Michael Holley: Vital Addition

[Way Of The Ray <wayray@ix.netcom.com>]

                                [The Boston Globe Online][Boston.com]
                                [Boston Globe Online / Sports]

                               

                                CELTICS NOTEBOOK
                                It's been a downhill March

                                Though players say they're playoff-bound,
                                team is losing ground

                                By Michael Holley, Globe Staff, 03/14/99
                                <snip>
                               

                                Vital addition

                                The happiest player at yesterday's
                                practice was probably Vitaly Potapenko.
                                ''I need it,'' said the 6-foot-10-inch
                                center. ''I have to learn the plays, and
                                there's not a lot of time to do that.''

                                Potapenko will start today against the
                                Pacers. As an ex-Cavalier, he knows a lot
                                about them, from a first-round series in
                                last season's playoffs as well as frequent
                                Central Division matchups.

                                Potapenko's new teammates liked what they
                                saw of his 21-minute Celtics debut Friday.
                                ''He's definitely going to help us,'' Ron
                                Mercer said.

                                Rick Pitino hopes he will help in several
                                areas. Among them:

                                Strength. During his first minutes on the
                                court against the Pistons, Potapenko
                                cleared an entire area simply by boxing
                                out. Although he is far from a leaper, the
                                Celtics are projecting that he will be
                                able to shut down his area with his
                                considerable girth. He moves well for his
                                size, too. Pitino noted that the Celtics
                                did not have to double-team when
                                Potapenko's man had the ball. If that
                                doesn't sound like a big deal to you, you
                                haven't watched the defense-deficient
                                Celtics try to stop opponents one-on-one.

                                Rebounding. The Celtics put a rebounding
                                incentive into the six-year,
                                $5-million-per-season deal Potapenko
                                signed yesterday. If he is the center they
                                think he is, Potapenko will certainly
                                reach it. That's because the Celtics
                                believe that in Cleveland, Shawn Kemp and
                                Zydrunas Ilgauskas took some of
                                Potapenko's rebounds. In Boston's system,
                                Potapenko will be counted on to take 9-11
                                rebounds per night. He has never averaged
                                as many as 7, not even at Wright State.
                                But the Celtics believe he can be a
                                rebounder.

                                Strategy. This is the ultimate Rorschach
                                test, because it could hurt or help. With
                                Potapenko, the Celtics will certainly not
                                press with their first unit, not even next
                                season. They now have three players in
                                their projected starting five - Potapenko,
                                Walker, and Kenny Anderson - who aren't
                                viewed as pressers. So that means the
                                Celtics will have to be traditional
                                defenders for the rest of this season and
                                in the future if they want to be
                                successful. More than any other factor in
                                the remaining 32 games, man-to-man defense
                                will influence what Pitino and general
                                manager Chris Wallace do in the offseason.
                                <snip>
                                This story ran on page E07 of the Boston
                                Globe on 03/14/99.
                                © Copyright 1999 Globe Newspaper Company.