Re: Ron Mercer Q & A

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

At 10:28 25/06/01 +0800, kevin wrote:
>Bulls.com: What were your draft workouts like?
>Mercer: The workouts are strange sometimes because you never know what
>they are looking for. For instance, I worked out for Denver, who had
>the fifth pick that year, and I felt it was my best workout. They did
>a lot of running and shooting drills and those are really parts of my
>game. I never understood this and I should have asked them while I was
>there (Mercer played for Denver during the 1999-2000 season), but the
>first drill they had me doing was shooting off screens. I made 28 out
>of 30 shots- it was my best performance by far and they still didn't
>take me. You would think- from a basketball standpoint- that was by
>best workout, as far as shooting goes at least.

Wow Kevin, I wonder who the Celtics would have taken if Mercer had been 
gone at #5? I'm sure Issel was tempted.

I assume Boston would have taken McGrady or Tim Thomas, over Tony Battie. 
At least I hope so. :-)

Anyway, this Q&A really gives you a hint of all the intangibles that will 
go into the selection process.

Picking the exact order #1 through #9 is going to be harder this year than 
picking the first nine horses in order at a Kentucky Derby. And guessing in 
order how good the players will be four years from now is even more 
impossible.

I'll be happy with any of the consensus top-10 picks, really. It's probably 
not going to be one of those "if so-and-so goes right before us at #9, I'll 
be heartbroken" type of nights.

Even the sudden "upside" dropoff to Troy Murphy at #11 doesn't upset me all 
that much. I'd rather have him than Sczerbiak (5 inches taller for one 
thing) and his style of play and shot selection will help the maturing 
Celtics more than his athleticism will hurt it. I think he'll pad the teams 
assist totals with his game.

I'm looking forward to the worst-case scenario in order to be pleasantly 
surprised and in the right frame of mind as things play out.  We are going 
to get good players, Chris Wallace is right about that. As long as the 
other Eastern teams don't land GREAT players and upset the balance of the 
NBA for a decade to come, we should be in good shape even in the worst-case 
scenario and a more exciting team to watch.

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