It wouldn't be an overstatement to say that Pavel Podkolzine, the 300-pound, 7-foot-4 Siberian with the athleticism of someone half his size, sparked a brief but all-inclusive NBA feeding frenzy over the last three weeks.

Before withdrawing his name from draft consideration Thursday as the result of a troubling pituitary gland disorder that will require minor surgery, some scouts had the 18-year-old going as high as third to Denver in Thursday's NBA draft.

Or most certainly fourth, to Toronto. At the very least he was going to push a good number of lottery picks down the board.

``It sent shock waves through our profession,'' said Leo Papile, the Celtics director of basketball development. ``It was right off the Richter Scale. With that size and ability, how many guys in the world have that combination?

``It's almost like someone scripted it.''