RE: Stay patient with Kedrick

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

See, Cecil, this is what I mean when I say people are looking at this
through green-tinted glasses. McGrady averaged 7 points and 4 rebounds a
game his rookie season, straight out of high school. He shot about 45
percent from the floor. His sophomore season, it was 9.3 points and 5.6
rebounds. Kedrick has been back for 20 games now and his high point total is
4 points. His high rebound number is 5. Even if you limit his numbers to
January, when he has been averaging almost 14 minutes per game, he's still
just 6-for-25 shooting (24 percent), 0-for-8 on 3-pointers, and averaging
just 2.3 points per game. McGrady took time to develop, but by his second
season he was pushing double figures in scoring and by Year 3 he was over 15
ppg. He started better than Kedrick and he progressed. Kedrick's nowhere
near where McGrady was even as a rookie straight out of high school.

How about Kobe Bryant? He averaged 7.6 ppg as a rookie straight out of high
school and 15.4 ppg as a second-year player. Even Rashard Lewis, a high
school player drafted in the SECOND ROUND improved from 2.4 ppg as a rookie
to 8.2 ppg as a second-year guy. 

Unfortunately, the best comparison for Kedrick probably is DeShawn Stevenson
in Utah. He came straight out of high school, was drafted by a veteran
playoff team in the first round and averaged 2.2 and 4.9 ppg his first two
seasons. Now he's averaging 4.7. He was force-fed about 16 minutes per game
last season but is down to around 14 minutes per game this season. He's
another great athlete who put up gaudy stats in high school. And the Jazz
the last two seasons have been desperate for him to seize the opportunity to
add some young legs into that rotation. He just hasn't done it.

I hope Kedrick suddenly explodes, but he in no way should be compared to the
McGradys and Kobes of the world.

Mark 

Cecil wrote:

I have seen those "flashes" and also wish I could see them more regularly.
You would have found the same thing in McGrady during the first half of year
2 for him and he wasn't as injured as Kedrick has been.