Re: Bskball.com Column

[Josh Ozersky <igtcjosh@yahoo.com>]

The problem with this is that, even if you agree with
the need, the minimum for a 10-year vet is $1 million,
and it's doubtful we could do that as a one year deal.
 Less than ten years, a guy still is in his prime,
more or less.  In fact, though, Battie and Blount are
much more imposing defensive players than X-man or
Eddie Pinckney.  Neither of those guys was a
legitimate shotblocker.  I would like to see somebody
on the team, preferably Vitaly, become a "cop" in the
X-Man / Derek Smith / M.L. Carr tradition.

Josh
--- "j.hironaka" <j.hironaka@unesco.org> wrote:
> At 06:53 21/09/01 -0400, Jim Metz wrote:
> >           My point here, is that, if we really
> want to make a serious
> >playoff run this year, it would be worth carrying a
> point guard, in case
> >Anderson and Brown don't get out of the gate.
> >            The best basketball the C's played at
> Shaw's was when Khalid
> >El-Amin was on the floor, everyone saw it. O'Brien
> and Pappile both gushed,
> >but someone upstairs killed the move and Dallas
> moved in. This seems to be a
> >money decision, not a basketball one.
> 
> Hi JB:
> 
>          The Celts essentially have a depth of just
> four players for three 
> starting positions at C-F. Of these guys (Potapenko,
> Battie, Blount and 
> Walker) none really rate high on defense compared to
> what you'd get from 
> even a downside veteran of say a Xavier McDaniel or
> Ed Pinckney calibre. 
> And none of our frontline guys are older than
> 25-years or so, although 
> don't quote me.
> 
>          When the front office backed off of El Amin
> as part of a four 
> point guard mix, my sense is that it wasn't over
> guaranteed money but 
> rather our greater need at a precariously thin
> position (CF).
> 
>          Yeah, well that's what I thought. Now its
> much less certain 
> Wallace will even address that need before the
> season starts, but I still 
> view it as our Achilles' heal. One big man injury
> and you're talking about 
> Eric Williams or Waltah getting posted up on every
> night.
> 
>          A wily veteran rebounder/defender could
> provide the difference in 
> making the playoffs and gaining invaluable team
> maturity and confidence 
> about our overall sense of direction. I'm talking
> even about 
> Medicare/Medicaid elibible guys like Kevin Willis or
> AC Green.
> 
>          I don't have a specific FA player in mind
> (high character, 
> consistent overachiever types with coaching/teaching
> aspirations), but I'm 
> certainly not thinking about another CBA pickup, as
> Chris Wallace hinted.
> 
> ----