Re: Celtics take chance on three 7-footers

[Anthony Pinto <bagaco@worldnet.att.net>]

At 01:47 AM 7/8/97 +0000, you wrote:
>Celtics take chance on three 7-footers
>
>                  Associated Press, 07/07/97 21:17
>
>                  WALTHAM, Mass. (AP) - There isn't much basketball to
>speak of on
>                  Dominica, a tiny island in the West Indies, but Garth
>Joseph's friends
>                  understood enough about it to know it was the sport
>for him.
>
>                  The Boston Celtics saw three 7-footers who weren't
>selected in last month's
>                  NBA draft and reached the same conclusion.
>
>                  ``When you take those gambles in the second round,''
>Boston chief scout Leo
>                  Papile said Monday, ``I'm going to gamble on the
>giant.''
>
>                  Or, in the Celtics' case, giants.
>
>                  Not only did they use their second-round pick on
>7-foot Australian Ben
>                  Pepper, but they also filled their free-agent camp
>roster with the 7-2 Joseph,
>                  7-0 Donald Hodge of Temple, 7-1 Lorenzo Coleman of
>Tennessee Tech and
>                  7-3 Keith Closs from Central Connecticut State.
>
>                  ``With big kids, it's an inexact science. But it's not
>a question of `if,' it's a
>                  question of `when,''' Papile said. ``Sometimes for NBA
>teams, the `when' is too
>                  late. They don't have time to wait.''
>
>                  Enter the Celtics.
>
>                  In the midst of rebuilding after the worst season in
>franchise history - one in
>                  which Boston was forced at times to use 6-9 small
>forward Antoine Walker at
>                  center - the Celtics are trying to get big.
>
>                  They signed 7-0 free-agent Travis Knight on Monday
>after freeing up salary
>                  cap space. But Papile saw that few teams around the
>league have much depth
>                  at center and suggested the Celtics stockpile big men.
>
>                  Pepper isn't expected to help out this year, nor are
>Hodge and Closs. But
>                  Papile expects Coleman and Joseph to be on the roster
>when the season starts
>                  - even predicting that Joseph has a 15-year NBA career
>ahead of him.
>
>                  ``Leo, I think, knows what he's talking about,''
>Joseph said with a huge smile.
>                  ``I don't want to prove him wrong.''
>
>                  Either way, Joseph's is an intriguing story.
>
>                  He first picked up a basketball in 1991, succumbing to
>``peer pressure'' from
>                  friends who sized him up and figured the NBA would
>always have room for a
>                  giant. There was only one basketball court in Dominica
>then, he said, but
>                  nobody his own size to measure his talents against.
>
>                  ``I'm the biggest guy in my country,'' he said.
>
>                  Joseph was discovered there by College of Saint Rose
>coach Brian Beaury,
>                  who had no picture of Joseph to support his reports,
>so he faxed back a
>                  handprint that spilled over an 11-by-17 inch sheet of
>paper.
>
>                  Joseph went on to lead the Division II school in
>Albany, N.Y., to three straight
>                  New York Collegiate Athletic Conference titles. In
>three seasons, he became
>                  the school's leading career rebounder with 1,072 and
>blocked shots with 300
>                  while helping Saint Rose to an 82-11 record.
>
>                  A stress fracture in his right ankle will keep him on
>the sidelines for another
>                  month, an injury that could have scuttled the chances
>of a shorter undrafted
>                  free agent. But Papile expects him to be healthy - and
>contributing - by
>                  November.
>
>                  ``They've seen me,'' Joseph said. ``They know what to
>expect.''
>
>
>

I say if these three guys do well during the camps that the Celtics should
sign them for the league minninum. Because It would help out the team and
give us a little more leverage. But I think that Rick has to trade or sign a
FA PF because at the position we really have nothing. What do you guys
think?-Tony








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