Re: Billups

[Michael Gooen <callmebogie@xxxxxxxxx>]

I wrote:  
<<McGrady was #2, and in retrospect picking either Billups or Mercer 
over him was a mistake -->>

<<A mistake?  It's extremely damming.>>

damming?  In that it stopped up the team?  or is that supposed to be
"damning"?

<<Two lottery picks and the great talent evaluating duo of Papile And
Wallace weren't smart enough to secure a Franchise Player.>>

Papile and Wallace have made plenty of mistakes, but picking Mercer over
McGrady was hardly an obvious mistake at the time.  The point is that
there were only two franchise players in that draft -- one of whom went
#1, the other of whom was a high school kid who didn't become a franchise
player until he left his original team without compensation.
  
<<Was Manu Ginobilli in that draft? If so, he qualifies.>>

Ginobili qualifies as a HUGE Papile/Wallace mistake since he was drafted
two picks after the immortal Kris Clack in 1999.  But he doesn't qualify
as a better player than Chauncey Billups.

<<Van Horn seems equivalent to Billups - both solid not great players.>>

I'll trade you Van Horn for Billups straight up any day of the week. 

<<Bobby Jackson?>> 
<<Jackson is about at the same level.>>

You cannot be serious. In what respect is Jackson at the same level as
Billups?  Billups is bigger, stronger, and more productive than Jackson --
not to mention less injury prone and younger.

<<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.>>

No one is saying he is.  None of those guys were available at #3 in the
1997 draft.

<<You can make a case that TJ Ford is a more effective PG than Billups.>>

One could make that case, if one judges them based on "pure PG" skills and
disregards things like shooting and defense.  Billups is a much better
overall basketball player who is a deadly offensive weapon, an excellent
on-the-ball defender and one of the best FT shooters in the NBA.

My point remains that Billups WAS the 3rd best player in the 1997 draft. 
If the Cs had drafted McGrady at #6 instead of Mercer (and managed to keep
him) and kept Billups, they couldn't possibly have done better in that
draft... the first round of it, anyway.  When _is_ Ben Pepper making his
Celtics debut?

Michael Gooen



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