RE: Interviewed Wallace Tonight

["John Lyell" <jlyell@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

I agree Michael. It is in the best interest of the C's not to have Wallace
impact this draft in any way other than giving us back the second round pick
we lost for him to Miami. This guy has a zero batting average on being able
to evaluate talent.



John







-----Original Message-----
From: owner-celtics@igtc.com [mailto:owner-celtics@igtc.com]On Behalf Of
Michael Joseph Byrnes
Sent: Sunday, June 15, 2003 10:11 AM
To: Celtics@igtc.com
Subject: Re: Interviewed Wallace Tonight


Josh Ozersky wrote:

> I can tell when Wallace
> is bullshitting / spinning, and this wasn't it.  This
> is the guy who did Blue Ribbon Yearbook back
> at what he loves best.

Given some of the other comments below, it sounds to me like Wallace is
going to wreck one more Celtics' draft if Ainge lets him.

> - -- it doesn't sound like they're looking to move up or
> down, or to pick up a second rounder.  The Celtics
> seem to feel that they can get two good players
> where they are.  They can also afford to pay them
> both next year.

When have I heard that before?  Oh, yeah.  2001.

> - -- Wallace is wary about "workout wonders."  Said the
> best workout he's ever seen was Keith Van Horn,
> and number two was Keon Clark.  And the Celtics
> had had Tracy McGrady in.

I guess he'd prefer non-workout wonders like Kedrick Brown.

> - -- asked about making a Kedrick-type deal, and Wallace defended
> the strategy.

Lou Gorman still defends the Bagwell-for-Andersen trade.

> - -- said a team should "throw the roster out the window" when
> drafting, and don't let roster issues enter into it at all.  Said you
> should draft entirely for quality.  (!)

More 2001.  Well, not the part about drafting quality.

> - -- he might not be with the Celtics come draft time, but has
> briefed everybody really well.  He feels that you should have
> your player rankings ready to go a day before the draft, and
> then just hang out and ignore "stock market type surges" in
> value.  Draft day should basically consist of crossing off
> players on your list.

That I agree with, to a point.  I just hope Wallace isn't the guy making
the list.  If so, we'll probably draft 2 small forward types who will
compete with Kedrick Brown for the 4-5 minutes per game when Pierce is on
the bench.

Chris Wallace is the man who ruined the short/mid-term future of the
Celtics.  He went 0-3 in the crucial 2001 draft instead of passing the
Denver pick on to the following year.  He passed on Richard Jefferson and
Tony Parker among others.

Then came the Vin Baker trade, a deal that was worse for the
organization than the 2001 draft.

Wallace's best moments with the Celtics have come when he has been able to
dredge up useful talent as undrafted free agents (Bruce Bowen, Adrian
Griffin, Mark Blount, JR Bremer, etc.).  Unfortunately, he has whiffed big
time on all of the major calls.

I think Danny Ainge has decided to keep O'Brien and Walker around for one
main reason: this team can make the playoffs, and maybe play well in the
playoffs in Ainge can add a couple of players through the draft or free
agency.  At the same time, no matter what moves he makes, he is
still hamstrung by the Baker trade.

I think Ainge is shooting for short term competitiveness, and keeping
O'Brien and Walker is the best way to do that.  Longer term, he won't keep
Walker and O'Brien as he tries to rebuild.

Michael