Re: Brendan Haywood

["Jim Meninno" <Jim_Meninno@hotmail.com>]

----- Original Message ----- From: Berry, Mark S <berrym@BATTELLE.ORG>

> I'm guessing Haywood will move up after workouts. Read this scouting
report
> from maurer scouting (http://www.geocities.com/maurerscouting/
> <http://www.geocities.com/maurerscouting/>  -- it has some great scouting
> reports) and tell me where a guy like this should be drafted.

It's hard to imagine that a seven footer with athleticism, offensive skills
and shot blocking ability, who's graduating from a college hoops powerhouse,
is not taken in the lottery just becuase he has a tendency to lose focus.
Never having heard of maurer scouting, some of the questionable English of
the piece makes me suspicious (e.g. "...has improved remarkable since his
freshman year...").  Bottom line is, I want to believe that Haywood is a
severely underrated center who is going to fall into our laps and have a
much better pro career than he did in college, because that would solve so
many problems for the Celtics.  I am totally wanting somebody to convince me
that he is going to be the next Robert Parish.  He's going to "run the court
and move like no 7 footer should" in the 2002 NBA Finals until Shaq is
barely able to make it over half court.  But how can so many NBA scouts and
writers be so wrong about such a prominent big man?  If he is taken by the
Celtics at 10/11, I wouldn't be that scared, but if he's still on the board
at 21, there's got to be something wrong with him.  All I can say is, I hope
Wallace and Papile know what they're doing.

Jim