Celtics Center Update

["Ozersky, Joshua A" <OzerskyJA@corning.com>]

A Hard Month Ahead

by Josh Ozersky

The triumphal tone of my last dispatch may have seemed pretty silly last week.  Having called out the vengeance of Green People everywhere upon the heads of unbelievers, I was abashed to turn around and watch the Celtics get destroyed at home against winless Detroit, win a close one against the Knicks, and then proceed to head all the way out to Chicago for the privilge of losing to the worst team in the league, playing without their only good player.  Such is life for the devotee of the developing team, and I suppose we had  better get used to it.  But certain questions and answers have been raised about the team's progress from lottery aspirant to playoff arriviste, and the next month will tell us much of what we need to know.

The Celtics beat Cleveland last night, in a demonstration of much that is right and much that is wrong with the team as currently constitued (i.e. without Danny Fortson.)  On the one hand, the presence of Paul Pierce insures that should Antoine have an off night, we have another star who can pick up the slack and be just as dominant on offense - and better on defense.  Vitaly Potapenko, whatever his flaws, is a big-league center, as he demonstrated by taking it straight to Shawn Kemp, and keeping that monster off the boards somewhat (although Kemp has his way down low for most of the game).  Adrian Griffin is the equivalent of a very high lottery pick in a good year statistically, and in addition, has an intelligence and equipoise usually only seen in seasoned veterans at the end of their careers.  Kenny Anderson is playing great.  He's not making quite as many flashy passes, but he is a true leader, a true scorer, is playing some defense, and getting guys good shots most of the time.  With all these things

The reason for the defecit, though, is worrisome:  the team, despite apparently being fervid believers in the idea of selfless fast-break basketball, still reverts to a timid, cautious, "do I dare to push the ball" style which results in low-percentage jump shots.  They still don't seem to really be in the best condition.  The vaunted press is not being executed the way it should be.  And the second unit, from whom so many good things were expected (and delivered, at first) has become something of a liability.  Walter is again dribbling between his legs 20 feet from the basket, just like his big brother Antoine.  Tony Battie shoots a moonshot rainbow jumper ten feet from the basket as his primary shot.  Cal Cheaney has had a sprained ankle, and still hasn't had a good game yet, and neither has Dana Barros.  These players are all good, and will all play well at some point, but we need them to do it together, all the time, and if that doesn't happen the starters are going to be playing far too many minutes.  

The arrival of Danny Fortson in mid to late december should help a lot.  Adrian Griffin will probably move into the 2nd unit, adding his stabilizing influence, and we will no longer suffer the indignity of being beaten by second and third shots.  Unfortunately, December is hands down the worst month of the year, schedule wise.  If we can get through it at or near .500, and then add Fortson for the stretch run, I expect us win 45+ games.  But for one thing, this team is hard to figure.  They revert to bad or lazy basketball with surprising ease.  They still have what Coach Pitino calls "bad habits."  You know that Antoine will have a few games where he decides that he's going to take the team on his shoulders and does - to the shitcan.  Kenny Anderson could get hurt, and we have nobody but journeyman Doug Overton to run the show in his absence.  Somehow, this team has not really learned how to play yet, although they get it in stretches.  The team is finally starting to come together after years of trades an

The problem, and this is the other thing, is that December is not a good time for on-the-job training.  Just next week we have the Spurs, the Pacers, the Heat, and the Bucks.  Those are four highly losable games.  The Cavs win was incredibly important, because of the narrative it erased - it was getting harder and harder to say that the Pistons and Chicago defeats were just flukes, and a good win against a quality opponent was becoming lost in the mists of antiquity.  Still, you lose three or four games in a row, and pandemonium, to quote Johnny Mercer, is liable to walk onto the scene.  The team needs to go into december at least at .500, which means they have to win at least two of these four games.  December is a nightmare:  New York,  Miami, the Sixers the next night, Houston twice, San Antoinio, Utah, the Lakers, the Kings, and the Cavs in their building.  But we also get the clips and two shots at Denver, which I assume mssrs. Battie, Williams, and for the second game DANNY FORTSON, will be looking fo

So let's not get carried away with our victories, except of course against LA and Philadelphia.  There is much season to go, and we will know a lot more about the Y2K Celtics in Y2K.