Vaughn/Bird

[chrisl@mjr.com (Chris Littlefield)]

Responding to the following posts from Mark:


***Date: Tue, 28 Jan 1997 14:41:53 -0500 (EST)
From: mwmornin <mwmornin@oakland.edu>
Subject: Re: Jacque Vaughn

 I believe Jacque Vaughn would make an excellent point man for the
Celtics. Most importantly, he has the intelligence to make wise decisions
in the clutch. He also has the intangibles, like a strong leadership
presence, something which has been missing since the Big 3 were in town.
Kind of reminds me of Dennis Johnson, anyone agree? The last few years the
Celtics have been drafting big men and they've proven to be flops. The
Celtics should look at a different perspective a draft a man who can run
the show, someone that the team can rally around. I'm from Detroit myself
so I know how Doug Collins rebuilt the Pistons first hand. He drafted
Grant Hill, not the greatest college player ever, but very well-rounded
and intelligent. He's a leader, a team player, and a great role model.
Then they added a wily veteran Otis Thorpe one who could step in and make
an instant impact. Thorpe shows a thing or two to the younger big men,
Ratliff, Reid and Williams. It took Doug Collins two years to turn the
Pistons into a league contender again, I sincerely wish M.L. would take a
page from Collins book. But to write that book the celtics need a quality
coach, and that's something Boston is sure missing right now. ***


I see what you're saying, but the only big men the C's have drafted since
1989 are Montross and Acie Earl.  I don't consider Eric Williams, Antoine
Walker, Jon (I could've been Sprewell!) Barry, Rick Fox, or Dee Brown to be
big men.  Acie Earl was a flop.  No argument there.  Montross was not a
flop in that we were able to convert him and the 9th pick in the past draft
(Samaki Walker) to Antoine Walker and Dallas' unconditional pick next year,
which at this point looks to be the 5th or 6th, though that could all
change.  In that alone, Montross could end up helping the C's more than in
ML's wildest dreams.

***Dallas update!  Gatling was fined and suspended for one game by the team
for skipping out on practice.  Apparently he was angry and frustrated with
the team attitude, and snapped.  Doesn't sound like a team ready for a
turnaround in the near future, does it?  And they got pummeled by the
Lakers last night.***

Back to your post:  I think that in Walker, the Celts could have the kind
of player you are talking about.  He's 2 years younger than Grant Hill, has
a similar athleticism, and better skills than Hill did at the same age.  Do
the intangibles exist?  Good question.  I think it's too soon to tell.
Dino Radja could be the wily veteran, but the Celts literally do not have
anything resembling the young big men, even of limited skills and impact,
that Detroit has. The Celts are starting 6'9" Antoine Walker at CENTER!
That's an atrocity. I've never seen Vaughn play, but neither have I seen
nor heard that he has the scoring skills to be an impact player in the NBA,
regardless of his leadership potential.  They have to go big.  No way
around it.  None.

And I've got to praise ML Carr for motivating what few remaining troops he
has.  The C's start 3 small forwards as their front line, and dress 8-9
players, two of which usually don't get up.  In their current 6-game losing
streak, they have competed hard and had a chance to win at New York, at
Atlanta (which has lost 1 home game!!), overtime against Orlando, overtime
against Philly, who they should have beaten, and before that, tight games
against Washington and Miami.  But you have to give credit where credit is
due.  This team, looking at the players they have and the teams they're
playing, should be getting absolutely POUNDED!  But they're not.

You have to credit ML for motivating his troops to play their hearts out
every night.  One or two more players, and they could just as easily have
been on a 6-game win streak.  They are not playing like a 9-30 team.  I
hope they get Duncan.  That would be tremendous, because this is a team
with pride that hasn't gotten down on itself.  Add someone like Duncan and
they add the things they lack; size, an inside presence, rebounding,
shot-blocking, and court-savvy.  Applied correctly, this would have put
them over the top on a lot of these games.

I like to look at it this way, it's my pipe-dream;  if the C's can get
Duncan and Tony Battie (or Koul, though I prefer Battie for his
athleticism) in the draft, then pluck Derek Anderson in the 2nd round, add
a healthy, rested Dino Radja, then (I'm sorry but Walker and Williams just
add a bigger upside than Rick and somebody's got to get squeezed) find a
way to get rid of Fox and Brown, dump Lister and Brickowski, and they have
an awesome young foundation for a serious run over the next few seasons,
athletic and able to go big, small, or in between.  I would prefer to keep
Day over Minor, but that's just my opinion.  That Williams and Walker are
friends might convince Walker to stay if Williams does.  And so on, and so
on.

The Montross trade sacrificed this year for the future.  I hope the dice
roll our way in the lottery.


And regarding Bird and intangibles and players not playing hard; hey, go
back to what I said about ML.  These players are not lollygagging, or
giving 80%.  Walker in particular is playing much bigger than he is,
thriving against 7-footers, and it's wonderful to see Williams getting his
confidence and his game back to the joyful ferocity he demonstrated last
year.  Todd Day's playing with more discipline than at any time in his
career.  If there had not been a glut at point guard, I think Wesley might
have deserved All-Star consideration.  There's no lack of effort or desire
here.

My one fear is that, once ML gets a full team back, he won't hammer down an
8-man basic rotation, but play everyone 20 minutes a game and piss everyone
off.

Despite the crap he's taking, his players seem to respect and back him, as
well as each other.  That says a lot, and should, as we look at the record
and seek a scapegoat, give pause to our desire to pummel ML.

Wow, have I rambled.  I'd love to get comments if you can wade your way
through it.

Later!

Chris