Re: Vin Baker

["hironaka@xxxxxxxxx"<hironaka@xxxxxxxxx>]

> ---------- Initial message -----------
> 
> From    : owner-celtics@igtc.com
> To      : "'celtics@igtc.com'" <celtics@igtc.com>
> Cc      : 
> Date    : Thu, 06 Feb 2003 08:49:20 -0500
> Subject : Vin Baker
> 
> It takes the fun out of games like last night. You can 
enjoy them for what they are, but you always know how 
this ultimately is going to end.
> 
> Mark
>


FWIW I'm not that distracted by Baker, certainly not 
enough to not enjoy the win. We all guessed ahead of time 
that Vin Baker would make things much worse for himself 
with the "lightheaded" DNP player decision, whether it 
was legit or not. This was an easy kill for the media. 
That headline was set even before the opening whistle.

The best favor Vin's Celtics teammates could do for him 
is turn it into a 40-point rout. 

As for Chris Wallace, if Vitaly and Kenny were in uniform 
tonight for Boston (IR at the start of the year), our GM 
would be getting roundly criticized for not having done a 
thing but lose Strickland and Rodney Rogers while our 
rivals all took steps to improve. There's always 
something to complain about. 

FWIW, I'm not convinced our W-L record would be all that 
better with Vitaly and Kenny still on board. This year's 
Celtics have wiped some teams off the floor (NJ, Philly) 
because of 3-point shooting and the spacing of our PGs 
this year, compared to last year with Kenny getting the 
minutes. 

On top of that, I think its probable that Boston in that 
scenaro would have held onto Kenny and re-signed him for 
a huge discount this summer (or more likely lost him for 
zilch), rather than trade a key starter midseason and 
disrupt team chemistry. 

You don't often see GMs disrupt contending teams without 
a viable excuse, and Kenny always made himself a big part 
of the core rotation here and was good guy. Had Wallace 
dumped Kenny in February and not gotten a PG in return, 
we'd all be up in arms for a while too.

I'm digressing big time here. Bottom line, enjoy the win, 
enjoy the break.

Every single contending team has screwed up contracts 
(Mutombo, Croshere etc.) which I suppose their fans can 
whine about ad nauseum, even after a win. Boston had 
average bloat in their payroll then (around 15th) and the 
same rank now. Its not as dire as we make it sound. 
Things are tough all over.

If Wyc wanted to use our 5 million exception every other 
year (the Keon Clarks etc), Boston could be just as 
competitive going forward as any of the teams in the 60 
million payroll range. Baker's a drag, he's a bummer of a 
subject, but he's just not that important to the team 
right now. He's not a cancer, he's not a contributor. I'm 
sorry the trade happened, but its hardly the end of the 
world.


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