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On Hoops predictions
Here is the On Hoops prediction for the Boston Celtics. Despite giving us
less than 30 wins, they seem quite enthused about our chances. If we follow
their scenario we'll end up drafting 7th or eighth next year
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On Hoops
MattnSteve's Predictions - Boston Celtics
October 8, 1997
Actual 1996/7 Record - 15-67
Projected 1997/8 Record - 27-55
Where the extra wins will come from - Forget about all the negatives -
the big contract to unproven Travis Knight, the dumping of
professional Rick Fox, the signing of unknown Bruce Bowen and the
inability to swing a deal for Pippen, McDyess or Vin Baker - the
Celtics are back. So far, Rick Pitino has been worth the $7 mill a
year Boston is paying him, because he's got back that intagible
quality that all good teams need - respect. The Celtics won't be world
beaters, but they'll be fast, frenetic, fun, and a damn sight better
than they were last year. We don't think 30 wins is out of the
question.
1997/8 Roster: Prime Timers Pine Timers
C Billups T Edney
R Mercer D Barros
C Mills G Minor
A Walker T Massenburg
T Knight A DeClercq
Guards - For the 3rd time in 3 seasons, the Celts have a new starting
backcourt, but for the first time in 3 seasons, they're actually going
to be good. Two seasons ago, we had the multi-million dollar pint
sized unit of Dana Barros and Dee Brown, an experiment which turned
out to be an abject failure. Last season we had the less experienced,
less expensive, bigger, stronger combo of David Wesley and Greg Minor,
which could have been effective if injuries hadn't terrorised things.
So even though Barros, Brown and Minor are still on the roster, it was
no secret that Boston seriously needed to re-tool their guards.
Ta-dah! On draft day, Pitino brought in 6-3 Colorado point guard
Chauncey Billups, who's been compared to Allen Iverson but without all
the headaches, and 6-7 UK star Ron Mercer, both top 6 picks. Billups
has teriffic one-on-one skills, a whole host of athletic abilities not
seen in Beantown in generations, and Pitino's guideance should quickly
dissolve all concerns about him being a rookie NBA point guard.
Mercer's presence helped Pitino to be able to coach Kentucky to
back-to-back NCAA Championship games during his 2 collegiate seasons,
displaying a legit NBA game, and he should quickly become a top flight
shooting guard in the pros. Minor, a productive 2-guard who knows his
limitations and rarely makes mistakes, will be Mercer's backup, and
even though Barros and Brown should benefit greatly from being set
free from ML Carr's imprisoning structure, ex-Sacto speedster Tyus
Edney was signed during the offseason because he's perfect in Pitino's
open court style.
Forwards - A big dose of optimism went through the hearts of all
Celtic fans over the summer when Pitino announced that Antoine Walker
would not be playing center this season. The 6-9 Walker, the 6th pick
in last year's draft, had an excellent rookie campaign under the
disheveled guideance of Carr, putting up 17 points and 9 rebounds a
night. Imagine how good he's going to be under a coach who knows what
he's doing and doesn't make him guard the likes of Patrick Ewing on a
nightly basis. Walker is one of those versatile new breed of forwards
who can play anywhere up to 4 positions, and is comfortable at small
forward (52 threes at 33%, 3.2 assists) as well as power (3rd most
offensive rebounds in the entire league). Seeing everyone ordained
Dino Radja the least worthwhile 20-10 man in NBA history, the Celts
payed him $7.5 mill to go back to Europe and therefore freed up the
low box for lots of motion, cutting and athleticism. Walker will be
predominantly a 4 man this season, allowing Pitino the flexibility of
swinging Mercer up to the 3 in blur lineups, but the team's starting
small forward should be Chris Mills. One of the best and
most-underated 3 men in the entire league last season, Mills is a rock
solid player who does nothing to hurt a team. He'd better be as good
as advertised, as Boston gave up their 1996/7 Court Captain and most
respected player, Rick Fox, and workhorse forward Eric Williams over
the summer. Pitino brought Mills in from Cleveland for in excess of $4
million a year, and you've gotto believe even in this era of
throat-constricting salaries he could have re-signed both Fox and
Williams for that sort of dough. As a result of these big salaries,
Pitino was forced to fill out roster depth with low-wage players such
as one-dimensional rebounding PF Tony Massenburg and mystery 3 man
Bowen, about whom too much has already been written.
Centers - Who am I? I'm 23, 7-foot, white, and even though I've played
less than 20 hours of professional basketball in my life, I've been
with the 3 winningest NBA franchises in history and have signed a $20
million contract. Travis Knight must be a contender in Who Magazine's
"Most Fortunate Person of the Year" award, as everything's gone right
for the former UConn center in the last 15 months. Now, he's the
starting center for the Boston Celtics, a position played by
Hall-of-Famers such as Russell, Cowens, and soon to be Parish. Knight
averaged just 16 mintes a game last season with the Lakers, so if he
proves unable to handle the full-time role the C's are in trouble, as
the only other center on the roster is the human Emergency Ward,
Pervis Ellison, who played in just 6 games last season. Completing
what's sure to be the pastiest pivot rotation east of Utah is Andrew
DeClercq, who, to his credit, out-played the likes of Todd Fuller and
Felton Spencer last season in Golden State. We love DeClercq's
committment and desire, and his attitude should fit right in to the
new-look Celtics.
Overall, even by the law of averages Boston would win 50% more games
this season. In 1996/7, the Celtics won just 3 of the 15 games that
were decided by 3 or less points, and 4 of the 24 decided by 5 or
less. This says as much about ML Carr's lack of coaching strategy than
it does of Boston's lack of luck last season. Replace Carr on the
bench with a proven winner, add a bunch of young, hungry, talented
players, mix in a little respect from the rest of the league - and the
new edition of the Boston Celtics are well and truly back!
-MattnSteve
" Bruce Bowen? I can't wait to get my hands on him! "