(no subject)

[Joe Hironaka <j.hironaka@unesco.org>]

Kim Malo wrote:
"People compare Pierce to Mercer, but he's a much
better rebounder (one reason to put him at the 3 and Mercer stay at the
2),
with a reported 7'+ wingspan despite his mid range height. And the FT
gap
has a whole lot more to do with the Cs shot selection and silly
defensive
fouls to make up for missed assignments than anything else. Pierce is
another slasher (read foul generator) with reportedly a good
understanding
of shot selection."
"Half the reason for layup drills by other teams wasn't because of
pushing around the Cs defenders in the paint but because there was no
one
there defending in the first place. And adding another outside option
should
encourage AW to play more inside on offense, if he really felt *forced*
to
take all those dumb outside shots, as his defenders claim. "

****

Vry nice post, Kim.

You already know my views on Antoine Walker (love him, need him), but I
do respect other people's concerns about him on this list. In any case,
the Celtics' roster now includes enough solid-citizen, Clark-Kent-types
(Mercer, Pierce) to balance AW's heart-on-his-sleeves playground antics,
so all Boston Celtics fans can find reasons to love this team to death.

I'm still hoping for a wiser (and wealthier) AW next year.  Despite
recognizing the risk of signing him, I  think AW will develop into a
smarter player who will help the team in any way to win big games,
especially now that 1) he's close to earning sufficient "respect" in the
league (cash and regular All Star appearances) plus  2) he doesn't have
to play 40 minutes-per-game-over-82-games in a system that simply wasn't
designed to demand that much of a single player.

This isn't a dumb or selfish kid by a long shot. He's a classic
self-improver, hard worker, and fierce competitor.  I don't know why
that isn't obvious to everyone.

****