A mixed bag

[Todd Crane <tcrane@isis.unc.edu>]

Hello all.  A new list member here.  Let's review the tale of the tape
after the first two games.

Pierce is the real deal!  In his first two games he's scored 38 points,
collected 13 rebounds, had 5 blocks and shot a very respectable 11 for
23 (0.478).  The part I like the most, is that he's done his damage in
the second half, and against Cleveland he lead the team to victory in
the 4th quarter.  What an absolute steal this guy is going to be with
the 10th pick.  A minor complaint, 13 for 18 from the charity strip
(0.722).  Hopefully he'll be over 80% as the season continues.

Walker:
After two games:  43 points, 16 rebounds, 17 of 34 from the field.  Very
efficient offensive numbers.  However, he also has 10 turnovers and I
question a couple of his shots in the Toronto game.  If Mercer can come
back strong, and if Pierce mantains his level, Walker's efficiency can
only go up.

Center Position:
Between Riley and Battie, we may have a servicable center combination.
With Walker, Pierce and Mercer providing the majority of the offense, I
think a nice goal for this pair would be 16 points, 16 rebounds, and low
TO numbers per game.  Thus far, they have combined for 28 points, 28
rebounds, and 8 turnovers.   They are a bit behind my goal, but
additional playing time should help.

Anderson:
This guy is playing mediocre basketball at best right now.  His two game
totals are 18 points on 7 for 22 shooting.  The only positive stat he
has going for him is a 10 to 3 assist/turnover ratio.  His shooting
percentage is low not because he's missing the open shot (which happens
to all players), but because he made several poor decisions with his own
offense.  I think he has read all the reports about how valuable he is
to the offense and is forcing the issue too much right now.

Coaching:
Pitino has the guys playing tough.  However, using the final timeout
with 5 minutes left against Toronto is very poor game managment.  With
the team down by 10 points and no timeouts left, he did not give his
team a chance to attempt a comeback in the closing minutes of the 4th
quarter.  Also, the team has almost a 1:1 assist to turnover ratio.
This means two things:  (1)  There is too much individual offense (see
Anderson) (2) and lack of concentration in the fundamental art of
protecting the ball.  Come on coach P, 26 turnover in one game is
unacceptable!  With a long road stint on the road coming up, their
turnovers have got to be cut in half if they expect to have a chance of
returning to Boston over .500.

Todd