OK, now what do we do?

[Bob McChesney <rwmcches@xxxxxxxx>]

OK, I am going to bury the deal for now. (I still wonder why Wallace didn't 
get a no. 1 in 2004 tossed in. My God Seattle is so ecstatic to lose Baker 
he might have gotten two no. 1 picks. But we will never know, since that is 
the sort of question that would never cross the mind of the razor sharp 
Boston beat writers.)

So what do we do?

I think the thing to do is start Baker at the 4 and slide Antoine to the 3. 
(I'd have Baker play the 5 some and Walker play the 4 some, but those would 
not be their main positions.) Give Baker gonzo starter minutes -- 35 mpg -- 
and make him a big part of the team. The last thing this guy needs is the 
yo-yo bench treatment that O'Brien served up to Strickland and Kedrick 
Brown. If Baker does not produce big time, the Celtics season -- next four 
seasons perhaps -- goes down the tubes.

I think Antoine's game is better suited for the 3, certainly on offense. On 
D he will have to struggle at times, but that is the trade-off. With 
Antoine at the 4 we suffered in defensive match-ups at times also. He is a 
tweener. If Antoine gets the word this summer he can work on his quickness.

And truth be told, Antoine will never join the first tier of 4s in the 
league: Duncan, Webber, Garnett, Nowitzki, etc. He isn't in their class. 
But he can be in the first tier of 3s. That is where he can emerge as a 
all-pro caliber player. Especially if he gets his assists in the 6 apg 
range. Then this team has a chance to do some serious damage.

So, for our rotation:

5: Battie
4: Baker
3: Walker
2: Pierce
1: Williams

Rotation players: Sundov, Williams, Brown, Delk

I wouldn't mind seeing us re-sign Blount for insurance if Sundov lays an 
egg. I somehow suspect the "Shaq of the Summer League" is going to command 
a low salary.

Me, I'd like to see Brown get a serious commitment of minutes backing up 
the 3 and maybe the 2. I think Eric Williams should assume towel-waving 
mode for the last two years on his contract, except for emergencies. But I 
somehow doubt that O'Brien will do that.

Robert W. McChesney
Your Man in Urbana
Institute of Communications Research
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
www.robertmcchesney.com