Mercer's drives and other gripes

[Alex Wang <awang@mit.edu>]

Has anyone else noticed that when Mercer drives to the basket 
through the lane and is challenged, he has this tendency to
go to his left and throw the ball up over his shoulder with
his right hand, sort of like a half-reverse layup? I don't think
I've ever seen it go in. It looks hideously difficult. Just in
general, I have a feeling that Mercer's drives to the basket are
what lead to his 30% shooting nights because his jump shot off 
the screen looks as good as ever. It seems like he rarely finishes
when going to the hole. I'm glad he's working on that part of
his game but it's really hurting his game (and the team) that he 
can't finish. I wish he'd just try to dunk it regardless of the
defenders even if it means he gets a few charges called on him.

In general, it was depressing to see the Celtics' passing on 
offense too. Someone would double team Walker, say, and he would
pass out. You could hear Pitino screaming, "REVERSE! REVERSE!" 
and they would reverse the ball. Only the player would catch,
look for his shot, and then pass the ball. I'm pretty sure this
is not how Pitino teaches this. The players should know how 
effective a crisp execution of this idea is because numerous teams
have burned the Celtics' trap with it.

Actually, Popeye Jones seemed to understand this which is why I'm
still positive about him despite his physical problems. He also
would instantly look down the floor and throw the outlet pass 
after a defensive rebound, starting the fast break. It reminded
me of Rodman who is probably the current-era master at this. Our 
other players grab the defensive rebound and have to look around 
for a while to find the point guard, or worse, start dribbling 
down the floor. The weird thing about Popeye is that he'll also 
do some strangely boneheaded things like blowing open layups. 
Then again, that is also reminiscent of Rodman (and possibly 
injury related).

Alex