Re: [...]''He's in fantastic physical condition,.. ."

[bird <birdwl@earthlink.net>]

> From: Kestas <Kestutis.Kveraga@dartmouth.edu>

> Maybe I am too harsh on him. But I find it suspicious that they were
> singing this "we're going to stick with the 14 guys we have" tune all
> summer, bypassed a better PG prospect in El-Amin, pretended Mase, Trent 
> and
> others were not out there to be signed - and all of a sudden, the minute
> Herren steps off the plane in Logan, they're all over him like a bunch of
> NBA groupies?

Yes, this much is true.  I do believe you're correct when you bring up the 
PR benefits to the organization in regards to Chris Herren: he is a 
local-area phenom and he happens to be white, which isn't going to turn 
off a lot of people in the Hub I guess.  What this hinges on is the status 
of Randy Brown.  Now if management was thinking that Brown was going to go 
through the season without injury, then they've got a screw loose.  But, 
considering that, it wasn't unlike them (or any NBA team) to start talking 
up a situation that is going to happen anyway.  In other words, we can't 
sign another player because of Gaston's tightfistedness, so let's just say 
that we wanted to go with 14 guys instead of 15 all along.  Once they've 
got a injury situation, Wallace & Co. can start looking for that guy -- 
hey, who's that walking off the plane there? Myself, I'm tired of a 15-man 
roster: we seem to focus on quantity and not quality, but then again, I'd 
hate to go through another PG situation like last year.  Our points were 
like red shirts on a Star Trek episode: bound to go down.  Do you really 
think El-Amin is a better prospect?  I agree he has better distribution 
skills (i.e. is a better point guard) but I'm not as convinced as I was 
2-3 years ago that the team needs a traditional PG: none of our other 
players seems a traditional anything, or if they do aren't played in that 
position (V as a PF playing center, Battie same deal, Walker as PF, you 
get the idea).

> No, I don't really know why he left Bologna, but I do know that his only
> game for them was very poor, and that his coach didn't think much of his
> abilities after seeing him play. Which is probably why Herren didn't see
> eye-to-eye with him. If he can't cut it in the Italian league, how is he
> going to succeed in the NBA?

Anybody can have a bad game, or a bad experience leading to a string of 
bad performance.  I can't see Herren regressing so much from his 
performance with the C's last year, though, (I mean, I think he did 
decently, given his "rookie" status and the facts that he had to start for 
a while and had to struggle through injury), and I'd think comparing NBA 
performances to NBA performances is better than comparing it to the 
Baloney league.  In other words, hopefully he'll play more like the kid 
who got 17 and 10 in a game last year, and not the kid who stunk it up, 
going 0-3 for the Italian team.  Maybe Herren _won't_ succeed in the 
NBA -- what is he, like our 14th or 15th man?

Similarly, it might be better for those who would rather have a big man as 
the 15th guy to compare point guards with point guards.  The team clearly 
wasn't looking for another big man, or if it was it was a CBA-type like 
Salvadori (sp?) or something.  Anthony Mason wasn't going to happen.  
Neither was Gary Trent.  Let's face it: for whatever reason, the team's 
braintrust would rather go with the big men we have, clearly have a stock 
of swingmen to choose from over the next few years, and is concerned 
(rightly so) about the situation at the point.  So much so that they're 
thinking about playing our PF as a PG on offense.

(By the way, this whole "Antoine-at-point-guard" has all the indications 
of a serious misnomer: Walker will distribute the ball on offense (just as 
he's always done -- at least under Obie) but he won't guard the opposing 
team's point on D -- that'll be some other guy, maybe Joe Johnson, K. 
Brown, or some other swingman-type.  Is this really "Antoine as PG" or is 
it just business-as-usual with a different label (and the fact that there 
might not be a "point guard" (read: KA, R. Brown, Palacio or Herren) on 
the court for us at the time?)  I have a feeling it's more the latter.)

Regards,

(The Celtic "Tird",
  Celticus "tirdius")