Re: Travis Knight

[Adam A Suchocki <Twilight@world.std.com>]

I expressed concern over Pitino a few days ago, and  now I am really
worried.  The team is currently being run by two individuals with no
experience managing NBAAA players contracts or dealing with the salary
cap, and the moves are starting to show questionable judgement in reguards
to the long term future of the team.....the willingness to trade away all
the young talent for Pippen, the willingness to sign marginal talent for
long term contracts, and the getting nothing for something management of
Wesley,    Radja, and possible Fox are troubling.  If ML Carr had made
this combination of moves, most people would be calling for his execution.

I saw Chris Wallace last night on New England Cable News.  He did a half
hour interview...some of his comments were interesting...he mentioned that
one of the motivations behind Pitino's actions was to allow him to start
from scratch with players, so they would all be his choices on the
team...now it is good to have all the players on the same page asss the
coach, but the way this was said implied that it was important that the
players were brought in by Pitino, if even if the existing players fit the
system, so that there would be no trace of the previous management.

He also mentioned that hhe did not expect an immediate solution to the
Radja problem, but did say that he though it would be cleared up within a
month or so...he was very positive about Dino as a player and a person,
and layed most of the trouble at Philly's feet - saying he believed every
NBA player could either pass or fail a physical depending on how the team
administering it wanted to interpret the results...Dino does have physical
problems, and he implied the team was aware there were problems, but did
not think they were as serious as Philly says (though he says they are
re-evaluating the situation).

He stressed that the team hhas high hopes (but noe real expectations) on
Pervis, and listed him being able to play as possible the biggessst thing
that could turn around next season quickly.  He compared having a healthy
Pervis to being equivalent to having an additional lottery pick....again,
sounds like more ML moves....

He wouldn't comment on the free agent market, other than saying they were
interested in Fox, but were not going to be agressive about signing him.
One caller asked if the team was trying to trade for Kemp, and Wallace
responded he couldn't comment at this time.

He talked a little about Ben Pepper.  Neither Wallace or Pitino has ever
seen him play in person, and that they really were  just going on a tip.
That being said, they were very excited about his athletic potential after
watching him on tapes.  He wouldn't give a time table for bringing Pepper
in, but several things implied Pepper was at least two years from even
coming to try out from the team.  First, he compared Pepper's experience
to being equivalent to two years of NCAA basketball, and said he needed
more time at that level to complete the experience.  Second, he described
how changes in the Australian season will result in Pepper playing during
this off season and next regular season in Australia.

As to player locations....
Dee Brown is working out in his home in Orlando, Pervis has not yet agreed
to come to Boston during the summer either.  Greg Minor, David Wesley,
Rick Fox, and Dana Barros are here for the summer.  It is kind of funny
how Dino was knocked for not being aggreable to spending the entire summer
in Boston, while players like Dee Brown and Pervis are not here, yet are
supposedly going to play a big role in the team, while the players who
were willing to meet Pitino's summer work schedule have either been let
go, or are actively on the   trading blocks.  Consistency is lacking.

Now despite all my negative thoughts, I still think Pitino is a hell of a
coach, and  I can't wait to see what he does once he gets to work with all
the players.  I just wish there was someone with some experience shaping
player personel decisions, as I feel we are getting less talent and salary
cap space than we could if another was at the helm.  Moves seem to be
more towards winning quickly than towards developing the best team, and
that is worrisome.  I hope Pitino is a good enough coach to take players
like Knight and turn them into NBA starting material, because right now we
seem to have a center with some use on the floor, but whose contrat makes
him a negative (like McIvaine and Ervin Johnson).

Hopefully after watching the players go at it at rookie free agent camp
will renew my hope, because the trade/free agent   moves are starting to
sour me on the celtic brain trust....I need to see the coaching and
motivational techniques in action to restore some of Pitino's luster.

Adam


On Sat, 5 Jul 1997, Bill Cooper wrote:

> On Sat, 5 Jul 1997 08:49:06 -0700, you wrote:
> 
> >WEEI is reporting that LA times is reporting that Travis Knight has been
> >offered a 7 year 22 mill deal which he will accept on monday. Following is
> >the breakup of how his this signing will impact the salary cap:
> >Year 1 - 1.96	
> >Year 2 - 2.36	
> >Year 3 - 2.75	
> >Year 4 - 3.14	
> >Year 5 - 3.54	
> >Year 6 - 3.93	
> >Year 7 - 4.32	
> >
> >I am happy with the signing but belive that RP paid about 7 mill extra.
> >What do you all think.
> >                                                            - Mishra
> >
> >Don't fight with a crocodile in water..Change the game.
> >
> 
> Greetings,
> 	I don't know.  You put this together with the Pippen deal and
> you have to wonder  what's going on with management (with the
> important caveat that the option may make a lot of difference).  The
> way to use your cap space is to gather it all into one season, not
> fritter it away on players like Travis Knight.  Just remember why, in
> a couple of years when the Celts are trying to sign Vin Baker, and
> need an extra million or so to sweeten the deal. they won't have the
> money.
> 	I don't think that the Celts have renounced Day yet (or
> Brickowski) and I would certainly hope that they make a move with them
> before they give up on resigning Fox (though I don't understand the
> teams long term plan (if there is one) well enough to tell if that
> makes sense).
> 	As far as Travis goes, I think he was succesful with the
> Lakers last year because of all the attention that Shaq got.  His role
> with the Lakers was similar to the one he played at UConn (where he
> was the 3 or 4th banana on the team).  He is very used to playing off
> the ball, and then diving into the lane for offensive rebounds.  When
> Shaq was hurt last year and Travis went into the starting lineup he
> was noticeably less effective (and Rooks actually nosed him out of
> much of playing time, before Shaq came back).  On the plus side, he is
> quite mobile for a big man and has a pretty decent jumper.  And the
> move is probably going to be very popular down here is Husky country,
> where traditional support for the Celts has been waning a bit.
> 
> Bill Cooper
> wfcooper@tiac.com
>