Big Al hopes to be man in the middle of C's resurgence

[Berry, Mark S]

It's not even close. Not when you consider their ages. We'd be
regretting it in two years. No way.

Mark

-----Original Message-----
From: celtics-bounces at igtc.com [mailto:celtics-bounces at igtc.com] On
Behalf Of Phil Maymin
Sent: Wednesday, April 11, 2007 2:57 PM
To: The Boston Celtics Mailing List
Subject: Re: Big Al hopes to be man in the middle of C's resurgence

You may be right but you gotta admit Garnett would be a very close
call, far from a no-brainer.

Phil

On 4/11/07, Berry, Mark  S <berrym at battelle.org> wrote:
> I'm terrified of what Ainge might do this summer. The list of guys I'd
> trade Al for can be counted on one hand ... and none of them would be
> made available. The list does not include Garnett or Gasol.
>
> Thoughts?
>
> Mark
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: celtics-bounces at igtc.com [mailto:celtics-bounces at igtc.com] On
> Behalf Of BDodgers at aol.com
> Sent: Wednesday, April 11, 2007 2:26 PM
> To: celtics at igtc.com; Celticsstuffgroup at yahoogroups.com
> Subject: Big Al hopes to be man in the middle of C's resurgence
>
> Big Al hopes to be man in the middle of C's resurgence
>
>
>
(http://x.go.com/cgi/x.pl?goto=http://search.espn.go.com/keyword/search?
> searchString=jackie_macmullan&name=SEARCH_m_archive&srvc=sz)
> By Jackie MacMullan
> Special to ESPN.com
>
>
>
> BOSTON -- _Al Jefferson_
> (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3832)
positioned
> himself on the block, asking for the ball. That didn't
> mean he was expecting to get it. The Celtics were down two points to
the
> Knicks
> and five-time All-Star _Paul Pierce_
> (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3253) , who has
> been the go-to guy in these situations for the
> past eight years, was maneuvering toward the basket with the rock in
his
> hands.
>
> Jefferson was mildly surprised when Pierce threw it to him in the
post.
> As
> the double team converged, a common strategy since Jefferson began
> racking up
> double-doubles (he had 30 in the team's first 52 games), Jefferson did
> what he
> thought Pierce wanted him to do.
> He passed it back.
> "Next thing I know, Paul is yelling at me,'' Jefferson said. "He's
> screaming,
> 'C'mon man, keep it!' That's when I realized, 'Wow, I guess I really
do
> finally have his respect.'"
> But does Pierce have Jefferson's back? After another lost Celtics
season
> in
> which the team will fail to make the playoffs for the second year in a
> row,
> Boston's superstar recently expressed his frustration over his team's
> abysmal
> track record, lamenting, "I'm the classic great player on a bad team,
> and it
> stinks.''
> Pierce continues to lobby for Boston to bring a proven veteran to the
> Celtics. He recognizes the price could be steep. The team's bargaining
> chips include
> the lottery pick that will be coming the team's way in the June draft,
> _Theo
> Ratliff_ (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3020)
,
> whose
> expiring contract is worth $11.66 million and is attractive to teams
> looking to
> carve out salary cap space, and a collection of young, unrefined
talent
> that
> Danny Ainge, the Celtics' head of basketball operations, has been
> stockpiling.
>
> It's no great mystery which of the youngsters will draw the most
> interest --
> Jefferson -- and while Pierce prefers to rebuild with Big Al in tow,
he
> acknowledged the price of acquiring a high level talent like _Kevin
> Garnett_
> (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3007)  or _Pau
> Gasol_
> (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3513)  might
> require parting
> with the young forward.
> Team sources confirmed that if the Celtics end up with either the No.
1
> or 2
> pick (which would land them either Ohio State's Greg Oden or Texas'
> Kevin
> Durant, in that preferred order), they will not trade it. That would
> leave
> Jefferson, who was averaging 15.8 points and 10.9 rebounds a game
before
> being
> sidelined with a bruised knee, as the major bait for a major veteran.
> Big Al, meanwhile, consistently has chafed at the incessant talk of
Oden
> in
> Celtics green.
> "We don't need a big man," he sniffed recently. "We already have one.
> "I just hope and pray Danny believes that me and Paul are the ones who
> can
> get us to the playoffs."
> Ainge acknowledges this is the most critical offseason of his tenure
in
> Boston. Although impatient fans are clamoring for a change, both in
the
> front
> office and the coaching ranks, owner Wyc Grousbeck insisted Tuesday
his
> intent is
> to stay the course with Ainge and coach Doc Rivers.
> "I'm confident both guys will be back next year,'' he said.
> Rivers, who next season will be in the final year of a contract that
> pays him
> $4 million annually, has lobbied publicly for an extension. Grousbeck
> said
> that determination won't be made until the end of the season, and when
> it is, it
> will be Ainge's call. Team and league sources said if Rivers persists
in
>
> pursuing the extension, it could cost him his job.
> "My personal opinion is that Doc has done a very good job given what
> he's had
> to work with this season, in terms of youth and catastrophic
injuries,''
>
> Grousbeck said. "He coaches his heart out on every play. He goes for
all
> 48
> minutes. If people are happy with the progress of a player like Al
> Jefferson, they
> should pay attention to the guy that has been coaching him the past
> three
> years.''
> While Jefferson's third year certainly has been the charm, his
sophomore
>
> campaign in 2005-06 was a calamity. He reported to training camp out
of
> shape and
> injured his ankle partway through the year. What was originally
> diagnosed as a
> sprain kept Jefferson sidelined for weeks. When he did return, he was
> ineffective and favoring his foot. Whispers began emanating out of his
> own lockerroom
> that he was too soft to play through the pain. Teammates privately
> questioned
> whether Big Al was tough enough.
> "I took a lot of crap,'' Jefferson said. "It was really frustrating.
The
>
> people who were doubting me were the same people who said I was the
> future of the
> team the year before. I don't know if any of my teammates were
included
> in
> that. I kind of doubt it. But if they were, they aren't doubting me
> now.''
> "Al didn't handle playing injured well,'' Rivers said. "If you are
hurt
> but
> you're playing, you still have to find ways to help your team win. Can
> you
> still make a shot if you are a shooter? Can you still rebound the ball
> if you are
> a rebounder? Al thought because he was still out there he could still
do
> the
> stuff he was doing before he got hurt. When he couldn't do those
things,
> he was
> at a loss. He didn't know how to help the team.''
> Jefferson said the only person who remained solidly in his corner
during
> his
> struggles was Ainge, who eventually decided to shut down his young big
> man for
> the remainder of the season. Subsequent tests determined Big Al needed
> surgery. In a peculiar twist, it was good news, because it validated
the
> concerns
> Jefferson had been communicating to his team.
> "I had seen Al play a lot, so I knew he wasn't right,'' Ainge said.
"He
> was
> getting discouraged, and I don't think discouragement is a good germ
to
> have if
> you want to get better.
> "He's matured so much since he got here. His work ethic has changed
> dramatically. I used to joke with him, 'Al, you were born tired and
> lazy.'"
> Last summer Jefferson committed to staying in Boston for the team's
> conditioning program. He began seriously lifting weights for the first
> time in his
> career and spent most mornings doing agility drills and floor work
with
> teammate
> _Ryan Gomes_
> (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3976) . He
> lost 30 pounds, changed his diet dramatically and almost immediately
> noticed
> the benefits, particularly in terms of stamina. Jefferson said he will
> participate in the same program again this summer and will avoid
> retreating to his
> home state of Mississippi, where bad habits await.
> "I've got to stay away,'' he said. "If I was home in Mississippi, I'd
be
>
> eating my mom's fried chicken, and my grandmother's collard greens,
> cornbread and
> sweet potato pie. If you don't eat her food, it's like a slap in the
> face.''
> Rivers said Jefferson's defense remains a work in progress, which is
not
> a
> surprise since all he ever played was zone defense in high school. Big
> Al still
> struggles on some of the team's defensive rotations, although he's
done
> a much
> better job this season of identifying the difference between a good
foul
> and
> a bad one.
> Offensively, his skills continue to improve dramatically. In
Jefferson's
>
> rookie season, the Celtics lost to the _Indiana Pacers_
> (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/clubhouse?team=ind)  in the playoffs,
in
> part because coach Rick Carlisle
> came at Jefferson with a host of trapping double teams. A flustered
> Jefferson
> simply did not know how to handle the pressure. He's far more adept
now
> at
> either staying one pass ahead of the double team, or splitting the
> defenders
> with an array of post-up moves he's picked up from watching film of
> Moses Malone
> and Hakeem Olajuwon.
> "The bone of contention I have with Al is getting him to catch the
ball
> in
> better spots," Rivers said. "Al sometimes runs to the open gap instead
> of
> establishing position and posting up.
> "But his scoring has to impress you. Single coverage is the thing of
the
> past
> with him.''
> Jefferson said he believes Ainge will hang onto him and allow him to
be
> part
> of the nucleus that brings the Celtics back to respectability,
something
>
> Jefferson promises will happen as soon as next season.
> "I just feel like we've got something going here," Jefferson said.
"But
> I
> understand it's a business. I don't want to go anywhere. But getting
> traded for
> Kevin Garnett? Hey, that would be big."
> "It would be really, really hard to trade Al,'' Ainge said. "I say
that
> because of what I see, what he can be, and who he is right now. It's
> always hard to
> trade players you like, but I would do it if it made the team better.
> "But what I'd say right now is not only would it be hard, it would be
> unlikely, too.''
> The team will know more when the draft lottery order is decided in
May.
> The
> Celtics need to land either Oden or Durant. Plan B is decidedly less
> palatable.
>
> Of course, they have been down this road before. In 1997, Rick Pitino
> accepted the job as president and head coach of the Celtics with the
> belief he would
> land _Tim Duncan_
> (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3173)
>  in the draft lottery because Boston had the worst record in the
league.
>
> "And we all know how that turned out,'' Rivers said. "That's why no
team
> in
> their right mind loses games on purpose. The basketball gods will get
> you."
> The _Boston Celtics_
(http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/clubhouse?team=bos)
> know
> all about that. It's been 21 years since they hoisted a championship
> banner,
> and 20 years since they've been to the NBA Finals.
> "I can get us there,'' said Al Jefferson. "Me and Paul. Just give us
the
>
> chance."
> Jackie MacMullan of The Boston Globe is an NBA columnist for ESPN.com.
>
>
>
> ************************************** See what's free at
> http://www.aol.com.
> _______________________________________________
> The Boston Celtics Mailing List
> celtics at igtc.com
> http://www.igtc.com/mailman/listinfo/celtics
>
> _______________________________________________
> The Boston Celtics Mailing List
> celtics at igtc.com
> http://www.igtc.com/mailman/listinfo/celtics
>

_______________________________________________
The Boston Celtics Mailing List
celtics at igtc.com
http://www.igtc.com/mailman/listinfo/celtics