Re: European Centers??? forget it...

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

Good points Jaime. I recall reading that Tsak isn't nearly as active a
shotblocker as you'd expect from someone his size and level of competition. A
lot of it depends on his actual age. If he is actually 23 as reported (Antoine's
age) and averaging well under double figure points (not to mention rebounds)
then I simply don't see what the big deal is. There are just as many 7 foot
career benchwarmers in the NBA as there are Robinson's and Mutombo's, so he's
hardly a "can't miss prospect" just because he's 7-2.  But I do trust Wallace to
scout and evaluate him well (at least 100 times better than I could by
web-surfing basketball rumor sites). I hope we make the right pick at #11
because in many ways it is a critical draft for the Celtics.

--------
Jaims wrote:

> You're right, Joe.  Sabonis and Vlade and even Smits are all in the "very
> good" category among centers in the NBA...but that's when they're healthy
> and when they were young.
>
> My only point here is that I've never seen a Euro player(Center) that has
> defensive instincts of a Mourning or David Robinson or Mutombo...it's always
> how good a passer they are or how far their shooting range is... it's always
> on the offensive side, that is and to which we really don't need right now.
> Maybe if Tsak is a 4-5 blocks per game of a player then I'm all out in favor
> to get him for the Celts because that's what we are needing desperately, a
> shotblocking force in the paint.  Otherwise, if he's just gonna be a 7
> footer with good offensive skills, then just forget it guys.  Stick with
> Vitaly and go for a scoring 2 guard or a defensive minded 3 or 4 or simply
> get the best talent available.
>
> Sorry, guys, I guess I'm just really frustrated to see the Lakers winning it
> all because they have a really great center in Shaq (7'1 and over
> 300lbs)...it's just so hard to imagine ourselves pitting our "centers"
> against these immovable forces (Duncan, Mourning, Rasheed Wallace, Chris
> Webber...)  sheeeesh... are there any big (i mean BIG) high schoolers out
> there jumping to the NBA next year that we should be goin after???
> but I guess we should really forget about it, if and only if we get to go
> into the playoffs...with Pitino still around...who knows?
>
> Thanks Joe.
>
> Jaims