Never Happen

[Josh Ozersky <josh_ozersky@yahoo.com>]

Tom Murphy is one of the smartest people writing about the Celtics. 
I've encouraged him to join the list, but I guess he doesn't have time
for it.  (Or maybe he's a southerner.)  But as for the last point, I
don't believe that Pitino will ever trade Walker based on his game. 
Pitino absolutley loves Antoine, and hardly needs "evalutation" time
to judge a player whom he has been coaching since the age of 18. 
Unless Antoine begins to think he's boss, Pitino clearly believes his
game will mature and that he will one day be an MVP candidate.   As do
I.  Neither Walker nor Pierce will ever be traded from this team,
unless it's for Tim Duncan.  As for Antoine boxing out and playing
defense, I think he tries, but he's not strong enough to box out power
forwards (especially when he is playing on the perimeter) and he is
too slow to ever be a first class individual defender.  People forget
because he has good hops and is black that he is one of the slowest
men on the team.  I think Larry Bird was faster than Antoine on the
floor -- he always looks like he's running against the wind.


Josh

---peter delevett  wrote:
>
> This was written by a guy named Thomas Murphy, who makes some very
good points
> about the rebounding differential with and without Vitaly:
> 
> 
>                           "An early review of the Potapenko
acquisition from a
> Celtic perspective. Having watched a bit of Potapenko, I'm pretty
high on his
> potential as a team asset. I'll tell you, however, I don't think his
> contribution to the team will be revealed by his individual numbers.
In that
> and many other respects he strikes me as having the potential
(*potential*,
> mind you) to be a Wes Unseld type player - in other words, an
unselfish, at
> times underappreciated, brick sh-thouse who anchors the middle.
> 
>                           I expect that this season Potapenko will
continue to
> average 9 ppg and 6 rpg but that these numbers are a misleading
indicator of
> his value to the team. VP's got a nice offensive game - a surprising
passing
> touch, a 15 foot shot, and enough agility and mobility to scoot by
opposing
> centers when need be. Perhaps most importantly, he has confidence in
his
> ability to score. But his points will be limited by the shots he'll
get - with
> Walker, Mercer and Pierce there won't be many extra to go around. In
Indy VP
> had 9 pts but only 4 shot attempts; compare that to the 38 shot
attempts
> between Walker and Mercer. As for rebounds, again the individual
numbers won't
> tell the whole story. The rap on VP is that he has never put up the
rebounding
> #s that a guy his size should. However, if you watch him play I
think you'll
> understand why. I'm not sure who schooled him early on, but the guy is
> (surprisingly) rock-solid on the fundamentals. He's always boxing
out and if
> he's not that's because he helped out on D. But if you're boxing
out, that
> doesn't leave you in the best position to get the rebound unless your
> *teammates* box out too. Otherwise one of your teammates (or his
man) will
> leap to the ball first.
> 
>                           VP creates something that the Cs didn't
have on the
> defensive boards for some years - rebounding space. Remember seeing
the Celts
> crammed under their own boards during the first three games on the
just
> completed five game road trip? It was ugly. They could only get a
rebound if
> they out-leapt someone else. With VP they at least don't have to
out-leap the
> opposing center - or any other wingmen who might try and sneak to
the boards
> on Vitaly's side.
> 
>                           The team numbers don't lie: the first
three games of
> their recent trip the Cs were outrebounded by 19 (Toronto), 5
(Charlotte!?
> without DC no less!?!), and 23 (Atlanta - 10 offensive for Mutombo
alone!) for
> an average of 16 per game - OUCH! The last two games of the trip,
with VP
> playing limited minutes (21 and 28) the Cs managed to turn it around
and
> outrebounded the opposition, by 11 (Detroit) and 1 (Indiana). Should
VP get
> all the credit? Let's not get silly. But Pitino is not wrong to
conclude that
> Vitaly's presence did have more than a little something to do with the
> rebounding turnaround. The bulk of the opposition's rebounds those
last two
> games were from the PF spot: Detroit's Loy Vaught and Jerome
Williams (17
> combined) and Indiana's Dale and Antonio Davis (17 combined). If
Walker ever
> started boxing out the Cs could *really* start to surprise people!
> 
>                           On defense Vitaly has both the size and
dexterity to
> cover his man one-on-one. He seems to be a smart defender, not
overplaying and
> drawing stupid fouls (a la Mourning), confident that his sheer bulk
alone is
> enough to bother the opponent's shot if he can push his opposite
number out
> away from the hoop. VP's ability to play man-to-man is critical for
the entire
> defense, as it negates the need to double-down and rotate the small
men onto
> bigger men. VP also seems to have good help instincts but will never
be a
> shot-blocker. Some might make too much of Smits' 28 points in
Indiana, but
> Smits is a prime-time scorer - you can make him take tough shots and
he still
> may hit them. And Smits' 4th quarter heroics were jumped-started by
center
> Eric Riley's forgettable five-fouls-in-five-minutes performance.
What really
> hurt the Cs was Dale Davis going 5-5 in the first quarter.
> 
>                           VP is mobile for his size but hardly ideal
for the
> press. Since Boston's first unit now has three guys unsuited to the
press
> (Pitino has included Walker and Anderson in that category) it looks
like
> pressing will be mostly limited to the "bomb squad" off the bench.
Given the
> fact that since Jordan it seems virtually impossible to commit a
travel in the
> NBA, that may be all to the good.
> 
>                           In assessing VP's chump potential, the
only danger I
> foresee may spring from frustration leading to a lack of confidence.
VP's used
> to a well-disciplined defense-first team from his days in Cleveland.
If he
> finds he's the only one laying his body on the line AND he continues
to not
> get any shots we could potentially see him lose his confidence, a
development
> that could undermine his whole game since his value lies in his
willingness to
> do the "dirty work". I don't see this as a likely possibility, but
he is young
> (24) and there are some big egos on the Celts.
> 
>                           As for the draft, Pitino is right in
saying that
> this team doesn't need to get any younger - but a *good* young
player is
> always a valuable commodity. Thank goodness Pitino didn't pull such
a trade
> last year! The impression I get from Pitino lately, particularly his
continued
> talk about the "need to get older", is that he considers the last 30
games of
> this season as a time for evaluation. This boils down to two
questions: (1) is
> Paul Pierce for real? (2) will Antoine  Walker "mature"? (i.e.,
begin to play
> defense, box out, and grow a brain on offense). The betting is "yes"
on the
> former and "no" on the latter, in which case Walker and Greg Minor
for Brian
> Grant and Walt Williams starts to look more like an off-season
possibility."
> 
> I don't know about that last point ... I wouldn't make that trade on
a dare.
> 
> 

_________________________________________________________
DO YOU YAHOO!?
Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com