RE: Me and Paul... Stockton and Malone, Blanchard and Davis

[Kestutis.Kveraga@xxxxxxxxxxxxx (Kestutis Kveraga)]

--- You wrote:
I have been reading all the "trade-Toine" posts with interest, hoping that no
representatives from other teams are on this list cuz he wouldn't fetch a used
towel according to some of you.  Unless a real upgrade is possible through a
trade, and I do NOT consider Shareef an upgrade, the devil you know may be the
best option.  
--- end of quote ---

If you've been reading it, Cecil, you should know that it's not because of his
skills, which are considerable, but because of his absolution of the PF
responsibilities and the far more insidious damage to the makeup and strategy
of our team.
And why is Shareef not an upgrade? 

--- You wrote:
We lost to a better team in double OT without Walker and Battie.  We played
them tough in their building as well.  I thought our real weakness, especially
early on in the series, was that our defensive rotation was so painfully slow
in leaving their shooters open for good looks at the basket.  When the defense
tightened up, the results were much better for us.

You've given up on Toine.  Paul shoots 7/24 and you still haven't given up on
him yet?
--- end of quote ---

Please, Cecil. I know you're far smarter than this, so why do you say things
like that? You know perfectly well (and if you don't, you can look it up on any
NBA stats site) that a 7/24 night is out of the norm for Paul, but not a very
unusual occurrence at all for Toine. Do we need to go over this again?

--- You wrote:
Would anyone trade Paul for Kobe straight up?
--- end of quote ---

Are you kidding? Kobe is merely the best player in the NBA (though not the most
important one). The only problem with him - if you believe Phil Jacko's
mouthpiece Charley Rosen -  is that he has his own agenda, much like Toine, but
with worlds more talent,  with a burning desire to win championships and be the
best ever. Toine's most overwhelming desire, so far as I can tell, is to get
some of that yummy Harold's Fried Chicken every day.  Pierce is a lot closer to
Kobe, only not as good. 

Kestas