RE: Top Ten Reasons Why The Potapenko Trade Stunk

[OzerskyJA <OzerskyJA@cmog.org>]

I just want to go on record as saying that we made out really
well in that trade, and that people who dismiss Potapenko as
merely a big body don't know much about his game.  He's only
a backup center if there is an all-star starting in front of him.  He's
the fourth offensive option on the team, so you don't see him score
much, but he is a capable scorer, can shoot out to 17 feet or so,
knows how to play, and is very strong, big, and can even run the 
floor pretty well, given his size.  Drop Shawn Marion or Andre Miller
into his roster spot, and the Celtics have NO HOPE of beating anybody
in the playoffs, even if by some miracle we made it there.  He's not a
shot blocker, he doesn't rebound as much as he could, and he occasionally
gets burned by big men with an outside shot like Brad 
Miller.  But he is a real center, and he's still developing.  As far as his
salary goes, it's actually pretty reasonable if VP keeps getting better.  

Josh Ozersky	
Marketing Communications Specialist 
Corning Museum of Glass

> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Thndrblt31@aol.com [SMTP:Thndrblt31@aol.com]
> Sent:	Sunday, August 06, 2000 7:30 PM
> To:	celtics@igtc.com
> Subject:	Top Ten Reasons Why The Potapenko Trade Stunk
> 
> Not my ideas or opinions, just thought this might generate some discussion
> on 
> the board.  Enjoy!
> 
> Subject: Top Ten Reasons Why Pot Trade Stunk
> From: <A HREF="mailto:dontonton@aol.com ">dontonton@aol.com </A>
> (Dontonton)
> Date: 8/6/00 1:50 PM Eastern Daylight Time
> Message-id: <20000806135030.10625.00001857@ng-bd1.aol.com>
> 
> Hey, it's August and there's nothing much going on in the b-ball world. I
> confess to being surprised that the Pot trade has so many Celtic
> supporters. 
> So
> here's why I thought the deal was lousy.
> 
> 1. Celts record did not improve after the trade. (In fact, Celts went on a
> mini-winning streak with DeClerq at pivot just before the trade). 
> 
> 2. DeClerq has statistics comparable to Pot. Sure he got pushed around,
> but he
> was more active, too.
> 
> 3. Pot only plays 20-24 minutes a game. If he's such an upgrade at center,
> why
> doesn't Pitino play him more?
> 
> 4. Andre Miller
> 
> 5. Pitino said at the time that the main reason for the trade at the time
> is
> that there would be no other centers available. Last summer, Kelvin Cato,
> Lo
> Wright, and Olden Polynice were available. Not great, but no worse than
> Pot.
> 
> 6. In the last game of 1999 Brad Miller (Brad Miller???) torches Pot and
> the
> Celts for 32 points. What good is strong center who keeps people out of
> the
> paint if you can still jump over him or move around him?
> 
> 7. On Antoine Walker's website, during the last two years, AW said before
> the
> draft that the Celts should take a big man. So much for the confidence of
> the
> (supposed) best player on your team.
> 
> 8. No other teams seem to want Pot. Only rumor was Denver-who may have
> taken
> Pot for good defensive/mediocre offensive guard Wahad-but they wanted
> draft
> choices as well.. Denver may have been one of the few teams who could use
> a
> tough, short, poor rebounding big man like Pot-yet they still needed draft
> choices.
> 
> 9. Cap space.
> 
> 10. A front line of Walker and Pot is just too short and porous. Walker at
> power forward (his only position) really needs to play with a bigger, more
> intimidating center. No wonder our interior defense is one of the worst in
> the
> league.
> 
> There, I've said it. And to think I accused Bob M. of complaining!
> 
> -Don