Re: Tinsley

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

There are questions about Haywood. If there weren't, he'd be the no-brainer
first pick in the draft. He has that kind of physical ability. But the knock
is he's inconsistent and doesn't always give great effort. I tend to side
with the big guy in most of these cases in college, because at that level
guards still dominate the ball. Carolina has Joseph Forte and he is the
focus of that offense. Haywood sometimes is forgotten. Also, most teams play
a zone against Carolina because of Haywood and big Kris Lang inside, and
Carolina (like most college teams) attacks the zone by finding open
shooters. Makes sense when that 3-point line is so close. But it means
Haywood doesn't get many touches. Anyway, he'll be long gone before the
Celtics pick.

This is shaping up as a strong group of centers, but they all come with
question marks. Yao Ming may be the best of the bunch, but can we be sure
since his competition is the Chinese leagues? Is he just Shawn Bradley? Eddy
Curry seems to have Shaq-like physical ability and incredible skills, but
he's a high schooler. Ditto Dasagna Diop and Tyson Chandler. Arizona's Loren
Woods would have been a top-five pick last year, but this year seemed soft,
disinterested and may have played himself out of the lottery. And he's
rail-thin to boot. Chris Marcus????? Who knows? I'm still hoping one of
these guys falls to the Celts, and it seems likely to happen.

As for the point guards, I may be the only guy in America not completely
sold on Duke's Jason Williams. He's a great shooter, but he plays a little
too much like a shooting guard for my liking. Takes a lot of quick
three-pointers, sometimes doesn't get his teammates involved, treats
penetration like a last option. I think he'll be a good pro, but I don't
think he's a classic point guard. I don't know enough about Tinsley to
comment. Same with Tito Maddox (Fresno St.). Frank Williams reminds me a
little of Eric Barkley, the St. John's PG who fell to Portland at the end of
the first round last year--good leader, does everything well but nothing
exceptionally well. Omar Cook may be the best passer of the bunch, but he
can't shoot at all and seems awfully small.

The bottom line is take the best player available. Hopefully, that
translates to one of the centers and a point guard, but you shouldn't pass
up a talented wing player like Jason Richardson or Gerald Wallace if they
fall in your lap.

Mark