This and that...

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

The speculation that Gasol may drop out of the draft probably is bogus.
There were the same rumors about Nowitzki and it seems about every European
player. His stock is soaring... why would he drop out? I certainly hope he
doesn't. Even if the Celts don't nab him, that means he's gone before 10 and
pushes someone else (Chandler? Diop? Johnson?) to Boston. Seems to me there
is a  general consensus about the top 10 players-Brown, Curry, Griffin,
Battier, Richardson, Chandler, White, Diop, Johnson and Gasol. The Celts
need to land at least one of those guys if they stay at 10 and 11.

Sportstalk is reporting that all four teams at the top of the
draft-Washington, Clips, Atlanta and Chicago-are shopping their picks, and
says more established teams, "like the Knicks, T-Wolves and Celtics" are
willing to wait on a youngster. I'm getting more and more vibes that we're
going to be moving up in this draft. If you just have to give up 10 and 11
to get in the top four and get either Brown, Curry, Griffin or Gasol, then
that's a move I'd be happy with. Jordan's quotes in the Wash. Post today
give a lot of insight into his thinking. He basically says he doesn't see an
instant impact franchise player and feels he might be better off picking up
two players later in the draft. The problem with that line of thinking is I
think there might actually be three eventual franchise players in the
draft-Brown, Curry and Griffin-if a team can exercise a little patience.

The Sixers were great last night. I really hope they keep it up, but I think
it might have been a case of the Lakers being rusty from the long layoff and
the Sixers being sharp after the seven-game struggle. I predict the Lakers
win the next four games, and I wouldn't be surprised to see the Sixers
challenge some records for fewest points in a Finals game. Phil Jackson's
greatest strength as a coach, in my opinion, is his ability to prepare his
team to take away the opponent's No. 1 option. He's always willing to
flip-flop defensive assignments when necessary, and I expect him to come up
with a way to keep Iverson in check. The rest of the Sixers can't help
enough. You know Kobe is going to come back strong, and the Lakers are going
to find ways to get Fisher more involved. I hope I'm wrong, though.

How great has Dikembe Mutombo been? What a huge factor that kind of size can
be.

Mark