Fortson's offers

[Joe Hironaka <j.hironaka@unesco.org>]

    It now seems to me that Danny Fortson might choose the dignity of
accepting a clean 2.25 offer rather than get strung further along on a
sinking good lollypop ship.  Fortson knows he is  history in Boston and
he is right.  Pitino and Co. feel he should take his 11.6 rebounds per
game to a team that might think meaningless hustle stats are actually
relevant production for what was a 22-year-old, second-year pro.
Meanwhile, a relevant question for all Boston fans is whether  Fortson
can be coerced into staying in Boston's camp merely for the pleasure of
continuing to abuse, humiliate and immasculate a 23ppg, 11+ rebound per
game college "stud" like Tony Battie/Bat Gir both while in Denver and
now Bostonl?  Maybe once Fortson stops stomping him in practice, Battie
will finally develop into a more confident, less girlish player. Dumping
Fortson before training camp would also be positive news for Jerome
"left eye" Frog Man, whose 11 ppg college bonehead stats would make him
even easier and more vulnerable.

   Things depend on how much hustle, heart and NBA production are valued
over two private workouts (to offset a crappy, deeply underproductive
college career by "Moisowhat").  Pitino has such an expensive buyout
contract that it is obvious who will be left standing. Slick Rick is a
natural born smooth talker and this is overtaking his integrity.

    Witness a perfect "divorce made in heaven". Even if it kind of rings
true to anyone with a clue of Boston Celtics basketball histroy, it was
probably impertinent for Danny Fortson to hint that there was no logic
for him to be guarding the point guard on the inlet pass 90 feet from
the basket as part of  the full court monkey-outbreak press. Pitino
always put the "system" ahead of matchups or game situations.

    To put the best spin on it, it has now become an almost trivial
sacrifice to dump a double-double, unselfish, competivite "old school"
power forward (at least compared to the idiocy of the Antoine Walker to
clear an Austin Croshere signing) as long as this may ultimately
accelerate the inevitability of Retardino also being long gone himself
by the end of next season.

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