Re: Fan disappointment, "patience with youth", and crunch-time

[Josh Ozersky <josh_ozersky@yahoo.com>]

I disagree.  Chauncey had to go.  Obviously Chauncey
is a gutty player who could score in the clutch, hit
his free throws, etc. etc.  But he can only do that if
he is the man, and the Point Guard isn't supposed to
be the man -- not on a good team, anyway.  Maybe if
he's also a great passer and distributor, but Chauncey
is a half court guy who likes to look at everything
from the top of the key and then decide what he wants
to do.  Kenny, it turns out, is lamentably the same
way.  We thought we were "unleashing" the uptempo
playground legend, and in fact all the Blazer fans who
say that Kenny is selfish and half-court oriented were
all too correct.  The answer is a DJ type big guard,
with lots of defense, penetration, and very little
scoring ego.   I wonder if we could get ahold of
Mookie Blaylock somehow?  (even though he doesn't fit
the bill exactly.)  I also think we need to get a good
woman or a pschiatrist for Paul Pierce.  Maybe it's
the way he's built, but he always seems to be hanging
his head.  And what was with that shot Wednesday
night?  He can beat Chris Crawford with weights tied
to him.  Paul seems to be out of synch again.  I wish
this season would end.


--- Thomas Murphy  wrote:
> It is truly a shame to hear that the fans have
> decided take out their
> disappointment in the team on Antoine Walker as
> unfairly as they did last
> night. Walker deserves credit for handling it as
> well - and as maturely -
> as he has. I don't care how much money he makes, no
> individual who hustles
> and scraps like he does should be subjected to such
> treatment.
> 
> But the Coach should recognize that he (Pitino, that
> is) shares at least
> some of the blame for this turn of events. Pitino
> has allowed the
> perception to persist that he plays favorites and
> that Walker is the
> "teacher's pet" and allowed liberties (on the court
> and off) that, if
> exercised by another player, would get that player
> slapped down hard by
> Pitino. The latest dust-up with Anderson only serves
> to reinforce this
> perception. Now, whether this perception is correct
> or not is another
> question, but it seems clear that the perception is
> out there and only adds
> to the considerable burden that has already been
> placed on the young Walker
> by his captaincy, his large contract, last year's
> all-star appearance, and
> Pitino's weeding out of veterans. It seems to me
> that a good part of the
> negativity coming from the fans is in reaction to
> this perception of Walker
> as Pitino's favorite, leading the fans to (unfairly)
> come down extra hard
> on Antoine.
> 
> Also, Pitino has a conveniently cloudy memory when
> it comes to the question
> of fan impatience. Now he's preaching patience with
> youth, but this is the
> same man who pulled the trigger on the Billups deal
> in order to get older
> quicker. Ellie Cutler made a series of nice
> observations a little while
> ago, one of them concerning the value of "patience
> with youth" with regard
> to Chauncey Billups, who is so far having a
> spectacular April. In case you
> missed it, here's some of what he's done:
> 
> * Recorded 22 points (11-11 FT), a game-high 9
> assists and 5 rebounds
> against the Golden State Warriors on 4/12
> * Hit the game-winning running bank-shot with 3.9
> seconds left, totaling 16
> points, 6 assists and 4 rebounds, in an 82-80 win
> over the L.A. Clippers on
> 4/4
> * Posted a game-high 30 points, hitting 7-of-10
> three-pointers, and 3
> assists against the Minnesota Timberwolves on 4/2
> * Registered a career-high 32 points (10-18 FG, 4-9
> 3FG, 8-8 FT), 5 assists
> and 3 rebounds in a 113-110 win over the Seattle
> SuperSonics on 4/1
> 
> Now I can't pretend that I had any special foresight
> on this matter. In
> fact, I was just as excited about the Kenny-Chauncey
> deal as anyone else,
> and I think for basically the same reason: it was a
> deal that was intended
> to help leap-frog the Cs past the growing pains of
> youth. Pitino was
> impatient to win - NOW - and this was a deal that
> was presented to us as
> making it possible. If anyone is guilty of creating
> ridiculously high
> expectations it is Pitino himself. Unfortunately, it
> seems that Walker is
> going to bear most of the brunt of fan
> disappointment because Pitino has
> for the most part been unwilling to accept
> responsibility for his role in
> creating heightened expectations.
> 
> On the subject of Chauncey, does it seem to anyone
> else that apart from his
> obvious deficiencies (vision, tempo, distribution)
> and strengths (defense,
> energy, quickness, size, range on his shot and
> ability to get to the rim)
> as a point guard, that perhaps what the Celts miss
> most in Billups' absence
> - apart from his defense - are his abilities as a
> go-to guy: someone who,
> when the game is close and the clock winding down,
> had the strength,
> quickness and skill to get to the hoop and more
> times than not come away
> with - at minimum - a trip to the line. I just
> quickly scanned the Celts'
> record in games this abbreviated season and here is
> what it says regarding
> wins and margins of victory:
> 
> February
> games decided by less than 10 points: 4-1
> games decided by 10 points or more: 2-4
> 
> March 
> games decided by less than 10 points: 2-4
> games decided by 10 points or more: 2-10
> 
> April
> games decided by less than 10 points: 1-3
> games decided by 10 points or more: 3-2
> 
> Obviously, The Cs did well in close games back in
> February, when Pierce's
> play was impressing the league, not only due to his
> numbers but also
> because of his instrumental role in pulling out some
> close ones.
> Unfortunately, since then (for whatever reasons)
> Pierce no longer appears
> to be the same "go-to guy" he teased us with in
> February.
> 
> In March the team was getting pasted on a regular
> basis but did let some
> close ones slip by, losing at home to NJ by 2, in
> Indiana by 3 and at home
> to Chicago by 3. Another loss to Indiana by 8 was
> never that close, as was
> also the case in the win over Denver (by 8). The
> lone "clutch" win was in
> Philly (by 6) when the press helped us to some easy
> hoops in the closing
> minutes against a team playing without its starting
> backcourt (Iverson,
> Snow). 
> 
> So far in April the Cs pulled out a
> closer-than-it-should-have-been game at
> home against the Bulls (by 6), largely on the
> strength of a shot-clock
> beating 21-footer by Potapenko - hardly the shot to
> depend on down the
> wire. Two losses, one to Milwaukee (by 1, the "no
> luv" game) and last night
> to Atlanta (by 7) could and arguably should have
> been pulled out by the
> Celts at home. The result in the loss in Orlando (by
> 7), despite occasional
> spurts, never truly seemed to be in doubt. 
> 
> The Cs' difficulties in close games is all too
> understandable. Walker's
> shot is too erratic (as are his free-throws despite
> recent improvement),
> Kenny is too physically slight to get the calls,
> Ron's game is still
> (despite progress) too one-dimensional, Vitaly has
> trouble getting the ball
> or holding on to it once he gets it, and it seems
> that Pierce (for whatever
> reason) no longer seeks to assert himself. Billups -
> despite his youth  -
> understood that when the game was on the line the
> best place to take the
> ball is to the hole. For all his other faults, he
> also had the skills and
> ruggedness to force the refs to make the calls and
> the ability to knock
> down the freebies. Although I'm not pleased by it, I
> can appreciate the
> irony of the fact that Rick's itchy trigger-finger
> may have not only cost
> us the "defense-first" point guard that he seems to
> hunger for today, but
> perhaps also the one dependable crunch-time player
> from last year's team.
> 
> Best wishes
> -Tom Murphy
> 
> PS: Belated congratulations to the folks in
> Portland! It was good to see a
> squad that actually plays like a team dismantle
> NBC's anointed ones. I'm
> rooting for a Blazer-Pacer Finals!
> 
> 

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