Re: Guidelines For The Celtics Draft

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

Jim, questions about heart and intensity are there with Haywood. As far as I
know, no one questions his size, physical ability, or basketball skills.
When I look at him, I see a guy with the body of a top-level NBA center, all
the measurables, good skills and solid, if not spectacular production. The
thing about college centers is they often are ignored by guards who dominate
the ball. That certainly was true at Carolina, where Forte was the No. 1
scoring option.

Big, legitimate NBA centers are so hard to find, and rarely appreciated.
Sure, the Shaqs, Mournings, Mutombos of the world get plenty of credit, but
they put up big numbers. I could see Haywood being a Robert Parish-type
center for 10 years-third option on offense, averaging low double figures,
rebounding at around 10 a game, defending the best centers in the league
well, blocking shots and taking up a lot of space in the lane. It's not
sexy, but it's the kind of contribution good teams desperately need. Fans
never want these kinds of guys-no one wanted the Celts to take any of last
year's centers (Mihm, Przyzbilla or Tsakalidis), but each of them seems to
have a brighter future than any big men on the Celtics' roster. I happen to
think Haywood is pretty comparable to those guys. Granted, they didn't make
a huge impact their first seasons, but I think the basketball guys in each
of those organizations would tell you they're excited about their potential.

I've seen the Haywood-Montross comparisons by fans like Ray. I see a little
Brad Daugherty in there, though... remember, the knock on Daugherty coming
out of college was he wasn't tough or aggressive enough. Still, Moiso may
have scared the Celts away from any motivation question marks. You can have
all the ability in the world, but if you don't want to play, it won't
matter. Of course, Parish had those same knocks before he came to Boston... 

Mark