trade; state of team; etc.

[e.a.borges@usa.net]

What happened to this list??  Did we trade Paul Pierce?
Joe Johnson had a great game for Phoenix.  Good for him.  Everyone knew
that he was a talented player.  Just from watching him play in the
Summer league, I knew he had viable NBA skills.  But the impact of this
trade should not be judged for about three years.  That is how long it
approximately takes for a rookie player to develop into the player he
will be.  Look at Paul Pierce for example.  In his rookie year, he
showed he had the skills to be a good NBA scorer.  But it was not until
his third or fourth year that he showed that he has the talent to become
a great NBA player.  Right now, I believe that Joe Johnson has the
skills to average 10-15 points, 3-5 assists, and about 3-5 rebounds per
game.  Those are very good numbers, but he has yet to show that he can
do that consistently.  I do not believe that the Celtics system stymied
him too much.  He was quoted in an Arizona paper as saying that he had a
hard time finding shots with Antoine and Paul in the lineup.  I have a
news flash for him.  In the NBA, almost every team has at least two
players that take a lot of shots.  He needed to be more assertive.  He
wasn't.
Believe me that Jim O'Brien is not a stupid coach.  If Joe Johnson had
demonstrated that he was a player waiting to "break out", then he would
have been in the lineup.  The problem with being a fan is that we do not
get access to all the Celtics practices.  If we did, then I am sure we
could see why Joe was unable to crack the lineup and why Kedrick did.
I hope that Joe becomes a great player.  But I feel that this will not
happen.  In order to be an above average NBA player you need to have a
certain attitude.  Joe Johnson did not display this in college.  In an
interview, Joe Klein said as much (he is now a broadcaster for Arkansas
basketball).  Maybe in three years his attitude will change.  Maybe it
won't and he will have a game similar to Derek McKey (as Erick
Strickland said).
So, don't bash this trade because Joe Johnson has one good game.
Question the Celtics management for drafting him because they knew of
his passive attitude at draft time.
Question the Celtics management on how we will find an inside presence
in the near future and a point guard.  Talk about the wide open Eastern
Conference (only one team really scares me - Philly).  Please just stop
the "Chicken Little, the sky is falling," talk.
Everyone should read the Peter May and Mark Coffman articles in this
past Sunday Globe and Herald.  The authors offer some reasonable
arguments about the trade.