Pre-Season to date

[Adam A Suchocki <Twilight@world.std.com>]

I thought I'd share a few thoughts on the pre-season to date - now I know
this is the pre-season, so it means nothing, but some things are still
worth talking about.....

After watching the first game, I was truely worried about Chauncy Billups.
Now, I know he is a rookie, and I know this is his first (meaningless)
pre-season game, but some things still concern me greatly.  I wasn't
expecting him to come in and light it up, or anything like that,
especially having to deal with Mookie for part of the game, but I was
expecting to see someone who would show flashes of top flight athletic
ability.

Instead, he seemed somewhat slow and didn't have much power in his moves.
I know he was probably nervous as hell, but I wanted to see a little of
the athleticism that makes someone the number three pick in the draft.  I
kept waiting for him to take his man off the drible, to elevate over his
man for an easy shot, or to disrupt things with   quick hands and feet...I
didn't really see any of that.

Billups had trouble getting by power forwards off the dribble.  He was
rejected by Chris Crawford on an attempted move to the hoop (Crawford is a
second round pick who looks like Craig Ehlo [He was very effective,
though]).  He was repeatedly swallowed up by the defense, and he had real
trouble staying in front of his man on defense.  In short, he looked like
a kid trying to play with men.

The second game, he showed more, but he still seems slow.  I'm really
surprised.  He is often beaten down the floor by most of both teams, and
he just doesn't seem to out quick people off the dribble.  Some of this
has to be tenativeness, but I keep hoping he is injured or something,
because he is not showing dominant athletic ability.

In comparison, Mercer is also struggling, but he is showing flashes of
great athletic ability.  He cannot hit a shot that isn't a layup (I think
he is one for eleven in two games on shots outside of 3 feet), but he
shows great quickness and leaping ability.  He seems genuinely faster and
quicker than Billups, and looks like more of an NBA player.  That being
said, he seems a long way away from being a legitimate NBA starter at
shooting guard.  He is not showing great range, and he is not playing much
perimeter defense.  Still, with his tools, he could be very good.

I'm hoping Billups starts to show more, because he really reminds me of
how Randolph Childress looks in the NBA.  The guy was dominant in college,
but outclassed in the NBA.  Its still early, but I have trouble seeing
Billups being a regular contributor before the all-star breaak (I'm not
talking star, I'm just talking solid NBA starter - and I'm not sure it
will happen this year).  HE definately doesn't seem to be at the level
Iverson, Marbury, Kittles, Allen, Staudomire, or Stackhouse were at when
they entered the NBA.  HE seems much less atheltic and polished.

After those negaitve thoughts, there are some positive thoughts.  Antoine
WAlker is playing at least as well as he was when he posted back to back
triple doubles last year.  He seems comfortable shooting from anywhere on
th court, and he may be faster than Rodman in jumping to the ball on the
rebound,  He is passing very well off the drible, and other than Bruce
Bowen, he is hands down the best defender on the team.

I've been moderately impressed with Travis Knight as well.  He crashes the
boards well, and he can hit about half his outside shots.  Unfortunately
he can't hit even a quarter of his inside shots.  Even with Mutumbo on the
bench, Knight seems uncomfortable in the low blocks.  He is a good
wingman, and a decent high post player, but he is weak in the low post.

DeClerq is very active, but somewhat clumsy.  He throws his body around,
and can draw a foul, but also really can't score in the low post.
Massenburg is slightly less active but more pollished, but also seems to
have limited post scoring skills.

The biggest surprise so far has been Pervis Ellison.  He is very active on
the boards and is hitting a sharp 10-15 foot jumper.  He is altering
shots, and he scores on put backs (Walker and Ellison seem to be the only
two players who can get an offensive rebound and go right back up and
score).

Overall, at this point, we are in real trouble in the half court set.
Walker is the only low post offense, and he tends to force shots as the
defensive intensity increases.  Knight, Delcreq, and Massenburg don't seem
to have any low post skills.  Ellison is still rusty, but has potential.
Unfotunately, Ellison, Knight, and Declerq are very foul prone right now.
We need another player who can at least keep the defense honest if we have
to run a half court set (EW we need you).  Tonights game fourth quarter
colapse was a huge case of having only one weapon at crunch time (and
Walker got out of control, trying to do everything).

The back court has been tough to judge.  Simply put, Brown, Minor, Bowen,
Mercer, and Billups have been unable to hit a shot from outside of 5 feet.
Travis Knight and Antoine Walker have been much better from the perimeter
than the above mentioned players.  Dana Barros did have a good game on
Saturday, but stunk on Friday (he is supposedly recovering from a groin
pull and wasn't even supposed to play Friday, so that may explain his up
and down play).

Bruce Bowen is sound defensively, but seems to be somewhat limited on
offense.  He reminds me of the classic utility player.  He can fill in at
several postions, won't hurt you on defense, keeps the ball moving, but
can't create on offense.  At the end of the game he won't have hurt you,
but you'll have trouble remembering anything he did (unless it was getting
another teams player to lose his cool).  He doesn't seem to be astar, but
he should be a nice role player.

Dee Brown has been rather invisible.  He plays nice defense, but not great
defense.  He is not launching all of the three point shots he has in the
past (thank god), but    he doesn't seem to be doing much positive on
offense either.  I almost get the feeling he is avoiding the ball (now
that would be a first for him).  I hope he is just trying so hard to learn
the system that he isn't moving that freely yet.

Tyus Edney has been interesting.  He really can't finish well, but he does
keep the other team on its toes (anyone who wants a laugh should wathch
his attempted drive on Mutumbo - Dikembe blocked the shot with either his
elbo or his armpit he was so high above edney.)  The most disapointing
part of Tyus's time so far was a pair of back to back plays in the third
quarter on Saturday.  Mookie Blaylock stole the ball from him cleanly
twice in a row - both times just after Edney got over half court.  That
should not happen to an NBA point guard, but then again, that's why we
have the pre-season.

The other big disapointment for me was Chris Mills.  He got abused on
defense by the likes of Chris Crawford, Chucky Brown, and Tyrone COrbin.
He is another one who seemed a step slow out there.  The most disapointing
part was his outside shooting.  For two straight games, he cannot buy an
outside shot.  He has had a lot of open looks, he just doesn't seem able
to connect.  I can handle Billups and Mercer being ice cold from the
perimeter in their first two pre-season games, but Mills seems two cold
for a veteran.  I get the feeling he was not in top shape and is hurting
from camp, because something is way off on his shot, and I hope it is
legs.

Lorenzo Coleman made a brief appearance in the seccond game, and hr is an
interesting project.  He is huge, and Mutumbo was unable to move him out
of the paint.  He made the rookie mistake of turning into Mutumbo on a
shot (the ball was blocked into the sideline bleachers).  On his next
touch in the paint he made the same turn, but up faked.  Mutumbo foule
dhim badly.  Coleman showed some potential there (learning from experience
is a big plus when you are that big).  In general, Coleman was a force on
the offensive boards, because no one could move him out of the paint.
Like the rest of the Celtic bigman, he seems limited in his ability to
finish even on offensive rebounds.  He is also very slow.  Mutumbo (no big
speedster) got a few easy shots outrunning him in transition.

All is not doom and gloom, but even though this is the pre-season, I have
a strong feeling this team may not be able to come together until well
after the all-star break.  The rookies are much more raw than the impact
rookies of the past few years, and I don't see how they could step in as
impact players for the first few months.  Antoine Walker, when under
control, is a major force, but he needs two things to be more effective,
inside help and good outside shooting support.  Barros and maybe Mills
when they get their games together might provide the   perimeter game, but
there is no sign of interior help, unless Pervis stops fouling and stays
healthy.  If they had even someone like Otis Thorpe or Charles Oakley, I'd
feel alot better about their chances over the first half of the season.
Right now it looks like if you play the Celtics straight up, occasionally
dropping off weak side perimeter to double Walker, you will kill the half
court offense.  Eventually the outside shots will come around, but there
seems to be a shortage of people who can hit the shot under pressure.  As
Pitinos system takes over, more open shots should be created, but they
seem light years away from this right now.  Like I said before, it seems
like the all-star break is a realistic target for them getting the system
under control.  Because of this, I fear they may only win 10 or  so of
their first 35 games.  I hope I'm wrong, but the rookies really look like
kids who have onlu completef their sophomore year in college.

Hopefully a lot of what I saw was opening night jitters and the fact that
Atlanta is simply one of the top teams in the NBA.  But to be honest, both
of Atlanta's picks seemed to play a lot better than Boston's pick (of
course they both graduated,   so they are physically more amture).
Atlanta also appeared to be in very good condition, and actually seemed
fresher than Boston at the end of games.  So, despite my conceeerns, I'll
give up a lot of my worries if the team comes out and does well against
New Jersey.  I'm expecting that game to be a lot more wide open, and it
will be a good oportunity to see Mercer, Billups, and Mills function
without all of the defensive pressure that Atlanta can bring bear.  Boston
and New Jersey seem to be destined to fight it out for the bottom of the
Atlantic, so this is a good oportunity  for both teams to show they have
higher aspirations (boy, sometimes you really have to reach to give
meaning to the pre-season).  Anyway, hears hoping for a little more from
the Celtics on Wednesday.

Adam