RE: More on the draft, now Diop.

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

At 13:47 04/06/01 -0400, OzerskyJA wrote:
>Boy, this Gasol better be good if we trade two picks for him and
>Diop is available at ten.

I'm starting to wonder if it isn't just hot gas Boston is after in leaking 
Peter May to sell the trade-everything-up-for-Gasol draft scenario.

Maybe Wallace is trying to hype the Barcelona kid into being drafted 
higher, to improve the pickings at 10-11....namely to increase the slight 
odds of getting Joe Johnson to fall. Someone's got to move up to fill the 
depth vacancy in the 1-9 range, assuming Tyson Chandler and maybe Sagana 
Diop are both slipping. Maybe we are hoping to send a "if you don't draft 
Gasbag, we will" message to the teams immediately ahead of us.

I'll say this, if Chris Wallace is actually serious and he pulls off this 
trade, it will represent one of the flat-out ballsiest moves in Boston 
history. Gasol is not a franchise bigman, there isn't a scouting report in 
the world that says he can play a lick of defense or pass the ball (two 
turnovers for every assist), he's tapeworm/gumbydoll thin, and he might not 
be eligible for a year. On the face of it, you'd have to say the price of 
"Gas" these days is spiralling out of control (a 10th and 11th pick).

But Chris Wallace knows what he's doing. I have to keep faith in Wallace, 
if he ultimately decides to pull the trigger and trades up for him. If he 
thinks this guy could be a great transition scorer/dunker in the Tom 
Chambers mold, then go for it what the hell. Chambers couldn't pass or 
rebound much either, but he could score against anyone in the world. I 
remember him winning MVP in a mid-80s All Star game....he was just superb.

This is a trade that could have lasting repercussions for the franchise. 
Either he's a costlier mistake than Michael Smith/ Frederic "Edel" Weis or 
he steps into our starting lineup next to Antoine and starts raining in 
points like Peja Stojakovic.

The key for Gasol is how he'll react psychologically to the higher level of 
play. If in the first week of practice, Moiso and McCarty take turns 
outquicking him and shutting him down defensively, he could very well pull 
a Fred "Edel" Weis and never look for his own shot again. Getting shut down 
by two end-of-the-bench players who are just as tall and quicker than you 
could really damage his confidence. It depends on how badly Gasbag wants to 
come kick ass in the NBA.

He better want it more than Poodle Boy seems to. If he doesn't, then forget 
it. Like we really need another Celtics player complaining about how watery 
American coffee is.

Joe

p.s. FWIW, the price of gas in France is well over US$1 per liter (a quart) 
so filling up a tank of gas can easily run you up over $60. Back in the 
USA, I'm telling you, you can probably still fill up several 18-wheelers 
with that much money and have enough left to top off your humvee. Well I 
exaggerate, but there is a big difference in gas prices over here and I 
hope Gasol isn't similarly "overpriced", excuse my digression.

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