Re: Terrible Game Plan!!!!!!!!

[KK <Kestutis.Kveraga@Dartmouth.EDU>]

Joe Hironaka wrote:
> 
> Alex Wang wrote:
> 
> > Pitino has said that because of the schedule,
> > practice is primarily focused on game preparation, so he is not teaching
> > as much as he usually does.  But he has a very young team; how many coaches
> > out there are doing well with young teams? It'll take time.
> 
> Yeah, I agree this season is a continuation of last year, with really no
> off-season whatsoever (due to the lockout) and just a three-week training session
> in between. Arguably few other teams are at a greater disadvantage than our
> Celts, due to our extreme youth and our complicated system.

You people have the faith and patience (in Pitino) of Job. I, personally, am
getting tired of this "youth", "short season" and "system" business. While
there's SOME validity to these excuses, "the man who could sell ice to
Alaskans" (as Bulpett calls him) has made it sound as though young teams are
simple uncoachable, playing 5 games a week favors 38-year-olds over
24-years-olds, and "the system" - NOT winning games in any way possible - is
the ultimate goal.

First, it's simply not the case that young teams can't enjoy a modicum of
success in the NBA. The Cleveland Cavaliers played 4(!) rookies and young
players like Potapenko, Sura and Person last year, yet went to the playoffs
and gave Indiana a good fight. They're again more successful (>.500) than the
Celtics in this practice-less season that's supposed to be a killer for young
teams. Evidently, it can be done. Maybe it's the coaching philosophy, not the
player age that matters more in this case. The way Pitino's been talking about
it, with constant references to Pat Riley's "phobia" of young players, it
sounds like, "hey, give me veteran all-stars (he apparently doesn't mean
Antoine), and I'll win". Hey, give ANY listmember veteran all-stars, and he or
she will win, too. Especially with 17 assistants around you. 

Second, this "system" crap. Having listened to him talk about "the system"
over the past couple of seasons, I'd like to sum up what I've learned about
its requirements. It seems that, for "the system" to be successful, one needs: 

1) players who are exceptionally athletic, talented, young, but already with
years of experience in the NBA. In other words, players like Jordan, Pippen,
Payton, Grant Hill, Olajuwon, David Robinson and the like, in their prime, but
already with 10 years of experience in the NBA. The question is, if you have
such players on your team, why the hell would you need "the system" to win? 

2) players who are head-and-shoulders above the other teams' players in terms
of conditioning, speed & quickness, strength, and endurance. The question is
pretty much the same as in #1. 

3) massive amounts of teaching for the players to assimilate "the system".
Apparently, after learning "the system" for 4 years, Walker and Mercer still
haven't picked it up. "Wallah" supposedly knows it, although, to me, he still
seems to be running around like a beheaded chicken while the team is giving up
dunks at the other end. 
The question is, how many years does it take for reasonably bright players to
learn it? 

4) weeks to prepare for each game, just like in college. Unfortunately, this
is the NBA, with 82-100 games to play in a normal season, not 30. The question
is, will Pitino ever stop whining about the lack of preparation time now that
he's in the NBA? 

5) that EVERY SINGLE PLAYER in "the system" perform perfectly, otherwise the
whole thing breaks down. The question is, aren't there "systems" out there
that are less finicky, more reliable and more parsimonious in their demands?
 
Then, is "the system" untenable? No, "the system" can work - in college, where
you have near-absolute control over blue-chip players. Players who, thanks to
their superior talent and boot-camp conditioning, plus weeks of game
preparation, will demolish some Podunk State Community College whose point
guard can't dribble without looking at the ball. In the NBA, your players will
quickly tune you out if they don't like the message (which, as the Herald
notes, is already happening) - you can't threatten them with dropping their
financial support. And most teams will laugh their way through the Pitino trap
to layup after layup - we're not playing Podunk State anymore. 

The only thing that gives me hope in this bleak season is that Pitino, despite
his egomania, is not stupid. Judging from his post-game comments yesterday, he
is coming around to the fact that his team, like anyone else in the NBA, will
have to play solid man-to-man defense if it wants to succeed. I hope the next
step for him is to check out the successful *NBA* coaches (there's a
difference, as Tarkanian, and countless others, found out), and try to
understand why they're *not* running "headless chicken" offenses.