Re:Geiger

[krai@gis.net]

>Sources close to the Celtics say that the team will offer Matt Geiger
>$7 million a year to leave Charlotte.

I think this would be completely insane.  Geiger's just a tougher, stronger
(who  isn't?) version of Travis Knight. He's nothing that DeClercq couldn't
develop into in the next couple of years (OK, so Andrew is a bit shorter).
What truly bugs me about Pitino's GM-ing is that he will shower bucketloads
of Gaston's money on a glorified stiff like Geiger, and a wimp like Boy
Travis, but won't shell out a couple of mil to keep proven veteran, team
players like Rick Fox and Marty Conlon around. (Amazingly, ThanksDad thinks
himself one of the few fiscally responsible owners in the NBA!) Now, what
is Boy Travis accomplishing that Marty Conlon couldn't for a tenth of
Knight's salary? And how much more than DeClercq would Geiger accomplish,
while being paid 6 times Andrew's salary? Would he be the player that would
enable us to win it all? I don't think so. But, if the rumour is accurate,
he would certainly be the guy that'll prevent us from signing an FA that
would be a real solution to the problem, not a slightly bigger band-aid
like Geiger.
Moreover, the dogged pursuit of Matt Russell... er,  Geiger probably would
result in another house-cleaning in which potentially very useful and
inexpensive players like Popeye and Andrew could get dumped. Signing a
cheaper, younger, much more athletic Theo Ratliff, and keeping  Popeye
around would just make too much sense, I'm afraid. Theo is not a complete
solution either, but nonetheless would be a significant improvement over
what the Celts have now, at a lower asking price. Stewart would be another
good option. If the C's can't get someone like these two this summer, they
should just hang on to the cap space until they can snatch a true impact
big man.
What's interesting to me is what will become of the 22-million-dollar boy
Travis. I take it he's not going to become the next Chamberlain or even the
next Will Perdue after all, or else why would we be so desperate for  a
PF/C?  So, will Pitino attempt a repeat of the Eric Williams trade to
correct yet another of his many errors? Only this time, we'd be happy to
come away with nothing, but who's gonna be foolish enough to take him off
our hands without dumping some long-term salary cap filler of their own? I
just hope not to hear any more of the insulting BS about Travis's "huge
upside", how he's gonna lift weights this summer and push 'Zo and Shaq
around next season.  (Remember Heinsohn's famous line: "It's not about how
Travis Knight will deal with Shaq, it's how Shaq will deal with Travis
Knight!"?) The kid will never, ever become a player, no matter how much
weight he lifts, 'cause he has no guts.  That should be obvious even to
Pitino by now.

K. Kveraga