Gomes To Play the 4

[Eggcentric at aol.com]

< The idea that Gomes gets confused or has any trouble playing 
the three is in Doc's mind only. He used it as an excuse for not 
playing him last year. There is no doubt in my mind that it should 
be his natural position and they had him slimming down to get 
quicker and work on his face up jumper over the summer, obviously 
to that end and now they tell him he's going back to the four? 
Ridiculous! > - JB

I don't see it as being quite that ridiculous.   As I mentioned before, 
with only three decent BIGS on our roster and a plethora of small 
forwards, Doc has to play Gomes at PF. 

Despite the fact that the BT (and many fans as well) feels he won't 
be able to compete on a consistent basis with many of the
league's bigger, burlier, more classic power forwards, Gomes 
has eaten his competition's lunch in practices.   He has better post 
moves, better positioning, a better mid-range jumper, a much 
higher Bball IQ, more energy, and superior defense to Jefferson.

As for Ryan's natural position being a SF, he couldn't distance 
himself from Reed and Scalabrine last year at SF and basically 
only blossomed when he began to get minutes at PF.   The only 
thing SF about Gomes is his size, not his abilities. He is what 
he is - an undersized PF with appealing smarts and heart.   
I like him very much.

< Wally should be sixth man and Ratliff the big off the bench. > 
-JB

D&D firmly believe Pierce has to have a second prolific scorer 
on the floor to make the offense click. They're right,   and Wally 
seemed a much better fit with Pierce than Ricky Davis.   

< Also Telfair, Perkins and Jefferson need the comfort of starting, 
not thinking they have limited minutes to make something happen. > 
- JB

Telfair's "personality" is already beginning to wear thin.   Whether 
Perkins starts or not he understands he'll get equal if not more 
minutes than Theo.   And it's time to stop massaging Jefferson's 
psyche ... he who had either chips or spurs removed from his 
ankle depending on which day he's interviewed.   Has the team 
formally acknowledged it was either??? 

<Jefferson, Perkins, Gomes, Pierce and Telfair would be my five. 
These are the most complete players and size up best at their 
respective positions. >   -   JB

Complete players?   Jefferson has offense but no defense; Perkins 
has defense but no offense; Telfair has speed, but he can’t shoot 
and has zilch defense.   And ask the folks in Portland if they felt 
he was a pass-first PG. 

Egg