Bird etc.

[Ellie Cutler <ellie@oreilly.com>]

Bird buying the Cs?  I only wish!!  Does anybody really think that would
happen? If it did, what would he do w/Pitino - eat his contract?  As far as
what Bird could do different than Pitino - seeing his comforting, yet imposing
presence on the sidelines instead of RP screaming at the players for 48
minutes
would make me feel worlds better, for starters.  Fair or not, Celtics Nation
has great history with Bird, and trust of his abilities to do the right thing
in the basketball world.  If the Cs didn't make the playoffs, I wouldn't
put it
on what Bird did or didn't do - unlike how I feel about Pitino.  In Pitino vs
Antoine, I'm siding with Antoine. In Bird vs Antoine, I'd side with Bird.

There's a great documentary on TNT called "On Hallowed Ground" that's about
street hoops at the famed Rucker Park in NYC. It's being rebroadcast Saturday
at noon, I think.  Definitely worth a watch - good social commentary and lots
of hops. We should scoop Captain Nappy for our frontcourt!  

Tsak the Greek/Georgian sounds promising - at least he has some bulk to go
with
his height. The X-factor with those really tall guys is their feet. Do they
give out ala Ilgauskas, or do they hold up ala Divac. When I think of Euro
centers, I still have bad memories of Stojko.  Of course the talent pool has
come a long way since then, and maybe we'll get lucky.   I would still lean
towards filling the 2 guard hole with a MoPete who can provide scoring AND
play
defense AND is used to deferring to a star (Cleaves), and then pick up
Foyle or
Amechie or someone like that. 

The current setup of the NBA playoffs really makes the postseason a different
animal than Nov-April. A lot of veterans who wouldn't hold up playing a full
season as if every game counted let loose in the May mini-tournament.  I'm
half
rooting for Brian Shaw and Rick Fox to get a ring, though I'm betting on
Portland. Sabonis is one of the few centers in the league who can match up
size
and finesse-wise with O'Neal, plus he can bring Shaq out on the perimeter. And
they have a hell of a bench with Brian Grant, 
Schrempf, Greg Anthony, and Bonzi Wells. Actually, Grant gets so few minutes
per talent that the Cs should take a look at getting him. The makeup of the
teams who advance in the playoffs is so different than the Cs.  It's veterans,
veterans, veterans.  Whoever mentioned getting Mario Elie - yes! 

Pitino really has a new book called "Lead to Succeed"??  Christ, he deserves a
skit on Saturday Night Live. 

cheers, folks!

 --Ellie