Recap of Vitaly chat at NBA.Com

["Alessandro Celtics-Fan" <alessan420@hotmail.com>]

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And why not check out http://celtics.rivals.com while you're at it?

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Yesterday, it was Rick Pitino who had a chance to talk with fans online ... 
Now, it's the Ukraine Train's turn.

Vitaly "The Potty" Potapenko took part in an online chat session this 
afternoon at the Celtics' official web site. It's all in conjunction with 
the official relaunch of the site (which isn't that bad, except that it's 
more of a cosmetic change than anything to do with the content - which is 
still just company fluff).

Here's a quick recap of Vitaly's comments :

Shaq is a tough man to defend because "he is so big" (d'uh), but if you talk 
about "quickness and intensity and skill level" then he would pick Alonzo 
Mourning and Patrick Ewing as the toughest centers to play against in the 
NBA.

Compares offseason training to homework - "it's when you work on your skill 
level and it reflects how you're going to be in the season". He goes on the 
court and trains three to four hours everyday during the offseason (you 
reading this, Antoine?).

When he gets mad on the court, Vitaly "yells in English instead of Ukranian 
to make sure people know what I'm talking about".

Mentions "cocktail parties and minor league games" as places he likes to go 
to socialize ... Hmmm.

Names his college roommate (Eric Watkins) as his biggest supporter in 
basketball; "he would tell me what I did wrong and encourage me and we'd 
practice together".

Started watching NBA games when he was 15 years old, but never considered 
actually playing in the league until college - "the Cavs had a training camp 
at my university and I would go watch them. I would even skip class if I had 
to ... and as I got more advice from people, my dream of playing in the NBA 
became more of a reality".

Mentions how how grueling his first practice under Rick Pitino was ("I was 
so tired because it was up and down with full court defense. I remember 
after I was traded from Cleveland, 3-4 weeks later, my friends said I looked 
like I had really toned up. I had to be in good shape to keep up with the 
practices").

Would like to live in Boston after he retires ("there is a lot of history 
here; there is a lot to do here; there are a lot of colleges so there are 
young people here").

On the subject of whether or not he is a center or power forward, Vitaly 
says that "because of my lower body strength, I'm not really a high jumper 
or a shot blocker; I would think power forward would be more suitable for 
me".

Has nothing but nice things to say about Antoine Walker and Paul Pierce as 
teammates - "I get along well with both. The first time I met Antoine we 
were going on the bus to NJ to the draft room, so we were talking. They're 
both good teammates; they're very fun to work with. Also they're young - 
they're my age - so we have a lot in common."

Credits Larry Johnson (!) as his basketball role model growing up - "when LJ 
came into the league he just blew me away; he's so strong and he can take 
people so hard to the basket".

Thanks the fans for asking questions, and the chat is over.

Alessandro
alessan420@hotmail.com
celtics.rivals.com





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