Article from Providence Journal

["Josh Farber" <joshfarber@home.com>]

Sorry if someone posted this before!!!

Josh

>>>CELTICS
      Based on appearance, it's hard to get too
      excited about Celts

By MIKE SZOSTAK
Journal Sports Writer

The Celtics have given themselves a facelift, but don't go making any
playoff plans just yet.

Boston's new look features a career minor-leaguer, an undrafted rookie
and three players from Denver, one of the worst teams in the NBA.

For this, the Celtics sacrificed a potential all-star, Ron Mercer, who,
ironically, joins Chauncey Billups in the Denver backcourt. You may recall
that when Rick Pitino drafted them two years ago, he hailed the duo as
Boston's backcourt of the future. Right. Pitino later traded Billups to
Toronto halfway through the 1997-98 season.

Boston also has passed on its three dime-a-dozen free agents -- Bruce
Bowen, Damon Jones and Eric Riley. No great loss there.

Pitino and his general manager, Chris Wallace, are gambling that their new
arrivals will blend with their holdovers and produce a playoff team. But
would you expect these players to lead you to the promised land of the
postseason?

   Adrian Griffin. A 6-foot-5 swingman. By all accounts a nice guy. CBA
MVP. But if possesses NBA skills, why did he spend three consecutive
years in the CBA? Did he and his wife fall in love with Hartford?

   Wayne Turner. A 6-2 guard. The Boston schoolboy who went to
Kentucky, is living every kid's dream by playing for his hometown team.
He signed a contract, most likely a one-year deal, yesterday.

Pitino loves him because ``he makes other people better . . . he is a true
point guard in every sense of the word. He is a floor general. He directs
people. He gets in the lane with the sole idea of passing to people. He
plays defense. Wayne Turner is what we call a throwback point guard.''

Great. But forgetting the prayer of a reverse layup that beat Seattle in
Boston's summer league finale last Saturday, if Turner is so good, then
why did every team ignore him on draft night?

   Danny Fortson. He could be the real deal. No. 10 pick in 1997 draft.
Fourth in the NBA in rebounding last season with an 11.6 average. Played
all 50 games. Can play center (38 starts) or foward, although he is only
6-7. But he couldn't make Denver a winner. Why should he make a big
difference in Boston?

   Eric Williams. Providence fans will be happy to have the smiling Friar
grad back in New England. But is he the 15 ppg Eric Williams of 1996-97?
Or the 7.3 ppg Eric Williams of last season? And can he stay healthy?

   Eric Washington. A 6-4, 190-pound guard. Strong. Decent shooter.
Struggles in the half-court game. A 12th-man type.

So, if the NBA season were to open tonight, here's how the Celtics would
line up: Vitaly Potapenko, Fortson and Antoine Walker up front, Kenny
Anderson and Paul Pierce in the backcourt.

The bench would consist of Eric Williams and Walter McCarty at forward,
Tony Battie at center or forward, Dana Barros and Turner at point guard
and Griffin and Washington at shooting guard.

Pervis Ellison (ankle) and Greg Minor (hip) would be on the injured list,
probably for the entire season.

The Celtics would be missing Mercer and his 17 points. They would not be
missing the minimal contributions of the injured Popeye Jones or the
overrated Dwayne Schintzius. Pitino was high on Jones because of his
rebounding ability and his leadership, and signed him to a three-year
contract in January. But Jones, who did not play at all for the Celtics in
1998, appeared in only 18 games last season, mostly because of injuries.

Can that lineup make the playoffs? In the diluted NBA, perhaps as the No.
8 team. Can it challenge for the title? No.

Fortson gives the Celtics a proven rebounder and decent scorer. He should
take some pressure of Walker and help out Potapenko on the glass.
Williams, McCarty and Battie are all active around the basket.

Pierce had a great rookie season and should be even better this year.
Anderson has to stay healthy and focused.

Barros is a year older and still is only as good as his three-pointer,
although
he did a capable job of running the offense in Anderson's absence last
season. Griffin, Turner and Washington are question marks.

But give Pitino credit for trying. And he will put a versatile team on the
floor.

``What we're trying to do with our basketball team now is get all our front
court people to play two positions,'' he said. ``For instance, Danny Fortson
was the fourth-leading rebounder in the league last year. He was the No. 1
offensive rebounder. Danny, believe it or not, although he's 6-71/2, 6-8, he
can play center, he can play power forward. Tony Battie can play both
positions.

``If you look at the New York Knicks, they had five front court players.
We had three. We needed to shore up our front court. We've done that.
We believe Antoine Walker can play two positions, both 4 and 3. We're
very excited about the beefing up.

``We've also changed the mentality of our basketball team. We've gone
from an offensive finesse team to a team that we think is going to be
explosive, unselfish but also extremely tough-minded. Danny Fortson is an
extremely tough-minded person.''

Pitino said Fortson and Williams will boost Boston's free-throw production
because ``both go to the foul line a great deal.''

The Celtics have one slot remaining on their 15-man roster and will
probably search for a perimeter player, Pitino said. Perhaps another
shooter will put them over the top. <<<