Re: Mercer comment in the news

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

At 11:32 02/10/01 -0400, James A. Hill wrote:
>This from http://www.nypost.com/sports/knicks/5559.htm
>
>"The over/under on Charles Oakley hitting Mercer at a Bulls shoot-around is
>five games."
>
>I always liked Oakley as a player. I always liked Mercer as well, though
>differently.  Maybe this will be a wakeup call for Mercer?

         Strange, isn't it? I always viewed Mercer as one dimensional and 
slow laterally on defense, but he doesn't seem like a jerk. I don't know, 
maybe I'm giving him too much credit. He's had a few incidents other than 
the fight outside the Denver locker room. He's such an elegant player 
because of his air game, but he's had the ball far too much in his hands 
during his career for a guy who can't dribble or find teammates. Basically, 
we've replaced him with the project Kedrick Brown and that's more than fine 
with me, because of Kedrick's rebounding, shot blocking, assist-making and 
defensive reputation and raw tools. A 6-8 guy with a 45 vertical who can 
shoot from the line and downtown, I'll take that!  Mercer had none of those 
non-scoring skills in abundance even in college. He was a pure, designated 
scorer with an outstanding physical advantage over college defenders and an 
excellent system to get his 20 a night.

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