Go Celtics!

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

At 13:40 27/06/01 -0400, Alessandro Celtics-Fan wrote:
>Some interesting tidbits from coach O'Brien's NBA.Com chat :
>* Says that he is a big Joe Forte fan, but "I don't think he will be 
>around at pick 21".
>
>* "We intend to Paul Pierce to a long-term deal, and we are going to make 
>sure we don't pay a luxury tax. We have to use our draft picks well, 
>because free agency is not really an option".

Obie-GYN says "free agency is not really an option" but I wonder if he can 
get Gaston to change his tune if Antoine Walker can talk his best friend 
Nazr Mohammad Ali to sign at 4.5 million or whatever the veteran's 
exception is this year? If we can't pony that up because of luxury tax 
concerns, I'd be quite upset.

How again does the luxury tax work? I know you pay one dollar for every 
dollar you are over the cap, but doesn't a ton of it get redistributed back 
to teams from the likes of Portland (which will pay something like 40 
million in luxury tax?) It is basically a welfare program for 
non-billionaire NBA owners.

I don't know how its going to go over in the local papers but I am thrilled 
in every way with this BPA draft. In two years, you'll see one, two or all 
three of these kids being outstanding Boston Celtics players.

I may be proven wrong, but I prefer Joe Johnson to Rodney White in exactly 
the same way I loved Paul Pierce and disliked Ron Mercer. Assuming a player 
is above the minimum talent threshold to succeed, I say you should always 
go with the guy with better non-scoring skills. Joe Johnson has all the 
tools, Rodney White is more a specialist in the Glenn Rice mold if you ask 
me. I love that Joe Johnson talks about playing point guard at the next 
level, in the quotes Francis Hsu posted.

Kedrick Brown, same thing. I love the comparisons to Shawn Marion. There's 
going to be a lot of competition in camp and that's only going to improve 
everyone's game. I think we have a team capable of overwhelming others 
athletically.

I know people don't all agree with me, but I think Joe Forte is going to 
fit in perfectly on a team with so many excellent ball handlers and 
passers. As long as he can dribble well enough to beat the press, and hits 
the spot-up jumpers better than Stith or Herren, I don't care if he lacks 
the slick, over dribbling point guard skills.

Forte did things at UNC as a Freshman that no other player has ever done. 
He's got both the pedigree and the will to succeed. Finally, we have a guy 
named "Joe" on the team. Two guys named "Joe" in fact.

The Boston Celtics have a team Poultrino would love, but thank goodness 
he's no longer here. I do think we will go back to pressing after made 
baskets, with the new 8-second rule to cross midcourt. The Celtics have the 
athletes to make it work.

Go Celtics! Bring on the Sixers! Bring on the Gaykers! We're going to eat 
em up.

****