Re: Top Ten Reasons Why Walker or Mercer Should Be Traded For A Center

[damekmo@teleport.com]

I'm off today and watching Monica (c'mon, you know you're watching too) so
the mind wanders. Let me address the following:

>10. Celtics are capped out.  Unable to sign a
>quality free agent center.

This is true. Troubling? Yes. That's why Pitino gets the big bucks. That
also brings to mind the question about whether veteran free agents want
to.....


>9. Pierce ain't going anywhere.  Best Celtic
>player since LB.


Let's try to stay calm here.


>8. Celtics can replace Mercer with their draft
>pick.

Wait a minute. Isn't this the guy who's everybody's favorite Celtic? Isn't
this the guy with his head on straight who's going to develop into an
all-star because of all his athleticism, work ethic, maturity? You
know...even though I've criticized him because I think as "shooting" guard
he needs to start taking more responsibility for the offense, I think all
that might be true. There are a bunch of shooting guards in the league
better than Mercer. That list might grow smaller and smaller as time goes
by. To say that he can be replaced with a draft pick seems a bit....I'll
just say "reckless" and leave it at that.

>7. A sizeable number of small forwards/shooting guards should be
>available in the draft:
>Lamar Odom, Shawn Marion, Wally Sczcerbiak, Jumaine Jones, Richard
>Hamilton, Chris Porter,
>and Quincy Lewis to name a few.

So you trade a young, athletic, talented shooting guard who averaged over
15 points a game in his first year and "hope" to replace him with an
absolute unknown commodity?

And let me scroll down to this one....

>1. I think the C's will luck out in the draft
>this year and end up with the first pick and
>Lamar Odom.

Where have I heard that before?

Please...this was one game. Perhaps a lot of us invested way too much in
those preseason games. Game one was a reality check and it does show that
the bottom line for this team is still the same...no defense/size up front.
They're going to get killed at center all year long, as they did last year.
But this team has to start forming a core of experience or they'll simply
continue to flounder below .500 like the Clippers. If free agents are ever
going to want to play for the Celtics for $1.75 mil., Pitino has to create
an atmosphere of stability. Mercer, Walker, and Pierce are going to be all
right. They need a chance to develop "together" if this team is going to go
anywhere. Now...if everybody's hot to make a trade, let's talk point guard.
There's a player in Minnesota who might look good in green and perhaps
they'd be interested in Anderson. Anderson plays zero defense. If this team
isn't going to be able to press/gimmick with Anderson on the court...he's a
defensive liability (with a mediocre outside shot) who only makes matters
worse. Mishra mentioned something earlier in passing and I'd like to
address this again. This team had months to address their problem at
center. After what I assume to be a thorough search of stiffs, world wide,
they come up with Dwayne Schintzius and Eric Riley!?! Please. Most of us on
this list have seen guys on the Guinness Book of World Records sticking
pins through their skulls who have better upside than those two stiffs.
Anyway...putting Schintzius and Riley on the court is much more humiliating
than hearing MLCarr talk about being "championship driven." As Asa
Hutchinson might say, it's "unseemly." It's probably an unfair criticism as
everybody is looking for a center, but isn't Wallace supposed to be the
supreme finder of unknown talent? Look, something needs to be done. I don't
know what Pitino can do, but Battie in the weight room is a fairy-tale;
Popeye Jones, at this point in his carreer is a not so mobile small power
forward who "had"/has? an adequate rebounding game and not much more; and
Declercq is the only reasonable(?) option at center and that's not saying
much. They may have to just stink it up for another year and hope to find a
big body in the draft they can develop. My only point here in this rambling
post is that I dig Monica's 'do...I mean...Walker, Pierce, and Mercer need
to stay put. Pitino needs to develop some semblance of stability by keeping
and developing a few young talented players. Move Anderson, Popeye,
Declercq, or a host of others...but he needs to start creating some
experienced Pitino-ball veterans with legitimate NBA skills and build
around them. God help them and us.

Paul M.