Ainge Watch Ainge Watch Ainge Watch

[wayray@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]

This is your official "Ainge Watch" station. . .

- If the Celtics end up with one of the Top 3 picks in the draft
who would Danny draft?  Personally, I'd be leaning towards
Chris Paul over Okafor or Howard, as he seems more likely to
be a franchise player than the other two.  Not to take anything
away from Okafor and Howard, who can be All-Stars in time,
but Paul seems to be the best non-NBA PG of this Millenium.
Telfair is pretty good too by the way, and if he were playing at a
higher level, we might be saying the same thing about him.

- Is there any doubt Ainge should have dealt Blount before the
deadline?  Can he whine anymore about being elsewhere
after the season? And to even do a Sign and Trade with him, you
would have to use the Mid Level Exception.  So Very Gone, Daddy Gone.
Let him go and move on. Bring Barry in via a sign and trade and
get someone who can make a difference with the MLE like Nocioni.

- Danny Ainge has been heavily scouting Sebastian Telfair.  What does that
mean in the grand scheme of things?  Well, I'd trade up in the draft for
him. He's Sneaky Isiah Evil and that means a great deal of NBA success.

- Right now it looks like both Ivan Chiriaev and Kosta Perovic will be in the
draft. Perovic seems a definite Top 7 Pick, while Chiriaev's placement depends
on the All Star games and his team workouts. But someone grabs him  in the 
Top 20, perhaps even the Celtics, as he fulfills a Kukoc-Divac great passing
Big Person role, but he's raw, very raw.

- Leo Papole says there's a bunch of Chinese prospects, but can't name
them because they aren't draft eligible. Never fear, we have the answers:

~ Jianlian Yi:  7-1 athletic Bosh-type considered a top 3 prospect in 2005 draft.
The Chicoms are lyin' thievin' dogs and Yi  is actually closer in age to 
19 than the 17 he's currently listed at. Remember this kids: Commies always cheat,
and there are 15-year-old Chinese basketball players with grey hair and
and full beards. Also, they're injecting large quantities of HGF and other substances
 into their athletes, obviously taking their cue from Major League Baseball.

~ Sun Ming Ming: 7-6 Shawn Bradley type; second-rounder in future draft.

~ Du Feng: 6-8 PF named CBA Player of the Year; might be a bit of a 
tweener, but talented.
 
~ Mo Ke: 6-11 PF, second-rounder in this draft.

~ Zhu Fangyu: Mucho athletic SF type about 6-7; secound-rounder I think.

~ Tang Zhengdong: Big Dong at 7-1.

~ Zhang Songtao: The power of the Tao in this seven-footer.

~ Mo Guo-Chao: God these names; 16 year-old going on 7-1.

~ Li Hang: Another 16-year-old heading for seven feet.

~ Li Lei: Little Li at 6-10.

- Paul Pierce campaigns for Dennis Johnson as the next Celtics coach:  Ainge
thinks, "Fat Chance in Heck (Mormons don't swear), Pierce".

Hard to believe it won't be Westphal.  

Methinks, the Pierce Rebellion 
against Ainge has started and he might in all actuality like to be 
elsewhere. Ainge I'm sure can 
arrange it and there may be some interesting offers from clubs like
Chicago: Pierce for that top pick?  Then Berry can have his precious
Okafor, though he's not much of a scorer. Which leads to the question,
Would Ainge, who desires a scoring PF, draft Okafor (think Buck Williams
with better shot-blocking skills) with the top pick?
Ray