Give NJ credit

["hironaka@xxxxxxxxx"<hironaka@xxxxxxxxx>]

Well, I'd give NJ credit this summer for separating 
themselves from their nearest rivals. It makes things 
more fun to have a legit returning contender to try to 
beat.

And who would have ever thought the Nets would evolve 
into a serious Celtics rival and the class of the east? 

The Nets owners deserve as much credit as Rod Thorn, for 
spending to address flaws that needed to be addressed. 
This on a team will low attendance and hype compared to 
the Knicks.

Signing Rodney Rogers puts them at 55.2 million, which 
definitely puts them at risk of the luxury cap. Now they 
have to cross their fingers it won't happen. Peter May 
wrote that they were willing to go up to 57 million in 
payroll. I wonder if they know something Gaston doesn't 
know.

As for Wallace, he's got the Celtics at 51.8 million as 
instructed. So now its Battie that will have to go out to 
the perimeter to guard Rogers next season. Gaston clearly 
doesn't like the idea of taxes. I'm sure Wallace and Obie 
did their best to influence him. I wonder what Red 
Auerbach is thinking about the situation. I'm sure he's 
dealt with bean counters like Pond Scum before. But he 
isn't getting younger and no doubt would have liked for 
Boston to go for it all. 

For that matter, I wonder what Red thinks about Leo 
Papile's constant spinning. You go back to read the 
quotes Wallace and Papile were spewing about our three 
draft picks last year and the importance of draft picks 
etc., its just astonishing. Now Leo's telling fans that 
Bruno Sundogg would have been the fifth pick in this 
year's draft. I guess that's possible, but Leo has earned 
zero credibility lately. I don't know what gives him the 
impression that Boston fans appreciate being treated this 
way, like we're teenagers shopping for a used car. 

Well, in any case I'm looking forward to next season.

The Nets seem like the team to beat, because they have a 
scoring bench to rival anyone (Lucious, Rodney and Aaron 
Williams), defense to rival anyone (Detroit's defense 
will be great too), and showtime athleticism in the 
starting lineup with Kenyon, Jefferson, Dikimbe, Kittles 
and Jason Kidd. That lineup has "team chemistry" written 
all over it. They are going to play some scary ball next 
year...imagine what the scores would be if Rodney Rogers 
switched sides in the last playoffs? 

Its good nonetheless. The East would not be as fun 
without at least one legitimate rival, capable of blowing 
out teams by 30 on any given night. 

In fact, the Celts have a lot of exciting regular season 
games to look forward to next season, what with the Nets, 
Detroit, the Heat and Sixers etc. Maybe even the Knicks. 
McDyess was telling people last week on the Rucker League 
sidelines that he is jumping higher and faster than he 
did prior to the injury. We'll see.  

Go Celtics 2002-03!

JH


p.s. Joe Forte reportedly made an appearance at Rucker, 
playing under the name of "Joey Smooth". Kobe Bryant 
played in one game too. They broadcast some games on 
obscure Time Warner Cable channels in New York City. The 
courtside announcers are hilarious. You may have seen it, 
but there was this one white guy who was playing well, 
and every time he'd score the announcer goes "Cable Guy 
goes for twooo" or "The Pet Detective drives and scores!" 
That kind of stuff. Each player has a nickname at Rucker, 
like "Bone Collector" or "the Beautician" (Mark Jackson). 
The 19-year-old Lenny Cooke was MVP the past two years. 
He dropped out of high school 2 years ago. 

***





 
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