Re: [...]''He's in fantastic physical condition,.. ."

[Kestas <Kestutis.Kveraga@dartmouth.edu>]

At 12:33 10/4/2001 -0700, you wrote:
>Geez, Kestas, this sounds a bit harsh.  I'm not nearly as down on Chris 
>Herren.  I think you discount the injury to his (right?) shoulder, perhaps 
>having a little more to do with his 30% shooting than you or Joe seem to 
>think.  I saw all the games he was in last year and I noticed that Herren 
>pushed the ball well, could shoot from outside, and had the attitude you 
>mentioned.  All positives.  He needs to become a better distributor and 
>ballhandler, as well as improving his shooting percentage.  That's the 
>beginning of the negatives.  He may not be 100%, but then again, he's the 
>fourth (or even fifth) PG on the team, after KA, Palacio, maybe Brown, 
>Walker and maybe even Joe Johnson -- not a big deal.  We can wish upon a 
>star for a big man, but it's clear that C's management wants Walker at PF 
>for about 40 mins/game and so a PF like Gary Trent isn't in the cards, and 
>Obie, et al. clearly haven't found anyone _they_ think is better than the 
>Blount/V/Battie center troika.

Maybe I am too harsh on him. But I find it suspicious that they were
singing this "we're going to stick with the 14 guys we have" tune all
summer, bypassed a better PG prospect in El-Amin, pretended Mase, Trent and
others were not out there to be signed - and all of a sudden, the minute
Herren steps off the plane in Logan, they're all over him like a bunch of
NBA groupies?

>The thing is, do you really know Chris Herren quit on his team because he 
>knew he wasn't good enough to start?  Maybe he had other personal issues.  
>Maybe he was homesick.  Maybe he didn't want to be abroad.  Maybe he didn'
>t want to be the "designated American target" on the Baloney team.  Maybe 
>he hates Italian food, shoes, those little mopeds, cinema, Catholicism or 
>whatever else one finds in abundance in the boot.  Plus, if he quit on the 
>team, wouldn't Mark Berry keep reminding us of that fact and how it taints 
>his career?

No, I don't really know why he left Bologna, but I do know that his only
game for them was very poor, and that his coach didn't think much of his
abilities after seeing him play. Which is probably why Herren didn't see
eye-to-eye with him. If he can't cut it in the Italian league, how is he
going to succeed in the NBA?
Kestas