Another Globe article

[bocelts@scsn.net (R. Bentz Kirby)]

A lack of straight shooters 

                  Plenty of dodgers around this draft

                  By Michael Holley, Globe Staff, 06/25/97 

                  CHARLOTTE, N.C. - When midnight approaches, the real
voices will return
                  to the NBA. Don't listen for them now. There are still
too many active
                  strategies, secret plans, and complicated trade
possibilities for some NBA type
                  to speak from his heart. 

                  So what we have now is the clash between sport and
rhetoric. You got a
                  question? Go ahead. Ask it. Just make sure you are
equipped with a device
                  that instantly removes fiction from conversations. 

                  It is Draft Day, folks. Sorry, no more truthful
conversations. That's the way
                  things work in this business at the end of June.
Yesterday, an image of The
                  Last Truthful Man was beamed to a downtown hotel. The
man's name is
                  Gregg Popovich. He is general manager and coach of the
San Antonio Spurs.
                  His team has the first selection in tonight's draft at
Charlotte Coliseum.
                  Question for Mr. Popovich: Are you going to select the
best collegiate player,
                  6-foot-10-inch Tim Duncan, and pair him with one of
the league's best centers,
                  7-footer David Robinson? 

                  Answer: ``Yes.'' That's the truth. But that's all you
get. Every other comment,
                  from almost everyone you speak with, is shaky. Spend
enough time around
                  these people and you'll begin to think the most
harmless phrase - ``How are
                  you?'' - has been stripped of its innocence, simply to
divert you from the truth.
                  It will be that way tonight until at least the first
15 picks are in the books. In
                  the past few days, New Englanders have heard Celtics
coach and president
                  Rick Pitino say he wouldn't trade Antoine Walker for
anyone except Michael
                  Jordan. Perhaps that's true. But there has been talk
of Vin Baker being traded
                  to the Celtics, with the Bucks insisting on Walker as
part of the package.
                  Pitino also has gone against the secretive grain,
saying he wouldn't select the
                  University of Kentucky's Ron Mercer with the third
pick and that it is
                  ``unlikely'' that he will select Bowling Green point
guard Antonio Daniels in
                  that slot. He also made it more difficult to discover
his feelings by saying he
                  would strongly 

                  onsider Tracy McGrady and Tim Thomas with the sixth
pick. At the beginning
                  of the month in Chicago, Pitino said neither was in
his top seven. That's the
                  way everyone works in the draft. Never reveal what you
truly think. During
                  an afternoon discussion among Popovich, Pitino, Kevin
McHale, and Larry
                  Bird, Bird was asked how he would approach trade
discussions with McHale
                  and Pitino. ``I don't trust either one of 'em,'' the
new Pacers coach
                  deadpanned. He learns fast. You can't trust anyone at
draft time. Not even
                  the players who are not officially part of the Secret
NBA System. Keith Van
                  Horn, who could be taken third if the Celtics hold
onto their picks, was asked
                  if he would be disappointed to be selected by the
76ers. He said no. Never
                  mind that he refused to work out with the team because
he wasn't thrilled
                  about the possibility of wearing red, white, and blue.
It will be this way until
                  midnight. With coaches and GMs, most answers have
double meanings. With
                  players, chronic politeness is the predr

                  ft way. Most popular response yesterday: ``It doesn't
matter where I play, as
                  long as I get picked.'' Many of the speakers didn't
mean it. One man,
                  6-foot-6-inch Olivier Saint-Jean, insisted he did.
``You have to understand how
                  it was when I was growing up,'' the forward from
France said. ``In the United
                  States, people think going to the NBA is something
they can do. In France, it's
                  like a cartoon. When I first watched Michael Jordan's
`Come Fly With Me,' a
                  lot of my friends thought the floor was a trampoline.
We thought it was fake.
                  We didn't think a real person could jump like that.''
Saint-Jean probably will be
                  picked in the 12-16 range. He says he is just happy to
be part of a league that
                  he once viewed as an animated playground. Now he and
mostly everyone else
                  knows that the games are real. But, for most of this
summer day, the
                  conversations are not. 

                  This story ran on page F06 of the Boston Globe on
06/25/97. 
                  © Copyright 1997 Globe Newspaper Company. 
- -- 

Peace,

Bentz
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