Team Report posted JUNE 1, 2000
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it! By TSN
correspondent
Peter
May
Boston Globe
The Celtics don't have to look too far to see a lot of familiar faces as the
playoffs come to a conclusion. The Lakers alone have three ex-Celtics while
Portland has one. The Pacers, of course, have Larry Bird as their coach.
At one time, Rick Fox and Brian Shaw were building blocks for the Celtics as
they entered a new era without The Big Three. Shaw, however, never recovered
after bolting the team for Italy after an excellent rookie season.
He tried to get out of his Celtics contract -- unsuccessfully -- and then was
dealt to Miami for Sherman Douglas. He plays a backup role for the Lakers, but,
at one time, he was the Celtics' top point guard.
Fox came along three years later and stuck around Boston until Rick Pitino
renounced him, and eight others, to make room to sign Travis Knight. Now, Fox
and Knight are teammates. Fox wanted to stay in Boston and had even verbally
agreed to a new deal.
But Pitino had to pull it off the table to get Knight who, of course, lasted
one year in Boston.
The Blazers have Joe Kleine, who was a teammate of both players in Boston and
now sits on the sidelines as a non-active member of the Trail Blazers. Why
Portland didn't keep him active knowing they'd likely face the Lakers is an
ongoing mystery. . . .
The Celtics will continue to bring in prospects as they try to figure out who
will be available and acceptable at the 11th pick. They had Morris Peterson in
for a workout and will also take a look at Jerome Moiso, Etan Thomas and others.
They will want to draft big if possible, so Moiso could be their man. His
college coach, Steve Lavin, thinks Moiso has a tremendous upside, moreso than
any other player in the draft.
Pitino, meanwhile, is making the rounds promoting his new page-turner,
"Succeed to Lead." It's the sequel to "Success Is A Choice." Pitino,
surprisingly, is still in demand for speaking and motivational chats despite his
disastrous handling of the Celtics the last three years.
PLAYER ANALYSIS
While the Celtics look at Moiso, they may be wary because they have a
similarly constructed player on their roster already. And if Tony Battie has been one thing in
his two seasons, it's consistently inconsistent.
Battie is a maddening tease because he does have the talent. But he tends to
drift for four or five games before turning in one of his better performances.
Pitino, who gave Battie $25 million over six years, says the same things now
about his 6-11 center/forward that he was saying at this time last year. Which
tells you one thing: he'll be saying the same things at this time next year.
For a team with a desperate need of an inside presence and shotblocker,
Battie would seem to be a godsend. But he not only can't crack the starting
lineup, he can't even get regular minutes in the rotation because of his
inconsistency.
WHAT'S NEXT
The Celtics basketball braintrust will head to Chicago this week for the
annual pre-draft camp. They won't see their first round pick there, but they may
find a second-rounder in the competition. There also are likely to be private
workouts for some draftees, particularly Europeans, a couple of whom could be on
the Celtics' list.
