prediction

["M.M. Spruijt" <Spruij05@bl.hva.nl>]

Put me up for 42 wins!

I would not trade Walker and Pierce for Garnett. I really like this 
guy (Pierce himself named Garnett the toughest to guard in the 
NBA), but it's still 2 guys for 1 guy. This may sound stupid but now 
the Celtics have both Pierce and Walker on the floor..scoring 40+ 
points, both can make steals, get some boards,etc etc. What I'm 
saying is the presence of 2 stars on the court would be tougher to 
play against than only Garnett on the floor. Double teams etc etc 
on Garnett may limit his contributions and he would have not a lot 
of good players left around him to pass the ball to. 

Pierce and Walker are IMO pretty dedicated to Celtics basketball. 
All the stuff around what happend to Pierce made that dedication 
stronger. I know loyalty doesn't exsist anymore like the Knicks and 
the Magic proved this summer. New York kicked Ewing to Seattle 
after his 15(??) year service and Orlando kicked a bunch of hard 
working players who got that team into play-offs etc but they all got 
kicked out to make space for a player like McGrady. I heard about 
an interview with him. He said the reason he did not go to the Bulls 
was that 'the only good player there was Brand and everybody else 
basically sucked', 'Vince Carter would leave Toronto as well when 
his contract ends' and some more crap about being the man and 
all.

But I think the Celtics could show some loyalty to Pierce and 
Walker. They are the stars of this team. Everybody is waiting for 
the Celts' break through, give them that oppertunity. Keep Garnett 
in Minnesota where the fans love him, and keep Walker and Pierce 
in Boston where the fans should BOTH love them.

I'm travelling 4,000 some miles in a week or so to go to a Celtics 
game and I would be least pleased if either Walker or Pierce 
wouldn't be there...

Go Celtics!

Maurice.