Re: Prediction

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

Dan Forant wrote:

> I thought Pots was going to work out. He's an ambitious, extremely hard
> worker, just short on the talent we are asking of him. Although I don't
> like Pitino after witnessing his drafts, trades, and handling of the
> team, he has been under enormous pressure to produce. He couldn't get
> the talent he needed and therefore has failed. Each year he stays with a
> less than competitive team the more credit he loses. He may be gone next
> season. He probably can't stand the silent scrutiny from his peers. If
> he has the balls to stay, maybe one more draft..........................
> Dan

I had the impression from watching games that V's hands has actually
improved considerably last season, so it is very disappointing to hear he's
back to where he was before. I don't know, but in general its a bad idea to
lift weights on the same day as you play basketball, and maybe that is
what's happening because it is preseason.

As for the Orlando game, my first reaction upon seeing both Batbrain and
Eric Williams winning starting jobs on this year's Boston Chickens outfit is
that both players remain the definition of inconsistency and neither guy can
pass the ball well.

But knowing my brilliant player evaluation skills, Battie could end up
delivering a double-double season just as it seems likely that Elton Brand
(a guy I didn't like much) and Jermaine O'Neil (a guy I didn't think was
worth trading three first rounders) are the two leading candidates (along
with Van Horn) to beat out Antoine Walker and make their first All Star team
at the (talent-depleted) power forward position. O'Neil is averaging 12.4
ppg, 9.0 rebounds and 1.6 blocks in 8 preseason starts, including an 18
rebound game against the Clippers last weekend. He seems to be well ahead in
his development compared to Jonathan Bender and Al Harrington. Its still not
worth the reported Pitino offer IMO, but time will tell.

Anyway, I won't be surprised if I'm also totally wrong about Bat-turd. My
main hope is that Pitino will start his bigmen situationally according to
the matchups, but you can never be sure.

Trading a future draft pick is always dicey, but my feeling is that we
should try to emotionally separate our debate about Potapenko's game with
the whole "we could have had Andre Miller" equation. The Celtics might have
easily used that pick on Jason Terry or William Avery, both of whom were
drafted in the same range. Plus they seemed to have superior "headless
chicken" attributes (defensive quickness, "upside" etc.) even though in
retrospect they have been positively Chauncey-esque in their NBA impact.

But if you argue that the Celtics needed to draft or trade for a real center
(to stop the pounding and abuse inside on Ringo), then they did much better
with Potapenko than what was available with the 8th pick in that draft
(Frederic Weis went 15th and Alexsander Radojevic went 12th, the only two
"centers" to go in that draft with the exception of Leon Smith at 29) or in
recent drafts for that matter (the best true center prospect, other than
Duncan, during the Pitino era has been Kandi-girl). You almost can't blame
GMs for being freaked out about this current center drought, especially a
team like the Celtics that only had guys like Ringo and Bananaboy to guard
the big veteran centers that were all out there.

It may be fair to say that future lottery-level draft picks (of which Boston
may have two next year) aren't things you dangle unless you are specifically
in a "final piece of the puzzle" situation, which Pitino emphatically is not
in. At this stage, I wouldn't want Pitino to trade either pick to "save
face" or to even to squeak into the playoffs.

****