Re: Pacers game

[Joe Hironaka <j.hironaka@unesco.org>]

Alex Wang wrote:

> >Potapenko turned the ball over five times but was generally
> >effective. (Compare him to Riley, five fouls in five minutes.)
> >He had some nice putbacks and a nice drive and dish to Walker.
> >His timing on defensive rebounds looks like it needs work
> >though.

Good point from Zhi Zhi.  My take on "Battleship Potapenko" is that he was
consistently leaning back to clear his guy from the paint, rather than actively
chasing the caroms. From the limited amount I know about playing the actual game,
textbook boxing out and getting lots of boards are actually kind of antithetical,
no matter what your coaches always claim (I guess Potapenko is a classic
"sucker"). That is to say, when you box out well it's often your teammate that
gets the boards and the glory. This is because it's hard IMHO to effectively shift
from pushing backwards on your man (who's usually latched physically to you) and
leaping forward or laterally to claim a board that doesn't happen to fall in your
lap (i.e. most boards). The great rebounders obviously have great instincts for
where the caroms will go, and do not necessarily stay right where they are to
focus on boxing out. You see such guys start to roam on each shot's release (this
is true BTW not just with 'Toine).

Actually I thought Vitaly was closing in on double figure rebounds in the first
half alone, although the boxscore proved otherwise. I guess I'm "making a short
story long", but my point is that Vitaly is a guy who helped his team plenty
against Indy even if it didn't show up in his stats or in Smits' numbers (thanks
to a monster fourth quarter mostly against Riley). Vitaly left a lot of clear
paint in front of him, which isn't easy against such an athletic frontline. I saw
him working for it and earning it, and hope he keeps this up.  I'll admit he does
seem a good 5 inches shorter than Smits, though. Head to head, "Potapenko vs.
Smits" looked like a baby pit bull vs. a collie. I can't think of a better
analogy.

BTW, I'm usually the type of armchair GM that judges NBA players by their "actual"
productivity, based on looking at NBA.COM stats (that's probably why I kept on
defending "Chiquita Boy" against all you meanies). So I credit Ozersky, Zhi Zhi
Wang, MG and all you others for seeing more in Vitaly's game then is apparent at
all from boxscores. From what I saw over the weekend, Vitaly really is some kind
of Rabid Dog (maybe this has something to do with Chernobyl?).  He is uncommonly
mean and strong for a well-coordinated EBWB (euro big white boy). I didn't see a
15-foot jumpshot in his arsenal, however, which is something every EBWB normally
seems to have. If he actually has one hidden somewhere, I think he'll one day
develop into a more likeable, non-whiny version of Bill Laimbeer (in other words,
a championship center).

Although the (pseudo) national TV win against Indy would have been a great launch
pad for a 6-game winning streak, I think it can still plausibly happen. If Paul
"Is anyone home?" Pierce gets his game together (let us pray), we ought to be back
at .500 to start our stretch run in April. More importantly, I'd say we now have
five useful lottery picks that are 24-or-under (Ron, Toine, Paul, Train, Tony),
and we don't need another diaper brat.

Personally, I think we intentionally suckered Cleveland by our play last week into
thinking we have one more lottery year in us. :-)  If it makes you feel any
better, recall that every time our Celts have moved a lottery pick, it usually led
to nice things. Think of Samaki Walker in 1996 (for Antoine Walker) or Joe Barry
Carroll and another total loser at #13 in 1980 (for Kevin McHale and Robert
Parish).

BTW, I feel bad for all you folks who were forced to watch Stephon "71 million is
a Diss" Marbury on NBC, instead of the Celtics-Indiana game. No question, you guys
all deserve better. I'm just finally catching up on reading the last week's worth
of the list digest, and saw some terrific posts as usual from the usual suspects.

Let's just start with a solid win (or any kind of win) against the talented but
bumbling LA Slippers.

Joe

P.S. On the subject of the Timberpoodles, I hope they continue to have a great
year. For me, early evidence that the lepprechaun is back is 1) Paul Pierce at
#10, and 2) McHale's team rewarded with a great start despite giving up Goog for
absolutely nothing, merely to hurt the LA Fakers (who begged them to take Eddie
Jones and more, via a sign and trade). It's a shame the T-Poodles lost Goog, but
I'm very glad McHale dumped Marbury and got talent in return. Kevin McHale has a
tough job in Minnie, but he's bound to do fine. If there is any justice in the
world, he will continue to attract more talent through his integrity, passion and
enduring "Celtic Pride".

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