RE: Wallace: On Portland Deal, and Brown

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

At 11:24 26/06/01 -0400, OzerskyJA wrote:
>in today's globe, there's a big article on CW.  They also
>have his mentor saying that he's planning something big,
>napoleonic:  that doesn't sound like a Bonzi Wells deal to me.

Similarly, the Bulpett article gives no hint at all to suggest this 
Portland rumour, including the Bonzi component, is any part of Boston's 
plans. There's a bit of Diop info at the end.

We all agree that the McCarty and a first round pick for 3 mil, and the 
Anderson and all three picks for Christian Laettner and 3 mil, were 
abominable. But I really think Chris Wallace is looking to go out in a 
blaze of glory, rather than come up with the cash and trades that get his 
boss out of paying the luxury tax next year. If he gets fired for 
insubordination, he'll find an equivalent job somewhere else. Tomorrow is 
going to be fun, and we should enjoy the moment. Meantime we should fund 
raise to get 3 million cash for Gaston to promise to sell the team. Hard to 
find a worse Boston owner, and that's saying a lot. For awhile he road 
along with the whole Pitino good times groove of building health point, 
signing Walker a year early etc. (and saw share prices soar incidentally). 
But quickly he clamped the breaks on it all and went in a different 
direction. It's time for him to leave.

-----
http://www2.bostonherald.com/sport/basketball/cs06262001.htm
C's conference call: We're close
by Steve Bulpett
Tuesday, June 26, 2001
They watched the 76ers go to the NBA Finals and give the Lakers a decent 
run on one leg for a few games. Then they pondered recent history, 
realizing it wasn't long ago they were in lockstep with Philly.
The Celtics then came to the conclusion they are not far away from the 
Sixers and real contention in the Eastern Conference.
``We ain't that far away at all and after Wednesday night, we'll be a lot 
closer, I know that,'' said director of player personnel Leo Papile, 
referring to tomorrow night's draft. ``A whole lot closer.
``Right now, I don't see anyone on our schedule in the East that I'm afraid 
of playing. I don't think anybody can. There's no team that you say, `Oh, 
no, we've got no shot against them.' It's very possible to get to the 
50-win level in this conference. There's a lot of parity.''
The words sound strange coming from an employee of a team that hasn't been 
to the playoffs since 1995, but the belief is strong and it is shared 
within the organization.
``I think we are close,'' coach Jim O'Brien said after watching the Finals 
and measuring his club against the East through the year. ``There are 
things we have to accomplish to get there, starting with the draft. I'd 
compare us more with a team like Milwaukee, but I do think we're close (to 
the top conference teams) and we have the ability to get there.''
To improve from 36 wins (20 fewer than the Sixers, 16 off Milwaukee's 
pace), a giant step must be taken tomorrow when the Celts pick at Nos. 10, 
11 and 21 in the first round. As with Philly and Allen Iverson, general 
manager Chris Wallace thinks the key blocks are already in place.
``I don't think we're as far away as people think,'' he said. ``Even during 
the dark days over the last couple of years, I've felt the glass here was 
more half full than half empty. I mean, the first fundamental building 
block you have to have in the NBA is guys who can carry the mail, who can 
make plays down the stretch in big-time games. That's more than any 
positional need. And we have two guys in Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker who 
can do that.
``Now our chore is to surround them with the type of talent that can 
support them, that can carry them on a bad day, that can carry us if they 
got hurt for a while, that in close games will keep opposing defenses from 
concentrating solely on our big guns. That's what we need and I believe we 
can come up with those type of players in this draft. I'm not saying these 
guys are going to be franchise players or that we'll be reserving space for 
them on the banners with the retired numbers, but they can be very 
legitimate third and fourth options on a successful team and maybe even 
grow into more than that down the road.''
While it would seem the Celtics have a ways to go with their rebounding and 
general interior presence, a better mental approach is also a key.
``The first big thing that happened with Philly is they got their superstar 
plugged in,'' said Papile. ``Then with Iverson having bought in to what 
they wanted to do, they surrounded him with role players that were tough - 
and they were better defensively. They made much better strides defensively 
than this program has.''
The Celtics were fifth worst in the NBA in opponents' field goal percentage 
this past season; the Sixers were fifth best.
``I think Philadelphia has taken the right attitude from the standpoint of 
how much they committed to defense,'' said O'Brien. ``I think that's a step 
that we have not taken yet. I think we became better defensively down the 
stretch, but we lapsed some. I think that's part of the maturing process, 
understanding there are two sides to the equation. One is we are developing 
people that can score on a regular basis, and the other is we have to 
defend our basket.
``I'd say the most important things for us are our ability for our players 
to buy into Philadelphia's defensive intensity and commitment and also our 
ability to surround Antoine and Paul and maybe a third scorer that we can 
get.''
Celtics notes
The C's did get their wish and an audience with 6-foot-11, 310-pound high 
schooler DeSagana Diop yesterday.
Team personnel flew into Philly and drove over to New Jersey to see the 
product of Senegal go through his paces. Diop had previously just worked 
out for the top seven teams in the draft, but he opened his door to the 
next few teams in line.
``He's big and powerful,'' said Papile. ``And he looked to be in good 
shape, which was in some question after his stress fracture (foot). I think 
the purpose was to put to rest any doubts about how he came back after the 
injury, and he did that.''
Diop averaged 14 points, 13 rebounds and eight blocked shots last season 
for Oak Hill Academy in Virginia.