Re: Strange rumors

[Josh Ozersky <josh_ozersky@yahoo.com>]

I am always amazed that people think that 6'10 or 6'11 is not tall
enough to be a center, but that seven feet is.  First of all, you
block shots with your arms, not your head, so your wingspan is far
more important.  There is also the matter of skill and athleticism. 
Hakeem Olajuowan and Bill Russell are six ten and six nine,
respectively.  Nor is Tim Duncan a seven footer.  He seems to be doing
okay.  Battie has a lot of potential, although I will say that he
never blocked nine shots in a game or had nineteen rebounds in a game,
as Michael Stewart did.  The question about minutes is relevant.  You
have to assume Pitino is penciling in Battie as his center.

josh





---Michael Joseph Byrnes  wrote:
>
> 
> The following rumors are going around:
> 

> 
> Knight is the closet thing the Celtics have to a center.  If they
were to
> trade him for 6'9" Denver disappointment Battie, that would leave them
> without a center.
> 
> Signing Popeye Jones doesn't even make a whole lot of sense.  When and
> where is he going to play.  Antoine Walker ought to get about 36
minutes
> per game, and almost all of that will be at power forward.  (With
Pierce,
> Mercer, McCarty, and Bowen at SF/SG, there won't be many minutes at
that
> position for Antoine.
> 
> Signing Michael Stewart makes a bit more sense, in that he is at
least a
> center with the athleticism to fit the Celtics' system.  On the other
> hand, he doesn't have the height, nor does he have much in the way of
> offensive skills.  On the whole, though, he might be a good addition
to
> the Celtics.  
> 
> If the Celtics did sign Stewart, then the Knight-for-Battie deal would
> make slightly more sense.  However, I think that they would be
better off
> keeping Travis.  At least Travis is 7 feet tall, and has a good
finesse
> game.  I think Pitino would be making a mistake to give up on him too
> quickly.  With Walker and Stewart starting, I think that Knight and
> DeClerq would be a good pair of backups.  That would leave the 2
> and 3 spots to Pierce, Mercer, McCarty, and Bowen (and even Dontae and
> Minor if the Celtics have a big lead).
> 
> Michael Byrnes
> mbyrnes@stanford.edu
> 
> 

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