Re: Making Tommy Heinsohn happy

["hironaka@xxxxxxxxx"<hironaka@xxxxxxxxx>]

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>Kedrick is much more Moiso-like-but don't worry, I'm not 
>writing him off yet. Both Kedrick and Moiso are ultra-
>athletic, yet lack a natural feel for the game and are 
>deferential to a fault. 


Mark, I'd add that the "deferential" part of the equation 
points partly to the nature of the beast. As teams go, 
Boston is run on clear cut "star system" basis that no 
doubt makes it hard for any young guy to break in no 
matter how assertive with the ball. 

Joe Forte was as cocky as McGrady, yet he got beaten down 
pretty good. Same can be said about Kenny Anderson to 
some degree.

I won't use that as an excuse for Kedrick. 

But you may recall I was a huge Moiso critic from day one.

Its a free country, so one can say that Kedrick is 
looking like just another unassertive and 
clueless "athlete" like Moiso. Boy, were we dumb. "Fool 
me twice, shame on me" and all that. 

But let's at least grapple with reconciling Kedrick's 
purportedly Moiso-esque unassertiveness with the fact 
that he jacked 17 shots a game at Okaloosa, shooting 54%. 

Yes its Juco ball and that's a good answer. But was Moiso 
ever a take-charge scorer or productive player at any 
level? Its not merely that Kedrick was once a 
consistently menacing scorer. He also racked up the 
boards, steals, assists and blocks. High production in 
every conceivable area for a go-to 23ppg scorer. This 
hints that he played with high energy and, yes, had 
basketball talent. It wasn't all about clueless 
athleticism.

The other thing I've pointed out before is that Kedrick 
was quite young when he was drafted. Moiso was already 22 
before he declared for the draft. At 2-year difference at 
that age constitutes something like 1/6th of your time on 
earth. Its not trivial.   

Moiso may be the first comparison to Kedrick that springs 
to people's minds because of the 45 inch vertical etc., 
but Moiso was one of the least consistent effort guys in 
the college ranks, and never put up steady or big numbers 
from one game to the next. 

Choose another comparison for instance. The path of mild-
mannered Reggie Lewis's basketball career in Boston. 

Reggie Lewis, to my amazement and to his ever-lasting 
credit, managed to not get buried in a similarly ossified 
star system. Paul Pierce today is guaranteed just as many 
touches as McHale or Parish were back then, without the 
coach forcing any of them to pass the ball if they didn't 
feel like it. 

Kedrick Brown can still have a bright future in this 
league even if he doesn't talk trash like some other 
immature phenoms. After all, he was also very quiet, but 
deadly, before joining this organization. So was Reggie. 
That's a decent sign.

I'll admit its a bit tricky and worrisome. Kedrick's got 
some holes in his game. And basketball is all about 
confidence. Plenty of great college scorers get crushed 
by the NBA for no obvious reason other than lost 
confidence. 

We may forget what huge numbers Tony Battie put up in D-1 
NCAA ball. Higher scoring than Pierce or Walker I 
believe, and with a higher efficiency as well.

Today, after his "El Busto" phase and ankle injury etc, 
Battie is a defensive energizer and shot blocker, 
seemingly without a trigger-happy bone in his body. 

In the case of Kedrick, I truly hope he doesn't 
evolve/devolve in the same general direction. 

But even if he DOES stay shot-phobic this season, its all 
good. The bottom line is that there should be no pressure 
on him to score the ball right away this year. 

Kedrick's already good or potentially good at a lot of 
other valuable things that can contribute to a winning 
formula. To start with, when was Moiso ever called a good 
defender by any coaching staff?

Its tempting, and it happens again and again, but let's 
please try to spare Kedrick the Moiso label for awhile. 
That's the last I really wish to hear of Moiso's name. 
Good riddance to "poodle boy." Au revoir,


Joe H.


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