked to me like a very weak defensive team in
the time we beat them with both Mourning and Toine injured (to complete
the sweep two years ago, but I happen to still have the video). Our
Celtics could even sweep the "Greasy One" this year, like in 1998-99.
Miami has good veterans, but they haven't played together yet. They have a
probable All Star backcourt of Eddie Jones and the gimpy Tim Hardaway that
will take center stage this season over the frontline of Anthony Mason,
Brian Grant and center Duane Causwell.

Causwell is a 32-year-old who has never averaged even 10 mpg in the past
three seasons and who scored just 2.6 ppg last year. Brian Grant, a
forgotten man last year in Portland, scored 29 points and 11 boards in his
preseason debut for Miami last week. For some reason, Way of the Ray
favorite Ernest Brown (a second round draft pick) does not appear on the
Heat roster and has not played in either preseason game so far. I haven't
been following the situation. If he's a holdout, no doubt Miami will push
to sign the 7-footer. Their pointguard find of last season, Anthony
Carter, leads a thin bench that is inferior to almost any team in the
league. Guys like Bruce Bowen, Rick Brunson, Don Maclean and the rookie
Eddie "Brick" House are what The Crisco Kid has to work with.

Last year I made the mistake of comparing the Celtics to what looked like
a very weakened Eastern Conference, and projecting the won-losses on that
basis (I picked 46 wins). This year it is just as tempting to do the same,
what with Patrick Ewing gone, Shawn "The Grain Man" Kemp gone, Dale Davis
gone, Jalen Rose injured and teams like Charlotte, Detroit, Indiana, New
York and Philly (because of the Larry Brown/Iverson animus) all facing
some upheaval. But "fool me twice, shame on me" as they say. Anyway, I'll
withhold any predictions until the end of the preseason.

Joe

p.s. I don't know if you'll find this amusing at all, but my wife
(feigning interest in my various hobbies) asked me last week how my shares
in "Crisco" Systems was doing ("Crisco" is an American lard/cooking oil
product, for those of you who are foreign like my wife). It's like a few
years ago when she told our neighbor the pair of Adidas I wear were "Kobe
O'Brians". Oh well, I'm exactly the same way with her hobbies.

-------
"Berry, Mark S" wrote:

> Dont' know if it's been posted yet, but Alonzo Mourning is out for the
> season with a kidney disorder. Obviously, it's very serious and we all
> should hope treatment is effective and he doesn't have to undergo a
> transplant.
>
> This throws the East wide open again.