Re: Nazr vs. Battie.

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

>(........) Battie has all the tools. The guy can shoot some, rebound some, 
>and has the
>quickness and athleticism to block shots. He might not develop to the great
>player he should have been, but he seems better then Nazr is to me. Battie 
>can fill
>in probably at any position on the front line as well. I think if he was
>healthy he would have scored more then Bryant.

I suppose Battie is considerably more talented than Nazr, but the same 
needs to be said about Moiso.

At some point, I think one really has to "care" about production, 
consistency and heart. There has to be a balance at least with pure talent 
which Battie has.

Check it out, Batgirl played in 40 games last season and garnered 2 or 
fewer rebounds in nine of those games (he hauled down 3 boards in three 
other games). As the Boston Celtics pivot man, he also managed 26 games 
with zero assists (0.4 season average). That's actually a lot of games to 
take off, if your team goal is to get into the playoffs.

And yet one could reasonably argue that Battie and Moiso are more 
"talented" than Nazr.

In the end, you've got to decide who deserves to wear the Boston Celtics 
uniform and who deserves to be in the chorus line at the Moulin Rouge.

>Nazr is shorter, slower, stronger but not a good leaper or shot blocker. Who
>cares if he matches up better with Shaq. We already have the strongest player
>in the NBA.
>
>Numbers can be deceptive. Forston was a great rebounder..GREAT and a pretty
>good scorer to boot. He shot a high percentage. But could he play defense?
>Nope.

We haven't read that Nazr can't play defense or hustle (quite the 
opposite). Maybe he can't do these things, but based on scouting reports 
it's kind of a false analogy.

I don't really know if Dave Cowens can cover Fortson's shortcomings in a 
zone defense, but I'm sure he doesn't mind having another season with 17 
points and 17 boards per game. For most coaches, that sounds like 
sufficient NBA production to justify shortcomings. Oops, but there is 
always one exception!!

What if a head coach put his system over his available talent, and had 
Danny guarding the entry pass 90 feet from the basket. It is one thing to 
call Fortson a bust and quite another to say he wasn't the right guy for 
Boston's headless chicken outbreak system.

As for Nazr, I think it is pointless (but harmless) to discuss. Let's face 
it, there are no more than a handful of people in the world who know Nazr' 
character and his suitability for many aspects of the Celtics system better 
than Jim O'Brien.

If Obie wants the kid, he'll try to get the go-ahead to recruit him. If 
not, he won't. It is up to Chris Wallace to demonstrate to the coach that, 
at least in principal, such a move is possible without upsetting Gaston's 
budget (e.g. pushing a Batgirl sign-and-trade to Atlanta).

If you only go by what little these two have said, one could conjecture 
that any attempt by Wallace to use the 4.5 exception this summer is off the 
table because of some sort of clear signal from the owner. Look what the 
veteran's exception has gotten us in recent years (Calbert Cheaney etc).

Based on what little info is out there, a kind of quid pro quo "No More 
free agents" edict is perfectly plausible. Gaston not only let the 
discredited Wallace/Papile/Obie stay on but also gave them carte blanche to 
draft two kids no Boston-based college basketball fan had ever heard of, 
over some exceptionally "fan friendly" players who could have filled seats 
in the Fleet Center and were projected (Murphy/Bradley) in the same draft 
range.

In this sense, if Chris Wallace is exploring all the angles of a possible 
summer acquisition, he might be doing it strictly out of amusement just 
like all the rest of us. No harm there.

Go Celts!

Joe

p.s. If it provides any solace, Mark Blount blocks shots and gets offensive 
board at the same rate as Batbrain at less than 1/10th the salary. Better 
assist man too. For whatever reason, Blount didn't get many defensive 
boards last year. He could still win the starting job next year, given that 
he's unselfish and we have other guys who can score.

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