"Where are they / How are they" Now

["Belanger,Roger" <rbelange@foxboro.com>]

"Where are they / How are they" Now

Hi all,

Had a little time to kill during lunch. I decided to get a little update on
some of the Celtic castoffs from recent years. I reviewed each of the
rosters presently listed on sportingnews.com. I extracted any interesting
tidbit available. Thought some of you might be interested is reading this.
Note: Many of our opinions are consistent with those of the non green
writers at The Sporting News.

Enjoy,

Roger B.





Toronto

Backup Dee Brown continues to prove his instincts are those of a shooting
guard rather than a point, and when he turns cold -- he was 2-for-10 Tuesdy
-- he snuffs out opportunities for his team. When Brown and small forward
Tracy McGrady are in the game, McGrady is bringing up the ball.
Denver
Chauncey Billups at times has been a valuable ballhander and spark scorer.
But he is the worst offender of the type of one-on-one play that is
grounding the Nuggets' offense. Billups apparently still has the mentality
that carried him through high school and college -- that he is his team's
best option when things are going sour. In the NBA, that makes him
vulnerable to steals and to over-penetrating the lane.
Eric Williams, still playing off the bench, still is struggling, although he
seems to be penetrating more aggressively.
Lakers
Rick Fox, is starting to chip the rust off, looking more like himself. 
Travis Knight is playing as well as any Laker starting four has all season.
Golden State
Donyell Marshall is playing better than any of the small-forward trio
lately. With consistent minutes, he is approaching a double-double in points
and rebounds every night. Chris Mills only scored three points Monday but
was clutch in many ways on Sunday with his shooting, rebounding and defense.
Orlando
Derek Strong (bruised heel) returned to play 10 minutes against Milwaukee
recently. He scored three points and didn't get a rebound. It appears as
though he's still hurting.
Vancouver
Tony Massenburg is doing his best as a 6-foot-9 center and Bryant Reeves,
who is getting into shape, is playing better defense. But the offensive side
of Reeves' game is still a long way off its best and that is hurting the
Grizzlies. 
Dallas
Coach Nelson: NBA rotations are normally eight- or nine-players deep. The
absence of any meaningful training camp and the compacted nature of the
schedule have forced coaches to use more players, but Don Nelson is still
giving 12 players seven minutes or more in competitive games, and that has
thrown everyone for a loop.
Clippers
If Darrick Martin and Sherman Douglas continue to exchange going through
stretches of good and bad play, the Clippers' offense will struggle. Martin
remains the starter but Ford has used Douglas in key stretches late in
games. Pooh Richardson has not played much but may soon if Ford feels
neither Martin nor Douglas is doing the job.
Stojko Vrankovic and Keith Closs have not gotten off the bench much but when
they have, Vrankovic gave Ford some rebounding and Closs gave him some
points and blocked shots.