Re: Thoughts about the latest trade...

[Alex Wang <awang@mit.edu>]

Lots of good comments in general. I'll focus on one in particular.

> 3) Are the Celtics building the right kind of team?  There's been a lot of
> talk about rule changes this year which are aimed at opening up the game,
> and favoring athleticism over bulk and physical play.  But, in the last
> year, the Celtics have gotten rid of athleticism (Mercer) while picking up
> huge, physical players (Potapenko, Fortson).  Are they bulking up pne year
> too late?  If the officials are serious about calling more inside fouls
> than they have in the past, won't Fortson and Potapenko be in constant
> foul trouble?  And, in a game where less banging is permitted, won't
> Fortson's height (or lack thereof) become more of a factor?  Of course, it
> could be that these rule changes never really take effect...

I've been thinking about the rule changes and I don't think they are going
to hurt physical inside players like Potapenko and Fortson. The rules are
going to call defensive post players for wrestling opposing players out of
the post. In fact this usually penalizes weaker defenders who need to use
this tactic against strong post players. Tough thugs like Potapenko and
Fortson may end up being the only players who can legitimately defend these
guys by using their lower body strength instead of grabbing. For instance,
compare Potapenko with DeClercq. DeClercq simply didn't have the strength
to stop big centers in a fundamentally sound manner and had to wrestle them
in the post to keep them from dominating. Potapenko simply holds his ground.
I think they will be hurt because more fouls are going to be called in 
general and they tend to be somewhat aggressive and foul prone and they will
have to changed how they play, but at least they will have the physical tools
to defend correctly. I think that weaker players who rely on grabbing are 
going to be hurt worse as they'll find that they'll be physically unable to
defend under the new rules without fouling.

The new rules are also going to hurt slower perimeter players who resort 
to grabbing to slow down their opponents from losing them on screens or cuts.
So if Walker and Pierce are going to be at a quickness disadvantage as many
fear, the new rules could exacerbate their defensive problems.

Alex