Cassell would bring leadership, experience to Boston

[hartleyo at bellsouth.net]

Adande is another questionable Journalist who doesn't have a clue about the 
C's. I  got to laugh, C's are 43+ 12. Clips are what 19 + 35 and Rondo 
doesn't have leadership. What the hell is Adande looking at. Doesn't mean I 
wouldn't like Cassell, but the innuendo of leadership is downright STUPID.

Hart


----- Original Message ----- 
From: <BDodgers at aol.com>
To: <celtics at igtc.com>; <Celticsstuffgroup at yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2008 11:34 PM
Subject: Cassell would bring leadership, experience to Boston


>
>
> Cassell would bring leadership, experience to  Boston
>
> (http://x.go.com/cgi/x.pl?goto=http://search.espn.go.com/keyword/search?searchString=ja_adande&name=SEARCH_m_archive&srvc=sz)
> By J.A. Adande
> ESPN.com
>
>
>
>
>
>
> LOS ANGELES -- After a frenzy of activity by contending teams this month, 
> it
> appears the _Boston Celtics_
> (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/clubhouse?team=bos) ' response is to add a 
> 38-year-old point  guard who has missed 15 games
> this season.
> Three sources said that the Clippers would buy out the remainder of _Sam
> Cassell_ (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=1295) 's 
> contract
> this week and that he would sign  with the Celtics assuming he passes 
> through
> waivers.
> So maybe that doesn't demand headlines and "SportsCenter" segments or have
> you re-assessing your picks for the NBA Finals. Compared with some of the 
> other
> big transactions we've seen in recent weeks, it hardly warrants a mention.
> The Celtics already made their big moves. They were the ones who started 
> the
> arms escalation this past summer, when they traded for _Ray Allen_
> (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3080) , then _Kevin 
> Garnett_
> (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3007) . But these 
> days it
> feels as though if you  haven't added a former All-Star in the past few 
> weeks,
> you really aren't trying.
> Technically, the Celtics would be getting a former All-Star, as well. It's
> just that Cassell's "former" is a bit further in the past than those of 
> _Pau
> Gasol_ (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3513) , 
> _Shaquille
> O'Neal_ (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?playerId=614)  and
> _Ben Wallace_ (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3149) 
> .
> Cassell went to the All-Star Game in 2004,  his first season with the
> Timberwolves, when he and _Latrell Sprewell_
> (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=858)  arrived in 
> Minnesota and elicited an  MVP season from Garnett.
>
> Cassell has been known to have that kind of impact. His rookie year in
> Houston 14 years ago, the Rockets won the NBA championship and _Hakeem 
> Olajuwon_
> (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=250)  won the Most
> Valuable Player award.  When Cassell came to the Clippers in 2005, the 
> team came
> within a game of the  conference finals and _Elton Brand_
> (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3324)  had a career 
> year. But Cassell is a
> little  bit like Shaq in that he's at his best when he's fresh on the 
> scene with
> something to prove. After he wasn't rewarded with a contract extension in
> Minnesota, his numbers dropped across the board and the Timberwolves 
> started a
> descent that culminated in the 2007 Garnett trade. Cassell's past two 
> seasons
> in  L.A. have been filled with injuries and poor shooting.
> But the Celtics could use another point guard to back up young _Rajon 
> Rondo_
> (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=4149) . And after 
> the
> big three of Garnett, Allen  and _Paul Pierce_
> (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3253) , the rest of 
> the roster has started a  combined
> 12 playoff games. Cassell has logged 2,871 playoff minutes and scored 
> 1,346
> postseason points.
> "Can I be effective with that team?" Cassell said before the Clippers 
> played
> Boston Monday night. "I think that team is lacking … Rondo is a great 
> young
> talent. In the playoffs, it takes more than talent to win playoff 
> basketball
> games. Leadership means everything. Knowing who to get the ball to, 
> knowing
> when  to run, knowing when to set it up. I have experience."
> Yes, Cassell was standing in one locker room, talking about what it would 
> be
> like to play for the team getting dressed down the hall.
> "It's awkward because if [the Clippers were] healthy, we wouldn't be 
> having
> this conversation right now," Cassell said.  But it has been another  lost
> season in Clipper Country, a campaign doomed before it even got started 
> the
> moment Brand tore his Achilles in the summer. Brand is still a month from
> playing, and _Shaun Livingston_
> (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3821)  has yet to 
> return from a devastating  knee injury last season.
> Cassell has been in and out of the lineup. He missed the past three games
> with a wrist injury.
> The Celtics are "getting damaged goods if I do go over there," Cassell 
> said.
> "But I'll be all right."
> Cassell could be a boost to Boston just for his presence in the locker 
> room.
> He'd be the Flavor Flav to Garnett's Chuck D. Cassell already was 
> spreading
> good  will after Monday night's game, dropping in, cracking jokes, 
> playfully
> telling  reporters to stop their questions to KG.
> Garnett's relentless intensity is at the heart of Boston's success. Even 
> when
> the Celtics were blowing out the Clippers in the fourth quarter Monday
> night,  Garnett was standing on the sideline, yelling defensive signals,
> encouraging  teammates on offense, acting as if the outcome depended on 
> each possession.
>
> "I'm inspired by competing," Garnett said. "I never had a problem with
> getting pumped up for any game. My problem has always been [getting] too
> overwhelmed or too pumped up, if you will."
> You wonder if that's one of the reasons Garnett has experienced so much
> frustration in the playoffs. When the rest of the league finally cranks it 
> up,
> Garnett can't go any higher.
> Even with Garnett in the locker room, though, the Celtics have not been 
> able
> to keep up the pace that won them 36 of their first 44 games. The 
> inevitable
> dips in an 82-game season kicked in. They lost their first three games 
> after
> the  All-Star break, and their defense allowed more 100-point games in
> February (six)  than it had in the first three months of the season.
> "It's a long season," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "We talk about it all
> the time, about lulls. It's a process we have to go through. All the good
> stuff,  all the bad stuff. It's going to be a continual process. Detroit's 
> gone
> through  that already. They are who they are. San Antonio's gone through 
> it. The
> good  teams have gone through it. We haven't. We're new. What we talk 
> about a
> lot is  everything is a process, we're learning."
> After Boston's losing streak hit three against Phoenix on Friday night, 
> Allen
> said, "The whole NBA nation wants to see how we deal with it. This 
> adversity
> is  going to hopefully make us NBA champions."
> In L.A. on Monday, Pierce said, "You're going to have your ups and downs. 
> We
> haven't had that many downs. Maybe this is one of them, the three-game 
> losing
> streak, But by no means we ever got down on each other. We felt like a
> couple of  games we should have won. We said we're going to clean some 
> things up
> and find  out the rest of this road trip."
> It started in the second quarter in Portland on Sunday, when the Celtics
> found themselves down by 17 points and began the first stages of a 
> comeback
> victory. Then they took care of the Clippers on Monday to finish off the 
> road
> trip. Crisis averted, another winning streak started.
> Boston still has the best record, but right now Detroit looks like the 
> best
> team in the East. And the Pistons would have to be favored in a playoff 
> series
> -- no matter who had home-court advantage -- because of their experience.
> None  of Boston's starters has played in an NBA Finals game.
> Garnett has successfully infused the Celtics with his passion. Maybe if 
> the
> Celtics bring in Cassell, they can absorb his knack for the moment, his
> penchant  for hitting big shots.
> Boston did its major remodeling this past summer. But the Celtics could be
> ready to apply the final strokes of paint.
>
>
>
>
>
>
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