Re: losing LaFrentz

[Kestas <kkv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Eggcentric@xxxxxxx wrote:

> < His (Kedrick) biggest problem is not lack of intelligence (though 
> he's no Jiri Welsch in that regard), but an astounding (given his 
> physical gifts) lack of confidence. >   - kkv (Is that you, Kestas?)
>
> Keep in mind that former Halliburton employee, Dr. Jonathan 
> Inniedofacontractnagel, several months ago tested Kedrick out at a 
> 70+ IQ with a self-confidence trailing indicator of 4.6.  Thank God for 
> the + since I believe the team's cutoff point is 70. 

I'm not sure what to make of this info, since 1) I don't know what the 
right boundary of the '70+' range is (is it 75? 90? 150?); and 2) I 
don't know what this 'self-confidence trailing indicator of 4.6' is.
And even if I DID know, it's unclear what the relevance of this test is. 
The type of test that is used can make a huge difference - I know of 
tests from the early 1900s that relied on solely on declarative 
knowledge so idiosyncratic as to favor only members of certain classes. 
All of us would score in the 'moron' range on a test like this (and yes, 
'moron' used to be a term in the scientific literature, invented to 
describe people between the 'idiot' and 'feeble-minded' categories). 
Furthermore, given "Dr." Niednagel's sterling scientific credentials, 
I'm not sure he'd be able to test a kindergartener on her knowledge of 
the alphabet, let alone select and administer a proper intelligence 
test. And in the unlikely event that he could, I wouldn't put it past 
him to select a test to confirm his evaluation of poor Kedrick.

Anyway, this is not to contest your assertion that Kedrick is probably 
not the brightest bulb in the chandelier, at least academically 
speaking. I'm sure he didn't grow up in the most intellectually 
stimulating environment. But the question is, does it matter that much, 
in the basketball sense, that he probably can't hold up his end of the 
conversation about Heidegger's vs. Kierkegaard's existentialism, or 
instantly tell you the cubic  root of 729? Bobby Fisher was a high 
school dropout who couldn't even follow the conversation at dinner with 
the typically erudite Soviet grandmasters. But that didn't prevent him 
from humiliating them on the chessboard.

My point is that it doesn't matter that Kedrick's no Rhodes scholar as 
long as he can play intelligently on the basketball court. And, at least 
lately, he doesn't seem to be doing dumb things on the court. He makes 
fairly intelligent passes, plays good D, and gets tough rebounds. What 
he doesn't do often enough is take the shot when it's there. He's just 
awfully timid. Obie doesn't tolerate people who refuse to take the open 
shot, and rightly so, because defenses start cheating on you. I wish 
Ainge invested less money in testing Kedrick, and more in counselling 
him. That might actually be productive.
Kestas