RE: two more going pro

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

Haven't seen Chandler, but unless the Celts move into the top three, I doubt
they have a shot at him. Apparently Kwame Brown was very non-committal about
going to Florida or entering the draft after last night's HS all-star game
(by the way, he looked great again--he is an absolute stud; much, much
better than Darius Miles a year ago). That's a good sign (or a bad one, if
you're a Fla. Gators fan). This draft reminds me a lot of the Pierce draft,
when everyone thought it was eight deep at star level (they were basically
right about all eight with the exception of Tractor Traylor, who still
surprises me) and the Celtics were sitting at 10. But then Jason Williams
(the Sacramento one) jumped into the top 10 unexpectedly, along with
Nowitzki, and Pierce fell in our laps. I could see a similar scenario this
year with Tinsley or Frank Williams moving up, or maybe Brendan Haywood, if
he has the workouts I expect. I think there's a great chance the C's end up
with two good players at 10 and 11.

The bottom line is they have to take the best player available--not reach to
fill a need, even if it might be tempting if Tinsley or Frank Williams is
sitting there. Maybe Eddie Griffin slides because of the chemistry problems
at Seton Hall... you don't pick for need if a talent like that is sitting
there. Maybe it's Chandler. Who knows? But take the best player and sort out
positions later through trade.

Mark

-----Original Message-----
From: Hironaka [mailto:j.hironaka@unesco.org]
Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2001 11:17 AM
To: Berry, Mark S; celtics@igtc.com
Subject: Re: two more going pro


Something tells me the Boston Celtics will be in the rather awkward position
of
either drafting or passing up on Tyson "Chicken" Chandler with their lotto
pick.

As was the case with Moiso, his evaluation will be based on what he does in
an
empty gym or going one-on-one, since he backed out of the McDonald's game
with
what many scouts called a phony injury.

I wonder who is advising this kid? Big question marks. Remember this guy is
only
220 pounds at 7-1, and has eschewed post play for perimeter shooting much
like
the kid that Bird drafted a few years back (who at least he was a McD game
MVP).
Every highschooler wants to be the next Kevin Garnett, but a lot of 'em are
closer in talent to Walter McCarty.

The Bob Gibbons All Star Report currently rates Tyson Chandler as just the
sixth
best senior prep prospect, but a spot higher than the Florida-bound Kwame
Brown
in a famously deep class. Stephen Wacaser of The Sporting News rates Tyson
Chandler as only the eighth best senior prep player, with Kwame at number
three.
Chandler just hasn't played up to his hype this year.

With another inconsistent stringbean in Loren Woods reportedly also dropping
like a rock at the moment, I'm kinda convinced that Boston will again end up
with another Moiso/McCarty body-type to add to our collection of
skinny/athletic
power forwards who (so far) can't win even 5 minutes of playing time.

Given a choice, I guess I'd take Chandler for his boom-or-bust upside (last
time
we picked someone from the LA area, he turned out pretty good).

I think a lot of good players are going to declare in the coming months. It
is
still so early.

BTW if the Celts miss the playoffs and win the draft lotto, I think Dubya
should
just apologize and even give our damn propellor spy plane to the Chinese in
return for letting Yao Ming leave the Chinese army and declare for the NBA
draft. This kind of thing is always such a "win-win" for improving
understanding
between two countries. Because of the great warmth US fans showed Nomo when
he
first crossed over to play baseball, a lot of Japanese began to realize the
US
wasn't filled with a  bunch of Japan-bashers, which is the impression you
might
get if all you read about were trade disputes and congressional transcripts.
It
would be wonderful if Yao Ming could develop his game in the US. I once
lived in
Beijing for a year, and man they really play basketball over there. I
remember
being told that something like 60 million players were involved in organized
basketball leagues of some kind, by far (BY FAR) the most in the world.
Outside
my university dorm there were four full-courts and they were always packed.
There were 10 outdoor full courts on this one college campus. And sometimes
we'd
play six-on-six fullcourt as if there was nothing odd about it. That's
something
I doubt I'll ever see anywhere else in the world.

Joe

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