Re: Last Night (now Night Before Last)

[Michael Gooen <callmebogie@xxxxxxxxx>]

Joe Hironaka wrote:  

<<here's what Wallace said in response to some of our other questions,
this to the best of my recollection.>>
<<I asked him if his opinion of Forte and Joe Johnson had 
changed since draft day (when he had lots of good things 
to say about their future).  He replied that there was a misperception in
the media. He said that sometimes you draft a player to build team 
depth in talent, which can be used in trades that improve 
the team's competitiveness.>>

That's accurate -- er, well, that's an accurate recounting of what he
said.  It was extremely frustrating to hear him say it when Rogers was
only a few feet away in the Nets' layup line.  And in retrospect, it was
even more frustrating in light of the fact that Baker barely touched the
ball.
 
<<But he also added at one point that Joe Johnson "isn't a point guard" 
or "isn't going to be a point guard". I was kind of 
caught off-guard by that one, but I think that's what he 
said. Maybe Josh or Michael can confirm?>>

He said both in response to my suggestion that Johnson's development into
a point guard would be the nightmare scenario.  
 
<<He posed to us the rhetorical question: "tell me this, who would you
guys rather have, Vin Baker or Rodney Rogers?". Thankfully, none of us
retorted with "but who's contract would you rather have?!">>

He prefaced that question with "all things being equal", which, of course,
they're not.  (I sure would've loved to hear him ask that AFTER the game.)
 After he said that, I pointed out that they'd had to trade Kenny and his
expiring contract and asked whether he'd contacted the Clips about any of
their big men -- he just sort of looked at me as if I were from Mars.  (Of
course, it's always possible that that had nothing to do with my
question.)
 
<<Whatever the case, Wallace was engaging and stuck with us 
until the tipoff. I believe he trusts Josh a lot. He said 
he was looking forward to reading his next column etc. 
But yeah, he cares about fans and was candid to a 
surprising extent.>>

That's true.  I give him a lot of credit for deigning to speak with us
(and I don't mean that sarcastically).

<<Continental Arena is a strange place to watch exhibition 
basketball. There was complete silence between highlight 
moments, like we were watching the Amish Basketball 
Association.>>

No surprise there.  You can still see the Nets' Amish Basketball
Association championship banners hanging from the rafters, not too far
from the Bruce Springsteen sellout banner and the banner with the picture
of the circus clown (Joe and Josh can confirm that I'm not making those
up).  

Speaking of banners, the Nets' PR staff were touting Opening Night, when
they'll be raising the 2001-2002 Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference
Championship banners.  

I imagine I'm not the only one who'd like to see Dave Cowens burst in,
draped in the '74 or '76 title flag, yelling "Now THAT's a f*$*ing
banner!!!"

<<Oddly, the arena even set up an artificial "sold out" 
cheering section of around thirty people, including 
hidden cue cards that read "make noise". The section was 
flashed up on the jumbotron and presumably out to TV Land 
during time outs.>>

At least they didn't pump in the usual fake crowd noise.  Guess they're
saving it for the regular season.

Michael Gooen
Faith Hill - Exclusive Performances, Videos & More
http://faith.yahoo.com