re: Billups

[wayray@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]

> Regarding Papile's responsibility for selecting Chauncey Billups, Ray
> wrote:
> 
> <<[Billups] was the 3rd pick in the draft. It's not that hard to come up
> with a decent player, if you have the 3rd choice, and compared to other
> Number 3 Picks, Billups ain't so hot.>>
> 
> Sure, it would've been great to get a Carmelo Anthony, or a Pau Gasol, or
> a Baron Davis, or a Shareef Abdur-Rahim, or a Maravich.  Or maybe that
> Jordan guy.  But that's completely irrelevant.  The comparison isn't to
> other #3 picks, it's to the other players who were available in the 1997
> draft.  We all know who the best player in that draft was.  Clearly,
> McGrady was #2, and in retrospect picking either Billups or Mercer over
> him was a mistake --

A mistake?  It's extremely damming. Two lottery picks and the great talent evaluating 
duo of Papile And Wallace weren't smart enough to secure a Franchise Player.  



 though it's not as though the team that drafted McGrady got much use out of him before he bolted for warmer climes.  
> 
> Who turned out to be the third best player in the '97 draft, Ray? 

Was Manu Ginobilli in that draft? If so, he qualifies. If not, I'll have to take a peek.
Van Horn seems equivalent to Billups - both solid not great players. 


 Would
> you say Van Horn is better than Billups?  Bobby Jackson? 

Jackson is about at the same level.

 Mark Blount
> (#55)?  Ben Pepper?
> 
> The Cs just picked the wrong year to suck if they weren't going to get the
> #1 pick, that's all.  Well, that's not all.  Pitino gave up on Billups way
> too fast (much in the way that some of our list members are giving up on
> Banks too fast).  Point guards take time.  Even if you want to argue that
> Chauncey still isn't really a point guard, I'd still swap him for Chucky
> Atkins -- OR FOR KENNY ANDERSON -- any day.

That's easy to say now.  And while Chauncey is better than what the Celtics currently
have, he is not at the same level as Kidd or  Marbury or Iverson or Davis. You can 
make a case that TJ Ford is a more effective PG than Billups.
Ray


> Michael Gooen
> 
> 
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