FW: [Celticsstuffgroup] Chris Herren: Is there a problem?

[Jim Metz <JBMetzEA@AOL.com>]

                   JB




Unchain My Heart!


----------
From: Jim Metz <JBMetzEA@Yahoo.com>
Reply-To: Celticsstuffgroup@yahoogroups.com
Date: Tue, 25 Sep 2001 23:07:54 -0400
To: Celtics Stuff <Celticsstuffgroup@yahoogroups.com>
Subject: [Celticsstuffgroup] Chris Herren: Is there a problem?


   Those of you that joined us on draft night will remember our pal from
Italy: Fabio. He follows very closely the Euro. scene and was able to give
us some first hand scouting reports on Radmanovich and our own Croatian;
Josep Sesar.
  Fabio "The Fabulous" has joined here as well and I hope he can give us the
inside story on Chris Herren's sudden departure from his Italian team. The
following appeared in the Boston Globe on Sept 23rd.:


PRO BASKETBALL NOTES
Herren quickly says arrivederci
By Peter May, 9/23/2001
ortitudo Bologna opens its 2001-02 season tonight on the road in Avellino.
Chris Herren, signed in July to be the team's point guard, won't be with
them. His Italian experience is over before it ever really began.
Herren is likely to return home this week to an uncertain basketball future.
He would have preferred to return home sooner, but there were problems
getting a flight back to the United States following the terrorist attacks
Sept. 11.
There are conflicting reports and rumors as to what exactly happened with
Herren in Italy, but this much is known: Herren left the team a week ago
while it was in Chiavari for training camp. He never rejoined it, remaining
in the Bologna area with his wife, Heather, who is pregnant. The team then
went out and signed ex-Laker John Celestand to take Herren's place, another
sign that his services were no longer needed.
Early stories had Herren and his wife concerned over the possible loss of
family members in the attacks. That proved untrue.
''He's just not that anxious to stay under the current circumstances,'' said
one of Herren's agents, Frank Catapano. ''My impression was that his wife,
and the pregnancy, was the main issue.''
Catapano and agent Michael Martin are trying to work out a termination
agreement with the Italian club. Entering the weekend, nothing had been
completed. Those procedures can be difficult, frustrating, and complicated,
as any agent who has done business in Europe will attest. The club already
has taken a stance of sorts in signing Celestand.
Attempts to reach Herren in Italy were unsuccessful. He was briefly quoted
last Tuesday on an international basketball Web site, saying he was trying
to decide what to do. ''I took a couple of days just to figure out a couple
of things with my wife, you know,'' he said. He had appeared in only one
game, an exhibition contest, and had only 2 points while missing all three
of his shots from the field in a loss to Scavolini Pesaro.
Both Martin and Catapano said they had heard nothing about any basketball
problems Herren might have had with the team. But Fortitudo clearly shed no
tears when Herren left, and there were rumblings among the Italian media
last week that he and the Fortitudo coach, Matteo Boniciollo, did not get
along. That would not be the first time an American has not seen eye to eye
with his European coach.
Herren was the sole American on the team, which also included two
Slovenians, one Bulgarian, one Russian, one Croat, and one Belgian. European
basketball isn't for everyone, especially for younger players. (Herren turns
26 Thursday.) It can be an unsettling existence, or even worse.
Americans are expected to post big numbers and are generally seen as the
scapegoat when things go wrong because they are high-profile as well as
expendable. There are two-a-day practices throughout the year as well as
other things (running), which make it vastly different from American
basketball. Some figure it out and prosper because it can be a way to make a
good living. Others find it impossible.
What's next for Herren? Catapano said he has not contacted any NBA teams,
but Herren does have two years of experience, and that could be enough to
get him invited to someone's training camp. The Celtics, with three point
guards, aren't interested. Failing that, there's the National Basketball
Development League, which launches in November and might be a place where
Herren gets what he really needs: playing time.
NBDL players will be eligible to sign with any NBA team. The league may not
be what Herren wants or what he feels he deserves. But he may have to take a
step or two back before he goes forward again.......................

This story ran on page C17 of the Boston Globe on 9/23/2001.
) Copyright 2001 Globe Newspaper Company.


                  JB




Unchain My Heart!


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