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Draft News; Mercer
Picking Pitino's brain on Celtics' prospects
By Bob Ryan, Globe Columnist, 06/06/97
CHICAGO - Desperate young men eager to become members
of the World's
Greatest Basketball League assume that the movers and
shakers of the NBA
must be monitoring their every move as they knock each
other around on the
court here at Solheim Gymnasium on the campus of Moody
Bible Institute, but
it just isn't so.
What the kids at the Chicago pre-draft camp don't
realize is that a coach
always has time to talk.
Take Rick Pitino, for example. He's currently holding
draft picks No. 3, 6, and
55. ``And I don't even know if we'll keep 55,'' he
confides. It is not necessary
for him to be worrying about whether gargantuan Garth
Joseph (officially
checking in at 7 feet 2 inches and 313 pounds) can
handle Michael Andersen,
a k a The Greatest Player Ever To Come Out Of Denmark,
in the low post.
He's got Chris Wallace and Leo Papile to check up on
that matter.
``For me,'' says Pitino, ``this is valuable because
while I'm here, I can talk to
someone from every team in the league about possible
trades, about possible
exchange of draft picks, and about anything.''
With the possible exception of Pat Riley, who never
comes, everyone who's
anyone, and who is not involved in the NBA Finals, is
here. It is a phenomenal
candy store of coaches, general managers, and scouts,
with one Hall of Fame
legend chatting up another, even as a third Hall of
Fame legend is standing by
with his hand extended.
Thus far, nothing.
Pitino has talked and talked, and the only thing
resolved is that the Boston
Celtics will not be picking No. 1. San Antonio has Tim
Duncan on deck, and
the Spurs are going to keep him. Duncan is a perfect
insurance policy in case
David Robinson's back is really as bad as I've been
hearing. And if it isn't,
well, how does a Robinson-Duncan-Sean Elliott front
line sound? (It sounds
like 55-60 W's to me.)
So forget the Spurs, Rick says. They aren't budging.
The first round of the 1997 NBA draft has three tiers:
1. Tim Duncan. 2. Nos.
2-7. 3. Everybody else.
For the record, Nos. 2-7 consist of Tony Battie, Ron
Mercer, Keith Van Horn,
Chauncey Billups, Antonio Daniels, and Adonal Foyle.
Assuming the Celtics
keep both picks, their selections will be two of those
young men.
``I'm really pumped up, really excited,'' Pitino says.
``I am excited about the
draft. Yes, it's disappointing that we didn't get the
first pick, because Duncan
is the real deal. And yes, it's a weak draft overall.
But it's strong through 7,
and then the question marks start.''
Here are Pitino capsules on Nos. 2-7, in alphabetical
order:
2. Tony Battie, 6-11, Texas Tech. ``A power forward
and backup center who
will play center for a Philadelphia or a Boston.
Everyone wishes he would stay
in school, but here he is. He's going to need weight
training for about two
years, and will eventually be a very good player.''
3. Chauncey Billups, 6-3, Colorado. ``Chauncey Billups
took a Colorado team
that had very little else into the NCAA tournament out
of one of the two
toughest leagues in the country. People say he's not a
natural point guard, but
to me, he has all point guard skills. When he catches
the ball, he's in the
triple-threat position'' - shoot, pass, or drive. ``He
can get a team into an
offense and he has a good sense of the clock.''
4. Antonio Daniels, 6-4, Bowling Green. ``I know
Chauncey better because I
tried to recruit him, but I like Antonio. He's a
little bit bigger, and I like his
court vision. He did not have a great workout with us
because he had a
flareup of patella tendinitis.''
5. Adonal Foyle, 6-9, Colgate. ``I love Adonal Foyle
because he's such a great
kid, and I think he'll be very good in this league,
but he is not a center. He
blocked shots at Colgate, but he is not an NBA
shot-blocker. He will be a
good low-post scorer. He's got good hands. My question
with all these kids is
whether they are willing to work hard in the
offseason, and I think Adonal
will.''
6. Ron Mercer, 6-7, Kentucky. ``I've heard it
suggested we can't take Ron
Mercer because of some friction with Antoine Walker.
Let me say,
unequivocally, that is not true. I know Antoine very
well - he's like a son to me
- and he is capable of saying anything. He might have
said we don't need Ron
Mercer, because we need a big man. But there is no
problem with Ron
Mercer, because he doesn't have an ego. He needs more
of an ego. He will
be a fine 2-guard in the NBA. People say, `So why
don't you take him?' We
might, but it's not that simple.''
7. Keith Van Horn, 6-10, Utah. ``I've been in Boston
long enough to know
what people are thinking. So let me say right now he
is not Michael Smith, and
I don't mean any disrespect to Michael Smith. He's a
legit 6-10, he runs very
well, he jumps very well, and he shoots it very well.
He's not a great passer.
He weighs 232, and he'stronger than people think.''
Note the absence of two names. No Tracy McGrady (``Not
at 3 or 6, but if
we drop down ... '') and no Tim Thomas, although that,
theoretically, could be
subject to change. ``I recruited him, and he may be
the most skilled player in
the draft,'' says Pitino. ``He's got a body, he's got
a touch, and he could
become a great player. We haven't worked Thomas out
yet, and what I need
to determine is, does he really like the game of
basketball? Is he really
committed? It wouldn't surprise me if he hadn't
touched a ball from the end of
the season until people started working him out.'
Pitino reiterates that the plan over the next two
years is to start maneuvering
the salary cap in order to be in the free agent hunt
next summer. ``Antoine
Walker, if he works, has a chance to be an All-Star,''
says Pitino. ``Eric
Williams can get a lot better. One of our picks this
year could develop into an
All-Star-level player. Then if you get a quality free
agent next year, you've got
something.''
An immediate priority is to bestow that million-dollar
exception on someone.
As for Rick Fox, ``I told him he's the captain of the
Celtics, and that means
something,'' Pitino points out. ``He opted out of his
contract, so he's also a
businessman, which is fine. He's going to shop around,
and we'll see what
happens. I would love to have Rick Fox.''
Pitino expects trade and draft spot-swapping talk to
heat up as the weeks go
by. ``There is a great deal of romance attached to the
draft,'' he says. ``People
always want to do something in the end. This could be
a year when, five
minutes after someone is taken, you'll hear, `There is
a trade between ... '''
He says he wants the rest of the league to realize
that his players aren't ``sale
items at Filene's Basement. Everyone wants to make a
trade that benefits
them, not us,'' he laughs.
Oh, he's back, all right, and don't think everyone
doesn't know it. ``We were
flying down to Orlando in their private plane,'' says
new Magic assistant
Brendan Suhr, ``and out of nowhere, Chuck [Daly] says,
`How are we going
to get the ball in against Pitino?'''
For the past two years, it has been as if this were
British soccer and the
Celtics had been ``relegated'' to the Second Division.
That's over now. Rick
Pitino's here, and the Celtics are going to matter
once again.
Bob Ryan is a Globe columnist.
This story ran on page E01 of the Boston Globe on
06/06/97.
© Copyright 1997 Globe Newspaper Company.