Re: Re: interesting NBA notes

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

These are all excellent points, Joe, and I'll add one more log to the Nazr
fire... Kestas mentions the "one-year wonder" effect, and wonders what was
holding Nazr back before his trade to Atlanta. That's easy... Theo Ratliff,
Tyrone Hill and Matt Geiger, three talented and/or expensive big men who ate
up most of the center/power forward minutes. Add in the fact that Nazr left
Kentucky a year earlier than he should have and thus needed development, and
it's easy to see why his impact was delayed in the NBA.

These arguments completely frustrate me. "Antonio Davis is too expensive.
Mutombo is too old. Webber is too far-fetched. Camby is too skinny. Haywood
is too passive. Nazr Mohammed is too unproven." What is the answer? Just
keep waiting, hoping everyone else in the NBA passes on that sure-thing
center in the draft and he drops into our laps? Is Nazr Mohammed a sure
thing? No, but Robert Parish was considered a loafer and an underachiever
before coming to Boston in that trade. You take risks. Nazr's track record
is limited, but as Joe points out, none of our three-headed monster at
center has ever approached a stretch of play like Mohammed put together in
Atlanta. Because we can't have the lobster, we have to settle for dog food?
I'd love a good, solid hamburger like Nazr.

Nazr Mohammed went to Kentucky as a 300 pound freshman and looked like he
would never play there. He was too big, too raw and the longest of long shot
prospects. But he worked hard and turned himself into a heck of a player-far
better than any Kentucky fan would have believed after his freshman
campaign. He has a good, solid body, long arms and a soft touch. He has been
coached in college by Rick Pitino and in the NBA by Larry Brown. He was a
productive college player, and has been productive in the NBA when given a
chance. His best friend plays for the Celtics, his former college assistant
coach coaches for the C's, and another former teammate is on the roster. He
could come in and start and play big minutes on a team with a promising
future. He's available at a reasonable price and he fills a glaring need.
And the Celtics haven't even made an attempt to sign or sign-and-trade for
the guy (unless it has been extremely covert; Nazr says he wants to decide
by this weekend, and he hasn't been to Boston).

So the point is moot. We'll go into the season with Vitaly, Battie and
Blount at center, get killed on the boards again, wonder why-with Pierce,
Walker and all these talented rookies-we're still scuffling along under .500
and out of the playoff picture. I love the Celtics' draft, because they
added talent. But it's time to address some needs. When the season ended,
everyone here would have agreed that the biggest needs on this team were
point guard and center. We had three draft picks and didn't take a point
guard or center with any of them, which is fine. But don't you at some point
in the offseason try to address your weaknesses? Maybe Wallace has something
cooking to surprise me, but I doubt it. My only solace is taken in the fact
that I honestly believe the interior weakness of this team will be so
obvious this season that it can't be ignored next season. Of course, I
thought it was that obvious this year.

Mark

********

Joe H. wrote:

I really admit to having no idea about Nazr' actual game, but last year he 
had some rebounding performances that it would be quite hard to picture 
Batgirl or Potsie having.

I kind of view him as a taller Fortson with sufficient athleticism to hang 
with our system.

For instance, Nazr had a 19 rebound game against the Pistons, followed by a 
five-game stretch of 15, 15, 16, 8 and 16 boards (in just 28.4 minutes of 
PT in that stretch). Also he had a 9 offensive rebound game in 23 minutes 
earlier in the year versus the Grizz.

Earlier I posted his scouting reports from college and it suggests he was a 
player with an outstanding work ethic.

He's only 24 and it's not like we'll pay him "Geiger money". In fact, I 
assume we are pretty much limited to 4.5 million exception for two years.

He may still be an overpaid bust for Obie. There are a lot of good reasons 
why it seems like a stretch he could help us.

But would even an occasional 15+ rebound game from a center hurt our team? 
That doesn't sound too bad to me. I don't know, but it seems at least worth 
exploring.