Re: Tony Battie

[j.hironaka@unesco.org]

Cecil Wright wrote:

> Still following the ongoing saga of the Ron Mercer signing/trading.  Seems
> like only yesterday when he was being praised for leading the C's during
> practice sessions while the players were locked out last year.  Now because
> he isn't he best in the league at his position, as if other Celts are, he
> should be traded for a bag of chips and a napkin.
>
> There have been comparisons between him and other players who have blossomed
> as they matured, but we don't wanna give him time to grow because of the
> salary factor.  I would agree, but only if his request is COMPLETELY
> UNREASONABLE!!  Remember, he is a player who should be entering the NBA this
> year, yet has shown flashes of brilliance at times, and subpar play at other
> times.  I suspect there are others his age who have similar lapses,
> including Vince Carter who wasn't needed to help rebound like Mercer, since
> he had the likes of Willis and Oakley for that purpose.  Vince had one
> responsibility, which was scoring, and he did it well.

In fairness, Vince Carter did average 4.17 assists during his "Rookie of the
Month" April and close to 3 overall (2.98). This plus his blocks (1.54), ability
to draw fouls (5.4 FT per game) and rebounds (5.70) from the two guard position
made him the consensus ROY over our Paul Pierce. Also, Ron Mercer scored a bunch
of points in part because he took over 17 shots per game, compared to Vince
Carter's more unselfish 15.3 attempts per game.

IMHO if Paul Pierce were up for a contract extension this summer I'm sure you'd
see no hesitation or lame budget excuses from Pitino prior to inevitably signing
that kid to the maximum, as he also did with Walker (because of their
non-scoring stats and ability to draw a double team). I think Pitino is just
making up all kinds of phony-baloney budgetary excuses in order to successfully
avoid re-signing his long-time pupil Mercer. IMO, Ron Mercer hurt not just Paul
Pierce but Celts team chemistry overall when he returned in March. Even with
Antoine and Kenny out of shape and shooting bricks, the Celts still played over
.500 ball until the very moment Mercer returned from injury on March 1st
(including 4-1 without him). What in the world compelled Mercer to come in and
start jacking up a team-leading 17.5 shots per game, even as the team collapsed
and went 4-17? I can't even imagine a Celts team with worse team chemistry.

The 1999 Boston Celtics are a bit like the Sixers from the late 70s with World
B. Free, George McGinnis, Dr J etc. IMO, the Celts ideally might need to trade
some of their shooters for a Bobby Jones (PJ Brown?) and a Mo Cheeks
type-of-player. A more recent analogy would be the Dallas team of Jim Jackson,
Jason Kidd and Jamaal Mashburn. All those guys seem like perfectly good people
(like Ron Mercer) and are key contributors on playoff teams. They just didn't
mix and match well.

Right now it really looks like Ron Mercer will play out the string and become a
free-agent next year, unless we can find a taker. If Ron Mercer goes unsigned,
I'll make a wager with you that 1) Mercer will lead the team in shots next
season, 2) he will leave at the end of the year, and 3) Rick Pitino will leave
with him on the phony excuse that he can't compete with the sky-rocketing NBA
salaries. Moreover, the Celtics will not make the playoffs as presently
constituted (unless Mercer re-signs and/or goes back to his rookie year shot
selection and relative unselfishness).

Joe

p.s. I know I'm probably just paranoid, but I'm starting to see similarities
between the Tony Battie and Eric Williams situations (Pitino dumped EW for even
less than a Rodney Rogers). Both played dominantly and got raves in summer
league play. Both seemed at the time like no-brainer bookend forwards to play
alongside Antoine. Both were up for contract extensions. The stuff about EW
missing strength workouts were revealed to the public after the fact, and denied
by the player.

Does anyone else think that August 1st will see the conclusion of the previously
agreed Rogers-Battie deal, perhaps but not necessarily expanded to feature names
like Kenny Anderson, Lorenzen Wright, "Olawa-Busto", Ron Mercer, Antoine Walker
etc.? Antoine Walker is another guy who recently got "Machiavelli-ed" by
Pitinochio.