Not only that, but Mark is dead wrong. The trade was
a mistake, but Vin Baker is a good teammate who has
contributed in some small way to the Celtics this
year, and deserves greater respect. Obie is a
frigging moron for not making an effort to make him
more involved and confident; I would fire him before
Wallace, because he is the primary author of what is
going on now, which I by the way predicted months ago.
Give the guy the ball ten times a game, and you'll
get 10-12 easy points, and a few turnovers. Let him
shoot a 12-footer facing the basket, or drive. He can
do all these things -- but even if he couldn't, it's a
shame and a disgrace to treat a player the way Baker
has been treated. Everyone knows he's psychologically
fragile, and they treated him like an old dog they
wished would die. The Baker "disaster" has been a
self-fulfilling prophecy.
Josh
--- "Wright, Cecil" <Cecil.Wright@JUSTICE.GC.CA>
wrote:
No offense Mark, but what is the purpose of bringing
this up? We know the Baker trade isn't working and
we know that Wallace gambled and lost. We know all
this. If it is just venting and frustration, okay
then.
I saw some excellent teamwork last night and was
very impressed at their willingness to move the ball
to the open man. Like it or not we are going to
shoot the 3 at an abnormal rate. Obie has rolled
the dice also in this respect, obviously figuring
that between Delk, Pierce, Walker, Bremer, Shammond
and Waltah, they may hit 40% of them. For the most
part, our inside game is virtually nonexistent, save
for alleyoops last night to Battie, so I can see why
the coaching staff feels the need for the outside
game, especially Conner who was a long range bomber
himself. I still would rather see us try to pound
the ball inside. That is my preference. But I
don't coach this team.
Cecil
-----Original Message-----
From: Berry, Mark S [mailto:berrym@BATTELLE.ORG]
Sent: February 06, 2003 9:49 AM
To: 'celtics@igtc.com'
Subject: Vin Baker
Lots of good stuff in the Globe and Herald today,
including the first really
critical, on-target criticism yet of Chris Wallace
(by Peter May).
Apparently at some point, things become so obvious
you can't avoid them any
longer.
I'm going to talk about Baker because he overshadows
the game last night
(nice win, though). Do you see now why O'Brien
didn't make him any more of a
focal point than he did? Do you see why he made Vin
a bit player? The minute
you start to rely on Vin Baker, you're finished. I'm
disgusted with the guy.
Apparently there was speculation yesterday that
Baker was contemplating
retirement. We should be so lucky. We're stuck with
this embarrassment for
three more years after this. There is no trade out
there. There is no
contract that is worse. There is nothing to do. At
this point, I'm hoping
they remove him from the rotation completely and
actively encourage him to
retire. Maybe that's harsh, but the guy is stealing
money.
The only person I'm more disgusted with is Wallace,
of course. Baker is here
only because Wallace brought him here. Wallace made
that choice. It's really
mind-boggling. I honestly can't remember a dumber
trade in the history of
sports. What a disaster. He has condemned the
Celtics to the worst fate you
can suffer in the NBA-mediocrity. They're good
enough to make the playoffs,
but we all know they're not good enough to win a
championship. They've been
lapped by the Nets and Pacers, and other teams in
the East are closing the
gap. There won't be anymore high draft picks.
There's no cap room. What you
see is what you get. Get used to 45 wins and early
playoff exits. Maybe
that's enough for some fans, who were so tired of
the years of losing. But
it's not enough. Not for the Boston Celtics. They
play for championships.
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
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