Re: 2002 Draft Bargains and Busts

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

Well, as Celtics fans, we all assume you're right about Kedrick. But it's
not as if the Celtics had Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen or even Lamond
Murray earning big minutes at the other 2/3 position opposite Pierce. It's
only natural for people to look at the team, see all the minutes that guys
like Eric Williams, Walter McCarty and Eric Strickland logged at that spot,
while Kedrick languished on the bench, to assume that the lottery pick was a
little shaky. I still have high hopes for Kedrick, but the jury very much is
out.

Forte is a bust. We might as well get used to it. Andy Katz said the Celtics
are down on Forte and consider him behind Omar Cook in the pecking order,
and Cook is a former second-round pick who couldn't make a team and spent
last season in the NBDL. The Celts butchered the draft. Kedrick is the only
hope to salvage something.

Kedrick needs to show a feel for the game. He looked lost out there. He made
plays based on athletic ability, but he really didn't have much basketball
savvy at all. That's what I'm hoping to see (or read about) from him in the
summer league.

Mark

-- -- --
You wrote:

thanks for all the info. How can one call Kedrick and Forte busts when they
were young kids who landed on a good team with no immediate playing room? If
they had gone to Memphis or Chicago they may have looked pretty different.
Ditto for Rodney White and Vlad Rad. Anyway, no reason to judge them at this
point. Now if they were from the 1998 or maybe even '99 drafts...