Re: 2001 preseason rookie watch

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

At 15:03 26/10/01 -0400, Berry, Mark  S wrote:
>Joe, thanks for posting this. You're right that for the most part, rookie
>preseason numbers are meaningless, but I enjoyed reading it.
>
>.. One guy you didn't mention was Jamaal Tinsley, who was linked to the
>Celts for months. Isiah Thomas just named him the starting PG in Indiana.
>This should be interesting for a number of reasons-did the Celts miss the
>boat? And can a rookie lead a team the Celts will be battling with for a
>playoff spot?

Jamaal Tinsley
6 games 25.5 minutes 5.8 points 3.8 rebounds 5.8 assists, 3.1 turnovers
.333FG% .167FT% .857FT%

Joe Forte
8 games 16 minutes 6.0 points 2.8 reb 1.0 ast 1.0 to's
.366FG% .400 3FG% (4-10) .813FT%

Tony Parker
6 games 22 minutes 7.5 points 2.7 reb 2.5 ast 2.6 to's
405FG% .583 3FG% (7-12) .364FT%

Note that Tinsley's stats, off of ESPN, may not include his last game or 
so. A lot more assists and turnovers, a lot fewer points per minute. 
Different players. You've got to like them both, character wise.

I'm also including stats for Tony Parker, who is on the cover of the French 
basketball magazine my colleague reads. Bear in mind that Parker has 
relatively less competition for minutes on the Spurs, with Antonio Daniels 
the only experienced point guard on the roster.

Maybe all three will be among the 12-15 most successful rookies in this 
year's draft.

These three point guards (plus high school phenom Gerald Wallace and maybe 
Loren Woods or the injured Ousmane Cisse) seemed like plausible candidates 
for Boston with the 21st pick. It seems we have a keeper in Joe Forte, though.

Forte's impact has been solid particularly given that he came to camp 
arguably 6th on the guard depth chart behind Kenny, Joe Johnson, Milt, 
Kedrick Brown and some combo of Pierce, EW or Toine. No one's handing him 
the minutes. In the case of Boston, you've got three rookies fighting over 
one player's worth of playing time, pretty much. And its not like the 
others have really disappointed or gotten injured. In some ways its still a 
three-way tie which one will have the biggest pro impact by the second half 
of their rookie seasons. I'd hate to be in the (hypothetical) position 
where you'd have to pick your two favorites and get rid of one. Luckily we 
have four years for the results to be clear.

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