Reasons for going through w/ trade

[Roy Enrile <renrile@qualcomm.com>]

     The tradeoffs that Pitino's seeking in the
Billups/Mercer:Mashburn/Austin trade could be that
the Celtics would gain an acceptable NBA offense.

     Most of us probably agree that that the C's defense 
is FAR better than most teams in the leauge,
(No more Montross and Dino watching as guards get layup
after layup), and I think that's the reason the record is so good.
Now imagine how many wins/blowouts they could have if
the offense wasn't shooting  .430  while opponents shoot  .470 .

     3 of our starters(Bowen, McCarty, Declerc) are among the
least talented starters on offense(but are berserkers on D) in the 
league.  For example try comparing their skills to Dee, E.W., Radja
or any current NBA starters at the 2,3,5 spots.

     More high percentage fg attempts in the post(Mash and Ike can
definitely do that), instead of jumpers just inside 3 point range can
only help.  The loss of Billups and Mercer would be hard, but I can see 
Pitino recruiting point guards (Eric Murdock, Derek Anderson type)
who are a little more unselfish than Chauncey, and still play D.
Also, Pitino previously loved shooting guards that had 3 pt range.  
The good spacing this would provide plus an unselfish PG would be
closer to a Kentucky offense.

On a different subject, Austin gets up suprisingly high and has 
timing on help D.  Doesn't let centers back him to the post.
Dominated Knight/Declerc.