<A href="http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/154/sports/Celtics_lining_up_a_three_for_draft+.shtml" target="blank">Celtics lining up a three for draft</a> Interesting read... Gasol isn't expected to be available at #10. Boston could be targeting Chicago (#4), Golden State (#5) or Vancouver (#6). Boston is one of the teams best situated to package picks to move up. They have #10, #11 and #21. Some of the others: [*] Golden State has #5 and #14. [*] Cleveland has #8 and #20. [*] Houston has #13, #18 and #23. [*] Orlando has #15 and #22. ------------------ NOTHING BUT .NET CLUTCHCITY.NET
Damn! This hurts the chances of the rockets moving up. The Celtics are a team i would try to trade down with this year if I was in the 3 to 5 range. Clutch, can you say if the rockets are trying to move up or not? ------------------
This makes alot of sense for Boston. Their ticket sales have been plummeting, and they need the next "great white hope" to save them. Who are the fans in Boston going to relate to other than Chris Herren? Jerome Moiso?! If you look at Boston during their glory years, fans always connected with the white players more than the black players. Nobody wanted to be Bill Russell, they wanted to be Bob Cousy. The same applies to the Larry Bird era. I'm just trying to shed some light on why Boston is far and away the team most interested in Gasol. Please spare me of getting into a racism debate over what I'm about to say. If anyone here is familiar with Boston you would know that it is a very racist city. Don't try and tell me I'm wrong either, because if you think otherwise, then you aren't familiar with Boston. This is not to say at all that this isn't a smart move on Boston's part though, because a lineup of Gasol, Pierce, and Walker would be awesome. I think Gasol is the real deal, don't get me wrong. He's gonna be a player IMO, I'm just trying to explain Boston's obssession with him. ------------------ [This message has been edited by tacoma park legend (edited June 03, 2001).]
You're right, we all know how much Boston fans hate minorities like Nomar, Manny and Pedro, who is practically a god in Boston. ------------------ "Oh No..." -Bill Walton in 97 just before Stockton's buzzer beater
Not surprised to hear a response like that from a person who probably has never been to Boston and only knows the city from a sports perspective. ------------------
I've been in Boston and I've lived in Boston, and do you think maybe the fact that Gasol is 7'1" tall, plays small forward and is said to be extremely talented has anything to do with it? ------------------ NOTHING BUT .NET CLUTCHCITY.NET
I did say that had to do with it. It would be a great move by any team to draft Gasol, and I have lived in Boston too. I'm not saying what I said is right, it's just pure speculation so don't take offense to it. ------------------
So all you want is for us not to tell you you're wrong about the racist accusation and not to take offense to it either. Sounds like you're establishing all new rules to this communication thing. Please, lets not get way off topic... ------------------ NOTHING BUT .NET CLUTCHCITY.NET
I did say that it would be a good move by Boston regardless, I was just making a conjecture as to why they may be so high on him. I'm sorry if it came off as offensive. Obviously not everybody in Boston is racist. I shouldn't have labeled the city like that and I apologize. Where I lived though, the majority of people were racist, so my opinion is probably skewed. ------------------
So who here actually thinks Gasol is worth the 4th 5th or 6th pick? I personally don't think he is. It's like someone here said, "Nowitzki's a freak and freaks don't come around too often" Although I'll admit 7'1 with small forward skills is freakish I think everyone is still enamored with Dirk and hoping to strike paydirt twice. We'll see!
Back on topic, I think he is deserving of the 4th, 5th, or 6th pick. Teams see how it can come back to haunt you when you pass over what could be a great player(Dirk, Kobe). That being said, I don't think Chicago picks him. Krause won't take that big a risk IMO. Also, he is very skeptical of foreign talent even though he did draft Dalibor Bagaric. Golden State seems like the team most likely to be targeted by Boston to me, if and only if Kwame Brown is gone though, because the Warriors would snatch him up if he fell to them. The warriors need a bench badly, and there's no better way to build your bench up than through the draft. Having the 10th,11th, and 14th pick will get you some very good players IMO. New Jersey won't draft him unless Van Horn is gone, but the Celtics would have to secure at least the 6th pick to ensure themselves of getting Gasol IMO, because Cleveland would select him with the 7th pick. ------------------ [This message has been edited by tacoma park legend (edited June 03, 2001).]
Very interesting info. First of all, Gasol's agents deserves kudos for throwing that top 5 cutoff out there. If you notice, a few wks ago the word was, "Gasol will probably be gone by 13", then "Gasol will definitely be gone by 13", now "Gasol will definitely be gone by 10 and a move up will have to be made into the 4-6 range to get him". In any case, if indeed the Celts are looking to move up in that way, it makes a lot of sense for the Warriors to listen. Lets take this scenario.... Top 4 picks are looking like they will be Curry, Brown, Griffin and Battier in some order. This opens the door for the Celts to swap 10 and 11 for 5th overall. That would mean Gasol goes 5th overall. Vancouver wants Jason Richardson badly at 6th overall which leaves an interesting pool of players for the next 5 picks. The Warriors after trading down would definitely be able to fill their gaping PG hole with Tinsley and one of this group of 4 players would fall to them (Chandler, Diop, Johnson or White). My guess is that Tyson Chandler would be the one to fall. Thus, the end result is that Gasol going at 5th overall by virtue of the Warriors moving down could be the domino that pushes Chandler into the 10-11 spots, giving the Warriors the player many felt they were targeting at 5 along with a good PG. ------------------ Check out the Best Source for Draft Info Draftsource.net
good point mma mmma mmmaanal. If the Warriors are awake they could easily trade down, take the player they want at the more appropriate spot, and pick up an additional top pick. Incidentally, I think Pogo Sol's agent learned alot from watching Jake SaltyAss's stock plummet from the contract issues last year. ------------------ You're a fine woman, why don't you mock that draft up
Good guess.... Mitch Lawrence said today in his <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/today/Metro_Sports/Basketball/a-113502.asp" target="blank">New York Post column</a> that Chandler is dropping. Tyson Chandler, the California high school phenom once compared to Kevin Garnett and considered a top-three pick, is sliding because of low hoops IQ, skinny frame and lack of toughness. Low hoops ICQ? Ouch. Wonder if that means he heaves the ball too much ------------------ NOTHING BUT .NET CLUTCHCITY.NET [This message has been edited by Clutch (edited June 03, 2001).]
Does anyone know if Pau Gasol played or will play at any of the draft camps? And is he doing workouts for any teams?
No, I don't think he will be able to participate in any predraft events because his team will still be playing in Spain. ------------------
enough for 19ppg Clutchy ------------------ "The things I enjoy most, I suck at: 1) Sex: everything's fine until she makes noises." - Achebe Smegs Mock Draft
Are you off the "Boston is racist" track? As someone else who lived in Boston for a long while, I would say this: there is a tremendous amount of segregation there, as well as a history of rank discrimination in public works and government. The Red Sox under Yawkey were unabashedly against integration. That said, the C's are a different story. They had the first black head coach, and were one of the first clubs to integrate. Just the opposite of the Sox. Yes, fans loved Yaz more than Rice. Correct that Russell never felt comfortable there (according to his biography). Yes, there were many incidents (ask Dee Brown or Rick Fox) involving cops and drunks that turn-off many contemporary athletes. But this does not describe the average fan. They loved Mo Vaughn and love Paul Pierce. But they dont' like Cyber 'Toine, Pitino or Clemens. It has to do with loyalty and field/court smarts. They are pretty sophisticated fans. So, as for Gasol, who knows? I personally hope that they trade up for him, and that he turns out to be a complete bust (I'm a Detroit fan). This guy averaged a pathetic 11 ppg in EUROPE! The criticisms of his game are that he is TOO SLOW AND TOO WEAK. That will KILL him in the NBA. He is no Drazen Petrovic, Toni Toni Toni or Uber-Dirk. Should be a late first rounder. But the hype will overwhelm some GM. Here's hoping that it is Chris Wallace. ------------------
My only thought was that if Orlando is so eager to move Outlaw in a cap move, this might be the vehicle they would choose to use. I had thought though, Orlando might also be interested in that Iowa State guard, Tinsley. ------------------