RE: I'm on the Nazr Mohammed bandwagon

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

Oh, I don't think the triangle makes those guys spot-up shooters. I'm
imagining the Chicago triangle, when Jordan, Pippen and Harper were always
slashing and cutting to the basket. The triangle is a little different with
Shaq.

As for Jerome Williams and Othella Harrington... not bad. Not sure where
they'd get their minutes, though. The reason I like Nazr and Dale Davis is
they can play center. I'm just plugging Toine in for 30 mpg strictly at
power forward, and another 12 mpg when he's playing PG, but defending the
PF. (That means a Forte or someone is in the lineup to defend the PG, so
you're still not getting a PF on the floor.) I don't think there are a lot
of minutes for a backup PF. But center... now there's plenty of room for
improvement there.

Mark

P.S. As for Kestas' comments about wanting a home-grown championship team...
The Celtics traded for Robert Parish and Dennis Johnson, but they quickly
became part of the Celtic family. The Lakers traded away home-grown Vlade
Divac to draft Kobe, and basically gave away George Lynch and others in
order to sign Shaq. Philly traded for Ratliff, McKie, Lynch, Ty Hill, Eric
Snow and later Dikembe Mutombo. Do you think the Sixers had any trouble
adopting those guys? The idea that this team is going to just add from the
draft and be a championship contender is fantasy. I'm looking forward to
seeing these guys develop as well, but let's be realistic. There will be
trades. I don't think we're going to see constant roster turnover, but the
idea has to be constantly improving the team, and you do that by dealing
from strength to fill a weakness. This team has a glut of swingmen that
eventually will sort itself out through trades. I don't think anyone is out
of line or even jumping the gun by throwing out suggestions like Walker for
Webber. You don't know when opportunities will present themselves, and you
have to grab them when they're there. Who mentioned the Suns, who at one
time had Kidd, Kevin Johnson and Steve Nash? That's a great example. You
just have to be sure you make the right deals.

 -----Original Message-----
From: 	OzerskyJA [mailto:OzerskyJA@cmog.org] 
Sent:	Friday, June 29, 2001 11:16 AM
To:	'Berry, Mark  S'; 'celtics@igtc.com'
Subject:	RE: I'm on the Nazr Mohammed bandwagon

Boy, Dale Davis would really be a great fit on
this team.  We would be better than Toronto tomorrow
if we got him.  Jerome Williams would be a great fit,
too.  Othella Harrington; guys like that.  Dale Davis
is a legit center, though.  As for the triangle, I tend
to doubt O'Brien is going to use Johnson, Brown, and
Forte as spot-up jump shooters.  There is a reason they
drafted these guys after all.

-----Original Message-----
From: Berry, Mark S [mailto:berrym@BATTELLE.ORG]
Sent: Friday, June 29, 2001 11:00 AM
To: 'celtics@igtc.com'
Subject: I'm on the Nazr Mohammed bandwagon


We're at a disadvantage because we can only offer the $4.5 mill exception,
but things can be done. If Nazr makes it clear to the Hawks he will take
that exception elsewhere because he wants to start, then he has a little
leverage to force a sign-and-trade. I certainly could see a Vitaly-based
sign-and-trade package going to the Hawks for Nazr, and locking him up at
somewhere around $6 mill a year. The guy isn't an all-star, but he's better
than anyone on our roster. He'd come in and start right away, and keep
Battie and Blount in their natural roles. He's a pretty good rebounder and
shot-blocker, about 6-10 but solidly built. He'd be a great addition.
Everyone knows about his friendship with Toine, and I wonder how he feels
about O'Brien? Just seems like a natural target.

By the way, whether it's Nazr or someone else, I expect the Celts to
actively explore moving either Vitaly or Battie this summer for either a
point guard (not likely) or more of an impact big man. I have no idea who
(other than Nazr) but it just seems to make sense. I could see Portland
having a real interest in Vitaly, and Dale Davis is available. 

One more thing... I don't know who mentioned it in a post yesterday, but I
wanted to comment on the thought that the triangle offense seems like a
natural fit for the Celtics. I think that's genius. Now, it will never
happen because O'Brien would rather play five small forwards and have them
shoot 3-pointers all day (oops, that slipped out)... but the triangle would
be perfect for the Celts. It de-emphasizes the traditional point guard and
center (our weaknesses), emphasizes long, versatile slashers and shooters,
and demands passing and player movement. With all of these talented
swingmen, I think we'd see a beautiful offense. Too bad Tex Winter didn't
join the team with Dick Harter.

Mark

P.S. I agree with Josh that as optimistic as most of us are, we probably
still are underestimating the talent we just pulled. This draft was
incredible. I think in Joe Johnson and Kedrick Brown, we got what normally
would be top-five talent in most drafts, and Forte probably late lottery. We
may not see it all this year, but the first two guys could turn into
definite impact players, and Forte may even become a starter at some point.
It creates a logjam, but that will sort itself out through trades.