Re: Dejuan Wagner & Alton Ford & Springer Suggests Trade

[Kestutis.Kveraga@dartmouth.edu (Kestutis Kveraga)]

--- You wrote:

Personally, I don't even think you can conclude that Moiso was a bad pick
(yet). 

--- end of quote ---

I haven't concluded that he's a bad pick - I still have a glimmer of hope.
However, it's not his lack of production that makes me think he *might* be a
wasted pick - Pitino himself had said that Moiso won't contribute much as a
rookie - it's his attitude. 

<snip>

--- You wrote:
 Still, I don't really think that you can judge Moiso as a bust
after one year and at the same time cite McGrady and O'Neal as positive
examples; I mean, these guys didn't look great after their rookie years
either (though granted, they were high schoolers). 
--- end of quote ---

I'm not disagreeing with you. It's Springer who apparently thinks Moiso is a
bust. The truth is, nobody knows (except Ray, that is :=). Pitino may have been
very confident in his ability to light a fire under the "Crouching Poodle", or
maybe he simply took a gamble, figuring that lack of desire to succeed is
easier to fix than lack of talent. Whether this turns out to be a gutsy pick,
or a bad gamble, won't be clear for at least a year, possibly more. Heck,
Jermaine O'Neal showed nothing for FOUR years! I remember arguing with a
certain list member about McGrady (in the context of how badly Billups was
doing as a rookie), who was claiming that McGrady wasn't doing any better than
our #3 pick that year. And he probably wasn't - but look at him now.  

The other question, as you say, is whether the highschoolers' NBA learning
curve can be meaningfully applied to someone who's 4 years their senior.
Hopefully, in this draft the Celtics won't have to make such "either/or"
choices - the players available to them should have both the talent and the
character to succeed in the NBA. 

Kestas