Re: #1 point guard

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

Gene Kirkpatrick wrote:

> In my mind the #1 point guard will probably go second or third in the
> draft, among points.  He's Jamal Tinsley of Iowa State.  His all
> around game is so solid.  Jason Williams is faster, a better scorer,
> and maybe a better defender, but then, he won't last through the first
> five choices, if he comes out.  Tinsley gets it done and I would
> choose him over any player I've seen in college this year.  He would
> complement our two stars, make Blount and Pots more effective down low
> and control the game down the stretch like a point should.  Watch him
> for the next 4 weeks and admire a classy player.
>
> I do think he will go #9 or so, so we would have to trade to get him.
> I like the idea of trading a player and pick to get one good draftee.

Jay Bilas praised Tinsley in loving detail last week in one of his ESPN
writeups. Sounds like an NBA player. As for the "real" Jason Williams, the
fact that Coach K didn't seem to recruit a pointguard this year suggests
he may be confident the kid might stick around to graduate, unlike Will
Avery. Another guy with limited national pub, BC's Troy Bell, is a rare
defender, great assist-turnover ratio etc. who seems to have a little
"Answer" in him. He is the most deserving Big East MVP candidate, which
says a great deal something given how deep the Beast is this year. He's
been prepping for the NBA against some cat quick point guards all season
and obviously doing very well.

Denver is 3.5 games out of the playoffs, despite being above .500. I think
that pick is top-5 protected this year, top-3 protected next year. Utah,
meanwhile, has the fourth best record in the NBA (26th pick). The Celtics
pick is currently a number 14. As others have argued, I  think Wallace
should take a long view on the Denver pick until lottery protection is
gone, and just add two first rounders to the mix next summer. After all,
as much as they've improved I doubt the perpectually rebuilding Nuggets
will be in the playoffs soon.

Now that the Celts two young captains are starting to come of age (reminds
me of Finley/Nowitzki in the second half of last year), I can't help
bumming that Boston is clearly one All Star caliber contributor short of
ever competing for the 17th ring. We really have a way to go as far as
championship-contending depth, and don't have nearly the right stuff at
point guard and center to rebuild the dynasty. I think the best hope is to
hang in there until the Denver pick in 2003, just like Red, Couz and
Sharmin had to settle on being entertaining but middling playoff
contenders until the Bill Russell draft. That means watching the likes of
Tinsley, Eddie Griffin, Curry and a whole bunch of others developing into
potential superstars for the Bulls, Nets and other teams, but what can you
do? The Celtics will have to settle for one top-20 pick year and make the
best of it (there might actually be a Joe Dumars or at least a Elden
Cambell caliber guy available in that range this year). Meanwhile, all the
monster prospects are in the 18-19 age group right now, so at least some
might still be around in a few years. In particular, this past year's
draft might influence players to stay in school an extra year or two. It
seems like the rational thing to do. Sure they are not getting paid in
college, but it's gotta be a lot more fun to be a big stud on a college
campus an extra year than ride an NBA or development league bench.

-------