Offensive focus

[Alex Wang <awang@mit.edu>]

One thing that I noticed while watching yesterday's playoff teams was
that every winning team had an excellent shotblocking: Ewing, Mutombo,
Ostertag; even Sabonis was getting into it (along with Portland's other
athletic big men). And all the winning teams had good team defense.
The Celtics may well look offensively more competent than many of these
teams next year but it's more important for the defense to pick up
significantly in my opinion. And for the Celtics to ever contend, they'll 
have to develop one of the best halfcourt defenses in the league with
good defenders at every position (since they lack the dominant 
intimidator/shotblocker). They have to be able to win when the offense
isn't clicking.

I also haven't been particularly impressed by Jason Williams on the times
I've seen him. I think if he played for the Celtics, he'd be torn to
shreds on this list. He throws up a huge number of threes at a low
percentage (whenever the urge strikes him, seemingly) and frequently 
doesn't look like he's trying on defense. When Stockton ran him off picks,
he'd give up on the play and start heading down the court. Meanwhile his
team is trying to defend four on five.

I notice that his flashy moves make it onto SportsCenter even when he
misses. No way is this guy a rookie of the year contender like Carter
and Pierce. 

Alex