Pre-Season to date

>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
>
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