Re: Chad Ford Proposes Big Celtics Trade

[Kestutis.Kveraga@xxxxxxxxxxxxx (Kestutis Kveraga)]

--- You wrote:
Ilgauskus puts up nice numbers, but he hasn't made much of an impact since
coming back from all those foot injuries. Is it because of his teammates, or
has he just lost a step?
--- end of quote ---

In my estimation, it's because he doesn't play hard enough. He seems to be just
sort of coasting out there a lot of times. If a team lets him score, he'll
score in bunches, he has plenty of talent for that. If they D him up hard, he
won't fight it and will pass it up. Same with rebounding: he should be
averaging double figures in rebounds, given his reach and anticipation. But he
doesn't fight for rebounds - he only collects them if they come his way, like a
janitor picking up trash (although he does know where to go to collect them).
He doesn't seem to exhibit any physical problems and has said that his feet are
feeling fine. To me, it looks like he could definitely turn it up a notch or
three. I don't know if he's inured to losing, given the Cavs' mission the last
few years, sick of their playground-style basketball, or just pacing himself
and taking it easy until he's confident about the health of his feet. 

 Maybe a change of scenery, combined with good health, would spur Ilgauskas to
become what he should be - one of the five best centers in the NBA. It's a
gamble, given his max salary, but if it worked out, the Celtics would
definitely contend for the EC crown. That said, I'm not sure why the Cavs would
want to do dump Ilgauskas, unless they know something the rest of the NBA
doesn't. He's not part of the problem there. I know that Mihm, Boozer, and even
Diop have been playing well, but the former two are not centers, and the latter
is kind of raw and just got injured (again). So, I'm not sure why they would do
it. I don't think they desperately need to dump salary to avoid the lux tax. 

As for Ricky, that's where the "brain doc" can earn his keep :) My tentative
"diagnosis" of the situation is that if Miles were punching Ricky's head after
every dunk instead of his own, that would probably help both of them. 

Kestas