Response to ESPN power rankings and a litany of soapbox preaching

["I am. . . Anonymous" <ktoreed@yahoo.com>]

Articles like this ESPN power ranking qualify as hack
journalism.  It reads like a Peter May column.  Every
team gets a few  stupid, "witty", and often
unsubstantiated one-liners with more supposed
entertainment than factual value; acts of generic
simpletons.  

Who cares what these people think?  I don't.  Does
someone want to research their past predictions and
see how they've panned out?  Probably not, it's not
worth the effort.

I would like to highlight one particularly inane
comment:    

<<11. Minnesota Timberwolves	
Comment: Kevin Garnett remains their greatest asset
AND greatest 
obstacle.
That kind of money is justified only by rings.
<<

It baffles me how stupid journalists always fault good
players for their lack of rings, even insinuating that
it's their fault.  Has the author even seen the
Timberwolves play?  Garnett is the heart and soul of
that team.  He is the only reason that team is
competitive and that fans willingly buy tickets to
watch the games.  

People also said such blasphemy against players such
as John Elway and Roger Clemens.  They continue to say
such things about Randy Johnson.  Stupid stupid
stupid.

Lets trade Garnett for Horace Grant.  Then we'll see
what happens.  Look at all the rings Grant has!  

While I'm ranting, I'd like to address the argument
made by a list member that since the 
Battie/Potapenko/Blount coalition has no chance
against Shaq and the Lakers in a Chamionship series,
and it's all about the rings, the Celtics should do
something drastic.  Is there a single team in the
history of the NBA that went from the gutter to a
championship?  I suppose San Antonio did, but that was
when the team added both Duncan (drafted) and Robinson
(sat out the season before with an injury and a
team-sanctioned vacation to improve their lottery
chances) -really an extenuating circumstance.    

Besides, Mutumbo couldn't stop Shaq.  David Robinson,
Duncan (really a PF) and Divac couldn't stop Shaq
either.  

We don't need someone to stop Shaq, just to MAKE THE
DAMN PLAYOFFS!  Please, Celts... MAKE THE PLAYOFFS
NEXT YEAR!!  PLEEEAAAASSSSEEEE!!!!!!!!!  PLEASE PLEASE
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE
PLEASE

Make the playoffs, get the young-ins some experience,
then sign and trade Pierce for a real center.  Yeah
you heard it, sign and trade Pierce.  Sure, Pierce had
an exceptional offensive year, and the media loves
him.  Which inflates his trade value!  Move him.  He's
the next Stackhouse.  As he's focused more and more on
offense, his defense has regressed every year.  If he
doesn't get enough touches he will whine and pout and
basically disappear from the game.  Everyone in the
national media seems to think he's the next Superstar.
 Well then, surely the C's could swing Pierce and Eric
Williams for some pretty good inside players, eh?  

I'll admit that I'm not really that down on Pierce,
but someone has to play Devil's Advocate here, the
man's gotten a free ride his whole career since Pitino
and Walker's taken the brunt of the criticism.

You heard it here first - Pierce:  the guy refuses to
exert effort on D, has a lot of turnovers for a player
who doesn't dribble very much, and doesn't look for
his teammates.  How many times has Pierce tried to
force a shot against a double or triple team while his
teammates are open?  Anytime he does pass it's like an
afterthought, passing not to set up a teammate but
only because the defense has taken away his shot. 
Although he can score, his court vision is very very
average.  What can Pierce do that Stackhouse can't?

So there, punks.  Attack me.  Tell me how retarded I
am since I'm slandering your lil baby.  But remember,
you heard it here first.  If the new picks get any
time next season, then Pierce will either receive
significantly fewer touches or draw the wrath of his
teammates.  Remember last year when an anonymous team
player complained about Pierce's ball-hogging?

I wish Pierce was more well-rounded rather than just a
scorer.  Maybe it's just because he was young last
year with no supporting cast and Walker constantly
setting him up in the post.  But maybe... it's a
warning sign that he is the next Stackhouse.  Lets
trade him now while he is the media's darling Pierce
before they finally figure out, with the influx of
scoring talent, that he's really just a Stackhouse.

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