Delonte

[Ryan W]

--- Eggcentric at aol.com wrote:

> Damn!   He's no Steve Nash,

And he's no Steve Kerr, either.

>  but he's our most
> passionate and 
> courageous "old school" player.
> He also possesses a
> decent 
> bball IQ, a quality that is in short supply on this
> pitiful team
> of street-ballers.     
> 
> But I am beginning to wonder if Delonte's brittle
> body and style 
> of play will be able to withstand the rigors of the
> NBA.

Delonte plays with a lot of misplaced hustle, the kind
that warms the cockles of certain unperceptive head
coaches.  No one can predict the future, but it
wouldn't hurt if he toned it down a bit or buffed up.

> 
> He tweaked his back again last night, limiting his
> minutes.   
> And he will likely continue to tweak it until he
> takes a month off.   
> Doc won't force him to do so because Delonte is one
> of the few
> guys Doc and his staff can count on to represent
> their teachings 
> (whatever they may be) on the court.   If it weren't
> for these few 
> players, Doc might just as well be a vastly overpaid
> SPECIAL NEEDS 
> teacher at Orlando High School rather than an NBA
> head coach. 
> And the sad thing is, it didn’t have to be this
> way.    Had only
> Danny and Doc Brain considered their twelve
> draftee's heads 
> along with their hops.


Here's a question I'd love to hear you're answer to:
can basketball IQ be improved by coaching?  If it can,
isn't that a big part of coaching.  And if it is, is
Doc Rivers the coach to do it?  

> 
> So WHY won't Delonte take the time to heal properly?
> Because he
> is fighting for his NBA life this season, fighting
> to regain the PG 
> crown which he unfairly lost due to our owners and
> El Jefe’s quest 
> to save one year of Raef’s salary.  
> 
> From the moment the draft day trade was sealed, it
> was understood 
> that Telfair would be the chosen one at PG no matter
> how good or 
> bad he looked in practice, training camp,   or
> exhibition games. 
> Yet Doc was not then, nor is he now, a big fan of
> Sebastian Telfair.   
> And even though the PR hype at the time was that
> Ratliff and
> LaFrentz were merely last minute toss-ins to the #7
> for Telfair 
> deal, you have to wonder just how much of a Telfair
> fan Danny 
> would have been had Ratliff/LaFrentz not been
> included in the deal. 
> 
> As for Delonte, the time is now.   A full rehab or a
> season which
> continues to see him struggle?
> 
> Egg

Poor Delonte, injury-prone and subject to the unfair
lose of his job.  But lost in equality discussion is
the quality discussion; that is, he lost his job not
because it was handed to Telfair but because Delonte
is not a good point guard, nor does he have the skill
to become one.  That's why the deal was made, that's
why Rondo was drafted, and that's why the front office
wanted Telfair played, because they'd like a real
point guard.  The next thing the front office should
be deciding is whether Doc Rivers is a capable coach. 
Until then, all player discussion, to me, the tainted
by the indelible inklings of our coach.

Ryan

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