Atlantic Analysis: C's Drafting Ahead

[Way Of The Ray <wayray@ix.netcom.com>]

This comes from Jason via http://www.bskball.com/atl.htm
and it's his analysis of the Atlantic Division.
Concerning his view of the Celtics: He may or
may not be right. Whether they do the right thing
and keep the choices, depends on how good or bad
they are at trading deadline time....

Atlantic Division Breakdown

Boston
Has it really come to this? Beantown has apparently decided, judging
from their offseason moves, to hold down the fort (no pun intended) and
anxiously await the 2001 NBA draft, in which they could have as many as
three 1st round picks. This has got to be a disheartening direction for
fans of a team that just two years ago looked to be full gear into a
youth movement that would take them to the post season. The trading of
Danny Fortson and their draft strategy seem to be a sign of a franchise
in trouble and lacking direction. Does Pitino have a plan? I hope so, or
that Fleet center will be half empty for years to come.

The Celtics will once again enter the year with a personality of a young
and not so hungry team basically treading water until something happens.
With the multitude of other teams improving themselves this year, It
looks as though the Celts will take a step backward before they can
again begin to progress.

On a personal note: Last winter I had the opportunity to visit the
replacement to the famed Boston Garden and I must say that I felt right
at home. Not to say that the Fleet center wasn't a nice place to watch a
basketball game, but It is nearly identical in atmosphere and feel as
the First Union Center in "Good old" Philadelphia (well "old" at least)
While the "FU" center, nicknamed for the most common words spoken inside
it, is a vast improvement to the dirty and lifeless Spectrum, the Boston
Garden was a place of magical history. The Fleet center and FU center
share all of the modern amenities and are much larger in capacity but
they both lose something in the area of acoustics and intimacy. I really
wish I would have had the opportunity to visit the "Gaaaaden", but alas
it was not meant to be.