Re: Vescey: Wallace Safe

[Eggcentric@xxxxxxx]

< Given another chance of drafting Joe Forte or Tony Parker, Red 
Auerbach was quoted in Sunday's Boston Globe saying he'd make the 
same choice. If the author cared the least little bit about the
aging Auerbach he would've pretended not to hear that remark.> -Josh

I really don't understand your interpretation, Josh.  "Why Forte over 
Parker and Tinsley? " has been a burning question since we drafted 
him.  Since the BT has had the audacity to label Forte solely as
"Red's pick,"  I see nothing wrong with Red speaking the true facts
and Peter May reporting them as follows:
  
    < Somehow, there's this notion still lingering of Red doing a 
    Nikita Khrushchev at the United Nations, banging his shoe on 
    the draft table and demanding the team take Forte.

    ''It wasn't that way at all,'' Auerbach said. ''It was a collective 
    pick.  I advocated for Joseph Forte. I liked him a lot. If I had to 
    do it all over again, I'd do it the same way.'' > - May


Here are a few statements made by the BT in the days following the 
2001 draft. Does it sound to you that Auerbach was the only one 
elated over drafting Forte? 

.................................................
Chris Wallace:
``We were a bunch of nervous Nellies when Portland was picking,'' said 
Wallace. ``The two players we were looking at were Joe Forte and Tony 
Parker and we were hoping to get a chance at one of them.
``Tony Parker was the No. 1-ranked point guard on our list, but we made a 
decision to take the best player on the board. That's how Red Auerbach and 
Jerry West did it and that's good enough for us.''
Wallace envisions ''seeing him play some minutes at the point next season.''

..................................................
Jim ObBrien:
Forte joins a crowded backcourtb&.Never mind, said a beaming O'Brien. 
''You could never understand how happy we are with Forte,'' said O'Brien.
``I thought there was no way Joe Forte could get to 21,'' said a pleasantly 
surprised O'Brien. ``From Red Auerbach, Chris Wallace, Leo Papile to my 
coaching staff, Joe Forte was a player we coveted.''
...................................................
Leo Papile:
"He was the best player available (at 21) by a wide margin," said Papile. 
"Joe Forte's a dynamite player. We think Joe Forte is going to be a 
longtime NBA player, a guy that's going to play in this league for 10 
or 12 years."
``Joe can cover the point guards and he can also run some sets where 
he can kick the ball inside and get it back to shoot. We had him up here 
on Memorial Day weekend with Brendan Haywood and Zach Randolph. 
Joe spent two very productive days up here and we fell in love with 
him.''
Papile indicated that Forte could work himself into the point-guard 
equation, currently with Randy Brown and Kenny Anderson in place for 
two more seasons and free agents Milt Palacio and Chris Herren 
possibly returning. ''If this draft was held last Oct. 15, he would have 
gone [from Nos.] 4 to 7. You might say, `why did he slip?' The reason 
is because of the real depth of this draft. We rated him the 
No. 2 shooting guard in the draft.''

Egg