Re: Holley

[j.hironaka@unesco.org]

Hi Peter:

Sometimes Michael Holley "surprises" me with an article that flows along expertly
and with a clear idea of what he intends to convey from start to end. Maybe it's
just me, but I was impressed by his "technique" in presenting that article.

As for Ron Mercer, IMO the Celts really have to sign him this summer to a long
term contract he'll be happy with, rather than let him dangle another year to
better gauge his real worth (normally the wise thing to do).

As popular and loved as Mercer is in Boston, I believe he hurt team chemistry as
much as any player this year, and will continue to do so until his contract is
resolved. You cannot have that kind of guard play (one assist every 15+ minutes on
average) and expect to win at Celtics or Pitino-style basketball. I believe there
is an underlying reason why Pitino would shockingly blurt out on talk radio that
Ron Mercer lacks both "Celtics Pride" and "Kentucky Pride." Remember that the
Celtics won 4 of the 5 games Mercer missed in the early part of the season
(meaningful wins against division clubs like Miami and the Knicks). From the
moment Mercer rejoined the team AND decided he needed to lead everyone in shot
attempts, the Celts played ugly, awful team basketball (as reflected in their 4-17
record). This might not necessarily be a question of Ron's "selfishness" per say.
It could actually just be a question of his lack of passing ability.

Anyway, I personally believe this is why Rick Pitino expressed on WEEI radio what
he was perhaps was dying to say regarding Ron Mercer's play this year, even
against his own better judgement as a human being and a GM.

Still I guarantee you that no one in Boston (outside of Alex Wang and a few
others) would ever think to put any portion of the blame on "quiet", "humble" Ron
Mercer. We're all kind of stuck in our ways to one degree or another (read: "it
must be Antoine Walker's fault"). This year we made sure Antoine finally got it
through his apparently too thick skull just how much educated Boston fans won't
put up with him and are capable of hatred.

I've said before that I feel we're lucky Antoine Walker might just be naive enough
to think Boston fans will one day embrace him strictly based on his game, even if
he doesn't lose the wiggle etc. There are too many people out there who will
knee-jerk reply to any evidence about Walker with "I just have this bad feeling
about him, I can't quite put my finger on it". This is not a fair way to judge a
kid (any kid), but life's not fair.

Joe

-----
peter delevett wrote:

> I think I'm passing through the denial stage on this deal to some kind of
> acceptance. But only if they land a real stud for Mercer's services, not some
> chump and some stinking draft picks. I still think Celtics fans will rue this
> trade, if it happens. And I'm still holding out hope -- this time last year,
> everyone thought it was a foregone conclusion Walker would be gone. The
> contract situation changed there, and it could change here, too, once Ron
> realizes nobody can pay him more than the Celtics. It all depends on whether
> Mercer wants to get away from Pitino, and despite all the rumormongering, I've
> never read where he's said that. (I've also never heard him say, "I definitely
> want to play here. Let's get a contract done and go win a championsip.")
>
> Pitino obviously has never been all that high on Mercer, else he would have
> taken him and not Chumpy Bills with the #3 pick. I don't necessarily buy that
> RP was downplaying Mercer so he'd slide down to the #6 pick.