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Bill Russell Endorses Danny Fortson
Now if he can just stay out of foul trouble. It wouldn't shock
me if he quickly fouls out of tonight's game and the media and
fans contrast his performance with Mercer's 31...
[The Boston Globe Online][Boston.com]
[Boston Globe Online / Sports]
He's up to it
Rebounding high on Fortson's list
By Peter May, Globe Staff, 10/13/99
WALTHAM - The
name Danny
Fortson can bring a
smile to Bill Russell's
face these days.
Sometimes it can elicit
that famous cackle.
It takes one to know
one and Russell knows a
rebounding machine when
he sees one. Fortson is
one of those, having
led the NBA in rebounds
per minute last season.
''He's a good rebounder,'' Russell said
yesterday after his second day of work
with Rick Pitino's Celtics. ''Of course,
rebounding is fundamentally hard work. You
get it any way you can. He's got a really
good attitude about that. And he's so
big.''
What about that, Danny?
''When he talks, you gotta pay
attention,'' Fortson said. ''And for a lot
of us young guys, it's hard to pay
attention for more than 20 minutes. What
he says - to be so basketball smart - it
makes you want to go a little harder.''
Pitino was asked yesterday if anyone had
jumped out during the first nine days of
training camp. While the coach was careful
to mention most of the newcomers - and
none of the returnees - he started with
Fortson.
''He just gives us a dimension we didn't
have,'' Pitino said. ''He's like Jayson
Williams without the wisdom and the years.
He goes after every rebound like Jayson
does and he has that same tenacity. I
didn't realize he went to the glass like
that.''
Some guys do go to the glass like that.
Dennis Rodman did. Michael Cage made a
career out of rebounding (a lot of them
his own misses). Fortson gets a lot of
offensive rebounds - he averaged more than
four a game last season - and has a bit of
an attitude, which the Celtics need.
Just ask Leo Papile. The Celtics' chief
scout first ran into Fortson when Fortson
was a sophomore in high school, playing on
the AAU circuit. Papile noticed then what
everyone seems to notice now: that Fortson
gets after it.
''You could see then he would be a force
because he had a center of gravity that
few people have,'' Papile said. ''He uses
his hips. The great post-up players use
their hips. He's also got great hands. A
lot of guys take him for granted because
he's not a guy who's gonna jump out of the
gym or be a highlight film-type guy. But
he led the league in offensive rebounding
by a wide margin and he gets to the line.
This team has been very poor at that.''
It's also been lacking an enforcer, for
lack of a better term. Fortson, who is 6
feet 8 inches, 260 pounds and mostly
muscle, has a chance to be that if he can
stay on the floor. He fouled out of nine
games last season - almost 20 percent of
the season - and averaged more than four
fouls a game. (By comparison, Vitaly
Potapenko had 43 fewer fouls than Fortson
in 23 fewer minutes.)
''I know I've got to stay in the game to
be effective,'' Fortson said. ''I don't
know about these new rules, though. It's
like I came along at the wrong time
because I like to mix it up.''
Said Papile: ''There's a bit of a thug
factor in this league and all the good
teams have them. It doesn't mean they have
to be evil thugs, but guys you don't want
to get into a shouting match with, or a
pushing match with, because you may end up
in the hospital. I think that's the image
Danny is creating and that's a big thing.
The guys feel his presence. Charles Oakley
has it. The Davis [Antonio and Dale] boys
have it. [Alonzo] Mourning has it. The
teams that are successful have one or two
guys like this and this has been a big
void here. I think Danny addresses that.''
Papile doesn't think Fortson will be hurt
by the new rules because he's not - in
Papile's unique phraseology - a ''shover,
grabber, forearm blocker, a guy holding
you, banging you in the back. Those guys
may have problems. Danny's not a brute who
pushes you around. He creates space with
his center and there's no rule against
that. It may even help him.''
Fortson's not so sure.
''I just hope they let me play,'' he said
of the officials. If they do, Celtics fans
will get their first look at the guy who
came here for Ron Mercer. He doesn't score
or shoot like Mercer. But Mercer doesn't
rebound or scowl like Fortson.
Just ask Bill Russell. He should know.
This story ran on page F01 of the Boston
Globe on 10/13/99.
© Copyright 1999 Globe Newspaper Company.