How soon do we really need a big man?

[jmc@ptc.com (Jonathan McIntyre)]

Chris, among his many excellent comments, said:
> 8) There better damn well be some kind of trade.  'Cause the way it is now,
> if we don't trade to get a big man, we won't get a decent big man through
> the draft at the 9th (or even the 5th) pick.  Nor will we have the kind of
> money necessary to go get an Ike Austin or Vlade Divac unless we clear a
> Brown or Minor or Knight or Rogers or anyone else off the roster.

One thing I have often wondered about is how much getting a star center 
AT THIS POINT in the Celtics' development will actually help.  I think 
there's a chance that getting a star big man NOW will make it more difficult 
for the Celtics to get their team offense up to championship caliber IN
THE LONG RUN, because they'll come to depend on him too much for
offense.  Right now the Celtics are not moving enough on offense, and
not getting the ball to open teammates well.  They actually were moving
much better in the San Antonio game than usual and had fewer of their
shots blocked and more free throws as a result, so maybe Pitino's been
on them about it.

What I worry about is that they're not in the habit of CREATING scoring 
opportunities.  Even on the break, they often miss the pass to a wide open 
teammate running the lane, and in the halfcourt offense, fewer players are 
getting open, and passes are rarely getting to those who are open.  They're 
not in the habit of moving without the ball (only Bowen and Mercer do well 
at this, and only Mercer gets the pass consistently) and spreading out 
and passing and creating defensive confusion, and they're not in the habit 
of taking it into the paint and drawing the foul.  I fear that having a 
star big man NOW will make them less motivated to get into those habits, 
and they'll just either dump it into the big guy or take the 3, like they 
did in the Dino Radja years. 

Since they're not going to win anything this year, I'd rather have them 
struggle offensively, get motivated to improve through better movement 
and passing, make it into an ingrained habit, get their confidence up, 
THEN bring in a star big man as an ADDITIONAL offensive (and defensive)
threat for opponents to worry about.  That way they can also wait until 
the best opportunity to acquire someone presents itself, instead of getting 
the best unproven center that they can right now. 

Again, the operative word here is PATIENCE. 

Jon Mc