RE: Blount

["John Lyell" <jlyell@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Maybe we can move Blount for Tyson Chandler or Kwame brown or Brendan
Haywood? I don't think anyone will give this guy a lot but you never know.

Pierce home to LA for Kobe if acquitted?





John



-----Original Message-----
From: owner-celtics@xxxxxxxx [mailto:owner-celtics@xxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of
R Howe
Sent: Monday, March 22, 2004 11:37 AM
To: Shawn Niles; Celtics list
Subject: Re: Blount


Agree with the positives written about Blount's play, not only recently, but
for most of the season (discounting the period just after Obie's departure).
He raises some questions with his inspired contract drive play.

He has been very public about his displeasure over Obie and his old gang
leaving and with Ainge's hand in it all. He is not leaving much room for
misinterpretation of his emotions to leave here. Someone asked about sign
and trade possibilities. How would this work? would the C's go through his
agent to seek sign and trade partners? I was first of the opinion if he was
not at least open to re-upping here then why give him a stage to show his
wares. But I am know of the mind that raising his value can be good for the
C's provided that a sign and trade avenue is open. Anyone with a handle on
this maneuver please chime in.

My preference would be to sign him for something less than the MLE but I
think that to be impossible. If we were to trade him then what should we be
expecting back. A draft pick? expiring contract? a decent role player? or
garbage?

It is going to be an interesting off season, new coach, the draft, Blount
decision, Baker saga coming to an end (hopefully), and maybe a MLE signing.
Of course all this after an extended playoff run...... I can hope cant I?

Go Celts!!

Shawn Niles <shizzjr@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Blount is playing for a contract and didn't show one iota of rebounding
skill until Hunter started to play and showed him how to do it.

Interesting that Ricky was blasted by a lot of people (Peter May foremost)
for the thing with him and Blount last week. According to the article, it
was Blount who started it and evidently Blount who kept it going. But hey,
why miss a chance to pile on Ricky, right Egg?


>From: "Dan Forant"
>To:
>Subject: Re: Blount
>Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2004 12:16:00 -0500
>
>This stuff could be a smoke screen for Blount to up the ante. I don't blame
>him. It's a money thing. He has easily been the best Celtic player lately
>and seems capable of easily carrying on in this fashion. I don't think
>Blount really needs his nanny's EWil and Battie. If he does it's time for
>some counseling. He's a mature man of what 27? Maybe he wants a different
>geographical location. Couldn't blame him there. The Northeast sucks for
>many reasons. The Celts have to find a way to keep this center that is
>growing in talent in leaps and bounds. So he's mouthy. No one was mouthier
>than Bird. Hunter, Mihm, and Perkins are projects still. Showing only
>sporadic talent so far. Our pressing need is a PF.
>
>DanF
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Shawn Niles"
>
> > Blount remarks suggest departure
> > By Mark Murphy
> > Monday, March 22, 2004
> >
> > Mark Blount has told anyone and everyone, essentially, that he's out of
>here
> > at the end of the year. The Celtics center has said it publicly. He's
>said
> > it on the team bus and in the locker room.
> >
> > No one took the early season trades that broke up this team harder.
> > Blount, who had some close friends traded away, reacted as if he were
>the
> > child in a bitter divorce. Danny Ainge's moves cut him deep.
> >
> > So deep, in fact, that the emotion may have helped push his game to
>a
> > surprising level.
> >
> > Only two players in the league, Shaquille O'Neal and Kevin Garnett,
> > have pulled down more rebounds this month. Blount's 12-point, 12-rebound
> > performance during Saturday's loss in San Antonio marked his 10th
> > double-double in the last 14 games.
> >
> > Interim coach John Carroll is so moved, he's initiated a campaign
>to
> > have Blount named the NBA's most improved player. It's all created an
> > interesting challenge for Ainge, with Blount in the last year of his
> > contract and the prospect of joining his mentor, former Celtics coach
>Jim
> > O'Brien [news], at some unspecified stop down the road.
> >
> > How do the Celtics hold onto this guy? And do they want to?
> >
> > Blount said he hasn't heard word one from the team on the subject.
> >
> > Ainge, scouting the NCAA regionals in Raleigh, N.C., this weekend,
>was
> > a bit subdued when he said, ``Mark knows that we want him.''
> >
> > Asked about Blount's chances of remaining a Celtic, Ainge said,
>``Those
> > things are left for the right time. I don't know what's going to happen.
> > He's playing as good as he has in his whole career. You'd think that he
> > would enjoy the way he's playing. The bottom line is that we love Mark,
>and
> > we want him to stay.''
> >
> > The problem is that Blount, regardless of his hard work and stated
>urge
> > to help drive this team into the playoffs, probably doesn't love his own
> > situation.
> >
> > His much-publicized spat with Ricky Davis, an oral blowout that
>caused
> > Carroll to kick both players out of a recent practice, shouldn't have
>come
> > as a surprise. Blount was the loudest locker room critic of the trade
>that
> > brought in Davis and shipped out two of his closest teammates, Eric
>Williams
> > and Tony Battie.
> >
> > The team didn't view the argument as being triggered by the
> > controversial Davis.
> >
> > Instead, a number of staffers were reportedly upset with Blount's
> > behavior leading up to the cross-court shouting match.
> >
> > But considering the way he has responded on the court, Blount has
> > essentially left himself above internal reproach.
> >
> > ``I hear Mark talk all the time,'' Carroll said. ``It's a matter of
> > what I choose to worry about. All I care about is his ability to perform
> > when the ball goes up. What happens later is not my area. At the same
>time,
> > it's my job to try and help him perform.
> >
> > ``Mark is an emotional guy, and that is what drives him. Sure he's
> > emotional and says things, but in the big picture it's like a mouse
>nibbling
> > at your toes. There are other things that are more deserving of your
> > attention.''
> >
> > This has become Blount's mantra as well. If the 7-footer has
>surprised
> > himself with his recent play, he's keeping that particular emotion to
> > himself.
> >
> > ``I mean it - I don't even think about it,'' he said. ``I'm still
> > learning the game, watching a lot of film with John Carroll and Frank
> > Vogel.''
> >
> > Blount, a favorite of O'Brien's for his fanatical approach to
> > conditioning, continues a rigorous pregame shooting routine with Vogel.
> > There isn't a Celtic in better physical shape or more tuned in on the
> > defensive end.
> >
> > If anything, the trades served to heighten Blount's on-court
>awareness.
> > And yes, the memory of those deals, as well as O'Brien's resignation,
>still
> > burn.
> >
> > ``All of the trades,'' Blount said, ``they were just people that I
> > worked with. If you work with someone for five, six, seven years, it
>will
> > affect you when they leave.
> >
> > ``So right now I'm just trying to work with the core group, guys
>like
> > Paul (Pierce) and Walter (McCarty). I'm benefiting from the fact that we
> > have a lot of shooters. You're either going to guard them or guard me,
>and
> > right now I'm really getting helped by that.''
> >
> > The question is what Blount will remember more come July, his
> > improvement within the current group or all of those old hurts.

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