Re: Vescey had the truth first

[Eggcentric@xxxxxxx]

< I guess the BDT is dumber than even I thought possible (I wrote 
when this rumor first surfaced that even the BDT wouldn't be 
THAT dumb).  I guess they ARE that dumb. Only the BDT can be 
talked into treating an asset (an expiring contract, such as 
Kenny's or Shammond's) like a liability. Not only does the other 
team get something (an expiring contract, a pick) for nothing 
(Blount) or a huge liability (Baker), but we pay THEM for taking 
the asset off our hands. > - Kestas

Perfect, Kestas. You and Berry continue to beautifully express
just about my every Celt thought.  Did you happen to notice this 
Wallace quote in Shira's column of 2/16?

 "Trades are hard to pull off in the league these days. With the 
luxury tax and salary cap issues, there's gridlock. " -Wallace

I wonder how long after the Baker swindle Chris came to realize 
that salary cap/luxury tax ruled the NBA world.  If only our own 
little Adam had bitten into a forbidden fruit instead of making
that sinful trade.

The salary cap this season is $40,271,000. Next season the
combined salaries of AW ($13.5 mill), VB ($13.5 mill), and
PP ($11.3 mill) will total $38,326,000 against a now unknown 
cap.  How many teams in the league have the luxury of three 
max players utilizing approx. 95% of their allowed budget?  
Add KA's expiring contract which could have brought us a 
really decent player, and that Baker is now our fourth string 
center behind Battie, McCarty, and Long (fifth string if we
trade for Blount who we signed Sundov and Wolko ahead of) 
and all I can say is WOW - Eve couldn't have done worse. 

Egg

------------------
CELTICS NOTEBOOK
Wallace decides to skip the trip

By Shira Springer, Globe Staff, 2/16/2003

LOS ANGELES - For the first time since becoming the Celtics 
general manager in May 1997, Chris Wallace will not join the 
team on its longest road trip of the season, which continued last 
night at Staples Center against the Clippers. Since the Celtics' 
annual mid-February swing through the Western Conference 
always overlaps with the trading deadline, Wallace tries to join 
Boston for at least part of the trip each year. He was scheduled 
to meet up with the Celtics in LA for the final four games.

But Wallace has been stricken by sickness and injuries. Monday, he 
caught a Tony Battie-like flu. Then, he sprained his left ankle and 
bruised his right knee in a fall at home. Plus, Wallace is a bit 
superstitious. Since the Celtics have won the first two games of 
the trip with him at home, he figures he should stay there.

Staying in one place in the days leading up to the trading deadline, 
however, does have one benefit. It's easier to conduct trade talk 
and field phone calls from around the league, though Wallace 
said the Celtics ''do not feel compelled to make a deal.''

''I hate to say nothing will happen, but I wouldn't put it in the 
`likely' category that we'll get anything done,'' said Wallace. 
''Trades are hard to pull off in the league these days. With the 
luxury tax and salary cap issues, there's gridlock. We do not 
feel compelled to make a deal. It's not like we're sitting around 
here and have got the shakes to do something.

''If a deal is created that could help us the rest of the season and 
not sacrifice the future or compromise our financial situation, we 
would have to take a look at it. You're never as good as you think 
you are and you're never as bad as the critics say. At the end of 
the day, it's a talent league and, if we can add talent, it has to 
be given serious consideration. Every team has needs. Every team 
would like to address them and be stronger for the stretch run. 
However, this is a league where it's difficult to make deals.''

Asked if the Celtics' recent success and the their apparent 
emerging chemistry would make him reluctant to put together 
a deal, Wallace said, ''I think it's encouraging, and you take that 
into consideration. No question.''

The general manager quickly added that last season the Celtics 
didn't really jell until late March and early April, after making 
a deadline deal for Rodney Rogers and Tony Delk. So, until the 
Feb. 20 trading deadline, Wallace will take calls in between 
scouting college games in the Northeast.

Wallace anticipates trade talks to heat up after the weekend.

Injury updates have become obligatory with the Celtics. Paul 
Pierce went through yesterday's shootaround with his sprained 
right wrist lightly taped, and coach Jim O'Brien said, ''He shot 
the ball well.''

Pierce said the wrap reduced the pain, and barely affected his 
shooting motion. He wore the wrist wrap during the win over 
Portland Thursday night, as well as a sleeve on his strained 
right groin, though he prefers to play without tape and wraps. 
He played without the wrap last night.

''I don't think it's anything that's going to affect me majorly,'' 
Pierce said of his ailing wrist. ''My range of motion is not all the 
way there. ''

Shammond Williams (mild right ankle sprain) also pronounced 
himself ready to go at shootaround with one limitation: no spin 
moves. The ankle felt sore, but Williams had no difficulty with 
jump shots.

''I think once it gets warmed up, it's better,'' said Shammond 
Williams. ''But I can't spin move, though. I tried to spin, but it felt 
like I got shot.''

The injury comes at an inopportune time for Williams, who was 
finally getting more minutes after being relegated to third-string 
point guard. After not playing because of a coach's decision in New 
Orleans, Williams got 24 minutes at home against Seattle, 20 
minutes at KeyArena in the rematch, and 16 minutes vs. Portland, 
including the final eight minutes of the fourth when Boston came 
back to win. Williams scored 7 points and grabbed three big 
rebounds during the decisive stretch against the Trail Blazers.

''If I miss, I miss, but I feel that if I'm not scoring I can still 
contribute to the game,'' said Williams.

O'Brien added: ''I think it started at home against Seattle. The 
luxury of having three point guards is that we're going to go 
with the guy that's playing the phase of the game that we 
need the most.''

And in the frontcourt, Antoine Walker continues to play through 
the pain of a mildly sprained right knee. Most of the pain is from 
a bone bruise he suffered when the knee twisted, but the bruise 
will not heal completely until after the season. Battie, who is 
still recovering from an upper respiratory infection and stomach 
flu, was not available to play. ''He's had three days that he was 
been very, very ill,'' said O'Brien. ''He just needs to build back his 
strength.'' Walter McCarty took Battie's place on the starting five.

O'Brien, ejected in the fourth quarter of Thursday's win, believes 
it's only a matter of time before assistant Lester Conner receives 
head coaching offers. Following the Celtics' win over the Trail 
Blazers, when Conner kept players calm as they came from behind, 
O'Brien may have kicked off the Conner campaign. ''I thought Lester 
did a wonderful job of making calls down the stretch,'' said O'Brien. 
''That's why I think he should be a head coach in this league. I think 
he's a brilliant, brilliant young man.'' ... Because of the elevated 
alert level, the FleetCenter is implementing additional security 
procedures, including the use of metal detectors at all entrances. 
Because of the new procedures, fans should arrive one hour before 
game time, when doors open, to minimize entry delays. All patrons 
will be subject to search of their person and possessions. 
Briefcases, bags, backpacks, luggage, coolers, parcels, and the 
like are prohibited. Women's handbags of normal size will be 
permitted after a search. Fans should call 617-523-3030 if 
they have any questions.

This story ran on page F4 of the Boston Globe on 2/16/2003.
) Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company.