Re: the state of the rivalry

[Warwick Janetzki <giants@icplus.net.au>]

> It is the rare player, who comes into the NBA and is spectacular from day one.
> Let's see, has MJ ever had a bad game? No, I am not comparing Chauncey to
> Jordan, merely that every player has bad games. And with regards to Edney and
> Bowen being able to pick up Pitino's system, they also have experience playing
> at the professional level, whereas Chauncey has a little more than a month
> playing in the NBA. Edney has played for a couple of years now? and Bowen played
> internationally and in the CBA.
> 
> Where would we be in the standings if we had drafted a different pg this year.
> Ok, so we draft Brevin Knight, this would give us automatically more wins? I
> think not. The only player who would have helped us win more games from this
> year's draft is wearing #21 at San Antonio. Great Bobby Jackson has looked good
> in Denver, and how many wins do they have? HMMM. Our team in general is young
> and they have plenty to learn, I think that it is unrealistic to compare
> ourselves to the Lakers as they have been rebuilding and retooling their team
> for a few years now, and let's see we started in June? Pardon the sarcasm, but
> your expectations are unrealistic at this point.
> 
> What do other people think?
> 
> Don

I agree totally.

You're incredibly right in the Lakers length of rebuilding. 
6 of their key 7 players were all there last season or before

Los Angelese Lakers             Boston Celtics

Shaq- start of last season      Knight- this season
Horry- mid-season trade         Walker- last season
Jones- 94-95                    McCarty- this season
Van Exel- 93-94                 Mercer- this season
Bryant- start of last season    Billups- this season
Campbell- 91-92???              Edney- this season
Fox- this season                Bowen (when healthy)- this season
                                 
Thats just the top 7 for each team.

I think that Chauncey WILL be able to run this system effectively
starting from January. Give the guy a couple of months and if he hasn't
shown signs since then trade him. 

Not every rookie point guard comes into the league having to learn the
hardest style possible and also learning the ropes of the NBA. I read an
article on Stephon Marbury yesterday where it said that he never felt
that he was playing good hoops until January although he showed some
signs, nice scoring and assists games on occassion early on. 

I think Chauncey has already had a few nice scoring and assists games.
Also compare the amount of minutes that Marbury and Billups played in
their first month of their NBA careers and I'm pretty sure that you'll
find it to be about even.

Also, Stephon Marbury had a great point guard to teach him the way to go
in the league and their system in Terry Porter. 

Steph has had a lot of advantages over Chauncey which is evident now. 

If you want to know why Iverson was soooo spectacular last season is
that he had a coach that wanted him to do everything like he had done in
college. He did exactly what he wanted and it took other players out of
the team (ie. Jerry Stackhouse). Now that Iverson seems to be under
control he is passing it a lot more.

Give the kid a fair chance and he will be DA TOP BILLING!!! 

Warwick