Re: [Celtics' Stuff ] Fords Insider Article

[Snoopy the Celtics Beagle <snoopy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Cute.  Chad makes lukewarm comments specifically about Boston, then plunks 
them down in the bottom half of the Conference.  You'd think they learned 
after the last two seasons of this idiocy.  The Celtics will, once again, 
make the playoffs.  They will be roundly dismissed by everyone in the 
process of getting there.  I remember vividly sports "experts" bemoaning 
the incompetence of Isaiah Thomas, then turn around and predict a Pacer sweep.

Phooey on them.  The Beagle Banner proudly supports the Boston Celtics!

At 01:21 PM 7/25/03 -0400, Sean Giovanello wrote:
>Wide open is one way to look at it. The other is downright mediocrity. With
>the exception of the Nets and Pistons -- very few teams in the East have
>made the upgrades it's going to take to make a run at the title....The
>Celtics' big free-agent move was to re-sign Walter McCarty....
>1. New Jersey Nets
>Projected record: 55-27
>Biggest additions: Alonzo Mourning, Zoran Planinic
>Biggest subtractions: Anthony Johnson, Eddie Jordan
>The skinny: If Mourning is healthy, and if Martin and Jefferson keep up the
>learning curve, the Nets will be tougher than ever. Their big weakness last
>year was in the middle. If Zo can give them 25 minutes a night of solid
>defense in the paint, they'll be very tough to beat. Planinic is the
>sleeper. He played well enough in the summer league to prompt one Nets
>assistant coach to predict that he could get major minutes in the back ourt
>alongside Kidd. The other big issue is the loss of Jordan. He was the
>architect of the Nets' run-and-gun offense and also played mediator between
>Kidd and head coach Byron Scott. Kidd reiterated on Thursday that there is
>no rift between him and Scott -- but one may develop if the Nets don't hire
>an assistant who can keep Kidd happy.
>
>2. Detroit Pistons
>Projected record: 53-29
>Biggest additions: Larry Brown, Darko Milicic, Elden Campbell
>Biggest subtractions: Jon Barry?
>The skinny: Good things are bound to happen when you hire a Hall of
>Fame-caliber coach and add the No. 2 pick in the draft. The Pistons are on a
>roll of good fortune and the Nets appear to be the only team in the East
>that can slow them down right now. If the deal for Campbell goes down as
>expected (one Pistons official thought the signing would happen today) --
>the Pistons will have four 7-footers and Ben Wallace to anchor their front
>line. Throw in the dynamic threesome of Chauncey Billups, Richard Hamilton
>and Tayshaun Prince and the deepest bench in the East and this could be the
>year that the Pistons break through to the Finals.
>
>3. Indiana Pacers
>Projected record: 48-34
>Biggest additions: Scot Pollard, Anthony Johnson
>Biggest subtractions: Brad Miller, Ron Mercer
>The skinny: Pacers fans are up in arms over the loss of Miller and Mercer
>for Pollard. Pacers CEO Donnie Walsh is pleading for patience. In all
>likelihood, the Pacers aren't done tinkering. New GM Larry Bird really wants
>another point guard and may be willing to give up Jamaal Tinsley to get it
>done. The Pacers did pick up Danny Ferry and his $4.5 million non-guaranteed
>salary in the trade. Package that with Tinsley and it could land them a
>veteran like Eric Snow or Charlie Ward. Even if that doesn't happen, the
>glass still appears to be half full in Indy. Jermaine O'Neal, Al Harrington
>and Ron Artest form a solid nucleus. The team believes that this is Jonathan
>Bender's breakout year and plans on playing him at the four and moving
>O'Neal to the five when they aren't playing the dominant centers in the NBA.
>Pollard may not be Miller on the offensive end, but he is a better defender
>and rebounder. With so many offensive weapons to choose from, the Pacers
>don't really need Pollard to score.
>
>4. New Orleans Hornets
>Projected record: 48-34
>Biggest additions: Sean Rooks, David West
>Biggest subtractions: Jerome Moiso, Kenny Anderson?
>The skinny: For the second straight year, Hornets owner George Shinn shocked
>the NBA by re-signing one of his own players. Last summer it was Baron
>Davis. This summer it was P.J. Brown. Put Brown and Davis together with
>Jamal Mashburn and Jamaal Magloire and the Hornets still have one of the
>best inside-outside threats in the league. The two keys for the Hornets this
>season will be health and coaching. They can't afford to lose Davis and
>Mashburn for long stretches again. On the coaching side, Tim Floyd now
>replaces Paul Silas. Can he keep the momentum going? Silas is one of the
>most underrated coaches in the league. Floyd believes the same thing about
>himself after a miserable stint with the Terri-Bulls. Can he get the same
>effort out of his team that Silas did? If he can't the Hornets will slide.
>
>5. Orlando Magic
>Projected record: 46-36
>Biggest additions: Juwan Howard, Reece Gaines, Tyronn Lue, Zaur Pachulia
>Biggest subtractions: Darrell Armstrong, Jacque Vaughn, Shawn Kemp?
>The skinny: Another year, another season without Grant Hill. The Magic
>appear to have had it with Hill's annual comeback attempt and tried to push
>him into a box this summer when they applied for the league's medical
>exception. It was denied after league doctors determined that there was a
>chance that Hill could play this season. Fat chance. While medically that
>may be true, it appears the Magic have no intention of letting that happen.
>Hill probably won't play again until the Magic are sure that the odds are in
>their favor. That's why they ran out and landed Howard. Like Hill, Howard
>has the personality to fit into the Magic's system without disrupting Tracy
>McGrady's dominance. Howard's a nice pick-up, but what does that do to Drew
>Gooden? Gooden struggled in Memphis when the team moved him to small forward
>and flourished in Orlando when he played power forward. Howard's no longer
>quick enough to play the three and neither player has the size to really
>play the five on a consistent basis. Point guard is also an issue.
>First-round pick Gaines struggled in the summer league and Lue is too small
>to play major minutes. Pachulia may be the wild card in all of this. He
>dominated at times in the summer league and could be the answer, down the
>road, for the Magic in the middle.
>
>The Best of the Rest: After the top five, the rest of the East is wash. The
>Sixers will still be in the mix somewhere. The addition of Glenn Robinson
>will give them plenty of scoring, but Kenny Thomas and Marc Jackson don't
>make the strongest of front lines. Chemistry will also be an issue. How well
>Allen Iverson responds to Robinson and new head coach Randy Ayers will be
>the deciding factor.
>
>The Celtics live and die by Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker. The news all
>summer has swirled around rumored Walker trades. But the Celtics may be
>cooling their heels. Walker has been religiously working out with Michael
>Jordan's trainer, Tim Grover. One Celtics official told Insider that he's
>lost so much weight he resembles the Antoine Walker we saw at Kentucky. Put
>him with an improving Kedrick Brown, quick as lightning rookie point guard
>Marcus Banks and a recovering Vin Baker and the Celtics should at least be
>able to hold serve.
>
>It appears that there aren't many Keith Van Horn fans out there right now,
>but that's really irrelevant. The Knicks will be a playoff team this year if
>Antonio McDyess is healthy and returns to form. If he doesn't, it seems
>doubtful that the team will be able ride Allan Houston, Van Horn and Mike
>Sweetney to an eight seed. The Raptors will also be in the hunt as long as
>Vince Carter and Antonio Davis remain healthy.
>
>The rest of the East could be labeled the young and the restless. The Bulls
>appear to be the most ready to make the leap this year. If Jamal Crawford,
>Tyson Chandler and Eddy Curry continue their development, veterans like
>Jalen Rose, Scottie Pippen and Donyell Marshall should be able to give them
>a shot at an eighth seed. The Wizards will go as far as young players like
>Kwame Brown, Gilbert Arenas and Jarvis Hayes take them. Jerry Stackhouse can
>only do so much. LeBron James should lead the Cavs back to respectability
>but it will take huge years by Darius Miles and Carlos Boozer to push them
>into the playoffs.
>
>The Hawks, Heat and Bucks should all battle for last place. The Hawks
>basically conceded the battle when they shipped Robinson to Philly for cap
>room. The Heat added another nice young player in Dwyane Wade, but unless
>they land Odom, they're still a couple of players away from being a
>contender. The Bucks have a nice young nucleus with T. J. Ford, Michael
>Redd, Desmond Mason and Tim Thomas, but the firing of coach George Karl was
>a pretty clear sign that the team knows it will be in the throes of
>rebuilding for a while.

Snoopy the Celtics Beagle
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