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Re: Re:pavolivic
< In fact, I've been scouring the archives the last couple of days looking
for quotes I remembered from Wallace and O'Brien. >
Tammo - it appears certain posts show up blank on the archives,
but are OK via email.
Since you just happen to be looking for past Wallace quotes, I'll try
repeating the ''It will make you laugh; it will make you cry'' post.
It is an interview with Wallace, rather poignant in retrospect.
Brenda
---------------------
One-on-One with Chris Wallace
One of the foremost evaluators of basketball talent, Chris
Wallace completed his fourth season as General Manager of the Boston
Celtics.
Wallace has been instrumental in the formation of the young and
talented Celtics roster with a number of trades, free-agent signings,
and solid draft choices. His basketball expertise and savvy will continue
to be critical to the future development of the franchise.
Wallace was Director of Player Personnel for the Miami Heat before
coming to Boston. The Heat won a franchise-record 61 games in 1996-97,
and Wallace is credited with discovering many of the Heatbs players.
His responsibilities included college and international scouting and
searching for potential talent in the CBA as well as the NBA. Wallace
was promoted to that position after four extremely successful years
as a scout for the Heat.
Before joining the Heat, Wallace worked in various scouting capacities
for the Portland Trail Blazers, Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Clippers, and
New York Knicks. He also worked as a draft consultant for the United
States Basketball League.
A native of Buckhannon, West Virginia, Chris and his wife, Debby, have
a four-year-old son, Truman. In conjunction with the launch of Celtics
individual ticket sales this week, Wallace chatted online on Wednesday,
September 18. See what he had to say about the team's offseason
moves, Eric Williams' rehabilitation and more.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Chris (Springfield, MA): Hi Chris, Great job rebuilding the C's! Are
you hoping to still bolster the point guard position through a trade or
the way Erick Strickland fell through the cracks last year?
Chris Wallace: The answer would be in all likelihood that the opening
day roster will include just 12 players. Currently we have 12 players
under contract so unless something unforseeable happens, the current
crop of guards we have will be the point guard rotation for the Celtics
this year.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jerry (New York): Hey Chris, Who looks ready to at point for the C's?
Will Antoine officially run the point at times? Thanks.
Chris Wallace: It's too early to make a prediciton on who the starting
point guard will be. However, the coaching staff has confidence in all
the candidates. Shammond Williams has looked great in the recent
workouts. He could be the best shooting point guard the Celtics have
had in some time. Tony Delk is more of a two guard but he has such
great defensive and outside shooting skills that he'll do well. Bremer
was undrafted out of St. Bonny's, but he's a good defender, can hit the
three-pointer and was the fourth-leading scorer in the nation last
year. He played for some of the best coaches. So unless a trade occurs,
which is unlikely, those guys (plus Antoine Walker) will handle the
position. Antoine is so versatile and such a great ball-handler, plus
so much of the offense runs through him, that I think we'll be fine
this year.
-------------------------------------------------------------
tom chalmers (NJ): Chris - I was very impressed with a guy on your
summer league team named Mott. Will you have him in camp?
Chris Wallace: Terquin Mott was undrafted coming out of Coppin State,
has played in the CBA and abroad and has never been on a regular season
NBA roster. He did an excellent job for us in the Shaw's summer league,
but with a tight 12-man roster there is little room for him, so he
probably will not be in training camp. This does not rule out looking at
Terquin next summer as this season's Celtics roster contain five
players who are on one-year contracts.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Boston: You are doing an excellent job Mr. Wallace. How is Eric Williams
progressing with his rehabilitation?
Chris Wallace: We're very pleased with the work Eric has put in this
summer and the results he has been getting on the court since
rehabilitating the two minor surgeries he had earlier in the offseason.
He had procedures done on a knee and a broken finger that hampered his
shooting in the playoffs. Physically, he's in the best shape he's been in
in some time. We're looking for contributions from him on offense and
his defense and toughness has been instrumental to the Celtics
comeback in the last year and a half.
-------------------------------------------------------------
John Orlando, FL: How do you feel Vin Baker will fit in with the duo
of Pierce and Walker in the aspect of offensive play distribution?
Chris Wallace: It's too early to tell just how the offense will eventually
look this season for the Celtics or what the shot selection will be. In
addition to Vin Baker there are some other new players who bring
intriguing offense like Shammond Williams and Bruno Sundov. It'll
probably take not only the October preseason but maybe a month or
two into the regular season to totally iron out all the offensive
kinks and bring the combination of holdovers and newcomers onto
the same page.
------------------------------------------------------------
Mark(Raleigh): Does the addition of Baker push Battie to the bench
or do they fight it out in camp?
Chris Wallace: Again, it's too early to tell what the starting lineup
will look like. Vin Baker brings an accomplished resume to Boston.
He's been an All-Star and an Olympian. However, don't rule Battie out
as he was a major reason why the Celtics showed such dramatic
defensive improvement last season. Tony did a great job of patrolling
the lane as a team defender. And we're all eager to see what
improvemnets he's made in the offseason to his overall game. Tony
will be an integral part of this team again.
------------------------------------------------------------
Mark(Raleigh): Will you exercise the Philly pick next year ?
Chris Wallace: For information's sake, the Philly pick is available
if the 76ers are in the playoffs this season. If Philly is a lottery
team, then the Celts do not recieve the pick in 2003. If Philly's in
the playoffs, we automatically receive the pick. Therefore I'm
rooting for the 76ers to make the playoffs. Therefore a six or seventh
seed would turn into a mid-level first rounder. We may not exercise
the picks, but it's a tremendous luxury to go into the draft with two
first-round picks.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Wally (San Fran): Hi Chris, Hoping that you can shed a little light
on your famous "4 year plan" - now that we are in Year 2 and made the
ECF last season, what else do you think the club can do to improve?
Chris Wallace: Even though the Celtics showed tremendous
improvement last year. There's certainly more work to do. To begin
with, the point guard position is a spot where our future is definitely
is on the unknown side at this date, since Shammond Williams is in the
last year in his contract and J.R. Bremer is an untested rookie. So that
position could be in the same hands come next year or you could see a
number of new faces at the point depending not only how our point
guards play this year but some things like future contract negotioations.
The Celtics are like 28 other teams in the league; we're always trying
to get bigger and better up front and in many respects, the NBA is like
the nuclear arms race. You just have to continue to add to your arsenal
so you don't get left behind.
---------------------------------------------------------------
josh: Is Kedrick Brown going to see some serious playing time this year?
Chris Wallace: Kedrick Brown is in a position to see more playing time
this year as we plan on only utilizing a 12-man roster and heading in to
training camp he's definitely in the mix at both small forward and off
guard. Last season Kedrick would have received more playing time but
unfortunately he missed a month of the season in January and February
after starting five striaght games due to a severe ankle injury. The
trade with Phoenix which brought back Tony Delk also contributed to
him seeing limited action the rest of the season. This year, though,
there's opporunity there for Kedrick if he can earn it.
----------------------------------------------------------------
derren(hawaii): Mr. Wallace, what are your thoughts on the Celtics
heading into the coming season? How have they improved or regressed
over last year's team?
Chris Wallace: It's difficult to accurately assess whether the team
has regressed or improved w/out the benefit of watching training camp
and the exhibition season. While there have been some changes to the
roster and five newcomers, the one thing I can say for certain is at least
on paper this edition of the Celtics has more offensive weapons than any
of the five previous Celtic teams I've been associated with. Shammond
Williams is a terrific long-distance shooter and should be a very potent
offensive player overall. JR Bremer was the fourth-leading scorer in the
country last season. Vin Baker is a proven accomplished scorer who has
performed at the All-Star level in the past. Bruno Sundov's ability to
shoot the long ball and his overall offensive skills should be very
beneficial in Coach O'Brien's system. And the last player we signed,
Ruben Wolkowyski, can also shoot the basketball. Add those five
newcomers to the likes of Pierce and Walker, who are two of the top
15 scorers in the league -- and don't forget Eric Williams, who was
one of the leading point-per-minute scorers at the SF position for
Denver prior to suffering an ACL injury in November 1997 and now is
physically as healthy as he's been in years -- and it's obvious that
the team has a potent and varied offensive arsenal.
Chris Wallace: I appreciate all of our fans who sent in questions
today, and once again, would like to thank the Celtics faithful for
the great support they have given the team over the years. Last season,
during our playoff run, the spirit of the old Boston Garden was alive
in the Fleet Center. And hopefully that type of atmosphere will be
the norm during this season's home schedule.