Re: ESPN Poll

[bird <birdwl@earthlink.net>]

> From: "Shawn Niles" <shizzjr@hotmail.com>
>
> This is from one of the articles on ESPN:
> "Just ask Tony Battie. The lanky 6-11 center made his presence felt from 
> the
> beginning. He showed a surprisingly soft touch in drilling his first three
> jumpers from 15-feet and out".
>
> These types of comments have been popping up about the C's all playoffs. 
> It
> shows that NO ONE payed attention to this team in the regular season. Why 
> is
> it "Surprising" that Tony has a soft touch? If they had been watching,
> they'd realize that Tony has been hitting those shots all year. It wouldn'
> t
> be surprising to those idiots if they hadn't ignored the team all year.

You're absolutely right here, Shawn.  In the Philly series, some announcer 
was also talking about how surprising it is that Eric Williams hit outside 
shots.  Um, perhaps you haven't seen him since his days in Denver, but the 
guy isn''t just a post-up threat anymore.

You'd hear it from the opposing announcers during the regular season, as 
well.  I think one (Utah's?) actually said, after Battie had canned one 
from the top of the key, "We'll give him that all game."  Well, good, 
because that's his shot.  C's won, IIRC.

I think most media/NBA types peg guys and then wait for the guys to "break 
out" of the pigeonhole.  That's fine, except players and teams are 
constantly changing.  You'd think, if it was your *job* and all, that you 
might try to keep up.  I hate that sort of thing.  Anyone who's watched 
even a few C's games this year may have been slightly surprised at Battie'
s shooting percentage, but not the fact that he took those shots.  Those 
baseline 15-footers?  Also his shot.  This is well and good, because T's 
back-to-the-basket game is nonexistent.  But if he can hit those jumpers, 
he goes a long way towards doing exactly what the coaching staff wants him 
to do.

Bird