not a done deal / rotation

["Josh Ozersky" <jozersky1@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Who's to say that Tony will pass his physical?  He
has a seriously and permanently (by the sound of it)
damaged knee.  I wonder if this is really a done deal.

If so, I echo the sentiments of Mark, Ray, et. al.  You
have to be excited to add this kind of talent to the roster.
This makes us the Mavericks of the east, the most talented
team going (assuming that everything pans out) in our
conference.  It is the end, however, of the team that turned
the Celtics around.   We are again without a spirtual leader,
and it showed tonight, as the Celts looked like a rudderless
ship against the Wolves.  Marcus Banks has lost the progress
he was making, and Kendrick Brown showed us just enough
to be frustrated that he isn't playing more.  Will he now get
some run?  I doubt it....Obie didn't play him until the last four
minutes of a short-handed blowout when Mark Blount was
having his worst night ever.  I doubt we will see much of him
unless Ainge leans on obie.  We'll now see how much intangibles
count for vs. talent.  I am guessing we will lose several games
and all the momentum from our win streak as the new guys
get acclimated.  But in the long run, I feel this makes us
much more legitimate title contenders.  If Mihm is even a
quality starter, that will give us the deepest big man rotation
in basketball:  Mihm, LaFrentz, Perkins and Blount, in that order.
And then Vin (who hardly saw the ball tonight, another bad sign)
at the four, backed up by whichever of the above four is
convenient.  Jiri, Pierce, Davis and Banks will rotate in the
swing and backcourt positions, with Hunter, Jones, and Walter
getting spot minutes.  Not too shabby.

Josh