What direction will the C's go?

[meltinjohn]

Yea, its not a bad idea to take a chance on a shorter player like at sg but we need NO MORE 6'6 SF's.

[JoeC43]

pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/sports/s_342784.html

Celtics GM Chris Wallace weighs in:

"We're not drafting for next year's team. We're drafting for a talent base. An immediate need primarily is not as important as getting a player with the best potential available," Wallace said.

There is, Wallace added, "groups of guys" who already are predetermined as first-round picks, based on their level of play last season.

"There's no bolt of lightning that's going to come out of the stratosphere to shake it up," he said. "It's not always right, but it's the way it's been, and the way it's going to be."

Taft, as well as the others who opted out of the weeklong proceedings, will be scrutinized, nonetheless, by NBA personnel. Wallace said that teams are likely to remember what players have done most recently.

"That's why the workouts are so important," he said. "In the whole process, it's what you do at the end."

[ferbo]

I wonder if DA might think about trying to pick up a guy like Swift or maybe Milicic, who would appeaer to be rusing away.

[DERRENMATTS]

ferbo said:

I wonder if DA might think about trying to pick up a guy like Swift or maybe Milicic, who would appeaer to be rusing away.

A bit off topic, but I wonder if Joe Dumars' apparent lack of interest in keeping Larry Brown from going over to Cleveland to become their team president has anything to do with the way Brown neglected to use Darko Milicic for the second straight year, and for his mishandling of Carlos Delfino? Both guys, especially Darko, are Joe Dumars' project players and he still stands by Milicic's potential.

Joe, thanks for posting that article. What he said is an Ainge-ism. Chris Wallace is all about the here and now (Joe Johnson for Rogers and Delk, Vin Baker). What he said is the way Ainge is thinking--build for the future and not the present. If the BPA is a european or high schooler, don't be surprised to see Ainge take one of them at 18, even though a proven college player is available.

[Roadrunner]

Hard to say w/Wallace. The owner(s) have the final say, and both of those moves were in the final year the Celtics were sold. Does everyone think Danny really wanted to bring back Walker?

Detroit is deep at every position on their team, but for some reason or another the foreign players were always on the pine. Ex: Darko, Delfino, Oktur (spelling?).

[ferbo]

Well, Dumars---like Ainge---has to be looking to the future, although from a difference perspective.

[DERRENMATTS]

Its possible that Paul Gaston pushed Wallace to trade for Rogers and Delk because he wanted to boost sales as much as possible before his departure. But it doesn't make sense for Gaston to push for the Baker trade. I believe it was Potapenko, Joe Forte, and a 1st rounder for Vin Baker and Shammond Williams. We ended up taking on Baker's ridiculously enormous contract (which Ainge and Wyc ended up buying out).

I do think that it was the owners final say that brought Walker back here, and not Ainge's. Walker is pratically the same player from the time he left to the time we brought him back. He was still demanding the ball a lot and still throwing up three's, so why would Ainge have a change of heart all of a sudden when he's in the early stages of building a team around young guys who play the game the right way? I do believe that the owners were a bit upset at the lack of revenue they were generating and the possibility of losing more fans if we didn't do something right away. Maybe the coming lockout was looming in their minds. If it was up to Ainge, I don't think this would have happened. But because Walker was a low risk, high reward guy, he didn't mind listening to what the owners wanted. And it did pay off. It got us into the playoffs and it created a big buzz in Boston. Hopefully the owners won't force Ainge to re-sign Walker just to keep the buzz going. But being that Ainge signed the contract extension, I guess he feels that they won't meddle in his work much. If he felt they would, I don't think he'd have re-signed.

[JoeC43]

Doc helping Danny with the scouting chores ; ) Yaroslav Korolev, anyone?


Americans hoping to mine basketball's foreign gems

By Mark Zeigler
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
June 11, 2005

K.C. ALFRED / Union-Tribune

Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers is in San Diego all week for the 2005 International Sports Invitational. Makes sense. His son, Jeremiah, is on the USA Red team in the basketball competition.

So how come Rivers is in an empty Cox Arena on a Friday afternoon watching New Zealand play China (and taking notes)?

"I've seen every game," he said.

Rivers has sat at courtside tables with a row of NBA scouts. They're here to see the 33 high school juniors-and seniors-to-be divided into three U.S. squads. They're also here to see the four foreign teams: Canada, China, New Zealand and Russia.

Basketball, in case you missed the 2004 Olympics, is no longer an exclusively American sport.

Or put another way: The San Antonio Spurs are in the NBA Finals right now largely because they discovered Tony Parker in France and Manu Ginobili in Argentina.

"There are a lot of nice, young players overseas," Rivers said. "The foreign kids are a little
overwhelmed with the American athleticism, but they're all skilled and all of them can shoot really well. We used to have a skill advantage and an athleticism advantage. Now we just have an athleticism advantage, and that is closing, too."

The most heralded players in the tournament are 7-foot center Greg Oden from Indianapolis and guard O.J. Mayo from Cincinnati. But the best player here? It might be 6-9 Russian forward Yaroslav Korolev.

We don't know for sure because Korolev hasn't played. He says he has a bad knee and watched from the bench as his teammates couldn't hold an early lead in a 105-86 loss to USA White in last night's semifinals. Another possible explanation, put forth by some scouts, is that he didn't want to risk having weaknesses in his game exposed just weeks before the draft.

Yes, that draft. Korolev has declared and is projected by most NBA draft services as a mid first-round pick. At 18 and one month, he'd be the youngest Russian ever taken.

He comes from good stock. His father, Igor, is the coach of the Russian team here and played
professionally back home. His mother played pro ball as well. So does his sister. When he was growing up, his father coached the local 12-, 13-and 14-year-old teams, which practiced one after the other. Korolev would practice with all three.

"We don't have so many playgrounds," said Korolev, who speaks English well. "We have only two or three spots in Moscow for street ball. The players are always playing in the basketball schools with the coaches."

Korolev admits that the mere thought a Russian teenager being drafted by the NBA was once
unfathomable, that the gap between American and foreign players was once massive.

"Now," he said, "it is very little."

There are also Russian teammates such as 6-10 Maxim Sheleketo and 7-2 Anatoly Kashirov, who combined for 32 points and 12 rebounds last night. New Zealand has Thomas Abercrombie, the tournament's second-leading scorer behind Mayo at 19.7 points per game. Canada's best player might be 5-11 point guard Junior Cadougan. He's 14.

And then there are the Chinese.

They're 0-4 here and have lost by an average of 28.8 points, but what that doesn't tell you is how far they've come.

"China to me is improving quicker than any other country," Rivers said. "They are making a huge jump forward. They have size. Their guard play has improved. You can see them becoming a well-oiled team. I would say in four, six, eight years they will become another major power in foreign basketball.

"Basketball is on fire there. And remember: They have a huge talent pool to draw from."

[JoeC43]

Jon Duke of BostonSportsMedia.com gives a 3 - part look at potential Celtics first - round selections. Part 3 will take a look at the big men. Scroll down for Part 1. Clear and comprehensive look.

www.bostonsportsmedia.com/reader/

[meltinjohn]

I agree on a lot of this. Now that Ainge got an extention, no more Blounts will be resigned to big money probably. No more guys like Antoine will come back even for cheap if he cant reduce his role. Money means nothing if he won't change his game. He can make 3m a yr but if he doesnt change his game, hes a high risk. McDyess unlike Walker knew his time was up as a starter averaging 20+ppg. He is paying off well in Detroit. Same with Glenn Robinson. I am not so sure Walker can change for us seeing he feels this is his home. Maybe on another team he would though. Even IF he fits on another contender like team well in a reduced role, Danny and nobody else would regret letting him go because he wouldn't take a reduced role on the BOSTON CELTICS.
Ainge hasn't drafted great besides Al Jefferson and West (so far) but one thing I will say that if Paul Gaston was here, Al J and West would not be here. Danny has done a much better job getting the cap reduced or trying to to the best of his ability. Danny won't bring in slugs like Baker, Rogers, Delk and Schintzius and Long. If anyones gonna be on the pine on this celtics team, its gonna be a young 2nd rd pick with some upside or something. Not a veteran who has got few minutes his whole career (6 yrs) like Mamadou D'Niaye or whatever his name is.

[JoeC43]

Boston Sports Review's Celtics 2005 draft preview

www.bostonsportsreview.com/200506_story_celtics.asp

[JoeC43]

Personally, I'll be on board with whoever Danny picks because he knows to spot talent. Get ready to be surprised (shocked?) on the 29th to hear David Stern announce a player out of left field ; )

Simien, Diogu, Garcia, Rudy Fernandez and David Lee are on my first - tier list. We end up with one of them and I'll be happy (but that's just me...who knows who Danny likes?).

[meltinjohn]

JoeC, this reminds me of how Jerry West used to draft. When he drafted for the lakers, he got all these unknowns like Fisher. I remember on draft day they said, whos that? But he got some decent role players. George isnt that good but he shot well when shaq fed him the ball. Medvedenko had some good games. West just drafted these unusual guys not many people expected. I think AInge is capable of that same thing. Thats why I mentioned it.

[DERRENMATTS]

Joe, you like David Lee? He reminds me of a meaner Tom Gugliotta. He could be a solid second round pick, but I'd hate to use the 18th on him. His ceiling is not high and he's not that good a player right now. I'm like you--whoever Ainge picks, I'll be on board with because he knows talent. It may not be a guy on my wishlist, but as long as it isn't David Lee ( ;D ), I'll back him up.

Meltin, another guy you can add to that list is Devean George. He came out of nowhere and had GM's scratching their heads. Jerry West does have a knack of finding talent. He brought in Eddie Jones, and he also orchestrated that deal with the Charlotte Hornets to bring in Kobe Bryant.

[Roadrunner]

My 2 cents here: it is easier to draft a player who is an "unknown" if you are picking later in the round. Say out of the lottery to the bottom of the first round. Why? The fans expect you to take "player x" because he is well known player. West, when w/ the Lakers, and Buford w/ San Antonio have been 2 of the best I have seen taking risks at w/ late round picks.