Picking players for the next championship

["James A. Meninno" <JAMENINNO@BICS.BWH.HARVARD.EDU>]

Hi everyone,  I'm not going to address any post in particular, I just had a
couple of thoughts.
 
I feel a lot better about the Knicks game after seeing what they did on the
road in Pheonix.  NY is one of the strongest teams in the league right now.
 
When watching the games I try to pick out the players I like, not pick at
faults, that's too easy.  I look at it in terms of "Who will be here for the
next championship"?  Right now it's Mercer and Walker for me.  I hope Billups
develops well and I think Knight is very useful in a league where dominant
centers are very rare indeed.
 
I also try to decide what they need to add.  You have all said in one way or
another what I think.  We need a point guard (hopefully it will be Billups,
with time) and a post player (both offense and defense).  You might be able to
get the post player in the draft (hopefully in our next and last trip to the
lottery).  You can not, however, draft another point guard and keep Billups.
So, in my mind, it's either draft Raef LaFrentz or trade the pick and some
players for a good PF.
 
I love Pitino's philosophy of getting rid of players who are OK, but not the
type to get you a championship.  Wessley, Fox, Williams, all solid NBA talent,
but can you imagine them bringing a title here?  I can't.  If we add two more
pieces to the championsip puzzle this year, on top of the only one we already
had, Walker, that will be a success.  Come to think of it, this is sounding a
lot like Pitino's three All-Star theory.
 
One final thought. Pitino was complaining about the early season schedule and
he is right! Pheonix, for example, do no play on consecutive nights until 11/28
and 11/29.  By then the Celts will do it FIVE TIMES!
 
Looking forward to any comments,
Jim