re: The real problem (was Re: Point Guard)

[bird <birdwl@earthlink.net>]

> From: Roy Enrile <renrile@qualcomm.com>

> Kenny, or Forte or even El-Amin can be as effective as the starting
> championship pg's over the last 11 years:
> John Paxon,BJ Armstrong,Ron Harper,Kenny Smith,Avery Johnson,Derek Fisher

That's always possible.  Kenny's involvement in a championship team seems 
the most unlikely of all the people you mentioned, though (with the 
possible exception of El-Amin).

> I'm certain it will snow in Arizona before Walker shoots a legit 2pt
> fg % for a season(5 straight years, never above .430), or plays
> championship PF defense.  So even though I'm a fan of our captains, if it
> takes one of them to someday get an assassin down low, like Duncan or
> Rasheed(5 straight years, never below .500 ...wow...), then do it.

I lived in Flagstaff for six months once -- a town still in Arizona AFIAK.
   This is a place where they had to build a domed stadium for commencement 
at the local university -- typically this is held in June.  It snowed the 
day I got there (in January) and snowed the day I left (in June).  Though 
Walker's FG% is hardly optimal, I'm not sure it's that big a deal in today'
s NBA.  AI got his team to the Finals with a sub-par shooting percentage.  
If we get offensive rebounders to grab the ball back from misses, it 
lessens the impact that a lower FG% has on the outcome of the game.  Still,
  AI had the shotblocker you seem to covet, but then again his team didn't 
have the low-post threat you mention.

> Just for fun...  I'm curious
> if the trade had gone down, would anyone be satisfied with:
>
> J. Oneal + Eric Barkley   over    Moiso + J. Johnson + K. Brown   ?

Nope -- chiefly because I haven't seen near enough of JJ or K. Brown to 
decide if they are better (or will bring more in trade) than O'neal and 
Barkley.  At this point, Moiso is a wash, but who knows, maybe he will 
have a breakout year next year or the year after -- even if it's enough 
for him to be included in a deal that brings us another piece to a 
upper-tier puzzle, then it's all good, baby.

Regards,

(The Celtic "Tird",
  Celticus "tirdius")