Re: Holley On WEEI & More Pitino

[j.hironaka@unesco.org]

Way Of The Ray wrote:

> Holley mentioned on the Big Show, that he heard the C's may try
> to get back in the draft.  That's all he said regarding that.
> Holley thinks Pitino has put a lot of pressure on the players with his
> make the playoffs comment.

Hi Ray:

I think Holley can be a bit of a
new-agey-gadfly-Spike-Lee-basketball-groupie type who so far seems a lot
more in the loop with Celts players than with management. But if his opinion
is accurate, I imagine this could mean seeking Chicago's top pick for
Antoine Walker and then drafting 6-7 power forward Elton Brand or your pick
of point guards. Despite how desperate Chicago is to spend their cap money
on this weak FA crop, I'm still not that sure they even covet Walker all
that much. At least the Chicago writers and certain players don't seem to
like him much.

As for Holley, he really is often very good IMO, but clearly the Boston
Globe has allowed the Herald to zoom way ahead in terms of the overall
quality of basketball coverage. For example, have you guys freaking read
yesterday's (and today's) massive Boston Herald coverage of Bill Russell? I
can't exaggerate how interesting these articles are.

In particular, Michael Gee is at his very best (writing about the
Philly-Boston rivalry), but each and every article is just awesome from a
Celts fan's perspective and I'm dismayed/surprised that Way or others hasn't
posted them directly to the list. There was even a fascinating article from
the Monday edition about Bob Cousy's regret that he didn't help Russell get
through the racial incidents, which unfortunately is no longer on-line. I
have a printed out copy but I didn't save it to disk.

> Pitino says this is the Age of the Gratification Culture  - cites Corey
> Maggete as an example - Says guys like him should bypass college and
> let true amateurs play.  One year and out types hurt college
> basketball.  Young players want instant gratification - may be problem
> with young players on C's - Pitino wonders if Pierce will be motivated.
> (Funny, Ordway, Ryan and Holley were saying the same things about Pitino
> - He wants instant gratification).

For the life of me, I don't know how Corey Maggette immediately jumped among
the top 3 prospects in the 1999 draft and is even being talked up as
Chicago's number one overall pick. He is a 6-6 wing forward who averaged
10ppg and as far as I know never started a single game in college. He glides
around a lot like Grant Hill, but shows no real signs of shot-creating,
rebounding and passing ability.

FYI, I found some interesting player evaluations on NBA.COM's "1999 Draft"
site featuring a roundtable Q&A with NBA general managers and executives
including Kevin McHale and Wes Unseld. One guy compares the 6-6 Wally
Szerbiak to long-forgotten Notre Dame star Kelly Tripucka.

> On Penny Hardaway - If he has interest in the C's, the Celtics have
> interest in him or any player of that magnitude.  Would have to do a sign
> and
> trade, and investigate why Penny is always unhappy.

How does a trade involving Mercer and Penny as the principles sound to you
guys? I guess you unfortunately couldn't throw in Kenny Anderson, because of
the contract sizes. Penny is a much better all-around contributor than
Mercer, but one bad apple can spoil a very young team like the Celtics (I
like Theresa's "Shiny, Whiny, Penny" comment). Then again, nifty passing can
be contagious and fun to watch.

Joe