Re: Re[2]: why trade Battie?

[Josh Ozersky <josh_ozersky@yahoo.com>]

I disagree.  Battie was the number four pick in the
country for a reason.  How many guys do you know that
are legitimate shot blockers, and are as fast as Tony,
and have a decent jump shot?  Marcus Camby comes to
mind (#2) and a handful of others.  Battie can fulfill
the shot blocker role from power forward, which
creates a lot of matchup problems.  And he can score
-- and play in "the system."  You don't let guys like
that get away for projects.  At worst he could fulfill
a John Salley role for us off the bench.


--- Mark Berry  wrote:
> I think we've all seen lately that this team needs
> some offense off the bench. 
> Pitino has gotten as much as he can out of the group
> by disguising their 
> weaknesses with full-court pressure that leads to
> easy baskets. But teams are 
> figuring that out. The Celts need some legitimate
> players off the bench, and 
> Rogers, although no all-star, certainly is capable
> of being an effective 
> offensive player and rebounder off the bench.
> 
> Battie is a nice role player, but the point about
> his contract status is right 
> on. He's not worth locking up to a long-term deal,
> unless it's for peanuts.
> 
> Also, I don't think Rogers would be the only
> addition to this team. I expect a 
> major trade involving Mercer for either a
> front-court starter or a point guard 
> (with Anderson also on the move).
> 
> I just think we all have a tendency to fall in love
> with Celtic players without 
> enough reason. Battie and Bowen have had their
> moments, but honestly, are they 
> so indispensible that we're ready to crucify Pitino
> for dealing them? I mean, 
> everyone wants changes, but no one wants to give up
> anything. First, we cried 
> that we shouldn't give up Walker, Pierce or Mercer,
> but when we trade Declercq 
> and a draft pick for a young starting center, people
> still complained. Now, when 
> talk of a trade involving two marginal bench players
> comes up, we cry some more.
> 
> Look, we can forget the Joe Barry Carroll for
> Parish/McHale days. If we're going 
> to improve, it's going to be a slow process that
> will involve sacrificing some 
> players to acquire other players. Until this team at
> least reaches the playoffs, 
> let's not get too attached to the players we have.
> 
> And don't forget, we're forced to trade to improve
> because M.L. saddled us with 
> Pervis, Dana and Minor at outrageous long-term
> prices. Plus, Pitino's plan was 
> slowed when Larry Brown got cold feet on the Radja
> trade (the physical thing was 
> an excuse to back out). And when he did, it made
> Dino untradeable. Don't forget 
> these things, because it's all relevant to the moves
> we're going to see in the 
> next couple of seasons.
> 
> I'm not as pessimistic as some on the list have
> become. I think the team is just 
> a few moves away from a playoff berth and a few
> years from really contending. 
> But don't pretend it's going to happen with the
> current roster. 
> 
> Mark
> 
> 
>
_______________________________________________________________________________
> 
> 
> Subject: Re: why trade Battie? 
> 
> 
> From:    Alex Wang <awang@mit.edu> at Internet
> 
> 
> Date:    4/6/99  2:08 PM
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> > I can't imagine why Pitino would trade Battie and
> > Bowen, and I'm still not sure this really
> happened. 
> > Battie is a much more skillful version of walter,
> with
> > much much better shot blocking ability.  I really
> like
> > him at 4 a lot, and I think we could move him into
> the
> > starting lineup, move Ron into a 6th role, and be
> in
> > business.  Throwing in our best defender is even
> > sillier.  For a guy who nobody wants anyway?  I
> don't
> > get it at all.
> 
> I think the main reason is because Battie is a
> salary cap
> nightmare in the making. Seriously, he is just good
> enough
> to demand some sort of hefty contract but doesn't
> really 
> fit in the Celtics starting lineup plans for the
> future.
> Rogers on the other hand is someone that no one
> wants, as
> you say, and would have to re-sign for cheap (if the
> Celtics
> like him). Rogers is also the age that Pitino is
> looking for.
> 
> The other option would be to renounce him and try to
> use the
> salary cap space to play in the free agent market.
> To actually
> get below the cap would require more moves though.
> 
> Bowen is not really a big loss but he could always
> be resigned
> after this season using an exception. But if Pitino
> is going
> to move Walker to 3 and Pierce to 2, there isn't
> much playing
> time for Bowen. If Pitino wants to try the
> free-agent market,
> Bowen will be renounced (and probably signed to the
> minimum 
> after the deals are done). 
>  
> > btw, how about some props for this 12 page article
> I
> > wrote?  Where's all the love?
>  
> It was definitely very entertaining.
> 
> Alex
> 
> 

_________________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com