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Michael Holley Article Take Two
[The Boston Globe Online][Boston.com]
[Boston Globe Online / Sports]
PRO BASKETBALL NOTES
What will Celtics sacrifice for playoffs?
By Michael Holley, 05/09/99
Maybe the
question needs
to be changed. Maybe no
one should be asking,
''Will the Celtics make
the playoffs next
season?'' The better
query might be, ''Which
of their top four
players will they trade
so they can get to the
playoffs?''
It appears more likely that this is a
''when'' situation rather than ''if.'' In
the past few weeks, Rick Pitino has
sounded like a cross between Joe Namath
(circa 1969) and a Promise Keeper, nearly
guaranteeing victory and deliverance. The
Celtics coach has said that his team will
be improved, dramatically, in 1999-2000.
As you think of those words, look at the
Celtics' roster. Look at the players who
have reputations as rebounders around the
NBA block. There is one. His name is
Popeye Jones and he happens to have a left
knee that a couple of months ago was the
size of Maine. Jones has had two
operations on the knee in less than two
years. He is in for a long summer of
rehab, his second consecutive one.
It has been proven that you don't need a
dominating center to win a championship or
make the playoffs. But you can't do
anything with a lineup of shorties.
Antoine Walker has averaged 9.3 rebounds
in his first three seasons, but the team
believes he is more of a small forward
than a power forward. If Pitino didn't
feel that way, he wouldn't have told
Walker to develop a ''Scottie
Pippen-type'' body. Vitaly Potapenko is
strong, but has never been a rebounder.
Tony Battie is not known as a rebounder.
Paul Pierce rebounds well for a small
forward, but that's not his full-time gig.
What does all that mean? A trade.
The draft story has been recited here many
times, so we know a new player isn't going
to come from there. We'll just say that
it's unlikely the Celtics will be able to
keep their semi-protected pick by coming
up with a top-3 choice. And we'll also add
that if Corey Maggette is available with
the seventh pick and the Cavaliers take
him, they will like him and Boston will
miss him. Unless Boston gets a Maria
Grasso miracle, there will not be enough
cash for a significant free agent. So the
only way a rebounder comes is through a
trade.
Paul Pierce is probably untouchable, based
on his game and his secure contract
status. Walker says he will ''be here for
a long time'' and that fans ''should get
used to me.'' He must know that, to
paraphrase the Scriptures, it is easier
for a camel to pass through the eye of a
needle than it is for a rich man to be
traded with a contract like that. Kenny
Anderson will be tough to deal and, even
if he weren't, he's still a point guard
and the Celtics would rather have him than
Dana Barros. That leaves Ron Mercer.
It is probably not a good idea to trade a
6-foot-7-inch guard who can make
20-footers just as easily as he can throw
down one-handed alley-oops falling away
from the basket, as he did against the
Hornets. But the team thought about a
trade - a lot - before Mercer's contract
extension became an issue. And the only
way they will get rebounding is to acquire
it, because it probably can't be
developed.
Of course, the team can always keep its
top four intact and remix the rest of the
roster. But doing that will not ensure the
playoffs, and that's a problem because
this team has to make the playoffs next
season. If it doesn't, fans will remind
Pitino that they expected playoff success.
And they'll remind him with his own words.
Choice words from Carr
There was plenty of speculation last week
when M.L. Carr said he was
''disappointed'' with the Celtics' season
and that he found it ''insulting'' that
the organization would be mentioned in any
type of analogy with an expansion team.
First, Paul Gaston wanted it known that
Carr spoke on his own and did not consult
with the chairman of the board. Carr, now
the team's executive vice president of
corporate development, also said that he
was speaking for no one but himself. Some
people also wondered why Carr would be
critical of Pitino when Pitino can fire
him. But the truth is that Pitino cannot
fire Carr; only Gaston can. And if that
were to happen, it probably wouldn't be
the wisest move for the organization when
you consider that Carr has three years
remaining on a deal that he and Gaston
brokered in the spring of '97.
Carr becomes uncharacteristically mum when
pressed for specifics on that renegotiated
contract (he had two years remaining on
his original deal when he and Gaston
reworked it), but word is that marketing
perks are included in the new contract as
well. So, obviously, if the team were to
fire him it would still have to pay him.
And pay him well.
Changes on the air?
The Celtics will certainly tinker with
their roster in the offseason; will there
be tinkering with those who talk about
their games, too? The team has Howard
David, one of the top play-by-play radio
men in the country, calling games. But the
contract of his partner, analyst Cedric
Maxwell, will expire before next season
This story ran on page D06 of the Boston
Globe on 05/09/99.
© Copyright 1999 Globe Newspaper Company.