re alvin williams (was re: should have got rid of them all)

[bird <birdwl@earthlink.net>]

> From: "Thomas Murphy" <tfmiii@worldnet.att.net>
>
> Remember though that Alvin Williams WAS a third-string PG until he was
> tutored by Mark Jackson for the first half of this year. Williams gives
> Jackson full credit (during TV interview) for transforming his PG play. 
> It
> was only *after* this learning experience that Toronto finally felt
> comfortable in giving Alvin control of the team.

Yeah, he was a third-stringer will no real prospects except maybe a 
career as a backup -- or at least that's what I was thinking at the 
time.  I'm sure Mark Jackson had a lot to do with Williams' success this 
year, but clearly Williams had the _capability_ to play the way he is 
now.  In other words, if not Mark Jackson, maybe someone else.  Maybe 
Alvin Williams develops into the point guard he is now on his "own" 
(e.g. as a "normal" NBA player).  But, your point about mentoring and 
tutoring players is well taken.

> Perhaps it is needless to
> say, but I doubt Alvin would have received any training that would have 
> been
> comparable here on Rick P's Celtics.

This is where we diverge, because I'm not nearly as sure.  Poultrino, we 
tend to forget, is a good motivator and teacher of the game, and, being 
a point guard himself, he also probably taught Mark Jackson himself a 
few things during his stint with the Knicks.  Maybe Williams wouldn't 
have developed as much with the C's, maybe he would have been even 
better, I really don't know.

>  (BTW doesn't a story like this make you
> wonder how much truly valuable tutoring the players get? I mean look at
> Battie and Pot and consider how much better they cold be - despite their
> talent level - if they got such tutoring from a big man comparable to 
> Mark
> Jackson as a PG.)

Very much so.  Maybe if we had kept our players from the Eighties who 
later went on to coach, generally manage a team, or serve in some 
basketball capacity, we'd have someone like Kevin McHale teaching our 
big men how to score down low or something along those lines.  In fact, 
if the team could garner a big man along the lines of an Oakley, a A. 
Davis, or _some_ veteran post presence, we might see an approximation of 
that.

I've said it before: our big men ought to be worshipping at the altar of 
Pete Newell during the offseason, as well as getting some mentoring from 
former players (maybe a Bill Walton, Chief, or just about any capable 
former player who has a good relationship with on of our guys.)  I'm not 
saying it'd be a panacea, but it couldn't hurt, could it?

Regards,

(The Celtic "Tird",
  Celticus "tirdius")
mailto:celtictird@yahoo.com