Re: Blast from the past

[JB <jimmetz@xxxxxxx>]

> {"We're going to look under every stone to get players for Rick," he 
> (Wallace) said.}

	LOL> When you turn over rocks, you usually find worms, slugs and other 
unmentionables.
	Nice find, Egg.
		JB




On Thursday, December 26, 2002, at 12:41  PM, Eggcentric@AOL.com wrote:

> "Chris is the best in the business," Pitino said. "Name a player in 
> Siberia,
> and he'll have
> a line on him. He knows the players. He knows the agents."
>
> ---------------
>
> Wallace has eye for talent
> Second-round swap gets GM to Boston
>
> By Mike Szostak, New England Sports Service , 5/97
>
> BOSTON -- Chris Wallace, the new general manager of the Celtics, 
> traces his
> pro basketball
> roots to the ashes of the 1986 NBA Draft that produced four disasters 
> among
> the seven lottery
> picks -- the cocaine-related death of Len Bias and the drug-shortened 
> careers
> of Chris Washburn,
> William Bedford and Roy Tarpley -- and a washout at No. 14.
>
> Portland drafted Walter Berry of St. John's with that pick and got 
> off-court
> problems that
> would contribute to a four-team, three-year career for Berry.
>
> Unhappy with that experience, the Blazers decided to hire someone who 
> knew
> the college
> game inside and out. Enter Wallace, a hoopaholic and founder and 
> editor of
> Blue Ribbon,
>  a college basketball pre-season yearbook.
>
>  "If the Portland Trail Blazers had liked Walter Berry, I don't know 
> if I'd
> be standing here,"
> Wallace said yesterday after Rick Pitino had introduced him as general
> manager of the
> Boston Celtics.
>
> Wallace, 38, is among the youngest general managers in the NBA. Kevin 
> McHale
> of
> Minnesota will turn 40 in December. Wallace becomes only the third 
> person
> since 1964
> to hold the Celtics GM title.
>
>  Red Auerbach was general manager from 1964 to 1984 and Jan Volk from 
> 1984 to
> his
> resignation this month during the bloodless coup that preceded Pitino's
> arrival from
> Kentucky.
>
> Wallace comes to Boston from Miami, where he spent the last four years 
> as the
> Heat's
>  director of college and international scouting. He was the first 
> person
> Pitino contacted
> about the job after Miami granted Pitino permission to talk 10 days 
> ago. When
> it looked
> like a deal would not materialize -- Miami, not Wallace, was the 
> problem --
> Pitino called
> another prospect, who was not interested. Pitino did not name the 
> prospect,
> but he said he
> never talked to P.J. Carlesimo about the position.
>
> Pitino renewed negotiating with Randy Pfund, Miami's executive vice 
> president
> of player
>  personnel, and the Heat eventually agreed to release Wallace for a 
> swap of
> second-round
> draft choices. Miami now owns Boston's pick at No. 30 and Boston has 
> Miami's
> at No. 55.
>
> Wallace signed a three-year contract.
>
> "Chris is the best in the business," Pitino said. "Name a player in 
> Siberia,
> and he'll have
> a line on him. He knows the players. He knows the agents."
>
> Wallace admits quite readily that he chose the path less traveled to 
> get to
> the Celtics'
> executive suite. He was not a player. A post-graduate year at New 
> Hampton
> Prep in New
> Hampshire, and guarding an opponent from Andover, made him realize 
> that "if I
> were
> going to the next level, I'd have to buy a ticket."  He never had a 
> desire to
> coach.
>
> But a New Hampton class whetted his appetite for writing. Deciding 
> that he
> lacked the
> talent of the national sports writers he admired, and reluctant to 
> spend his
> career as a scribe
> for his hometown paper in Buckhannon, West Va., Wallace launched Blue 
> Ribbon
> in
> 1981 after attending the University of Kansas.
>
>  "I have had an improbable career," Wallace said. "I started 16 years 
> ago
> putting out a
> magazine. I knew nobody. Not one coach. Not one media person."
>
> That was in 1981, the same year that Wallace, scouring a summer 
> tournament in
> Washington, D.C., met Pitino, then the young coach at Boston 
> University.
> Wallace
> remains an unabashed Pitino admirer.
>  "I love his style of play and the way he develops talent," Wallace 
> said. "I
> wanted to
> work on Rick Pitino's team. This is more than just a job promotion or 
> another
> step on the
> career path. Other than the day I got married and the birth of my child
> (Debby Wallace
> gave birth to Truman Spencer on May 17), this is the happiest day of 
> my life.
> To be with
> this organization in this city is off the charts for me. Rick Pitino 
> is the
> coach I want to be
> with. This covers all the bases for me."
>
> Wallace hopes to assist Pitino, Boston's president and head coach, by
> applying the
> lessons he learned from Pat Riley, Miami's president and head coach.
>
> "Pat sets the standard in the coach/president role," Wallace said. 
> Dave Wohl,
> Pfund,
> Wallace and others outline options for Riley, and Riley decides, 
> Wallace
> said.
>
> Wallace's expertise is scouting and analyzing talent, and he intends to
> continue to
> see as many players as possible. He will also rely on Leo Papile, 
> Boston's
> AAU guru,
> and on Pitino's assistant coaches, Jim O'Brien and Winston Bennett.
>
> "We're going to look under every stone to get players for Rick," he 
> said.
>
> Pitino's adviser, Rich Avare, now a consultant for the Celtics, will 
> assist
> with the
> salary cap and other contract details. Wallace was reluctant to 
> discuss the
> June draft in
> detail because he has studied prospects from Miami's, not Boston's
> perspective. He said
> it's a weak draft overall, but there will be players at No. 3 and No. 
> 6 when
> Boston picks.
> Pitino said that he is still entertaining trade possibilities and that 
> Boston
> may go into the
> draft without a pick.
>
> "Likely? No. Possible? Yes," he said.