Mercer and team chemistry

[Alex Wang <awang@mit.edu>]

I thought that the subtraction of Mercer and the insertion of an
unselfish player would improve the chemistry of the Celtics, though I
didn't expect someone of Griffin's caliber to be picked up. I think it
was definitely true that the 98-99 Celtics was a team that was less
than the sum of its parts. I don't want to completely blame Mercer for
this but his style of offense was not suited to this team, and
incidentally is not suited to Denver's either. I've said it before,
Mercer belongs on a team where the other players are not as
offensively oriented (and hopefully have some defensive
talent). Actually he would have been a decent fit on our second unit
as some suggested before his trade, because having Barros sit around
at the top of the key and throw it to Mercer off the screen is at
least a consistent source of offense. But $50M or whatever is a bit
high to pay for this. I wouldn't be surprised to see Cheaney doing
something similar for the second unit for a fraction of the price.

I am following Denver with a bit more interest nowadays because of the
happy fact that we own one of their future draft picks. They do have a
lot of talent on their team - in particular the potential starting
lineup of LaFrentz, McDyess, Mercer, Billups, and Van Exel seems like
the "All High Lottery Pick and All-Star Team" but it's one of those
great fantasy lineups that doesn't seem to work in real life. I really
hope they don't get it together before we grab their pick.

The current team chemistry on the starting unit is good. I think that
having Kenny play a more integral part in scoring helps a lot because
it makes him a more effective distributor too, because defenders
always have to respect his drive. Last year, you could count on about
20 plays per game where you knew Kenny wouldn't be taking it to the
basket, because he'd be dribbling outside the three point line waiting
for Mercer to come around the screens and put up that 42% jumper
regardless of whether he, or anyone else, was open. A basket is two
points and a miss is zero regardless of how high the player elevates
and how nice the shooting stroke looks. 

Alex