Vecsey Blasts Co-Conspirator O'Brien

[Way Of The Ray <wayray@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

http://www.nypost.com/sports/knicks/55362.htm

How dreadfully disappointing to see what a poor team player Jim O'Brien
has turned out to be.

Was the acquisition of Gin, er, Vin Baker appalling? Indisputably! We
branded it the NBA's worst off-season trade first day back from summer
vacation . . . unlike Boston's media that only began to ask tough
questions months later and now suddenly are wondering why Paul Westphal
and Chris Ford were never consulted.

I've also got a question; what took you bozos so long? Moreover, why not
ask Ford, who coached Baker in Milwaukee? Vin averaged 19.2 points in
his first year in helping the Sonics win the Pacific Division title and
making the All-Star team under George Karl.

Petty details aside, considering the $56 million, four-year obligation
they were incurring, shouldn't the Celtics have delved more deeply into
Baker's well-known emotional instability and alleged substance
dependency? Hey, who says they didn't know the risks they were taking?

Keep in mind, GM Chris Wallace was prohibited by then owner Paul Gaston
from re-signing Rodney Rogers for more than the $1.3M veteran minimum;
the Nets inked him to $9.2M, 3-year deal. At the same time, having lost
to the Nets in the East final, O'Brien was desperate for an inside
offensive presence, as well as someone tougher at the point than Kenny
Anderson to compete with Jason Kidd.

As a result, O'Brien, after at least two interviews with Baker, signed
off the trade for the overweight, overwrought fragile forward and
Shammond Williams for Anderson, unused rookie Joe Forte (a Red
Auerbach-imposed selection, whereas Wallace wanted to draft Tony
Parker!!!) and retread Vitaly Potapenko . . . owed a conveniently
overlooked (by everyone but the Sonics) $22M over three.

For whatever reason - bad publicity, negative feedback from
father-in-law Jack Ramsay and top assistant Dick Harter, or simply
seeing for himself how much Baker's skills had eroded though his health
habits and condition sure seemed to improve - O'Brien has distanced
himself from being a co-conspirator (leaving Wallace out there to fry by
his lonesome) in the trade ever since.

Is it any wonder Baker has reverted to booze when his own coach has
given him so little love? In which Hindu life does O'Brien plan to help
him?