RE: Stay patient with Kedrick

[Kestutis.Kveraga@xxxxxxxxxxxxx (Kestutis Kveraga)]

--- You 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.  
--- end of quote ---

Please, Cecil. McGrady was averaging nearly 10 pts. and 6 rebs., plus over 2
assists, a steal and a block per game, while shooting 44% in his second year.
His rookie year wasn't far off his second year. I remember arguing with you
about Billups's struggles at the point back then and your contention that he
just needs more time to mature and learn the position, just look how McGrady is
struggling etc. etc. Bringing up McGrady as an example didn't work even then
(and that's against Billups, who was doing relatively well in the non-PG facets
of the game), and it certainly doesn't work now. I challenge you to find a
single star-quality player in the NBA who had shown less in his first 2 years
than Kedrick. As it turns out, Billups became what I claimed he was  - a decent
guard who can defend and score a bit, but not a real PG. As it is, he's
averaging fewer assists than McGrady. 
I certainly hope that Kedrick has a breakout similar to Bremer (such as it is),
but I'm not holding my breath at this point. Note that we're hoping that he
matches the production (3 games-long) of an unheralded, undrafted PG who isn't
exactly setting the league on fire either, just showing some signs of life.
That our expectations for KB are so low should very telling in and of itself.
He may become a decent defensive player who can rebound a little based on his
athleticism, sort of a poor man's Stacy Augmon. Even that may be a lofty goal,
because Augmon started all 82 games and averaged 13, 5, and 2 his rookie year.   
Kestas