Sore points, Jackie - how about deep lacerations and no points?

[Eggcentric@xxxxxxx]

< Best said it was ''nip and tuck'' between Boston and Miami, but in the end 
he took the $1.4 million and 
a chance to play for Pat Riley, instead of the veteran minimum (a little less 
than $900,000), which was all 
the handcuffed Wallace could offer. > - MacMullan

A mere $500,000 difference ... a difference which could have been addressed 
by signing 
another $349,458 min player like Wolkowyski instead of Walter at $762,435.

< ''But these guys will take more charges, and play better defense, and I 
like the fact they can absolutely 
drill the ball from the perimeter.'' > -  MacMullan

SWill is known more for being a team distraction and for being beaten out by 
rookie 
Earl Watson than for taking charges or putting out on D.  Delkbs defense 
seems only 
existent against short guards, and who knows about Bremer?  
As for drilling the ball ... see below.

< ''Jim likes his guys to be able to shoot at that position,'' Wallace said. 
''His mind-set is if you don't
shoot it, then nobody will defend you, and they'll double Pierce and Walker. 
That eliminates a lot of 
exceptional playmakers [like Rod] who would not put shooting at the top of 
their lists of strengths.'' >
 - MacMullan

Career  FG%     3P%:
SWill   .414        .391
Delk    .405        .317
RStrick .457        .285
KA      .420        .346

As for Bremer, well he wasnbt even drafted in this yearbs second round. But 
our 
BT had inside information on him ... the same annoying little inner voice 
that 
directed them to draft Kedrick and whispered that Sundov was a 3-point threat.

Career  FG%     3P%:
Sundov  .420        .000  (0-5 in four NBA seasons)

< Best said O'Brien told him he was comfortable going with the three guards 
he had if Best didn't 
join them. 
''I said, `Fine,' but that's not very appetizing in my eyes,'' said Best. 
The flaw in it all was that Gaston was doing the tasting, and setting the 
table for a profitable exit. > 
- MacMullan

Were the latest flawed groceries that Wallace bought Gastonbs last gasp of 
revenge knowing 
he was selling the team,  or were they more a compilation of 
Wallace/Obie/Papilebs best ideas 
for 2002 after they had traded their best bargaining chip for the Baker $$$$$ 
paralyzing contract?

Neggy
--------------------------------------------
Gaston's big score leaves a sore point 
By Jackie MacMullan, Globe Columnist, 10/3/2002  
I'm trying to think of something good to say about Paul Gaston. OK, here it 
is: He sure can keep a secret. If word ever leaked out he was about to sell 
the Celtics, the Commonwealth may have declared last Friday a state holiday. 

As Gaston makes his hasty retreat, stuffing his already overflowing pockets 
with piles of money, he leaves his basketball team with a lovely parting 
gift: a backcourt that will play point guard by committee. 

What a crime the Celtics were forced to tear apart a roster that got them all 
the way to the Eastern Conference finals last season. Do you know how hard it 
is to mesh personalities, abilities, and goals in today's NBA? Maybe if 
Gaston ever went to a game, he would have understood that. 

Then again, it wouldn't have mattered. He cares about one thing - making 
money - so he casually shattered the momentum his young team had worked so 
hard to build, all in the interest of the bottom line. 

Instead of re-signing Rodney Rogers and adding veteran guard Travis Best, 
which would have meant paying a luxury tax for only one season until Kenny 
Anderson's deal was up, Gaston decreed Rogers must go and Best was an 
unnecessary expense. 

Rogers went to New Jersey, Best went to Miami, and the best-laid plans of 
coach Jim O'Brien and general manager Chris Wallace went kaput. New Jersey, 
which beat Boston in the conference finals, improved its depth, compliments 
of the Celtics. Boston, meanwhile, is a question mark all over again. 

Best, reached in Palm Beach, Fla., where the Heat are training, would have 
every right to bemoan his bad timing. Shortly after he signed with Miami, the 
team announced Alonzo Mourning was out for the season with a kidney ailment. 
Had he known, maybe he would have landed with the Celtics after all. 

Best said it was ''nip and tuck'' between Boston and Miami, but in the end he 
took the $1.4 million and a chance to play for Pat Riley, instead of the 
veteran minimum (a little less than $900,000), which was all the handcuffed 
Wallace could offer. 

''I thought I would have been a great fit there,'' Best said. ''But they 
wouldn't budge. They just wouldn't budge.'' 
What choice do the Celtics have now but to put their best face on and insist 
the lack of a proven veteran at the point is not an issue? O'Brien has 
already said Antoine Walker will function as a ''point forward'' in the 
offense, but considering he is already their best low-post threat, top 
rebounder, and one of their most prolific scorers, isn't that asking a bit 
too much? 

''I guess I'm always concerned about wearing any player out,'' O'Brien 
answered. ''Antoine is young. He's in remarkable shape. He might have to find 
ways to rest on the court. When we try to fast break, and he advances the 
ball, he might have to take a blow coming back. But there's no doubt in my 
mind he's up to the task.'' 

Understand one thing about Jim O'Brien. He doesn't waste time discussing what 
he doesn't have. He is only interested in looking forward, and so far his 
point committee of Shammond Williams, J.R. Bremer, and Tony Delk has 
impressed him. 

''I don't think the point is the dilemma it's being made out to be,'' O'Brien 
said. ''You look at our point guards, and you say, `Will they be able to run 
the pick and roll as well as Kenny Anderson?' The answer is no, but there 
aren't five guys in the league who run the pick and roll as well as Kenny. 

''But these guys will take more charges, and play better defense, and I like 
the fact they can absolutely drill the ball from the perimeter.'' 

The two leaders of this team, Walker and Paul Pierce, have also been 
satisfied with what they've seen, but it's only been four days, so forgive 
them if they are a little wistful about what might have been. While he was in 
Indianapolis for the world championships, Pierce talked daily with Best but 
couldn't convince him to come to Boston for short money. 

''In a perfect world, we'd have him,'' said Pierce. ''But he wanted to get 
the best contract he could. 
''There wasn't much I could say other than, `Play out this year with Miami, 
and let's see what we can do next year.''' 

Truthfully, the Celtics would be starting over a year from now at the point 
anyway, when Anderson became a free agent. But it's too bad that process has 
been moved up a year. The growing pains of the point by committee must now be 
absorbed by a team that thought its nucleus was intact for one more year. 

''Right now, it's hard to say,'' Walker acknowledged. ''I`m going to take the 
high road and say these guys are going to get the job done. I believe it 
after three practices, because those three guys have been shooting the ball 
really well. But over the long haul, we'll have to wait and see.'' 

Veteran Rod Strickland remains in limbo, and his agent, Leon Rose, said his 
client ''would keep an open mind'' to joining the Celtics if they were so 
inclined. Wallace said that's unlikely. 

''Jim likes his guys to be able to shoot at that position,'' Wallace said. 
''His mind-set is if you don't shoot it, then nobody will defend you, and 
they'll double Pierce and Walker. That eliminates a lot of exceptional 
playmakers 
[like Rod] who would not put shooting at the top of their lists of 
strengths.'' 

So who is the leader in the point-by-committee clubhouse? While Walker 
reports Delk ''is so much more relaxed'' this season, the player that has the 
coaching staff tittering is Williams, who came aboard from Seattle in the Vin 
Baker trade. 
Williams is used to proving naysayers wrong. He came out of high school with 
only one scholarship offer, from the University of Georgia - for band. 
Apparently, at that time Williams played the drums better than the point. 

Undaunted, he went to Fork Union Military Academy, earned a scholarship to 
North Carolina, then joined cousin Kevin Garnett in the NBA when Atlanta 
drafted him in the second round of the 1998 draft. 

In four uneventful NBA seasons, Williams has averaged 14.4 minutes, 5.6 
points, and 2.1 assists a game. 
''I don't think I`m a question mark,'' said Williams. ''Maybe some people do, 
but they don't follow basketball. 
''This is a great opportunity for me to show people what I am capable of 
doing.'' 

Best said O'Brien told him he was comfortable going with the three guards he 
had if Best didn't join them. 
''I said, `Fine,' but that's not very appetizing in my eyes,'' said Best. 
The flaw in it all was that Gaston was doing the tasting, and setting the 
table for a profitable exit. 

The Celtics are now left behind to serve the meal, and clean up after their 
old boss - by committee, of course. 
Jackie MacMullan's column appears every Thursday. Her e-mail address is 
macmullan@globe.com.