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Peter May
Here's his latest Celtics report from Sporting News.com. (note what he has to
say about Riley :) May must be reading my incessant posts about the guy.)
Peter May
Boston Globe
Rick Pitino is in a bind of sorts and
nobody knows it more than he does.
He has a nice collection of young
talent, some of it even desirable. But
while all the young dudes are nice
players, they aren't what he needs.
Pitino needs a banger, bruiser, tough
guy, rebounder, shot-blocker, meanie.
{well, take away the words rebounder and shot-blocker and we've at least
gotten the other four with Potapenkjo).
So does everyone, of course, which
complicates his task. But the Celtics'
lack of inside power and strength,
illustrated so painfully in a second loss
to Toronto, has to be addressed if the
team is to progress. As Pitino notes,
what they have is fine. But it's not
enough.
What to do? Pitino knows he won't get relief in the
draft and his
attempt to "build a center" has been unsuccessful to
date. His
reclamation projects, Dwayne Schintzius and Eric
Riley, are
both struggling with conditioning, the system, and
the fact that
they are what they are. Tony Battie is a power
forward in a
small forward's body and while he blocks shots, he
does not
rebound.
Antoine Walker needs to get tougher and stronger and Pitino
promises that will happen -- over the summer. Walker gets
pushed around on defense by the bigger power forwards;
Charles Oakley was all over him last Sunday in the Raptors'
pulverizing performance (a 54-32 rebounding
advantage.)
Last summer, the Celtics were thought to be calling
about Brian
Grant at Portland -- Boston denied that and it was
later learned
they were interested in Rasheed Wallace. But he's not going
anywhere and, if the status quo remains, neither are
the Celtics.
The one player the Celtics could think about moving
is Ron
Mercer. He has said he'd like to stay with the
Celtics -- he's
eligible for an extension once the Celtics are
eliminated from the
playoffs -- but he's got Master P. calling the shots
instead of
David Falk and who knows where that goes?
But Pitino is inclined to ride it out this season and
then see
where everything sits this summer. He maintains that
he wasn't
planning on a playoff appearance for three years,
although at
times he has said otherwise.
Pitino said he has to be careful and not panic,
something one
might say he did last summer with precipitous free-agent
signings (Travis Knight, Chris Mills.) Mercer is
going to be a
solid shooting guard in the league -- he already is
-- but is that
enough to bring a banger/bruiser?
The Celtics still are an outside-inside team and that
is plenty
when the shots are falling. When they're not, they
get beaten up on the boards and have trouble
defending in the halfcourt set. And if they don't
make shots, they can't use their press. . . .
The education of Paul Pierce is continuing. He ran
into Raptor skywalker Vince Carter on Sunday
and it was a walkover for the Toronto frequent flyer.
Teams already have figured out that Pierce
likes to set up on the left side and try to beat his
man on the baseline. Pitino wants Pierce to be
more active and less predictable and says the rookie
has a tendency to drift, which needs to be
corrected. Then again, so do a lot of veterans. . . .
The Celtics won't be home again until St. Patrick's
Day when they have their one sure "W" of the
season, a game with the Clippers (who might still be
winless by then.) After that game, they will
play at least every other day for the rest of the
season. So far, the schedule has not been a real
grinder for Boston with the noted exception that
they've been on the road a lot. But once that
Clipper game starts, they won't have a lot of time
for practice (which Pitino won't like) and will
have two sets of three games in three days. They
haven't had any yet and have had only a few
back-to-backs, one of which had them home on both
nights.
POSITIONAL ANALYSIS
Point guard: Kenny Anderson has been mostly ordinary
so far and that isn't good news. His
shooting remains hideous and he does not get the team
into the offense as fast as Pitino would like.
Defensively, he hasn't changed. He's the guy that
makes the offense go and the Celtics are having
problems when they don't get easy baskets. Grade: C-
Shooting guard: Mercer returned from a sprained ankle
and has been an automatic 20-plus per
game. He is a terrific shooter coming off a pick and
is showing an ability to take it to the hole.
He's been one of the few bright spots when he's been
healthy. Grade: B+
Center: Eric Riley is probably going to get the
chance to rise or fall without worrying about his
status. He has talent and size, but he needs to get
stronger. Right now, the best of an indifferent
lot. Grade: C-
Power forward: Antoine Walker is still doing a lot of
the same things he did the last two years,
which is good and bad news. His shooting is suspect,
his defense has been horrible, but he's at
least cut down on his turnovers and technicals. It's
good for him there's no All-Star game this
season because he'd have trouble getting a vote on
anyone's ballot. Grade: C-
Small forward: Paul Pierce is settled in here and
once he diversifies, he's going to be even
harder to defend. Pierce is showing he can play at
both ends -- he's among the league leaders in
steals -- and simply needs to avoid drifting during
games to seal the package. Still, he had a couple
subpar games in six days, so he's not infallible.
Grade: B+
INJURY REPORT
The Celtics may be the healthiest team in the NBA.
They finally got Walter McCarty back after the
energizing forward missed a couple weeks with a
sprained toe. Pitino has the 12 players he wants
-- at least on the roster he has to work with -- and
few other coaches can make that claim.
The injured list is occupied by two players with
phantom ailments, Schintzius and Marlon Garnett,
and by perennial spot-holder Pervis Ellison, who is
recovering from November surgery and is not
expected back this season.
WHO'S HOT/WHO'S NOT
Mercer has come back from his latest injury with a
big bang. He rang up a career-high 35 points
against the Nuggets in just his second game after a
sprained ankle. He followed that up with a
22-pointer against the Raptors. He's showing he can
score inside and out, which is helpful in the
team's halfcourt set. McCarty is trying to shed the
rust he accumulated while being on the injured
list. In his first four games, he was 4-of-18 from
the field and still trying to get his wind. That
should come.
STRONG TO THE HOOP
Pitino wants to build a center. Well, he should not
stop the project at its foundation. Eric Riley
needs to play; he's not doing any good sitting on the
bench, which is where he spends most of his
time. If that means allowing him to play with foul
trouble, so be it. What's the downside? It's not
like Pitino has Bill Walton waiting to come in. Let
the big guy learn and play at the same time.
Maybe he'll surprise everyone. At the least, you're
going to know a lot more than you do know
and with practice time soon to be at a minimum, the
games are going to be the learning arena.
FEARLESS PREDICTION
The Celtics won't make a major deal and will try to
get by for the rest of the season with what they
have. That should be good enough to remain in playoff
contention, but not a whole lot more.