RE: BSG Says Walker Out Of Control

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

Isn't that what we're all doing? I thought that was what this list was
for... to express opinions about the players, coaches, management and other
aspects of the team. Or does that only apply when it's Pitino being
questioned?

Mark

-----Original Message-----
From: Cecil Wright [mailto:cecil@hfx.eastlink.ca]
Sent: Friday, March 09, 2001 4:25 PM
To: Berry, Mark S; 'Hironaka'
Cc: celtics@igtc.com
Subject: Re: BSG Says Walker Out Of Control


Seems like the argument is directed at the coaching and administration then.

Cecil



----- Original Message -----
From: "Berry, Mark S" <berrym@BATTELLE.ORG>
To: "'Hironaka'" <j.hironaka@unesco.org>; "Berry, Mark S"
<berrym@BATTELLE.ORG>
Cc: <celtics@igtc.com>
Sent: Friday, March 09, 2001 9:10 AM
Subject: RE: BSG Says Walker Out Of Control


> One more time... I'm not saying trade Toine because he's no good, has a
bad
> attitude, don't like the wiggle or any other such nonsense. I know he's a
> talent. My contention is that a team built around an undersized,
> perimeter-oriented, soft power forward is never going to win consistently.
> Stick him at small forward, Pierce at shooting guard and fill in around
the
> edges and I'm happy. But, again, it has been five years now and we still
> haven't seen Toine at small forward.
>
> It comes down to how I feel the team should be structured. I'm tired of
> getting beaten up by bigger, stronger teams. It's time for the Celtics to
> realize that this game is won by big men. Toine could be a dominant
physical
> small forward, with perimeter skills needed for the position... but if he
> isn't used that way, he's never going to be more than an undersized
matchup
> problem at the PF spot.
>
> I'm as excited about those first-rounders as anyone, but the truth is none
> of those picks figure to be higher than No. 10, and that's still a huge
> crapshoot. This will be a great draft, but look back through the history
of
> the draft at the players drafted at 10 or lower. It's not an impressive
> bunch. Maybe we'll get lucky with another Pierce, but the odds are long.
> Whoever we draft, assuming we don't luck into the top three, will be role
> players at best early in their careers. Of those five first-rounders in
the
> next three years, can you agree that we'll be lucky if two of them turn
into
> legitimate contributors? And that's over the next three years. Three
years.
> I'm not looking for a quick fix by any means, but are we going to reserve
> judgement on Toine until his eighth season? Is that when we can safely say
> "he is what he is?"
>
> Anyway, I'm not eagerly plotting Toine's departure. I just have a
different
> vision of this team than the current regime (and most of our posters,
> apparently).
>
> Mark
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Hironaka [mailto:j.hironaka@unesco.org]
> Sent: Friday, March 09, 2001 11:52 AM
> To: Berry, Mark S
> Cc: 'celtics@igtc.com'
> Subject: Re: BSG Says Walker Out Of Control
>
>
> "Berry, Mark S" wrote:
>
> > Come on, Joe, if only it were that simple. Finley and Nash are only
there
> > because the Mavs traded Kidd for them. And if these guys had matured
> > together in Dallas like you assume, they never would have been in
position
> > to draft Nowitzki. Maybe the Celts can make a Jason Kidd-type deal and
> land
> > two eventual starters/borderline all-stars like the Mavs did with Finley
> and
> > Nash.
>
>     Doh! I didn't bother to check (I thought they had drafted Finley). You
> got
> me there.
>
>     This is one of those times when it just seems crystal clear to me
that,
> after all this suffering, we should build around the edges and reap the
> benefits
> of the two captains, now that they are emerging into their mid-twenties.
> These
> days it is hard to blame our record on anything other than players 3-12,
so
> it
> seems to me to be the wrong diagnosis moving one or the other of the only
> two
> good players we have. It is like amputating someone's arm to treat jock
> itch.
>
>     It would be another thing if we were the Timberwolves, but in fact
we've
> got
> five first-rounders available in the next three years to build around
Walker
> and
> Pierce as they enter their mature mid-twenties. Some of these
first-rounders
> could easily fall in the same draft range where players the caliber of
> Walker,
> Pierce, Kobe Bryant, Nowitzki etc were originally available. It seems to
me
> that
> this is what we should all be talking about....can Wallace/Obie bring to
> Boston
> the next Kobe and not the next Moiso.
>
>     College basketball is for the first time in ages deep with quality
teams
> and
> quality players, many of them still Freshmen and Sophomores. There is
> apparently
> a high school guard named Kevin Tolbert who could really turn into
> something.
> Part of what makes it fun again to be Celtics fan is knowing that we will,
> in
> all likelihood, be able to add to our core of developing role players at
or
> under the age of 25 (Battie, Moiso, Potapenko, Blount) with even better
> athletes
> and prospects over the next few years, and do so painlessly without giving
> up
> anything in return should we so choose. We've been patient this long. Now
is
> not
> the time to farm our best players off like the Clippers do.
>
> ****
>
>