Swingman Lovefest

[Berry, Mark S]

Understand. And I don't throw "next Russell" around lightly. I really
think Oden -- while not Russell -- is the closest thing we've seen
since. That's not saying he's better than Kareem or Walton or Olajuwon
... just that he's very similar to Russ in the way he plays (and I say
that as someone who admittedly never saw him play, other than ESPN
Classic and NBA TV.

Oden is a very smart, 100 percent committed to winning basketball
player, who values defense above all else. That's why I make the
comparison.

By the way ... Look at Oden's W-L record over the years -- high school,
AAU, and now college. The kid doesn't lose.

Mark

-----Original Message-----
From: celtics-bounces at igtc.com [mailto:celtics-bounces at igtc.com] On
Behalf Of Kim Malo
Sent: Thursday, March 01, 2007 3:39 PM
To: The Boston Celtics Mailing List; The Boston Celtics Mailing List
Subject: RE: Swingman Lovefest

At 03:21 PM 3/1/2007, Berry, Mark  S wrote:
>Who knows what might have happened with Sampson under different
>circumstances? He was really good before injuries hit him.
>
>I agree on the luck thing. It's uncanny. The only really good luck
we've
>had post-Bias is Pierce slipping to us in the draft. And even that, in
>hindsight, isn't quite so lucky. We were going to draft Nowitzki ...

Mmmm, but think of all the things Nowitski was considered soft on 
through most of his career so far until the  last year or two. Just 
as your point about Sampson has some validity (although, sorry, that 
picking on Jerry Sichting incident makes me think the lack of 
toughness wasn't all about environment), I'm not so sure Nowitski 
playing here would have ended up looking like the better pick even if 
he was the better talent. And Pierce playing elsewhere in different 
situations might have ended up the one you wished you'd gotten.

>This is why I'm convinced things are going to change with the upcoming
>lottery. It's like all these years of bad luck have been focused into
>this season -- Red, DJ, all the injuries -- and we're going through the
>"always darkest before the dawn" period of Celtics history. And what
>better player to break the string of bad luck than the next Bill
>Russell?

Your lips to God's ears and all that.

That being said, sorry, but I really hate the phrase "the next 
Russell" which sooooo underestimates what Russell was about. Because 
for all his physical ability, including that amazing leaping ability, 
the biggest part of Russell's game was mental. He had most opponents 
beaten mentally before they took the floor and the few who lasted 
that long - including amazing specimens themselves like Wilt - got 
thoroughly psyched out on the court. He learned all that stuff about 
how to get the angles and do things a certain way largely through his 
own analytical skills watching and learning from others rather than 
drill by an outstanding coach. One of the smartest men to ever play 
the game, both per se and in a basketball sense, the combination of 
which which is rare. Just because someone is a promising shot blocker 
and defender doesn't make them even close to being the next Russell 
even though equating the two is far too common. Not ranting at you 
per se Mark, it's just a major pet peeve.

Kim 


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