Misc. articles

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

Regarding some recent articles that were posted:

I think its nice that TSN's Sean Deveney ranks Pierce and Walker as first 
team All Atlantic forwards, with Walker also ranked as "Most Versatile" and 
Pierce as "Most Underrated".  But even I think McGrady or Hill would at 
least challenge as "Most Versatile", while maybe guys like Eric Snow/Aaron 
McKie or say a Brian Grant might typically win plaudits as "underrated".
http://www.sportingnews.com/nba/support/atlantic.html

I hope they live up to it. Who know, maybe Toine losing 20 pounds may not 
be much spread over a 6-9 body, but considering that he is also lifting 
weights under Tim Grover it could be a very significant thing. Plus once 
you get into an extreme fitness ethic, it can get really addictive. You 
look at what happened with Chris Mullin.

Regarding the CBS's Mike Kahn article on top shooters, that list really is 
all over the place.
http://www.sportsline.com/b/page/pressbox/0,1328,4238765,00.html

I guess it depends on your definition of great shooters: Rasheed Wallace is 
ranked 7th and McGrady is 5th for instance, whereas a group of classic pure 
shooters including Nowitzki, Ray Allen, Glen Rice etc isn't ranked any 
higher than 9th.

If Rasheed gets into any NBA "top shooters" category, then surely Kevin 
McHale deserves to make the All-Time list by that definition. Or Parish, 
whose 18-foot turnaround was at least as accurate.

If you are talking about pure shooters from the past, the most egregious 
oversight was Chris Mullin IMHO. He was by far the best US Olympic shooter 
I ever saw....better than the injured Bird or the great Reggie Miller on 
later Dream Teams. BTW, the 1984 US Olympic team (which cut Charles 
Barkley!) might have been even stronger than some of the later Dream Teams.

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