CELTICS GREEN BLOG by and for boston celtics fans

by FLCeltsFan 10:19 AM

The draft watch heats up today as the first prospects come to Boston today for a workout. Danny has already seen Yi in LA and plans to fly to DC next week to see Jeff Green. Horford is scheduled for 6/23. Other than that, none others have been announced. Noah has said that he plans to workout for Boston, but his name hasn't been mentioned among the prospects coming in. The Herald reports on today's workouts and identifies 6 prospects that the Celtics are interested in at 5: Brandan Wright, Jeff Green, Yi Jianlian, Al Horford, Brewer and Thronton. I can't even imagine not working out Noah or considering him.

On Russillo's Big Board, he identifies Yi as the Celtics pick but feels that the pick will more than likely be moved. He adds this little tidbit:

The Celtics and the Washington Wizards have called Seattle about the availability of Robert Swift.

It is amazing that Danny is still chasing Swift, even after the knee injury and the fact that he really hasn't distinguished himself so far in his career.

CelticsBlog is wondering if Brandon Wright will be a slider in the draft. Latest reports out of Atlanta indicate that they probably will be taking Wright with the 3rd pick.

JB is hyping up Yi in his latest post over on CelticsStuff Live complete with videos. JB's other hot topic, Petri Koponen, has his stock rising according to Draft Express.

HoopsAddict has an interesting article with Caliper CEO, Dr. Herb Greenburg. I found a couple of things very interesting in this interview.

The talent’s gotta be there. But there are many pro teams and several college teams where the line has been: “You’re five great players, but there aren’t enough basketballs for all five.” They’re great individuals, but not the team, not the heart, not the winning fire. So, going back to that first round, they all have the talent, but not many of them can make the NBA. Talent alone can’t carry it. There’s got to be that heart and that head.

I think it is these qualities that sets a player like Noah or Delonte apart. They have that fire and that heart that can make up for other things they may lack. And with that fire and heart, they have the desire and work ethic to improve in areas that they may be weak. The other thing that caught my attention is this:

A player was about to be cut from a team a few years ago. We liked him a lot. We interviewed the coach, talked to him about what was the matter. We said, “Try not to cut him. Why don’t you trade him to this other team, see what you can get for him. We think he can succeed. There’s a problem between you and this kid.” They did trade him, and he became Sixth Man of the Year a couple years in a row. We knew he had that in him.

A coach's system and personality has so much to do with whether a player can succeed or not. Doc's system is not friendly to bigs and so they don't develop as quickly as they could. Also, for some reason, in spite of having been a point guard, he just can't seem to get the most out of his point guards. I can see players who have been struggling under Doc going to another team and blossoming. That is why I don't want to trade any of our core young players until they have a chance to play under a decent coach.

The Bleacher Report has an interesting mock draft. They look at the draft from the viewpoint of what it would look like if the GM's had courage to pull off some big trades. The Celtics would pick 2nd after trading Pierce to Seattle. I rather like it.

Inside the Bay Area has more of Leon Powe's work in the community. I really, really like this kid. I hope he sticks with the Celtics.

On FSN, Donny Marshall has posted his draft blog. He looks at some prospects and looks at the pick from past drafts to show that all stars do get picked 5th. KG, D Wade, and Vince Carter are among them.

21 days, 3 long weeks until the draft. Rumors and trade scenarios are coming hot and heavy these days. One of the latest is that True Hoop feels that there may be a 3 way trade coming between Boston, Portland and Chicago. It is going to be an interesting draft to be sure.
[Discuss this topic on the Celtics Green Forums!]

Post a Comment