http://0rz.tw/cc2W2 Gomes Ready To Give His All To Minnesota Ryan Gomes, in his own, cool, little way, was becoming part of the fabric here in New England. The Waterbury native starred at Wilby High. He became a Big East first-team pick and honorable mention All-American at Providence College. He was drafted by the Celtics with the 50th pick of the 2005 NBA draft. In two seasons, the 6-foot-7, 250-pound forward averaged 10 points and 5.3 rebounds. Off the court, it seemed like the Celtics' media relations department was shooting out e-mails every other week announcing Gomes' involvement in some community event, many involving kids. In fact, he was the Celtics' community award winner for his work in helping the organization reach out to New England. As Celtics president Rich Gotham told us last week, Gomes was not a guy who had to be tapped by the franchise for these things. Gomes often was the one doing the tapping. The Celtics loved all of this about Gomes. And how much sweeter could it be for Gomes' mother, Teresa, and 6-year-old brother, Marcellus, to see Ryan hoop and be involved in communities in Boston and Waterbury. The hardest part of the week-old blockbuster seven-for-one trade that sent Gomes and four Celtics teammates, plus two first-round draft picks, to Minnesota for Kevin Garnett, was tending to Teresa and Marcellus, who were, shall we say, not as thrilled about this deal because Ryan was leaving. Gomes, who turns 25 next month, understood it full well. "I understand that it's business, and I'm not upset at all," Gomes said in a telephone interview. "I had to get over the shock of it though at first, and my family was upset, mainly my mother and little brother, but they're better. When I'm around them, it comes back to me that they won't be able to see me play as much in snowy Minnesota, but we'll be back on the East Coast: New York, New Jersey, Philly, Boston. They'll see me. "But I'm still cool with everybody in Boston, and I'm cool with the trade. I like K.G. I think he's a great player, and I think Ray [Allen acquired on draft night] is one of the best shooters in the league and Paul [Pierce] is one of my favorite people. It's a business. The Celtics did what they felt as an organization they had to do. "What we've got to do, myself, Al [Jefferson], Gerald [Green], and the other guys is go and make a name in Minnesota and play as hard as we can. Nothing has changed as far as I'm concerned with that. I'm always going to play hard and give it all I've got." Letting Gomes go was more difficult for the Celtics than you might think. He had shown potential as an inside/mid-range threat, was a great ambassador for the organization off the court and he could have thrived next to K.G. in the post. Gotham said it hurt him personally to let Gomes go in the deal because he was the kind of guy he wants representing the Celtics. And say what you want about Danny Ainge, the team's executive director of basketball operations, but when the guy says Gomes is "one of the best people I've been around in 25 years of sports," think about what that means. Ainge had a three-year baseball career with the Toronto Blue Jays, played 14 years in the NBA, then spent time as a broadcaster, coach and executive. So he has been around a lot of people in sports. Since Ainge and the Celtics have so much love for Gomes, could he be wearing Celtics green again? Could it be as early as next season lined up next to K.G. after all? Eh. Not likely. But that's the rumor going around, that the Wolves are going to cut him and the Celtics will pick him up. When asked about it Monday, Gomes said he heard the rumor, too, but isn't buying into it. "I think it's just something floating around because everyone knows how good they feel about me and I feel about them, but if something like that was to happen ... I mean Minnesota is trying to build something and the one thing I thought about in all of this is that they really wanted me. They wanted me to make the deal work. That's got to make you feel good, but if that was to happen, where they would cut me, the thing about that is you would be able to sign with anybody." Does that mean he wouldn't look for a return to Boston? "If something like that happened, that would be the first place I would want to go, but you just never know," Gomes said. No, you don't. And Gomes has a lot to prove this season to land a fat contract. He is set to make $777,610 in the final year of his deal. In NBA dollars, that's a steal for a player and person like Gomes. As of right now, Gomes will be playing ball in a different place. Different from Waterbury, Providence and Boston because it's not New England, but don't expect Gomes to change a bit. "I'm still going to work hard, and I'm still going to do things in the community in Minnesota," he said. "That's just who I am, no matter where I am." -- 说好不提...... 21狼的....... --

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