Re: Mark Berry's fears, etc...

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

---Kestas wrote:
Which leads me to El-Amin. I find it interesting that, at least partly based
on
his standout performance at Shaw's, you "have no doubt that, if signed,
El-Amin
will be a factor". Yet you say JJ and KB won't significantly contribute this
year and their performances in the same league should be discounted because,
you know, it's just a summer league. 
---end of quote---

I didn't say the rookies won't significantly contribute this year, Kestas. I
said they wouldn't contribute much more than Stith did last year. I consider
Stith a significant contributor last year, but if the rookies do the same
thing Stith did, that doesn't improve the team much. Is that clear? I'm not
down on the rookies, and I certainly think that come the 2002-03 season,
they will make Stith an ancient memory. I'm just not sure they're
immediately ready to give the team more than Stith did last year, and if
they don't, they won't make a real difference in team performance.

El-Amin, on the other hand, plays a position of considerable weakness and
plays it differently than anyone else on the team. I don't think he'll have
as significant a role as either Johnson or Brown, but the simple fact that
he could bring something the team didn't have last year-true point guard
play-makes him a factor. Do you see the difference? I like all three of
these players, but Johnson and Brown, in my opinion, will basically replace
Stith's production *this season*. El-Amin brings something different. He's
an addition, not a replacement.

Mark