Tidbits

[Cecil <cecil@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Heyo fellow babies...had a great trip to the Boston area to take in a little Patriots and Sox action (thanks Mike K.).

But I happened upon some interesting Celtic scuttlebut, from a member of the Celtic family whose identity I do not have permission to disclose, which may be of interest to the members of this list.  I apologize to those who will think this is merely gossip.

In the very near future, you will find out that the team was offered 16 million from an NBA team for Antoine's contract.  The reasoning I was given for not making the deal, was that the team believes they are closer to raising a banner with him than taking the risk of losing him and the variables which he brings to the table, and make the team wait an additional period of time to gel.  Also, he has made a commitment to get himself into the best condition of his career and we need to see if he can thrive in the running game that Danny envisions.

Also, Vincienzo Baker has lost 30 lbs.  Obie went to see for himself and came back with hopes which were much higher than he had prior to the trip.  I said to this person that I would be happy with 8 pts and 6 boards per game and was told that they feel he will perform better than this, though I guess we would all call it guarded optimism.

Everyone was high on Banks before the draft but especially Danny.  The trade was consumated in advance, however, it could not be announced as it was contingent on Pietrus, who the Griz coveted, being selected before they picked at 13.  When Pietrus went to GS at 11, the deal was sealed.  They picked Banks for us while we grabbed Troy Bell and Dahntay Jones for them.  We felt that Perkins was going to be available at 27 for sure.  So in a nutshell, we must give thanks to the Warriors for our good fortune to grab Banks.  That is, those of us who are able to get past his foibles as a rook.

You should be hearing this stuff in about 3 weeks.

Cecil