RE: Lightweights Wallace & Papile & the C's Are Giving Me Bad Vibes

[OzerskyJA <OzerskyJA@cmog.org>]

nice unwarrented bit of pessimism there.  Some central
division beat writer surmises that indiana needs to move
a forward, so he's already been traded to the celtics for
a lottery pick.  Don't you think Wallace & co. are even 
more intoxicated by upside than we are?  

Meanwhile, I wouldn't get too down over the idea of acquiring
Shane Battier.  He's the least likely slider of the group Mark
mentioned, owing to his sure-fire status as a safe pick, and E-
Z marketability to diffident white fan bases in places like Memphis
Atlanta and Cleveland.  I would think that if we did get him, he
would help a lot, particularly in combination with some superfreak
athlete like Diop or Brown, whom we would take with the other pick.

And as for that business about Joe Johnson being "bored," that's the
same crap they said about Tim Duncan.  He lacked "fire in the belly,"
etc.  They said it about Paul Pierce too.  This guy can flat-out play.

-----Original Message-----
From: Way Of The Ray [mailto:wayray@ix.netcom.com]
Sent: Monday, June 25, 2001 1:39 PM
To: celtics@igtc.com
Subject: Lightweights Wallace & Papile & the C's Are Giving Me Bad Vibes


Whee, a Shane Battier/Austin Croshere draft.

Gaston will love it, but Auerbach must be turning
over in his grave, at the fact that the Celtics apparently
are taking the safe way out of this draft.

Rather than show some verve and take a risk by trading
up, where you might actually get a player who can make
a difference, the vibes eminating
from the Celtics seem to have them staying safe and sorry
at 10, with rumors circulating they might deal the 11th
pick in a convoluted three-team deal for Paul Gaston
favorite -- he loves the guy -- Austin Croshere.

And if it's not Battier/Croshere, then it could be
Croshere and Joe Johnson, the ex-Razorback,
who goes through the motions on the court, like
he's terminally bored.

Maybe Johnson was at advanced enough athletic
stage, that college basketball was truly non-challenging
to him, but after the Moiso disaster, I worry about players
that don't exhibit enthusiasm for the game.

My own enthusiasm for the game is tempered by the fact that
the Celtics seemingly are setting themselves up for a
Kerry Kittles like draft, coming out of it with good players,
but nothing great. Nothing in the long run, that will propel
them closer to a championship.

I'm also concerned about the fact that they might actually trade a
lottery pick for Croshere, a very questionable move, considering
the season he had. The fact that the owner is probably the
main force behind such a deal, brings into question Wallace
and Papile's independence and effectiveness. You get the
feeling, if Larry was in charge of the proceedings, and Gaston
wanted him to trade a lottey pick for Croshere, Bird would tell
Gaston to self-copulate. But Wallace and Papile aren't Bird.

We'll see how all this shakes out, and maybe the Celtics
will luck out with Gasol or Richardson dropping down to
ten, but I doubt it. If you look at the players selected with the
tenth pick over the past drafts, a Paul Pierce type of player
comes along every seven to ten years, so it's very unlikely
the C's will be that lucky, deep draft or no deep draft.
Ray