Re: Draft

[Mister Ghost <mister_ghost@yahoo.com>]

---peter delevett <pdelevett@amcity.com> wrote:
>
> While we're all gnashing our teeth about the Celtics' lack of a
center,
> bemoaning the dearth of quality FA centers coming up on the horizon
and
> arguing the merits of various trades (I'm surprised nobody's
launched the name
> Rony Seikaly),

I believe New Jersey is going to use him and 
McIlvaine as an offensive/defensive center
tandem...

 I took a little look ahead to draft day, which is only 5 months away.
> 
> Though I think the Celtics, as presently constituted, have a good
chance of
> making the playoffs if certain things break our way, 

I think you're being unduly optimistic.  The
C's have a schedule from hell, and young teams
don't post winning records on the road. They
will finish somewhere between 8th and 12th
in the draft.  The C's center position as
currently constituted is a defensive sieve.
Battie, besides having a bad back, is a finesse
player at 235 pounds; Schintzius could help,
but it's going to take him the entire season to
get acclimated to Pitino's system; DeClercq
is Declercq; Jones is another undersized player..

I think we also have to
> admit that the following teams are going to be tough to knock out of
the
> picture: New York, Miami, Indiana, New Jersey. The next tier of
teams --
> Orlando, Cleveland and Detroit -- are likely playoff-bound too, and
Atlanta
> stands a good chance of sneaking back in esp. if they can land a
live body at
> the 3. That leaves us duking it out not only with the Hawks but with
Charlotte
> and Milwaukee for the 8th spot. (Let me quickly say here that I
believe the
> C's will be able to beat any and all of the above teams on any given
night; I
> just think we're a center and some seasoning away from being
consistent
> playoff contenders.)

C's fan will have to utter the Red Sox tribal mantra of wait till next
year...
 
> So, if we don't make the playoffs, we're back in the draft lottery.
Let's look
> at who else would be in there with us: Philly, Vancouver, Golden
State, Sacto

Sacratormented is playoff bound with a frontline
of Divac, Webber, Williamson, and Stojakovich.
They're a little weak at shooting guard with
Tauriq, but Williams will be a phenomenal,
almost Stocktonesque point guard...

> and the Clippers all seem set at center. I don't think Denver would
take a
> center, even though LaFrentz is out of position, because that would
mean less
> PT for him or McDyess, or for Eric Williams if Dice moved to the 3.

Denver acquire Rebraca who was MVP of the European
tournament.  He's got a chance to possibly be
a good NBA center... But with the way the Nuggets
have improved, they may draft higher than the
Celtics any ways...

 So, here
> are the teams who I think we'd be competing with to draft a center:
> Washington, Charlotte and Milwaukee, with the possible additions of
Toronto,
> Dallas and Chicago.

Dallas has one of the deepest center rotations
in the NBA with Williams, Bradley, Anstey, and
Green.  They have Finley, Nowitzki, Nash...
They may draft higher than the C's too.
Milwaukee has Brandon, Allen, Big Dog, and a
quality space-eater in Tractor Traylor.  They
may draft higher than the C's.  Washington
will probably be better than you think,
because in the end, they can offer Strickland
more than anyone else, and what is he going to
do: Sit out?  That's a great backcourt of
Richmond and Strickland - Best in the NBA.
And Calbert Cheney has been moved back to his
natural small forward position; Howard to power forward where he
belongs...

 That helps our chances considerably (though there is
> always the chance that if, say, Golden State landed a high pick,
they might
> trade it to a team like Seattle or Utah). 

As poorly as the Warriors have drafted recently,
even they can's screw up that badly...
 
> There are no real dominant centers coming out in this year's draft,
which
> might prompt Dallas, Toronto and Chicago to try to fill other needs.
So unless
> the Wizards, Hornets and Bucks all draft higher than us, we should
have a good
> shot at landing the player I think might be a good fit for us:
Stanford's Tim Young.


I think you should assume another line of 
thinking.  No offense intended, but I'm trying 
hard not to burst out laughing.  Tim Young
is Travis Knight with slightly better skills.
Evan Eschmeyer, Tyrone Washington, Lari Ketner,
Wang ZhiZhi, Todd MacCulloch, Dan Gadzuric, 
Jerome Moisu, Budd Eley, the 7-5 Chinese kid,
the guy from North Carolina, the guy from
Fresno State, are all better prospects.  Hell,
the 7-2 Malian playing in a professional
league in Slovenia is a better prospect than 
Young, as is Joel Pryzbilla from Minnesota,
who is a defensive phenom - Blocks shots like
Russell.  Some of these Centers will be available
in the upcoming draft.
> 
> Now, I'm already on record as questioning Young's heart and
commitment, and I
> don't know that he possesses much of a post-up game. But after
watching him
> again this past weekend, I think he does have several things going
for him:
> he's a legit 7'1; he's athletic and plays in an up-tempo system; and
though he
> needs to add weight, he seems to have the kind of frame that could
easily pack
> on muscle (much more so than, say, Travis Knight). He could fit in
well as a
> shot blocker/rebounder/garbage scorer (averages 9 & 6, about .8 BPG
in 22 MPG;
> if you want to see his stats, go to
> http://espn.go.com/ncb/teamstats/pac10/sca.html). 
> 
> In a normal draft year, Young's shortcomings might push him down to
> mid-lottery status; in a year this thin (even if Elton Brand comes
out, who
> else is there besides Rip Hamilton?),

There's actually a lot of good players - This is
just off the top of my head, but you have a
bigger Penny Hardaway in Lamar Odom; there's
the Pippenish Shawn Marion from UNLV; Wally
Sczerbiak is like the John guy that use to
play for the C's; Bryan Ruffin has Rodmanesque
qualities; Vonteego Cummings reminds me of
Sprewell; there's point guards galore in
Andre Miller; Ed Cota; a personal fave in
Chris Herren; Baron Davis is a rocketman;
Now I'm cheating at looking at my list, and I cantell you about Steve
Francis, whom I
refer to as Pocket Jordan; Jamel Thomas from
providence has been the best player in the Big
Least; Tim James is first round-draftable;
whoops, forgot Mateen Cleaves - a tremendous
defensive point guard - ike to see him on the
C's - Perfect for Pitino's system; how can
anyone not know about the Big Q - Quentin Richardson from Depaul, inch
for inch, the best
rebounder in college basketball; don't forget
Jumaine Junes or Michael Redd.... 


 it will probably take a top 3 pick to
> nab Young.

You can get him with a top 30 pick...
MG

 That means we'll be needing a little luck from the leprechaun; a
> top 3 pick would make up for the Duncan Debacle, although we might
have used
> up our draft luck this past year with the Great Paul Pierce Heist.
> 
> And if we want to really get ahead of ourselves, ESPN has a list of
the top 10
> college center signees. It's at
http://espn.go.com/recruiting/ncb/topc.html.
> No. 1 is 6'10, 245 Marvin Stone, who's headed to Kentucky. FWIW, the
No. 4 guy
> on the list, Casey Sanders (who's going to Duke), was coached in
high school
> by a friend of mine who says he's the real deal. Hopefuly, by the
time any of
> these kids gets to the NBA, we'll no longer need them.
> 
> Finally, here's how on top of things the mental giants at USA Today
are: guess
> who they've got penciled in as the starting center in Boston's
"projected
> lineup?" Pervis Ellison! Don't I wish .. the Pervis Ellison of 1992,
that is!
> 

==
MG In Exile

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