Now, playoffs are a better bet than lottery
The debate makes for some interesting discussions. Chuck Daly, the Prince of Pessimism himself, went on WEEI Friday morning and said that if he were in Danny Ainge's shoes, a lottery pick would look pretty inviting. Ainge himself opened up the entire "winning by losing" can of worms, but that was when the Celtics were losing. Now, they might as well go for the playoffs because, unless they get ridiculously lucky in the weighted lottery, their first pick won't be anywhere near the top. And, as Kevin McHale said recently, "Danny doesn't just need a lottery pick. He needs one of the top three."
The Celtics slipped into the eighth playoff spot Friday, but if they don't hold it, they could be staring at, say, the 10th or 11th pick in the draft. Add a couple of picks in the 20s (Detroit's and Dallas's) and, well, you have three picks in a draft that most feel isn't all that great (although it tends to get better as it approaches).
A few things have conspired in the last few weeks to make the "winning by losing" argument a weak one. The most obvious is the improved play of the Celtics. And once they get past Portland Wednesday, their remaining seven games are all against losing teams, with the exception of April 9 at New Orleans -- and the Hornets are hurting. You could even make a case that, starting with tonight's game against the Sixers, there are only a few games (Miami twice, Portland, New Orleans) that are going to be against playoff-worthy teams because the Jason Kidd-less, Kenyon Martin-less Nets and the Allen Iverson-less Sixers cannot be deemed to be viable playoff teams.
While the Celtics were winning, the Clippers, Warriors, and Sonics all went into a freeze. Golden State dropped nine in a row before coming up for air with six straight wins. The Sonics dropped 11 of 13 but then rattled off seven straight wins (thanks in part to the return of Ainge favorite Brent Barry). The Clippers? Ah, what can we say? Like England, there'll always be the Clippers.
The Clippers bottomed out on schedule, dropping 14 of 16 (including what had to be an unsightly home loss Thursday to the dreadful Wizards) to fall back to their customary lottery perch. General manager Elgin Baylor must know every guy at NBA Entertainment by first name by now. Both the Clippers and Warriors were, at one time, ahead of the Celtics in the overall standings. Now, they're not. That dropped the Celtics a couple more notches. (It hasn't been a total washout for the Warriors. Adonal Foyle was named St. Vincent and the Grenadines sports personality for 2003, beating out 40 others.) So the Celtics, assuming they continue to play reasonably well, are stuck in that netherworld where they're not bad enough to get a real good draft pick, but not good enough to do any damage in the playoffs, if they get there. Given that choice, you'd just as soon see them take on the Pacers or Nets in the postseason and enjoy the fun while it lasts. And hope that the 10th or 11th pick, or whatever they get, is just as good as somebody taken well ahead of him. Given the uncertainty of this year's class, that could be the case.Gambling going on Here's another reason it might be better to be drafting low: The high school onslaught (as many as 10 kids could go in the first round) makes it an even tougher and more unpredictable sell. Said Pacers president of basketball operations Larry Bird, "We got Jonathan Bender and Al Harrington and it took them three to four years to become decent players. And Jon is still trying to figure it out. You're just betting that maybe one of these guys will turn into the type of player you want -- and it's a hell of a gamble for a lot of these teams." Bird said he also considers the foreign players to be a gamble, though not as big. "One thing about them guys, they play 40, 50, 60 games a year," he said. "They're playing all the time and they practice twice a day when they're not playing. At least they're getting experience. It is a gamble, but they're a lot further along than the high school kids." . . . OK, here's an unknown: What would have happened had Bender and Travis Outlaw gone to Mississippi State? Would they be any better now? "I don't know where some of these schools make them any better," said Sonny Vaccaro, who runs the Roundball Classic high school all-star game. "I'm saying that, before their pimples are exposed, they should take the money. I don't know [whether] Travis Outlaw was going to get better. I don't even know if he would have qualified, but that's another thing. Should they even be in college in the first place? Are they going to be one and done? Now, we've got rent-a-kids. Carmelo [Anthony] was a rent-a-kid. I think the term `student-athlete' is the worst term in America today. If you identified [a player] as being a college player looking to be a professional basketball player, I'll accept [him] going to that school easier. But don't camouflage me with the student-athlete fighting for dear Old Blue. I don't buy into that system." . . . Look for news any day now that Michael Jordan will make another comeback. That's because the Celtics could be hosting their annual summer league at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut. The team would prefer to keep the weeklong tournament at UMass-Boston, but the problem this July is that the Democratic National Convention will basically take over the city. Then again, can't see too many players, coaches, or "observers" objecting to this particular change of venue, unless they're allergic to golf or gambling.
Summit meeting The
Above-average Joe One of the few bright spots in Phoenix has been the play of former Celtic Joe Johnson, who may, at last, be getting it. He has blossomed since the Suns dealt Stephon Marbury to the Knicks, but you can trace his statistical improvement to the turn of the calendar year. Over the last three months, Johnson has averaged 19.9 points, 4.8 assists, and 5.3 rebounds while playing well over 40 minutes a game. "Joe has displayed a confidence that we have seen during the last two summer leagues and during informal workouts where he has been relied upon to be a leader and one of the primary scorers," said Suns GM Bryan Colangelo. "With Steph and Penny [Hardaway] gone, he is certainly getting more of the offensive load directed his way. Another aspect is that he is a playmaker when he gets the ball in his hands, not necessarily a spot-up shooter. He is finding ways to create more scoring opportunities for himself and others." . . . The recent slump of the Cavs can be traced in part to the shoulder injury of point guard Jeff McInnis. As much as the arrivals of Eric Williams and Tony Battie helped the Cavs (along with the simultaneous departure of Ricky Davis), the trade that brought McInnis to Cleveland may be even more important. Prior to his injury, the Cavs went on an 18-7 tear. McInnis, who had relieved LeBron James of a lot of the ballhandling chores, tried to come back last Tuesday against the Suns, but in 38 minutes, he went 0 for 7 with 5 assists in a loss. But the Cavs are not the only team to lose a valuable player at a critical juncture of the season. We saw the cryptoNets Friday, and Jersey will continue to be less than whole with Kidd in civvies. The Pacers are taking it easy on workhorse Jermaine O'Neal, while the Hornets are trying to survive with Jamal Mashburn out (again) and Baron Davis sidelined (again). The Sixers, in town tonight, have learned to play (and sometimes even win) without Iverson. The Knicks have been without Allan Houston for a while, and when he's not there, they tend to struggle because they lack a reliable outside shooting threat . . . Want one of those green jerseys the Celtics wore on St. Patrick's Day against the Nuggets? Log on to www.celtics.com and make a bid for any of the 12 uniforms worn that night by the fellows. Proceeds go to the Boston Celtics Charitable Foundation. Bids will be accepted through Friday.
Material from personal interviews, wire services, other beat writers, and league and team sources was used in this report.
