Re: Billups

["MICHAEL ZAINO" <mz3096@student.law.duke.edu>]

> From:          DMercon@aol.com

> First of all I'm not necessarily an RP fan.  I think he is being given way
> too much credit for some past mediocre success with the Knicks.  I'm not
> against Rick either, as a Celtics I hope they win the title every year I'm
> alive.
> 
> On Billups I would be concerned as hell at this point if Rick doesn't have an
> excellent idea of Billups chances of being our PG of the future.  He has much
> more than a week to look at this guy.  He has seen many tapes of him playing
> in college, has had him at several camps, has had him for training
> camp/preason, and now the first several games of the season.  If Rick doesn't
> know what his potential is by now we should fire him and keep Billups. 


What!?! You can't be entirely serious? First let me say, although I 
repeatedly said that we are giving Pitino too much credit and leeway, 
I do think he will do a good job. Second, sometimes, it is difficult 
to determine how well someone will or exactly what their potential 
is. In addition to a players "potential" you have to consider how a 
player reacts to a coach, the team and the system. All of these 
factors make it difficult to determine the true value of a player, or 
what you call potential. There is one more factor to consider; 
inconsistency. A player does great one night and lousy the next. Is 
he inconsistent or just learning? Or was he just lucky? Or is it 
the case that he is only valuable when the matchup favors him? Is it 
an attitude problem? Or just a stamina problem? There are lots of 
questions to be asked and many of them are not easy to answer. The 
bottom line is that sometimes it takes more time to determine the 
exact potential of a player and a coach for that matter. But that is 
another discussion for another thread.