Bradley

[kevin from singapore <bostonceltics17@yahoo.com>]

I like Bradley. Players who has a low post game are a rarity nowadays
(even in the nba). I am just a little bit worried about his wing-span.
If he got short arms ala Michael Smith, then I will not want Bradley.
Other than that, I like him more such as opposed to: 

Troy Murphy -  whom I read shoots well, but does he have low posts
moves? 6-10 and all you do is shoot the ball (well)? Without seeing
Murphy (or any other draftees for that matter), such perimeter
shooting big man, reminds me of Pat Garrity, Matt Bullard, Brad
Lohous, Brad Sellers. If Troy is altheletic enough to slash and drive
or creates his own shot, then I am interested (I talk as if I am the
one drafting !! couldn't help it, sorry)

http://www.telegram.com/sports/bradley.html

Bradley works, Celtics watch
Thursday, June 14, 2001
By Bill Doyle
Telegram & Gazette Staff
WALTHAM-- Some athletes don't want to play for their hometown team.
Worcester's Michael Bradley isn't one of them. He'd enjoy nothing more
than to play for the team he's rooted for since he can remember, the
Celtics.
     “I would love to play at home,” Bradley said after the Celtics
worked him out yesterday at the Sports Authority Training Center at
HealthPoint. “A lot of guys don't really want that. They think it
might be too much pressure. I'm close to an hour away (in Worcester).
That's far enough for me.”
     The Celtics' six-year playoff drought doesn't bother Bradley.
He'd like to be part of their turnaround.
     “They already have two All-Stars (Antoine Walker and Paul
Pierce), so I could just come in here and do what's necessary,
anything to help the team win,” Bradley said.
     Bradley figures he'll be drafted anywhere from fifth to 16th in
the first round of the draft on June 27. Celtics coach Jim O'Brien
hears Bradley could go anywhere from seventh to 19th.
     The Celtics like Bradley's game and love the strength he has
added through weight training, but they already have in Walker a power
forward who passes well and shoots 3-pointers. They're looking for
perimeter shooters with the 10th and 11th picks.
     The Celtics are leaning toward taking a point guard with the 21st
pick, but they'd gladly select Bradley there if he slipped down that
far. The 6-foot-10, 230-pound former Villanova star is unlikely to
last that long, however.
     Seattle, which owns the 12th pick and has grown dissatisfied with
former University of Hartford star Vin Baker, has shown great interest
in Bradley.
     That's the way things look today. It could all change in the two
weeks before the draft.
     Bradley arrived in Boston Tuesday night from Chicago, where he
spent five days at the NBA predraft camp. He has also worked out in
Houston, Orlando, Vancouver, Seattle and Golden State -- where former
Celtics center Dave Cowens showed him some post moves. He is scheduled
to work out in New Jersey today and in Atlanta tomorrow.
     For an hour and a half, Bradley worked out with two other big men
-- Vladimir Radmanovic, who played professionally the last two years
in his native Yugoslavia, and Brian Scalabrine of USC. With O'Brien,
Celtics general manager Chris Wallace and director of player personnel
Leo Papile looking on, they did agility drills and sprints, but mostly
showed off their shooting skills. They shot 3-pointers -- Bradley sank
six in a row from one spot -- jumpers, layups, hooks and dunks. They
played one-on-one. All three shot the ball well.
     “He's very, very skilled around the basket,” O'Brien said. “He
shot the ball really well at the three; it looks like he's been
working on that. He's as skilled a low-post guy as there is in the
draft right now, especially in light of the fact that there are a lot
of high school players who have not developed their games.”
     “I think he's going to be in this league for a long time,”
Scalabrine said. “He's one of those guys who understands the game.
He's a tough, hard-nosed, Big East-style of a player. He's big-time.”
     “It's fun, but you're anxious, you're a little nervous,” Bradley
said of the workout. “You want to go out there and be calm and let
your game do the talking.”
     Bradley, 22, had more reason to be calm than Radmonovic and
Scalabrine. He felt right at home. Before O'Brien accompanied Rick
Pitino to Boston, he recruited Bradley to the University of Kentucky.
     “I think he's a great coach,” Bradley said. “He's a down-to-earth
guy. He's easy to talk to and he works his guys hard and gets a lot
out of them.”
     Papile coached Bradley for two summers on his Boston Amateur
Basketball Club team along with Monty Mack, Jonathan DiPina and
Shannon Crooks, all of whom went on to play for UMass, and Elton
Tyler, who played for Miami.
     “We would win every tournament every weekend,” Bradley said. “We
had to keep Leo happy.”
     Bradley was also familiar with the rims at HealthPoint because he
worked out there often with Pitino and O'Brien two summers ago while
he was transferring from Kentucky to Villanova.
     “If anything, I had a little bit of an advantage,” Bradley
agreed.
     “What you don't get in a workout like this,” O'Brien said, “is
you really can't see how good of a passer he is, but I already know
how good of a passer he is.”
     Bradley will become the first NBA player from Worcester in 11
seasons.
     Former South High star Cedric Ball was not drafted out of North
Carolina-Charlotte but played seven games for the Los Angeles Clippers
in the 1990-91 season. Before that, Dwayne McClain played the 1985-86
season for the Indiana Pacers after he was drafted in the second round
in 1985. McClain also played for Villanova, helping the Wildcats win
the NCAA title. Bradley said he has never met McClain, but he realizes
his hometown is rooting for him.
     “I'm just trying to do the best I can and make myself, my family,
and the whole city of Worcester proud,” he said.