Toine's night at PG

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

I don't know what to make of Toine. He talks about wanting to play point
guard, then came out last night acting like he wanted to set a house record
for shot attempts. He had 28 of them, only made 11, including 3-12 on
3-pointers (if he's playing PG, shouldn't he get a few post up
opportunities?). Toine was shooting early and often in the shot clock.
Meanwhile, our starting forwards combined for six rebounds and seven points
on 2-11 shooting. Toine again guarded the opposing power forward (P.J.
Brown) most of the game (Walter started on the PG), and P.J. had 15 points
and 11 rebounds and missed just one shot all night. P.J. averages 8 points
and 9 boards on 44 percent shooting, by the way.

I just don't know what to make of Toine or this team. I wish I could have
heard more of the Chris Wallace chat (just watching while playing with three
little girls is tough enough). I heard Tommy make his case for Palacio, and
Wallace basically say outside of Jason Williams, there isn't a great PG in
the draft (posturing for Tinsley, or telling the truth?). I also heard
Wallace praise Battier and say there was no chance he'd be there for the
Celts. That surprises me a little, because I don't see him going before
mid-lottery, and you certainly would think a guy in that range might slide
to 10.

Anyway, I think almost as important as scouting for this draft will be
scouting our own players. Mike and Tommy have taken to comparing Palacio to
Eric Snow, but will he develop like Snow or like Haywood Workman--both were
revelations as young players; Snow progressed to become a solid starting PG,
while Workman never added the dimensions to his game he needed. If they
honestly believe Palacio will develop into a Snow-type PG, then that ceases
to become a need. I also agree with Tommy that Herren has to be kept around.
If you're going to play Toine at PG some, don't you think Herren is a
perfect backcourt complement? He can guard the PG, and spot up on the
perimeter for threes. He really is starting to come around and look like the
player he was before the injuries.

On Kenny Anderson... cut him and eat the contract. Don't trade him for a
loss (the draft pick deal that was rumored at the deadline). If you can
trade him for another bad contract with no more than two years remaining,
try it. But trading him for a loss just to get rid of him doesn't make sense
when we're not going to be under the cap anyway.

Mark