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FW: [Celtics' Stuff Michael "Iago" Holley kisses up!-Globe
Everyone probably saw this in the Globe this morning. I wanted to make one
point: If Wallace is going to take credit for his visionary genius in
offering three picks for Jermaine O'Neal, he better be ready to take blame
for the Potapenko and Anderson trades. I love the Rogers-Delk trade, but I'm
still not sold on Chris Wallace. He strikes me as arrogant and prone to
double-speak. He blew the draft and if he's as responsible for the Pot and
KA trades as he suggests he was for the O'Neal proposal, then his track
record on trades stinks.
Mark
-----Original Message-----
From: JB [mailto:JBMetzEA@Yahoo.com]
Sent: Wednesday, March 13, 2002 6:39 AM
To: Celtics Stuff
Subject: [Celtics' Stuff Michael "Iago" Holley kisses up!-Globe
MICHAEL HOLLEY
East is reshuffled after Wallace deal
By Michael Holley, Globe Columnist, 3/13/2002
WALTHAM - Go ahead and gloat, Chris Wallace. You've certainly earned the
right. Who can forget the days when know-it-alls and sportswriters - yes, I
realize that's redundant - questioned your ability to make a good trade?
''I still have the scars right here,'' the Celtics general manager said
yesterday. He pulled up his shirtsleeve, pointed to the invisible welts, and
began to laugh.
He made a great trade Feb. 20 and he knows it. One of the things that made
it memorable was that it came together faster than he ever imagined.
''It's like we met this girl,'' Wallace said, ''and seven days later we're
in Vegas getting married.''
Before they had Rodney Rogers and Tony Delk, the Celtics were simply invited
guests to the playoff party. Now they warrant an announcement when they
enter the room. They are a good team. Good enough to win their division and
their conference.
It's been at least a decade since anyone around here made a statement like
that. If you want to make yourself feel old, listen to what Paul Pierce said
when he was told the Celtics haven't made the playoffs since 1995:
''Not since '95? Really? That was my senior year of high school.''
That's one reason Wallace said the Celtics ''need to make the playoffs more
than any team in the NBA.'' They have been away too long. For seven years,
their summers have begun in late April and early May. They have become more
familiar with lottery picnics in New Jersey than big games against New
Jersey.
They will play the Nets at the FleetCenter tonight, which is another chance
for Wallace to see how effective his trade was. The Celtics played well
against the first-place Nets without Delk and Rogers. It will be fun to see
who matches up with whom now that the new Celtics are solidly in the
rotation.
Wallace said he never doubted his deal, even when lottery pick Joe Johnson
arrived in Phoenix and began to play like a star. The GM was asked if he
would have sent a lottery pick to the Suns for Delk and Rogers before the
draft.
''Of course,'' he said. ''We tend to be enamored by the new, but you have to
remember that Rodney was a lottery pick, too. You're talking about two guys
who can give you 25 points [combined] every night. That's not going to
change. That's who they are.''
Who they are.
That was also part of the trade considerations. As one of the team's
assistant coaches said, ''There is not an [expletive] on the team.'' It
helped that Rogers and Delk came to town with good-guy reputations. Another
plus is that Delk played with Antoine Walker and Walter McCarty in college.
The new players had no problem understanding that Pierce and Walker often
become vocal in the huddle and that their critiques are not personal.
It was a good trade.
Go ahead and gloat.
''So,'' the smiling GM said, ''what do you think of Jermaine O'Neal now?''
Wallace still remembers the summer of 2000, when he and Rick Pitino were
criticized for offering three first-round picks for O'Neal. At the time, the
power forward was essentially a practice player with the Trail Blazers. He's
an All-Star with the Pacers now. I thought the Celtics were crazy for their
proposal. I was wrong.
''And,'' Wallace added, ''I remember a guy on the radio saying that this was
the final confirmation of our incompetence.''
He said he still stands by his proposal in 2000. He laughed again. The
Celtics' practice court was nearly empty, and the laughter sounded good
echoing off the walls. The wins and the laughter have been a long time
coming. Earlier in the afternoon, Pierce laughed when he talked about the
3-pointer he hit Monday night in Washington, a shot that unofficially ended
the Wizards' evening.
Players on the Washington bench had been talking to him a night earlier in
Boston, and they continued chirping at MCI Center. He was able to end all
the noise by salvaging a busted play and securing consecutive win No. 5.
The name of the play?
''How about `Hail Mary'?'' Pierce said. ''It broke down early and I was
trying to make something out of it.''
Pierce eventually left the practice court. The emboldened GM remained and
reminded his onetime critic that in the summer of '98, another team's GM
offered three first-rounders for the right to draft Pierce. The Celtics
wisely declined.
As Wallace recalled this story, two little girls played with a jump-rope.
They were waiting for their father, Rodney Rogers, to emerge from a locker
room. When Rogers appeared, the girls ran to him, hugged him, and told him
to watch them shoot baskets.
The girls shot, the father watched, and the GM of a playoff-bound team
relaxed. It was a good scene. After a seven-year drought, Celtic land is
returning to normal.
Michael Holley is a Globe columnist. His e-mail address is holley@globe.com.
This story ran on page C1 of the Boston Globe on 3/13/2002.
) Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company.
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