Woods moving up, but do Celtics care?

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

This from SportsTalk.com...

"Tuesday we reported that Shane Battier, in a workout with the Hawks in
Atlanta earlier this month, finished first in their Superman drill in which
the draft candidates dunked until they dropped. Well, Battier has a new
challenger. Wednesday, Loren set an Atlanta record for this year with 76.
The buzz concerning Woods continues to go with one scout saying that Woods
was now firmly in the top 9 in the draft. Thursday he is working out in
Cleveland."

Back to me.... OK, so that puts Curry, Chandler, Diop, Woods and arguably
Brown in the mix as lottery-worthy centers. Maybe even Haywood. There's a
chance three of those guys could be available when the Celtics pick. Are we
interested? Depends on if you believe Jim O'Brien as quoted in today's
Herald...

"O'Brien is not eager to draft a center, remaining comfortable with the
three-man rotation of Vitaly Potapenko, Tony Battie, and Mark Blount.
''People will say we don't have a great center, but we have three centers
that we're very happy with,'' said O'Brien. ''When we're looking at any
center in the draft, we would have to say how long would it take somebody to
become our starting center. If the answer is not in the forseeable future,
then I don't think we would take that player.''

Me again.... I know, I know... take everything they say between now and the
draft with a grain of salt. But they were saying this during the season. Do
they really believe Potapenko-Battie-Blount are the answer? Would they
really pass on what might be a one-time chance to draft a young impact
center late in the lottery? These are my concerns with O'Brien and Wallace.
They seem satisfied with this collection of backup centers. They seem
convinced that Antoine is strictly a power forward-unless he's a point
guard. And if we play him at point guard, it's so we can get those noted
3-point snipers Eric Williams and Walter McCarty into the game. All the
while, we're performing as the worst rebounding team in the NBA. And they
tell us our biggest need is... a wing player who can score!?!?!? 

Sigh... I really don't know if I want to buy into the Loren Woods buzz, and
I know only what I read about DeSagna Diop or Tyson Chandler. But if they're
as good as everyone else seems to think they are, then they seem a pretty
safe bet to be better than the stiffs we have at center right now. And Eddy
Curry is the best of the bunch. Watch the finals and see the impact of
strong center play-by both Shaq and Mutombo. Think about the Celtics'
centers. Forget about stats. Shaq had 34 points and 14 rebounds last night.
Sure, the Celtics probably could add up the stats for Battie, Pot and Blount
on a given night and come up with something in the neighborhood of 30 points
and 15 rebounds, but they don't really believe that means anything, do they?
Do they???

Anyway, if Woods moves into the top nine, who falls to 10 and 11? Diop seems
to be one popular choice, but doesn't that mean one of the perimeter players
also slides out? Joe Johnson? Gasol? And if we follow O'Brien's thinking and
don't draft Diop because he won't become our starting center "in the
foreseeable future" then who do we take? Jefferson? Cook?  We can't afford
to blow this draft. We'll never have another chance like this. If we don't
trade up for one of the studs, we have to be perfect with the picks at 10
and 11.

On a draft roller coaster...

Mark