Re: Celt's bench: Was "How could Antoine..."

[Dan Forant <dforant1@nycap.rr.com>]

I think my point was but didn't show in the post is the substitution
pattern isn't doing these bench players justice. They should be blended in
with the regulars instead of thrown to the wolves. These are Tommy H's
sentiments and he's my Moses.

At 12:06 PM 11/16/99 +0100, you wrote:
>Dan Forant wrote:
>
>> Don't ask these question from George Bush. You don't have to be a sportsman
>> to see Battie, McCarty, Barros, Eric Williams cannot perform and look bad
>> to boot. 2 of 4 are projects, the other 2 wouldn't be on a good team. We'll
>> kill Anderson before half the season is up and go downhill from there. Last
>> glimmer of hope on this list is Fortson, I don't buy into that.
>
>C'mon, Dan. I truly enjoy reading your posts because you go to such extreme
>reactions from one game to the next (the Celtics are pretty great....the
Celtics
>totally suck). BTW, I fully agree with George W Bush that "Waltah" isn't the
>current president of Pakistan, but that he should be praised for taking
power in
>a coup d'Etat. :-)
>
>The salient point is that all four guys you mention above would have (or did)
>start on Pitino's 36-win team. They represent a huge improvement over the
bench
>of the last two years. The 3-20 shooting game is a fluke. Nothing more,
nothing
>less. Really.
>
>What Pitino needs to determine is whether or not his bench rotation is
working.
>You shouldn't have five guys who can't pass, much less rebound or defend
>effectively at the position they are assigned to play. I wish I could
remember
>the last time I saw any of those four guys (plus Cheaney) make a memorable
or at
>least an intelligent pass (maybe McCarty). That's sad.
>
>As you know I love Pitino's personnel moves over the past twelve months,
but his
>two most recent moves seem recklessly casual and even stupid given our
needs. He
>has capped out the team for the season by signing Doug "Female Gonad"
Ovary and
>Marty Conlon without so much as a tryout. I wouldn't make this criticism (the
>"not even a tryout" part) if these were solid veterans way past their
prime, but
>these guys never even had a prime.
>
>In the end Pitino MUST have had a good reason based on watching his team
practice
>twice a day, but I think a lot of fans would be more patient with the growing
>pains of Wayne Turner because of his exhibition season defense, hustle and
>passing and Eric Washington's (did he EVEN get a chance?) defense and
shooting,
>than the two permanent DNP-CD's that Pitino signed (Ovaltine, Conlon).
>
>Wayne Turner had stage fright in his first game, and now he's gone. I
think we
>all sense what it feels like to have the ball stripped bringing it upcourt
(with
>your hometown friends watching) and to subsequently lose all confidence
and fall
>apart for a finite amount of time (usually the length of a game or at
least the
>half). Then you usually wisen up and put the mistakes behind you.
>
>I'm sure by this point in the season that Turner would be doing a little
better
>than Overhill's 0 assists or Conlon's 0 rebounds. The Celtics bench now looks
>likes like it could use a team chemistry player like Turner....someone
whose unit
>always seems to score more points than the opposition while he's on the
floor,
>even if he looks like the weakest link out there.
>
>I guess we all kind of overrated him. Obviously, Pitino MUST have had a good
>reason, considering how familiar he was with the kid and how much it had
to hurt
>the hometown kid to be told such stunning news one week into the season. I
love
>BTW that he was a graduate of "Beaver Country Day School". What a great name
>(good school academically, also).
>
>--------
>
>