This keeps getting worse

["Berry, Mark S" <berrym@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Several things...

1.	I went to bed hoping I'd wake up and find out Wallace had a second
deal lined up for a point guard. No such luck. It's Shammond Williams, Tony
Delk and J.R. Bremer. But, hey, Wallace says Williams had a good Shaw's
league a couple of years ago, so that 4 ppg, 1 apg season against real NBA
competition, and the fact that he lost his job to Earl Watson... those
things mean nothing. Only your performance in the Shaw's league counts.
Unless you're Joseph Forte.

2.	We thought the offense was stagnant last year. Just wait. Now we get
to wait for Vin Baker to drag his carcass down the floor, watch our point
guard of choice dribble the ball for 18 seconds, pass it to Pierce or
Walker, look at Baker, who figures to be running to the other side of the
court, then watch one of the captains launch a rushed, challenged
three-pointer. I guess it's not that different, after all.

3.	The worst part about this trade is a frontcourt with Baker, Walker
and Battie won't leave many minutes for Bruno Sundov. It's a shame to have a
top-seven pick rotting on the bench like that...

4.	Jim O'Brien didn't like the deal... Oh boy. The only chance it had
was to commit to it 100 percent. I can see it now. Baker playing Rodney
Rogers' role: 20-25 minutes off the bench behind Walker and Battie. Suddenly
you'll have a 10 ppg, 4 rpg disgruntled, depressed chemistry-killer with an
unmovable contract. No, if this has any chance to work, you have to start
Baker, play him 35 mpg and let him do the one thing he does well-score in
the post. But if Obie tries to do that, and the defense and team struggle,
expect him to go back to what he knows. They need to commit to it, and they
need to give it a real chance. I'm not confident about either thing
happening.

5.	OK, so we have Pierce, Walker, Baker, Battie, Delk, EWilliams,
Bremer, Swilliams, Brown, Sundov. That leaves two roster spots for minimum
guys. We need to hope there's a Strickland situation out there, and that the
guy who falls in their laps is a point guard. Fat chance, but... Talk about
a weak bench. Look at the past production from some of those guys. Let's say
Pierce, Walker and Baker average 60 ppg. Based on past production-and why
would we expect anyone to improve their production under this system?-you're
still struggling to reach 90 points.

It's just a disaster. I'd say there's a 10 percent chance of this working
out. Who would take that kind of risk? Wallace needs to go back to printing
recruiting pamphlets in his basement. The sooner the better.

Mark