Out of Service?

[opi@unesco.org]

Has anyone heard any explanation of why Pervis Ellison was a DNP last
night? He's played a grand total of 11 minutes since the season opener,
when there was no question he played a major role in the Celtics win.

I'm not convinced Tony Battie (or Marty Conlon) is adequate as a backup
NBA center. Last night Tony Battie had another one of those 6 pts, 0
blocks, 2 rebound, 5 foul games.

At best Battie is a very inconsistent young player. At worst he's
playing totally out of position and will have to continue doing so for
the entire season, unless Fortson is forced to cover for him at center
or Marty Conlon really steps up. The Celtics ought to be able to count
on twice as many rebounds as he's delivered (3.4 ppg) in Fortson's
absence. Hopefully, Battie will better showcase his talent on Friday
against a team like the Knicks.

Fortson would have been nice to have around last night. He's capable of
having games like Jerome Williams did last night (16 rebounds off the
bench), which broke any hope of resistance on our part. He was probably
watching the game frothing at the mouth thinking "geez, I could have
gotten 20 rebounds against these overpaid wimps we had out there."

Although I think Pitino/Wallace have done a great job over the past 10
months, the last two acquisitions (Conlon and Overton) have me
scratching my head. I'm not sure either player would have found another
guaranteed NBA job this year. I'd probably feel better about the
Pervis/Kenny injury situations if we had Eric Riley and Damon Jones on
the roster instead (neither of whom would receive 8-year veteran
compensation like Overton).

****