Millard/Rush/Delk/Arceneaux

[kevin.lok@lycosmail.com (kevin/singapore)]

http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/blazers/index.ssf?/sports/00/06/sp063020.frame
One reason the Blazers did not draft 7-foot-3, 345-pound Brad Millard -- the club put his often-injured feet through a CAT scan last week and discovered a new stress fracture. Millard is deciding whether to have surgery or try to heal the bone with rest. 


http://www.ocregister.com/sports/whicker.shtml
Action: JaRon Rush doesn't get drafted, and Jerome Moiso goes to Boston with the 11th pick.
Reaction: Either Rick Pitino doesn't care anymore or he didn't watch UCLA play. His drafts at Kentucky were much better.


http://www.nypost.com/sports/knicks/7106.htm
Rick Pitino offered three first rounders - two of the Celtics and the Nuggets No. 1 (within the next three years) to the Blazers for Jermaine O'Neal. Of course, Portland would've also had to take about $20M in unwanted salaries. How can he justify three No. 1s? "If O'Neal were in this draft he'd be the first pick," Pitino explained. Well, at least top three.
The Bulls went strong to the draft to snare O'Neal, offering Nos. 7 & 24. Had they been willing to part with No. 4, it would've been a deal.


http://www.globe.com/dailyglobe2/182/sports/New_addition_Moiso_will_soon_grow_into_his_role+.shtml
Moiso should see a friendly face when he arrives for summer-league play - UCLA teammate JaRon Rush will play for Boston. Rush was an early-entry candidate for the draft, but went undrafted. Although he played just nine games as a sophomore due to two NCAA suspensions, Rush averaged 12.1 points ... For now, the future of Croatian guard Josip Sesar is uncertain. The Celtics acquired the rights to Sesar with a draft-night trade, sending two second-round picks in 2001 to Seattle. Wallace, who feels the Croatian was one of the best shooters in the draft, said Sesar's chances of playing with the club next year are ''50-50.''

(did we waste 2 picks or what - how can they throw away picks like grenades?)



http://www.globe.com/dailyglobe2/182/sports/Small_game_hunting+.shtml
'We're going to be very active,'' Pitino promised. ''We're trying to get more athletic. We've got to go out there and get the parts to make our team better.''
(didn't Pitino himself said at the close of the season, he's satisfied with the present squad and didn't see the need for major movements - just needed to add a veteran presence that's all. Didn't he said these? We're whupped.... get ready for some lobsided trades, expect AW to be traded just when there's signs of him turning around, we're whupped....)

Tony Delk, Sacramento: He is another player Pitino knows well from Kentucky, but there is some bad blood here in that Delk feels he was jerked around last summer by the Celtics before signing with the Kings. He doesn't have the size Pitino might want, but he knows the drill.


http://sports.latimes.com/news/20000630/lat/000061870.html
Rush Moves to Plan B After NBA Snub
SCOTT HOWARD-COOPER, Times Staff Writer
JaRon Rush continued Thursday to try to pick up the pieces of a career gone astray, agreeing to play for the Boston Celtics' summer-league team without guaranteed money or so much as an invitation to training camp.
The latest setback for the former UCLA forward, who left school after his sophomore season against the advice of almost everyone, came after Rush was not picked Wednesday in the NBA draft.
As an indication of his shock, he declined interview requests through his agent while home in the Kansas City area, and even his spokesperson did not return phone calls.
"I would say he's surprised," his agent, Ray Brothers, said.
Rush had expected to at least go in the second round, and maybe the first, but this outcome is only a mild surprise to others who had followed his situation. He chose not to play in the Chicago pre-draft camp, a chance to showcase himself after being limited to only nine games last season because of an NCAA suspension, and then did not look sharp in some individual workouts. In one, with the Charlotte Hornets, he looked out of shape before team officials ended it early.
Said an executive of another team that worked him out: "He certainly could have been in better shape. But he did OK."
This was in addition to the shortcomings that were already known around the league--off-the-court issues, the lack of a consistent jumper for someone who would play some shooting guard in the pros, struggles to get a shot in the halfcourt game, the fact that many of the baskets from offensive rebounds that came in the college would be eliminated by the bigger, stronger bodies in the NBA. Those factors overwhelmed his superior open-court game, speed and jumping ability.
"JaRon obviously is a first-class athlete," Celtic General Manager Chris Wallace said. "He's got offensive skills and can really flourish in our system. We like to get up and down the court, offensively and defensively."
Rush begins making his case July 17, when the 10-team Shaw's Summer Pro League begins in Boston. Among his teammates there will be Bobby Hurley, the former lottery-pick point guard looking to make a comeback. It is not known if Jerome Moiso, Rush's UCLA teammate the last two years who was taken 11th by the Celtics on Wednesday, will also play.
What happens from there depends on Rush's performance. He could get an invitation to an NBA camp in the fall, a good possibility because teams are still intrigued by his athleticism, see if there is an offer for guaranteed money overseas or go to the Continental Basketball Assn.
And then there's this option: The Kansas City Knights have already contacted Brothers and said they will use one of two territorial picks to claim the rights of the hometown product for the inaugural American Basketball Assn. season that starts in mid-November, complete with a red, white and blue ball.




http://www.nj.com/newsflash/index.ssf?/cgi-free/getstory_ssf.cgi?s0338_BC_BKC--Arceneaux-Draft&&news&newsflash-sports
Once a hot prospect, Arceneaux passed in NBA draft
By MARY FOSTER
The Associated Press
6/30/00 5:01 PM
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- This time last year, Harold Arceneaux had shot his way to national glory, leading Weber State against North Carolina and Florida in the NCAA tournament.
Two great games for the little school from Ogden, Utah, left Arceneaux with big numbers, big press, and big pressure to turn pro early.
"Everyone said I should enter the draft," Arceneaux said. "But I wanted to stay in school. I figured it could only help me. I'd get my degree and still be drafted this year."
He was half right.
Arceneaux, a 6-foot-6 forward from New Orleans, had another solid season on the basketball court. He also had a solid year in the classroom and is poised to become his family's first college graduate ever.
He was not part of the NBA draft this week, however.
"Of course he's disappointed that he wasn't drafted," said Troy Carter, a New Orleans city councilman who befriended Arceneaux 10 years ago. "After the tournament last year, people were all saying he should go pro. I don't think he did the wrong thing, though. He's going to get his degree and he still might play in the NBA. If not, he'll earn six figures in Europe. He made the right decision."
Fans called Arceneaux "The Show" in the 1999 NCAA tournament. He earned the nickname by scoring 36 points in Weber's 76-74 upset of North Carolina in the first round. He came back with 32 more in a second-round overtime loss to Florida.
The two games wrapped up a 25-8 season and capped a great year for Arceneaux, the Big Sky Conference's Most Valuable Player.
Basketball wasn't the only thing going well for Arceneaux, however. He was doing well academically, a thrill for the former special education student who had been forced to attend junior college when he didn't have enough high school credits to enroll in a four-year school.
And Arceneaux liked Ogden, a far cry from the crime-ridden streets of the B.W. Cooper housing development, where Arceneaux grew up.
"Harold deserves to make it," Carter said. "He comes from a place where a lot of kids are lost to the streets. He never had anything but he always wanted something better.
"He did a lot of work this year. Not just on his game but on his intellect and mind as well."
In his senior year at Weber State, Arceneaux had eight new teammates a new coach and a new system. In the first eight games, Arceneaux averaged 14 points and Weber State struggled. But he improved and so did the team.
Arceneaux averaged 27 points a game in conference, including 30.2 in his last six games. He was fifth in the nation in scoring and led the team in rebounding at 7.4 a game.
Arceneaux was the conference MVP again but the Wildcats finished 18-10 and did not make the NCAA tournament.
Then, Arceneaux had trouble in the NBA's pre-draft camps.
"He seemed a little timid at the Desert Classic (in Phoenix in May)," said NBA scout Ron Blake. "He slashed to the basket but didn't finish. He played below the rim and made poor decisions. He seemed to lose confidence."
Arceneaux planned to spend the weekend with his agent figuring out his next move.
"We have to determine what options I have and with what teams," Arceneaux said. "People still make it as free agents, so I can try that."
The NBA, although saying players are better off staying in school, has been fertile ground for underclassmen and even high school players. And despite the official line, Denver Nuggets assistant general manager Dennis McGowan told the Times-Picayune Arceneaux should not have returned for his senior year.
"He was a hotter item last year," McGowan said.
Carter, however, said Arceneaux made the right decision.
"Harold is the kind of kid that's supposed to make it, and he will," Carter said. "Maybe not in the NBA, but maybe even there. One thing for sure, though, he will have his degree and all the options that gives him. He'll be fine."