RE: offseason thoughts

["Sampath, Venkatesh" <Venkatesh.Sampath@microcell.ca>]

That's something which puzzles me too, quite a bit - why the @#$%^&*()
do we still have to pay Radja? Wasn't his contract bought out? 

I don't see the point in trading Walker, Anderson or Mercer. These are
the players we hope will eventually lead the Celtics to the 17th. title
- I guess calls for their trade stem from the modern-day impatience of
trying to win a championship overnight. 

How far is Rick Pitino's statement that we don't need a defensive
player, valid? One of the glaring Celtics' weaknesses is total lack of
inside presence to stop people driving to the hoop or getting easy
points in the paint. Somebody (I think it was Alex Wang) referred to
Ostertag and Pippen as an example of requiring an offensive-minded
centre - Ostertag being unable to score easily from the inside. But
Ostertag's role is defence - the Jazz have Malone, Russell, Stockton and
Hornacek to shoot from the outside. Of course, they didn't get the job
done on Sunday night, their outside shooting ('cept for Malone
initially) was horrible. However, Ostertag *started* that game with the
express intent of blocking Chicago's inside shots and preventing them
from getting an explosive start. In my opinion he did that pretty well -
blocking a couple of easy lay-ups. That the Jazz's offense fell apart
later on is another story. I still maintain that we need a strong,
defensive presence inside.  

Here's looking forward to a Jazz victory tonight.  

venkat
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