RE: Blount

["Berry, Mark S" <berrym@BATTELLE.ORG>]

Well, on the trade rules... I thought the reasoning was that it prevents
teams from trading for guys specifically to trade them somewhere else. I
think the rules only apply to packaging players, so my guess is it's a way
to try to curb "salary trades" where a player is traded for specifically to
be used as salary filler in another package trade. That's not much more than
a guess, though. It does seem silly that the players can't take part in
training camp. Even if the trade isn't "official" on the books, you'd think
the teams could invite the players to work out with them. Of course, I guess
that brings in injury risks and liability and everything else. Geez, how can
it be this complicated?



-----Original Message-----
From: Hironaka [mailto:j.hironaka@unesco.org]
Sent: Wednesday, October 4, 2000 11:38 AM
To: Berry, Mark S; celtics@igtc.com
Subject: Re:Blount


Hello Mark:
    Yeah I agree that Blount is thus far the most positive story from
training
camp that we've heard in awhile. IMO it doesn't at all have the same ring to
it
as previous Pitinochio praise for Travis Knight, Ringo DeClerq or
Shintzius/Riley. Also, the reports on Blount's athleticism cheered me up
following the disappointment of the long Globe articles on Moiso and Battie,
both of which I found to be a bit of a downer (particularly in the case of
the
Shira Springer article on Moiso). Moiso just didn't come across sounding
like a
Russellesque difference maker on the pick-up courts, or a very hard worker
with
a chip on his shoulder. I really hope he succeeds as a Celtic. McHale seemed
pretty laid back (and too skinny) at first too, although he was a much
better
college basketball player.

    I hold the same mixed but hopeful feelings about Herren. After all that
genuine and almost embarrassing preseason praise of Chris Herren by Dan
Issel,
I'm surprised he'd give up on him so fast despite a subpar rookie season. I
don't think there is some secret (like Herren is falling off the wagon). I
think
Herren's inadequate backup stats speak for themselves regarding how Issel's
wishful thinking on him didn't pan out.

    On another note, I can't get over how (seemingly) unnecessary and arcane
some of the new NBA rules are regarding announcing and completing trades,
base
year salaries etc. This is what we went through a half-season lockout for? I
find it comical seeing Pitino and Issel not even allowed to confirm the
trade,
and also a kind of travesty that Herren and Stith can't participate in the
first
12 days of training camp. Can anyone think of one plausible reason why all
this
should be happening, or who's idea it was in the first place?

Joe

-----
"Berry, Mark S" wrote:

> On the other hand, Mark Blount has me excited. Granted, my only look at
him
> was the Celts' one televised summer league game, but I think he's a
> contributor this year--and Pitino's praise on the first day of camp
> reinforces that. He's been dismissed as a "project" but I really think
he's
> more than that. The guy I saw was big, strong, fast and aggressive on the
> defensive end. He tried to block every shot, and that's a mentality sorely
> lacking in most of the Celts. And his skills seem perfectly suited to
> Pitinoball. Is he an offensive threat? No, but neither is Theo Ratliff,
and
> I think Blount could develop into that kind of player.
>
> Also, I think the Pitino praise of Blount is more than bluster. They've
> flirted with trading Vitaly on a couple of occasions this summer (and may
> still be talking about it), and I just don't believe they would have
> entertained the idea without complete confidence that Blount could handle
> major minutes.